Jayne Owen
Co-Founder of Rottie Rumble and Friends Rescue
My background has always been around dogs. I started working in kennels at the age of 10 as a weekend girl, then quickly progressed to helping out in every school holiday – and even on weekdays, as I wanted to be at the kennels, not school (those were the days). By the age of 12, I had started helping a local animal rescue and became known for my ability to deal with difficult dogs (I had no fear in those days). By 17, I was managing kennels and I continued until my mid-thirties when I stopped working in kennels, but stayed involved in rescue.
I have done everything from fund-raising, fostering, transportation, home-checking, welfare checks, to homing dogs I’d taken in as foster. The natural progression for me was to start my own very small not-for-profit dog rescue, and that’s where we are now.
Steph Harries
Co-Founder of Rottie Rumble and Friends Rescue
Steph is very animal-focused and is a calm and caring soul. She has a background around horses (livery & riding stables) and dogs (RSPCA Swansea Dogs Home), having worked with them from a young age.
Claire Haynes
Co-Founder of Rottie Rumble and Friends Rescue
Claire’s role predominantly involves fund-raising via car boot sales: collecting donated items and then working at the events. She also helps with transports and carries out home-checks when needed.
Claire has two Rotts of her own – Burt and Betsy – and got to know Jayne when she was asked if she’d foster an older Rott… the rest is history! Claire loves that the rescue helps all different breeds, with the priority always being the dogs. It makes Claire especially happy to know that some of the dogs being saved come from the pound, where they need urgent help as they will otherwise be put to sleep.
Rich Owen
General Support
I’m married to Jayne, so this makes me the general gofer – and I know for sure that each day Jayne will have a list of jobs to keep me busy!
I do whatever I can that needs doing – for example, collecting donated items then sorting them ready for eBay/auctions or boot sales. Of course, I also get to feed and walk the dogs.
Sue Tipton
I owned Moorlands Kennels & Cattery, and later Moorlands K9 Rescue, until I retired five years ago and moved to Norfolk, taking my last rescues with me: three disabled and two very nervous girls.
My love of dogs and other animals started as a toddler with my trusted friend Towser, our farm Collie, followed by a few others as the years went on. My first dogs after leaving home were miniature Pinschers – five in total.
On moving to the kennels, we inherited a range of breeds. Through helping greyhound rescue we saw plenty of sight hounds in the kennels and the house. Moorlands Rescue started with a young Rottie boy with multiple health issues, and progressed from there to all breeds – but always lots of Staffies, Rotties and bull breeds. By the end, we had a purpose-built maternity centre with bitches of all breeds coming from all over – many from as far away as south Wales.
On returning to Shropshire with two of my original dogs plus a new girl, I started helping Rottie Rumble & Friends and was privileged to foster Bear who will always have a special place in my heart even though his time was short-lived. Here’s to helping and homing many more in the future.
John Harries
Admin Support
John’s first love is Rotts but he also has a soft spot for cats.
He loves to carry out research, especially delving into the legal aspects of dog welfare, which makes him the ideal go-to person when we have questions that need answers.
Caren Chapman
Behaviourist
I grew up with family dogs, and have subsequently never been without dogs of my own – for nearly 40 years now!
After Phil and I got married, I had the opportunity to re-train and completed a four year full-time degree to become a Behaviourist. I work with owners to try and keep dogs in their existing homes (rather than have them end up in rescue), as well as working with dogs in rescue to help them acclimatise to their situation and go on to find loving and appropriate homes.
Our own pack is currently five-strong, and since adopting our fifth, Daisy (then aged 11), in 2024, Mr Chapman has been practising his frowny face in order to counter this occupational hazard! We still have room for foster dogs to come in and keep us on our toes though, and our pack is very good at welcoming them in.
I met Jayne when she helped me rehome Ria Rottie, my late friend’s beloved girl, a few years ago.
Phil Chapman
Webmaster
Having grown up in a pet-free household, I was first introduced to the joys of dog ownership when I met Caren. Twenty-odd years and over ten dogs later, I now can’t imagine my life without a furry friend beside me… although with five in our pack at the moment, I sometimes have to be the bad guy and say no when Caren wants to rescue even more!
While I do my best to assist with fostering and bits of training, my principal skill set lies in IT, so I’m mainly helping out Rottie Rumble & Friends by creating this website, keeping emails flowing, and occasionally dabbling in the world of graphic design.
