Welsh Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones visits Dogs Trust Bridgend

Pictured is Elin Jones AM, Minister for Rural Affairs in Wales on a visit to Dogs Trust Bridgend last Wednesday with Rehoming Centre Manager Beverley Price and nine week old Spaniel x Lurcher pup Ernest.

Please call 01656 725219 if you have any queries about rehoming or dogs at Bridgend.

Looks like she enjoyed her visit! But then again, who wouldn't with snuggles from a gorgeous boy like Ernest, eh?

Great dog videos: Keanu @ Dogs Trust Shoreham & Fudge @ Dogs Trust Bridgend

Rhia, the Supporter Relations Officer at Dogs Trust Bridgend, took a camera out to follow around the lovely Fudge as he enjoyed playing in the snow.



Video is a great way of giving a chance to dogs who might not show their best side off in kennels, so the centres are gradually increasing the amount of video they take; it's hard to squeeze in the time, but worthwhile! I'll be working on some new footage from Merseyside today.

Over Christmas, one of our lovely supporters, Karen Wild, also harnessed the power of video to do a feature on Dogs Trust Shoreham's longest resident, Keanu. He's a nervous but affectionate soul who's been with us six years.

It might be January now, but we're showing Karen's video, from her Intellidogs site, once more in the hope that he'll finally find the home he's looking for.



Please contact the centre directly to ask about either of these dogs. (The numbers are on the links the centre names go to).

Facebook 'fans'* help Dogs Trust raise £1,500 in 24 hours

*They're really supporters, aren't they? Fans doesn't sound right!

Yesterday, Jacqui, Lo and I were looking at the Dogs Trust Facebook Page and thought, "wow, over 63,000 people supporting us now". Jacqui mused on how much could be done if all those people got involved to actively support us. So, on the spur of the moment, around 11am, we sent out a message:


The response was... amazing.

Within minutes, the donations started flooding in. Many gave £2, but the donations varied wildly according to how much people could spare; ultimately the average was about £4. All sorts of people took part: people overseas, people who already donate or sponsor, people who went on to become sponsors or members because of this, people who just thought it was as good idea and wanted to hit a high target.

What was brilliant was how many people posted to tell us why they'd donated. Others started a trend of donating from or on behalf of a specific dog, posting pictures which really gave everything a positive, happy feel. We left it up to the group to decide how often they wanted total updates; they were the ones doing the important bit, so they got to call the shots! In the end we let them know at around 5pm that we were near £1,000, and shortly after 11am this morning - around 24 hours after beginning - £1,500 had been raised.

If you think about it, that's almost a pound for every dog in our care.
...and the odd donation is still coming in.

Now we're getting feedback saying we should do this once a month! We're holding back on that as, although 370 people took part and made this their own, we don't want to alienate those on the page that choose to show support in different ways (or already donate anyway, or live overseas and support an animal charity where they are). But it's really heartening to think that many people would like to be asked for money every so often, and on an informal space like a social network, too.

One supporter even commented that doing it this way was 'more personal' than a standing order, which is definitely something to think about. The fact that it was easy as pie through PayPal probably didn't hurt either.

Although we left encouraging thank you messages and thanked as many people as possible individually, we're planning a special 'thank you' message for the page, and we're hoping to get some video or pictures we can add soon, showing what we do and why their donations are important to us.

Such a generous response to a spontaneous ask was amazingly good, and we're so humbled by the people who not only donated but kept this going, posting encouraging comments on ours and their own 'walls'.

If we were dogs, our tails would be wagging like crazy right now. As it is, what they've raised will set quite a few dog tails wagging!

Battery Farmed Dogs (aka Puppy Farming): where has your dog come from?

You might have already seen TV and radio reports about our Battery Farmed Dogs campaign, launched today. This is the next stage of the years of campaigning we have done against puppy farming, designed to inform the public and press for better licensing control and enforcement.

You can find out more about the campaign online, but to summarise, here's what you can do to help support us:

Be aware when you're buying a dog

We have a detailed guide for anyone wanting to buy a 'cruelty-free' dog who doesn't know what to look out for. You'll find it right here.

Write to your Local Authority about suspicious pet vendors

If there’s a pet shop, garden centre or other pet vending premises in your area where you feel the standard of care for the animals is inadequate we recommend that you contact your Local Authority. Local Authorities are responsible for the licensing of pet vending premises and should inspect any that they receive complaints about.

Below is a download of a draft letter that can be finished off and sent to your Local Authority to highlight your concerns. This should be addressed to the Chief Environmental Officer.

A list of Local Authorities can be found at: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/org/la-data.do

• Download the draft letter

Tell us about your experiences

Did you buy your dog from an advert on the internet or in a newspaper, from a pet shop, garden centre or superstore? Many of these are supplied by battery farms and you might have found that your puppy has had health or behavioural problems as a result of being bred in this way.

Contact details and what to include in your email are on this page (we might need to get back in touch, so please use the email address on the page linked to rather than commenting here!).