Monday 8 December 2014

Become A Volunteer


With so many stray and abandoned dogs and so many dog rescue centres needing help, organisations are always on the lookout for volunteers.

Many of you reading this will be dog lovers you would love to help, but for whatever reason are unable to adopt or foster dogs that need homes. But don’t worry – you can still do your bit! Contact a dog rescue centre near you (or help out at one overseas whilst on holiday) to see how you can help.

Here are some suggestions of things that you may like to do:

Take some dog food or treats to the rescue centre to help them cope with the constant strain feeding the dogs housed there. It's a good idea to check with the dog rescue organisation first about what type of food they will find most helpful.

Donate other useful items such as dog toys and bedding.

Offer your skills to a local rescue organisation - anything from building to gardening to helping to organise a campaign or fundraising effort.

Visit a shelter and volunteer to walk a dog. This is a simple activity that you can perform even whilst on holiday and it involves the whole family.

Make a donation to the local neutering campaign, or sponsor a dog that you find on the streets to be neutered. A single female dog can produce up to 120 puppies in her lifetime - more for a male - the only lasting way to tackle this problem is to prevent further puppies being born on the streets.

Please visit our website for more suggestions: www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk

We would value your feedback via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk regarding any shelters that you may visit.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

What Is Our Vision?


At the Dog Welfare Network we care passionately about dogs, the way in which they are treated and the worldwide problem of stray and street dogs. There are far too many dogs being abandoned and left to fend for themselves, with dire consequences.

Our aim is reduce the number of stray and unwanted dogs by the implementation of wider neutering programmes, education schemes and the bringing together of existing resources.

What is our ultimate aim? One of our founder members explains:

“Our vision is of a world where every dog is loved and treated with respect. There will be no homeless, stray dogs wandering the streets and no healthy dogs have to be put to sleep just because they are unwanted.

We aim to transform the quality of life for dogs worldwide by aiding communities to provide population management and support for community dogs, and aiding adoptions, thus enhancing local environments and enriching human-dog relationships in the process.”

We are looking for volunteers and sponsors to help us with our aims, and will be adding new volunteer information to our website shortly.


We would value your feedback via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk regarding any shelters that you may visit.

Monday 13 October 2014

Our Aim For The Future


At Dog Welfare Network we support a number of dog rescue shelters and organisations across Europe, highlighting the practical and financial support that they need, and explaining what you can do to help.

We promote the fostering and adoption of dogs that have been forced to roam the streets and are often left to suffer or are even abused. But this is only part of the story.

As the old saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure”, therefore the ideal situation would be to reduce the number of dogs left to roam in this way in the first place. How do we do that? By rolling out a multi-national neutering programme, thus reducing the number of unwanted dogs and preventing the problem spiralling even further out of control.

Many dog rescue shelters do operate some kind of neutering programme, but their resources are limited and therefore so is the impact that they are able to make. We ultimately aim to raise funds to initiate and maintain larger neutering programmes in the areas where they are most needed.

In the short term, we will be inviting businesses to advertise on dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk on a page that gives information of a dog shelter in their area, in exchange for the cost of neutering a dog or number of dogs.

You can also visit our website to identify which rescue centres are already running neutering programmes and would welcome your donations.

Don’t let more dogs be born into terrible conditions just to suffer. Let’s look after the dogs that we already have, which includes running a responsible neutering programme.

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Stray Gang


The Dog Welfare Network arose largely as a result of our own experiences, both as dog-loving individuals and as founder members of Lucky Tales: Rescue Without Borders, a Kent-based not-for-profit organisation rescuing dogs from Greece and Italy.

One of the first dog rescue centres that we had experience of outside of the UK was Stray Gang on the island of Rhodes. It seems only fitting therefore, to feature them in our latest blog post.
 
Stray Gang is a registered Greek charity run by Maria, Anastasia and Natassa in their free time, balancing the care of the dogs with their regular jobs. With around 50 dogs in their care and emergency veterinary assistance also provided, they are in need of a constant supply of funds and other support.

Donations of dog food, volunteers to walk and play with the dogs, escorts to accompany dogs to their new homes and building materials to keep the shelter in a good state of repair are all much appreciated by the caring trio.

To discover where you find Stray Gang and read more about what they do, visit dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk/rhodes-stray_gang

You can learn more about dog rescue organisations across Europe at www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk

We would value your feedback via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk regarding any shelters that you visit.

