Happier Days For Strays celebrates first birthday with dog show

Happier Days For Strays, which is run by volunteers, celebrated a year of helping to rescue dogs with a family fun day and dog show featuring 15 pets and dogs.

The event, which was held at Ferry Farm Boarding Kennels, on Offerton Lane, on May 8, was a success, raising about £1,800, which will go towards helping the running cost of the organisation, currently looking to gain charity status.

Volunteer Lainie Reay, 40, from Monkwearmouth, was delighted with the turnout on the day.

She said: “It was a lovely day and everybody enjoyed it.

“We had a really good turnout with a few hundred people coming along to watch the dog show, which saw 15 pets and dogs take part, with some receiving rosettes and trophies.

“We are a volunteer-run organisation, so the day was to thank the public for the support we have had over the past year.

“The organisation was founded by Lisa Scott, and since we opened on April 27 last year, our 30 volunteers have helped around 250 dogs to be re-homed.

“We help dogs whose owners may have passed away, those who are strays or have been abandoned. But we don’t just help dogs, we also help other animals – including cats, horses and birds – to find homes and we take them to the vets and kennels.”

The organisation, which relies on donations from the public, works with Ferry Farm Boarding Kennels and Kings Road Vets, to shelter the abandoned, lost or stolen dogs.