A potential water crisis has been averted at a Norfolk animal rescue centre, thanks to the power of social media.
Hundreds of dogs, cats, horses, pigs and other animals at Faith Animal Rescue could have been facing a dry New Year if no way was found to connect a recently-dug bore hole to the water supply at the centre's Hickling site.
But after reaching out on Facebook, the charity's founder, Judy Simmance, was given the advice she needed to keep the water flowing.
Mrs Simmance said an existing bore hole which supplied water to the site was collapsing and fast running dry, and she did not know how to connect the new one to the site's plumbing.
But after spreading word of the dilemma on social media, several respondents replied with helpful advice.
Mrs Simmance said: 'We managed to get a new bore drop recently, but we needed to know where to go next and how to get it connected to the rescue centre.
'People have come back to us now so I know to get in touch with an irrigation company to do the next bit.
'It's just a matter of getting the pipes around to the building and then the plumber gets called in.
'Hopefully we'll get it all sorted out by Christmas.'
Mrs Simmance said the original bore hole was put in during the 1970s, before she moved to Hickling.
She started Faith - which is an acronym for For Animals in Trouble There's Hope - in 1994 after finding five abandoned dogs on the Hickling marshes.
Mrs Simmance said: 'That was around the same time the RSPCA in Drayton Road closed, and because we had stables we put the dogs in there until after Christmas.
'We were suddenly faced with very large vet bills, so we had an appeal in the Eastern Daily Press and from that we got a lot of calls from people with other animals they didn't want and it just carried on from there.'
Faith Animal Rescue now cares for hundreds of animals each year, and usually has between 40 and 60 dogs and cats at any one time.
Mrs Simmance said they re-homed 400-500 dogs and about 300 cats each year.
To contact Faith Animal Rescue, visit www.faithanimalrescue.co.uk or call 01692 598312
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