Thank you for your support!

Friday 15 August 2014

A Little More About Us


If you’ve only just found us on Twitter, or are reading our Blog for the first time, then you may like to know more about who we are and why we do what we do.

The Dog Welfare Network was created by the founders of Lucky Tales: Dog Rescue Without Borders, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation that rescues dogs from Italy and Greece. We are a very small organisation, dedicated to the improvement of animal welfare across Europe and, indeed, the world, giving our time and effort on a completely voluntary basis.

Based in Kent, we have helped to re-home many dogs from European rescue centres, finding them caring families and individuals in the UK. We oversee the dogs' journey to this country and are in contact with relevant rescue centres across Europe.

However, it came to our notice, that in many countries, dog rescue charities and organisations were operating with minimal resources and were often unknown. In some cases shelters were running in close proximity to one another, striving for the same aims, yet unaware of one another, missing out on a great opportunity to pool resources.

We therefore decided to create a single website bringing together dog rescue organisations around the UK and all of Europe, highlighting their needs and bringing them to the attention of the general public and one another.

All the shelters that we feature are in need of your support, whether it be monetary, through donations of food and equipment or by practical help in the form of dog walking or fostering.

In addition to their needs, as an organisation, we are looking for further sponsorship in order to increase the support that we can give all the wonderful individuals and organisations that are doing so much to help the many stray dogs that are suffering on a daily basis.

What can you do to help?

Please visit our website www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk to learn more.
We would value your feedback via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk about any shelters that you visit, so that we can add up-to-date information and ensure that shelters that are exhibiting bad practice are not being featured on our website.

Thank you for your time and support.

Saturday 19 July 2014

Helping The Stray Dogs of Spain


You may currently be preparing to go on holiday in Spain or one of the nearby islands. As you check out the things to do and the places to visit at your chosen destination, take time to see if there are any dog rescue centres that would appreciate your help while you’re there.

At the Dog Welfare Network, we have information about many dog rescue shelters across Europe including those in Spain.

If you’re travelling to Andalusia, perhaps you could offer some assistance to the people of A.I.D. who look after and try to rehome the stray and abandoned dogs in this area of Malaga. For more information see dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk/spain-aid

Meanwhile in Cadiz, the folk at Happy Ending Final Feliz would appreciate help with walking the dogs that they care for and would appreciate donations of food and bedding. Read more at dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk/spain-happy_ending

S.A.T. on the Costa Blanca would also value your help with practical support and donations. You can see their details at  dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk/spain-sat

At the Dog Welfare Network website you can also read about organisations on the islands of Fuerteventura  Lanzarote and Majorca and what you can do to offer them your help.

Visit www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk for more information. We value your feedback on any shelters that you visit, so please contact us via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk

Thank you for your support.

Friday 13 June 2014

Ruzodem Street Dog Rescue


Sadly Bulgaria has a large number of street dogs, many of which are victims of terrible cruelty, but Ruzodem Street Rescue aims to help as many of these dogs as possible.

RSDR, Is a non-profit organisation, created and run by the Rowles family who moved to Bulgaria from the UK in 2007. They soon became aware of the plight of the many street dogs and started to do what they could to help, such as giving them food. They soon took in their first rescue dog, and in 2009 Ruzodem Street Dog Rescue became a registered foundation.

In 2010, after much fund-raising a plot of land was purchased and the dog shelter was created. Since then various additions and renovations have been made to the shelter, thanks to generous donations from supporters.

There are many ways in which you can help the dogs cared for by RSDR, including volunteering to walk and play with the dogs, donating dog food, escorting dogs to their new homes and. if you are able, adopting one of the dogs yourself. Monetary donations are always needed, not only for the general upkeep of the shelter, but to pay for vaccinations, neutering and veterinary bills.

What can you do to help today?

To read more about Ruzodem Dog Rescue visit:

You can read more about how to help the many dog rescue shelters across Europe by visiting www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk
You can also contact us via  replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk


Monday 12 May 2014

Introducing Marmaris Dog Shelter


The Marmaris Dog Shelter in Turkey was built in 2005 and was originally designed to house 150 dogs. Today it has over 250 dogs in its care, with new arrivals constantly being admitted.

The shelter is run by a group of volunteers across several nationalities, all working to improve the lives of the animals in Marmaris. Their aims and ongoing objectives include:

  Caring for sick animals, administering medication and taking them to private vets when necessary, which is paid for by fundraising schemes.

