Organic beauty company Voya has announced its sponsorship of a seal sanctuary in Ireland.

The company has also pledged to adopt one seal for every month of the year at Seal Rescue Ireland, which has newly relocated to Courtown, County Wexford. Buttons (pictured), a recently-rescued seal pup from County Mayo, has become the first to be adopted by Voya.

Seal Rescue Ireland’s sanctuary at Dingle, County Kerry was destroyed by a storm in February, and Sligo-based Voya offered its support to help urgently find a new location.

“Working with marine ingredients means the ocean plays a very central role in what we do, so we felt it was important to sponsor and support a company with that same synergy,” said Voya co-founder Kira Walton.

Sick, injured or abandoned young seals like Buttons are rehabilitated at the sanctuary until they are ready to be released back into the wild.

Seals are a protected species under Irish and EU law and should not be touched or encouraged to go back into the water as it is normal for them to rest on land. Only 10 per cent of the 600 calls the sanctuary receives per year involve animals that actually need rescuing.