History of the Project
Emma and Edo met in Fuerteventura in 2017 and by May 2018, they had purchased their first piece of land in Tenerife. This marked the birth of Tenerife Horse Rescue. However, Emma and Edo’s first adventure together was very different to the scruffy farmers you know them as now. They first worked together in a hotel stage show dancing. They used their entertainment and dance backgrounds and did remote work to fund the building on their new land and continually worked hard to develop construction. Edo has described their original dreams as ‘an animal corner where everyone was happy’. Well, that corner continually widens, morphing into the home of hundreds of different animals and volunteers. Their original intentions weren’t to start a charity - However, the needs of the animals on the island kept making themselves clear and now Tenerife Horse Rescue is a registered not-for-profit.
Emma had been around animals her entire life, being named her mum’s favourite goat was only the start of her life dedicated to animals. Her first rescue was Iggy, a shaggy white and grey pup from England. Iggy was the turning point for Emma, when she realised she wouldn’t stop at one. She has had him now for 15 happy, adventure-filled years (october 2022). Edo however was very new to animals when he met Emma, always passionate about them but without the chance to have them in his life. Together their very first rescues were a family of chickens, followed by a paralysed cockerel that needed some TLC and physiotherapy before being able to walk again. Fast forward to now, and there are horses, sheep, goats, donkeys, guinea pigs, rabbits, budgies, cockatiels, chickens, ducks, lizards, dogs, cats and tortoises.
In the beginning it was just Emma, Edo and some family toiling on the land to create basic accommodation. After experiences of some unreliable tradespeople, judgmental locals, competitive “friendly helpers” and many financial failures they looked for help elsewhere. This started with a single volunteer by the name of Thomas from a platform called “work away”. Soon they were joined by three volunteers that all bunked together in a caravan. This was at a time of bare basics, with no electricity, running water or toilets. After realising how passionate volunteers are and how many people share their passion for animals and the environment, Emma and Edo began welcoming more people into their finca family from Work away and those who reach them via other social media channels. Human Resources is one of Emma’s full-time positions here now, with more than 10 volunteer applications coming in everyday across various platforms, which help bring their dream into reality.
If you would be interested in volunteering, please check out the options available on the volunteer pages.
