Animal lover to travel hundreds of miles to Give a Dog a Day Out

ANIMAL LOVERS will be making round trips of up to 600 miles and paying for doggy day care for their own pets to help a dog rescue and re-homing charity get every dog out of their Shropshire kennels – even if it is just for one day.

Finding Furever Homes, who sponsor the kennels near Condover, Shropshire, are holding their first ever ‘Give A Dog A Day Out’ (GADADO) event this on Sunday 10 April 2016. Volunteers will come from near and far to each walk one of their 40 rescue dogs with the aim of leaving the kennels empty for a day.

The charity has received a huge show of support, with 35 volunteers signed up to take part so far. Finding Furever Homes (FFH), a small national charity, is thrilled to be welcoming people from all over the country, including Canterbury, Reading, Bolton, Manchester, Durham, Preston and as far away as Airdrie in Scotland.

One of those travelling the farthest is Nicola Fisher, a dog lover from Camborne in Cornwall, who adopted a dog from the charity in 2015. Chloe, the whippet she now considers family, was taken in by FFH weighing just 5kg. Yet after FFH e funded a specialist diet and veterinary care, the dog soon recovered – weighing 18kg by the time Nicola came to adopt her.

Nicola said: “The reason I’m taking time off work and traveling so far is simply to show my support for a fantastic charity, run entirely by volunteers. Without them Chloe probably would have been put to sleep, but thanks to their efforts that never became a reality.”

The event is the brainchild of FFH Co-Founder and Trustee, Andrea Newton. She said: “The support we have received so far has been overwhelming. People are not only giving up their time but travelling huge distances, staying in hotels and even paying for their own dogs to be looked after for the day in order to help us achieve our goal.”

But even with the incredible show of support so far, the charity still needs another 5 or 6 volunteers to hit their target and make sure every rescue dog gets a day out. So Andrea is urging anyone who can help to get in touch to make the GADADO vision a reality.

Participants in the walk, who must book in advance to take part, will meet at Moorlands kennels in Condover at 11am, before taking the dogs for a walk around Haughmond Hill, finishing at about 2pm.

Andrea said: “My dream is being able to have the kennels empty for good, so being able to have one day where the kennels are bare is hugely symbolic of what we are trying to achieve. We are determined none of the dogs get left behind and they all enjoy a nice walk and some time out from kennel life.”

To take part in the event, or for more information about Finding Furever Homes please visit www.findingfureverhomes.org.uk.