Dogs Trust Canterbury is saying a big thank you to its volunteer doggy foster carers who have continued to go the extra mile for their four-legged friends in recent months.
This week (1-7 June) is Volunteers’ Week, an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering.
Currently Dogs Trust Canterbury’s volunteers aren’t able to help out the rehoming centre, but volunteer foster carers have been keeping busy doing their bit to help dogs most in need in these uncertain times.
Helen Webster, Home from Home Co-ordinator at Dogs Trust Canterbury, says: “Dogs that go into the loving homes of our foster carers are usually only there for a short time, revelling in their home comforts until they can find their forever homes.
“But because of the current situation, they have been there for a while longer than anticipated and we want to say a huge thank you to our dedicated foster carers who have continued to give them all the love and care they need.”
Dogs Trust’s fostering scheme, called Home from Home, was established at Dogs Trust Canterbury in 2016. The foster carers help provide temporary homes to dogs that come into the care for the rehoming centre but would benefit from continuing to enjoy home comforts until they find their forever family.
There are currently nine dogs in foster homes locally from 16-year old Collie Cross Martin, to nine-month-old Springer Spaniel Sky and one of these loving life is six-year-old Weimaraner, Misty is living with foster carer Cat Charles.
Cat says: “I’ve loved every minute of being a foster carer for Misty. It’s so fulfilling you’re helping a dog who needs an extra bit of TLC. Even just being in your home environment and having that additional company can make all the difference in the world to some dogs like Misty.
“It’s really heart-warming that there is such a supportive team at Dogs Trust, who’s number one priority is the foster dog’s wellbeing.”
Volunteers are a vital part of the team at Dogs Trust Canterbury, but they aren’t currently able to help out on site with the usual tasks of everything from dog walking to cleaning kennels and laundry.
Helen says: “We can’t wait until we have our volunteers by our side at the rehoming centre again and we know they are raring to go, but in the meantime we want to say thank you to all of them for their continued support, and to our foster carers who are doing such a fantastic job.”
Dogs Trust Canterbury has been overwhelmed recently with members of the dog-loving public offering to become foster carers. As a result, the centre has temporarily paused applications.
Dogs Trust Canterbury is still closed to walk-in members of the public. However, recent changes in the government guidance means that from 1 June the team can now book appointments for those dogs who can’t be rehomed using our new ‘handover at home’ process.
Potential new owners will be able to meet the dog they are interested in rehoming at the centre in an outside play area, or in a spacious area that is separate from the main rehoming centre such as a training barn, whilst adhering to social distancing guidelines.
If you would like to support Dogs Trust in other ways, please visit www.dogstrust.org.uk.
