The Dogs Trust – Still Not Just for Christmas
It’s been 38 years since former Dogs Trust Chief Executive Clarissa Baldwin whom - over a few festive glasses of wine - spent the evening with her partner to formulate a slogan that would not only help safeguard the future of dogs in Britain but also save her own charity; “We had no money at all – we were in the red” said Baldwin in a recent interview with The Telegraph. The huge boom in pet-shops in the late 1970’s saw a consequential increase in unwanted dogs over the Christmas period yet the National Canine Defence League, as it was previously known, was standing on its last legs. With little resources yet an increasing need to enforce a laconic and meaningful message the Dogs Trust slogan was born, proving to be a foundation block in the eventual success of the charity as well a cornerstone of the organizations integral motivation; not to mention its general appeal to all animal welfare campaigns.
Unfortunately, the phrase remains as relevant today as it did 38 years ago. This year the Dogs Trust will provide around the clock care for all new arrivals as the team and their rehoming centres spend Christmas day looking after hundreds of homeless dogs already located at these centres, ensuring our canine friends can enjoy their Christmas too. With this in mind, I thought we should remind ourselves of the great work done by the Dogs Trust throughout the year not just at Christmas and the statistics they’re up against:
- 100 puppies are expected to be dumped over the festive season
- 48% of strays however are eventually reunited with their owners
- 1,500 rescue dogs will receive Christmas stockings whilst they wait to be rehomed
- Of the 8 million dogs in Britain the Dogs Trust helps 16,000 a year with 306 strays found daily
- Rescue dogs walk a collective 1.2 MILLION miles whilst at the Dogs Trust
- With each dog costing them £1,000
If you’d like to help The Dogs Trust in their mission, go to DogsTrust.org.uk or discover their latest appeal on social networking with the hashtag #IMadeRoomFor
