Picture: Emma Mason with Bambi, a female greyhound
A dog rescue centre is aiming to re-home a record number of dogs this year as part its latest adoption appeal.
Jerry Green Dog Rescue Centre, in Blidworth, is appealing for people to take home one of dozens of animals in their care or donate what they can to help cover the charity’s vet and care bills.
In 2016 the centre re-homed 204 dogs and this year the aim is to find new homes for at least 220.
Sapphire McInnes, deputy manager at the centre, said: “As a charity we do everything we can and welfare and housing the dogs is our number one priority.
“If anyone can give a regular donation that would be great as we do rely on kind people to donate to us.
“We also want to highlight that people need to be more vigilant when it comes to medical care for their dogs, it’s not so much of an issue for us because we will treat the dogs, take them to the vets and get them better, but dogs are coming in with medical issues that they shouldn’t have.
“They need to think about the costs incurred after having a dog like insurance, flea and worm treatment and vaccinations.”
Gallery: Some of the dogs looking for a new home
The centre spends £2,500 a month on vet bills and ninety percent of the dogs they receive need neutering.
Sapphire added: “We have twenty one dogs in at the moment and as soon as we re-home one another dog is waiting to come into our kennel.
“A lot of full pedigree dogs come in with genetic health problems and I think there needs to be more research before people get these dogs as it is a full-time commitment and costs a lot of money.
“The French bull dog is the latest trend, people can’t cover the cost of things going wrong medically. They are costly to insure and the monthly premium is very expensive because insurance companies know there is likely to be a pay-out.”
For anyone interested in adopting a dog or donating money, the centre’s number is 01623 792886.
