We have a chat with Dogs Trust about the great work they do in helping dogs 
You may have noticed, but we’re big fans of dogs here at GO Outdoors. They’re the ultimate faithful adventure companion. Unfortunately not every dog gets the love they deserve, and so in 2018 we teamed up with Dogs Trust to enable our customers to leave a small donation in stores to help with the fantastic work that they do.
Where do your donations go? We sat down for a chat with Dogs Trust to find out more about the charity.
First of all, Who is Dogs Trust?
Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, caring for over 15,000 dogs every year through their network of 20 rehoming centres across the UK, and one in Ireland. The aim of Dogs Trust is to give stray and abandoned dogs a second chance at a brighter future with responsible, caring new owners. We are working towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.
How do you help dogs?
To achieve our aim we rely on the prevention and cure approach: our rescue and rehoming work aims to deal with the immediate needs of abandoned dogs; while preventative measures such as dog training, neutering, microchipping, education and lobbying are used as longer-term solutions to improve the fate of dogs today and for future years to come.
Through our training and behaviour expertise, including initiatives like Dog School, we assist and encourage existing and potential dog owners to be responsible and to ensure their dog is well trained and sociable. We aim to provide owners with accessible advice and information to prevent the occurrence of behaviours that can lead to relinquish or euthanasia.
We have nurtured experts in every area of our operation, which, together with our evidence-based approach, enables us to take a leading role advising on every aspect of dog health, behaviour and care.
Whilst our immediate priority is the UK, we will take the prevention/cure approach to as many countries as funds allow through Dogs Trust Worldwide. The sister charity aims to improve dog welfare internationally by working with teams on the ground to deliver advice and hands on support to manage the dog population in a sustainable and humane manner.
What difference did you make to the lives of dogs last year?
- In 2017 we cared for 15,446 dogs at our 21 rehoming centres.
- Where do our dogs come from?
- 6,452 strays passed to us by local authorities/other charities
- 6,894 handed over by their owner
- 320 born in the rehoming centre
- Dog School grew from just 12 to 26 locations around the UK, and we trained 6,866 dogs and their families through our Dog Schools.
- The Freedom Project provides a fostering service for dogs belonging to people fleeing from domestic abuse. Last year we were able to help 61 people by offering temporary care for their dogs.
- The Hope Project provides free veterinary care for dogs belonging to owners who are homeless or living in temporary housing. Last year we enabled 495 to receive veterinary attention and funded 1,665 treatments. Thanks to our generous supporters, we were able to deliver Christmas gift parcels to 1,347 dogs via homelessness organisations.
- Our education team ran workshops for 297,000 children in the UK and Ireland focussing on our key messages of responsible dog ownership and our ‘Be Dog Smart’ messages on how to stay safe around dogs. We helped 230 children to manage their fear of dogs in our family focussed sessions ‘Building Confidence Around Dogs’.
- Our community teams gave free health checks to 7,400 dogs and microchipped 7,000 dogs. Meanwhile, we supplied free microchips to our partners in local authorities, enabling them to implant a further 14,000 dogs with a microchip.
How will our donations help?
The funds you raise will be a huge help – all donations are put to good use providing specialist care for the dogs whilst they wait to find their loving forever homes. We promise to spend as long as it takes to find the perfect home for each and every one of our dogs, for some we know that we can offer the best possible care and they move in permanently. These select few dogs are called our Sponsor Dogs and they are offered a home for life at our network of rehoming centres.
The only way we can achieve anything is through the continued support of our fellow dog lovers. It’s with thank to the kind generosity of wonderful supporters like you, we are able to give dogs across the UK a happier and healthier life.
DON’T FORGET
Dogs Trust collection tins are in all GO Outdoors stores, if you have some spare change we encourage you to donate. Every dog deserves the best life possible.
