Dogs Worldwide

HUNDREDS of dog lovers and their four-legged friends took a stroll around Coatham Woods in Teesside’s first ever Waggy Walk. The sponsored walk to raise vital funds for the Dogs Trust took place yesterday.

The woodland in Stockton was chosen as one of 10 parks across the UK to host the national event.

Richard and Melody Dixon-Oliver, from Salters Lane in Stockton and Melody’s four-year-old godson Ashton were at the woods to take their dog Lola out for the day.

Melody a 27-year-old teaching assistant said: “Our dog Lola was a rescue dog and so the Dogs Trust is one of those charities we support, to give dogs like her a chance.

“If it wasn’t for groups like the Dogs Trust then little dogs like Lola wouldn’t be treated properly, and wouldn’t get proper homes.

“It’s the first time we’ve been here and we are really enjoying it.”

Richard, 33, an actor, added: “It’s more important than ever at the moment especially in the last year or so when you hear about people giving up their dogs because of the credit crunch.”

Sarah Shreeve, support relations officer for Darlington Dogs Trust said: “The aim of the day is to raise pounds for hounds. It’s to create awareness about responsible dog ownership in the community as a whole as well as raising money for the loss and abandoned dogs that the Trust looks after.

“It’s also about having a good day with their dogs and a bit of fun.

“It’s lovely to see all these dogs out and about, being so well socialised and getting on.”

Tags: dog lovers, dogs trust, sponsored walk

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 20:23 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.