Radar met with D.A.W.G.S to discuss their roles and how the Christmas period affects them.
Radar met with D.A.W.G.S (Dog Action Working Group Scotland) to discuss their roles and how the Christmas period affects them.
Dawgs were formed over 19 years ago after a small group joined to help a vet who took in stray dogs and kept them in kennels at his own expense until homes were found for them.
As the numbers increased, they realised something more needed to be done. Dawgs is a local charity in Aberdeenshire which finds new homes for dogs whose owners are unable to look after them anymore. This can be due to cruelty or elderly owners having to go into residential care and no longer being able to look after their dogs. No matter what reason Dawgs find these dogs loving new homes!
Dawgs remain true to its founding principles that its had from day one - the value of each and every dog regardless of breed or age or difficulties and their right to a safe and loving home.?More than 3,000 dogs have been given new homes with brand new families to love them.
Radar spoke to Janine Davies from Dawgs to learn more about the charity:
How does your charity work?
Janine: “We set up an initial meeting with the person and their dog and we get all the information about the dog and wherever possible we ask them if they can keep their dog until we can find the right match for their new home.
“During the meeting, we take pictures and put the dogs on to our website.
“We get the dogs onto our websites as soon as we can and then we get requests coming in for rehoming. We always try to get the right match, for example, dogs who can live with children or other dogs would be paired with suitable homes.
“If we get the correct match we then do a home check to make sure everyone is who they say they are and then set up a meet with the dog and if all goes well they go home with the dog at that point. We need to check people are genuine and going to treat the dog properly.”
How can people help Dawgs?
Janine: “The main thing to do is to take our rescue dogs rather than buying a new puppy. Take a dog that needs a new home.
“It costs Dawgs over £350 to rehome every dog so every donation is very important to us. People can join us online in our Dogs Best Friend Scheme to support the charity with a monthly donation. We also always welcome people to help us by fundraising and volunteering. We host multiple events including coffee mornings, jumble sales and afternoon teas. We would love for someone to come forward and do a sporting event for the charity.”
What are your thoughts on people giving dogs as a gift for Christmas?
Janine: “We would say please, please, please don’t do that. Routines are not the same at that time of year with busy households, it is probably the worst time of year that you can think about getting a dog. Before you think about adopting a dog, do a lot of research into what kind of dog, why you’re doing it, if you can actually afford the dog and if you have the time to take care of the dog. It’s not something to do in the spirit of the moment and not something you should give someone as a gift.
“We actually stop rehoming over the Christmas period to combat this and we don’t rehome again to January. Dogs need to be rehomed into a relaxed environment”.