Dogged Devotion and Determination

As the year draws to a close our Chief Executive, Clarissa Baldwin OBE, has written a special message for all those who have helped Dogs Trust in some way in 2010.

This Arctic weather has been playing havoc with our rehoming centres. We’ve had burst pipes, boiler problems, flooded work areas. Transport is a nightmare, causing us huge difficulties in getting dogs into homes. And, of course, many would-be adopters haven’t been able to get to our centres.

But despite the mayhem brought by the wintry weather, I have a very warm glow inside. And that glow is the result of the daily reports I receive of our staff and volunteers triumphing over adversity. We’ve had staff members walking up to 10 miles to get into work, others struggling for hours driving through blizzards to get dogs into our centres. Not all our staff or volunteers have been able to get in to the centres, which inevitably means that extra effort is needed from those who make it in.

So well done Team! I’m extremely proud of you and incredibly grateful for your dedication.

As 2010 draws to a close, I’d also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the donors who make our work possible. These are not the best of economic times and we feared that we may start to lose supporters over the course of this year. But our donors didn’t let us down (as if you would!) and our income has actually grown this year.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we were able to care for nearly 16,000 dogs this year – and, of course, no healthy dog was destroyed. We’ve also started work on our 19th rehoming centre (Loughborough) which will help us save even more dogs in the future. My huge thanks go to everyone who made a contribution this year – you are all life-savers.

Dogs Trust is fortunate to have many friends who play many roles in saving dogs’ lives – dog adopters, trustees, staff, volunteers, donors, journalists, dog trainers, politicians, vets & vet nurses, celebrities, teachers, dog wardens, other welfare groups. I do hope that every one of you has a very wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.

Clarissa