About - Santerpaws Bulgarian Rescue

Our Story

Santerpaws began when Justine and Pete moved to northern Bulgaria and found themselves surrounded by animals desperately needing help.

What started with helping dogs in their village and surrounding communities grew into something much bigger.

Hungry dogs needed feeding. Injured dogs needed veterinary treatment. Abandoned puppies needed somewhere safe. And, one by one, dogs needed families.

Turning away simply wasn’t an option.

Today, Santerpaws provides rescue, shelter, rehabilitation and rehoming while also supporting neutering work designed to prevent more dogs from facing the same future.

Santerpaws Bulgarian Rescue is a registered charity in England and Wales, Charity No. 1183401. The Charity Commission records it as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered on 14 May 2019.

Our Mission

Our mission is simple: to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome as many dogs as we can. Every dog deserves food, safety, and love, and with your help, that’s exactly what we provide. We also focus on neutering, because it’s the only way to break the cycle of suffering for future generations.

When you support Santerpaws, you’re not just giving to a charity, you’re giving a frightened, forgotten animal a real chance at life. Together, we can turn their story around.

Our Team

Santerpaws may rescue dogs in Bulgaria, but making that possible takes people in both Bulgaria and the UK.

Our team helps care for dogs at the shelter, find adopters and foster homes, organise fundraising, provide behavioural support, manage administration and keep everything running behind the scenes.

Most importantly, everyone is working towards the same thing:

giving every dog in our care the best future possible.

Meet The Team

Why Your Support Matters

The truth is, rescue work isn’t easy. Every dog we save needs food, shelter, veterinary care, and often long journeys to reach their new families. Without donations, none of this would be possible.

When you choose to support Santerpaws, whether by donating, fostering, or adopting — you’re directly changing a life. You’re giving a scared, abandoned dog the chance to finally feel safe, loved, and part of a family. We can’t do this without you, and we are so grateful that you care.

Every dog we rescue has a story of struggle, but with your help, their story can end in love. Whether you choose to donate, foster, adopt, or simply share our mission with others, you are giving hope to an animal that had none. Please, join us today in changing lives. Together, we can make sure no dog is left behind, until they all have homes