Tributes paid to 'angel in disguise' Blackpool animal lover after tragic death at just 22

Tributes have been paid to a young animal rescuer who has died.

Bailey Lister, 22, was tragically found dead on Thursday after suffering an online campaign of 'abuse' and 'vitriol' which friends claim lasted for month, with those closest to Bailey insisting that the criticism escalated around the time when Bailey was evicted from land in Hambleton which he used to run his charity Hugo's Small Animal Sanctuary.

Wendy Mulela, who runs the Homeward Bound animal sanctuary, knew Bailey since he was a student at Myerscough agricultural college. She said: "Please let us all take a moment to realise and reflect on the impact that comments on social media can have on young, fragile minds.

"No matter what people thought about recent events, Bailey was a young person who started out in the animal world with good intentions and he deserved a long and happy lie. I hope his soul is in peace now."

Hundreds of people have already posted online tributes to Bailey. Amanda Bennett posted: "There are people on social media who should profoundly reflect on their behaviour over recent months and the impact that had on him. I hope they sit with that for a longtime to come. Rest easy Bailey."

Eliska Opiolova, who adopted her pet cat from the sanctuary, said: "Running an animal sanctuary at such a young age couldn't have been easy at all. No one is perfect, but the amount of backlash and cruelty thrown at him online was completely unacceptable. Social media can be so unbelievably harsh and people forget there is a real human being reading those comments.

"Bailey deserved compassion, support and the chance to learn and grow, not trial by social media. I truly hope the people who added to the hate take a long hard look at themselves."

Kristina Perry said: "I remember seeing lots of abuse back and forth amongst online communities. People could do well to remember that being kind really does matter." Katelyn Jade described Bailey as having a 'heart of pure gold', while Joanne Jackson said: "That boy had the biggest heart." Nicola Burns added: "He was an angel in disguise."

Animal lover

Bailey set up his sanctuary when he was just 18, inspired after he rescued a rat called Hugo as a child which drove him on to work full-time saving other small animals. He offered a rescue for small pets such as rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs as well as birds.

However, following his eviction from the Hambleton site, he had been forced to wind down the operation and find homes for the animals in his care.

The sanctuary was allegedly always short of cash and Bailey ran countless fundraising campaigns to pay for enough food to feed his rescues. At one point in 2022, he said he was down to his last £500. He had also been plagued by 'vicious unfounded rumours' that he had failed to care for his animals properly.

The sanctuary was founded in 2018 by Bailey and his friend Lucie Anyon, who was also 18 at the time. In addition to the rented stables, they also kept rescued animals at their homes in Fisher Street, North Shore and Marl Hill Crescent, Ribbleton.

But by 2021 the cost of looking after so many animals had started to bite. He told the Gazette at the time: "I woke up on Monday and realised we had £500 left in our Paypal account and I panicked. It costs around £250-a-month just for food and electricity for the animals, that's without vet bills and medication and we get more animals surrendered to us every week."

There followed months of fundraising events, including sponsored walks and online appeals for help.

Tragedy

Ms Mulela said: "It was no secret that Bailey had suffered a huge amount of abuse online and it is no secret that he took his life. His mental health was not good and he was under a tremendous amount of pressure. Dealing with all that and the abuse as well was too much for him."

Lancashire Police have been approached for comment.

A GoFundMe has been launched in Bailey’s name. You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/bailey-joe-lister-hugos-small-animal-rescue-and-sanctuary