  Supplementing the inadequate food allowance with supplies provided by fundraising. Volunteers visit the Shelter for three hours each day to ensure equal distribution of food, and provision of supplementary feeding for weak or nursing dogs.

  Creating separate areas for weak dogs, mothers with puppies, orphaned puppies and sick animals. Volunteers are building more covered areas and kennels to provide extra shelter as well as maintaining and repairing broken doors, fences, bolts etc

  Finding suitable, temporary foster homes for recovering animals and orphaned puppies.

  Finding permanent adoptive homes both in Turkey and other countries, with a follow-up system for dogs leaving the shelter.


To achieve all of this it is necessary for the volunteers of Marmaris to constantly hold fundraising events, ranging from raffles, sponsored events and table-top sales to encouraging ongoing donations to the scheme.

Volunteers often provide essentials out of their own pockets and desperately need your help to improve the lives of the stray and abandoned dogs of Turkey, where the government policy is to trap, neuter and then release dogs (TNR).

Perhaps you will be traveling to Turkey this year for your annual holiday or for business purposes. Marmaris is a popular tourist destination, with many clubs and bars, aquaparks and local entertainment and is renowned for its sailing centre. Add to this the friendliness of the locals and you have the makings of a great holiday. But please, whilst enjoying all that Marmaris has to offer, spare a thought for the dogs and volunteers of the Marmaris Dog Shelter and help them in any way that you can.

You can find the shelter at:
Marmaris Hayvan Rehabilitasyon Merkezi
Otogar Yani
Marmaris – 48700

Or find out more at:
Follow on Twitter @MarmarisAnimals

You can read more about how to help the many dog rescue shelters across Europe by visiting www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk
You can also contact us via  replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Why We Started Dog Welfare Network


Our personal experience of witnessing the huge stray dog problem whilst on holiday in areas such as the Greek Islands made us stop and think.

Wandering around holiday destinations sightseeing, we became aware of the number of dogs abandoned on the streets, and decided to seek out dog rescue shelters. On the plus side, we did indeed find them, on the down side many proved to be under-resourced, run by caring volunteers in need of funding and support.

In some areas, although we found shelters not too far apart from one another, they were unaware of each other’s existence, which meant that they were unable to share useful resources, such as transport for dogs offered adoption.

This is why we started The Dog Welfare Network – to inform holidaymakers where they can find dog rescue organisations to support and to make shelters aware of one another so that they can share resources where appropriate.

What we do not intend tourists to do is round up the local dogs they see and take them to the nearest shelter! This is unhelpful and counterproductive.

Instead, we suggest that you visit the shelters, taking gifts of food, bedding and other equipment if you can. Offer your services for dog walking or fund-raising, or leave a monetary donation if you are able. This then assists in caring for the dogs in the shelter and finding them adoptive homes, thus freeing up places to accommodate further strays.

Many centres offer neutering programmes, to reduce the number of future strays, and contributions towards these programmes are very welcome.

The Dog Welfare Network has created a website on which we will be adding details of dog rescue centres around Europe that would value your support. When planning your next holiday, be sure to see what shelters are near your chosen destination, so that you can help too.

Visit our website www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk and click on the country in question. If you visit any of the shelters listed, we would value your feedback via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk

Thank you for your support.

Sunday 16 March 2014

How You Can Help


At the Dog Welfare Network, we are aware that there is a huge number of stray, unwanted, uncared for dogs across the world. Although we are based in the UK, we have seen at first hand the plight of these dogs across Europe and witnessed dog shelters struggling to raise funds and meet the demand for safe places for these abandoned animals.

That’s why we’ve launched our website giving information about many of the dog shelters that exist across the UK and the rest of Europe. Our aim is to raise awareness of dog rescue organisations, so that they may come together and pool their resources whilst enabling members of the general public to help in any way that they can.

It can be heartbreaking when travelling to different countries on holiday or for business, to be met by sights of bedraggled unwanted pets. You may often wonder how you can help them, but leave without doing anything, as you’re not sure what to do.

For future trips, just visit our website www.dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk and click on the country in question. This will enable you to find out what local dog rescue centres there are and what you can do to help them. If you visit any of the shelters listed, we would value your feedback via replies@dogwelfarenetwork.co.uk so that we can add up-to-date information and ensure that shelters that are exhibiting bad practice are not being featured on our website.

Thank you for your support.