Wood Green Animal Shelters, an animal rehoming charity since 1924, has decided to relocate its Hertfordshire Shelter to enable it to maintain its status as one of the country's leading animal welfare organisations.

The animal welfare charity opened its Heydon Shelter in 1954 which started out as a rehoming centre for dogs, cats and small animals. However, as the residential population of Heydon village grew and the noise of barking dogs started to impact on its neighbours, Wood Green decided to reduce its rehoming capacity to just cats and small animals and moved all the dogs to its Headquarters in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire.

Dennis Baker OBE, Chief Executive of Wood Green Animal Shelters said of the proposed move, "obviously the shelter at Heydon has been part of Wood Green's history for nearly 40 years but, we need to keep abreast of the improving standards of animal welfare, which is why we need to relocate. But I must emphasise that this is a long term project that will take time to bring to fruition."

The new site will be somewhere in the south east of England between Milton Keynes and Stansted. Staff at the Shelters have been looking at potential sites over the past few months, but are yet to find the perfect location.