New life for Nanook after being cared for at Shrewsbury Dog's Trust

The five-year-old crossbreed dog, found himself in the rehoming centre of Shrewsbury Dogs Trust looking for a new home.

His new life it just one that is being highlighted as part of the charity's ‘Change the Tale’ campaign telling of animals that have been handed over the to trust in lockdown.

The charity is braced for an increased reliance on its services, caring for dogs in need. Between August 2020 and January 2021, Dogs Trust saw a 41 per cent increase in web traffic to its ‘Giving Up Your Dog’ page compared to the six-month period beforehand.

The charity is encouraging people to ‘change the tale’ for dogs affected by the pandemic, and to seek advice if they feel they can no longer care for their pet.

Before arriving at the rehoming centre, Nanook had lived outdoors with many other dogs and therefore wasn’t used to life in a loving home. But last October the Geoghegan family, Kay and Craig along with 15-year-old Max and twelve-year-old Keira, proved to be his perfect match.

Kay said: “We had thought about getting a dog for some time and we have had rescue dogs before so we really wanted to give another dog the chance to have the great life they deserve. We live in the beautiful Cotswold countryside and now we have Nanook it’s great to get out in all weathers as a family and appreciate the world around us. Nanook certainly helps us do that! He is such a good boy and he makes us so happy. He’s beautiful; we really can’t imagine life without him.”

Sue Bromley, Assistant Manager at Dogs Trust Shrewsbury, said:

“Nanook had a really difficult start to life so to see him happily settled and loved in his forever home is wonderful.

“We know that the pandemic and its economic repercussions will have devastating effects on some people’s lives and their ability to care for their pets. When people take on the responsibilities of dog ownership, they do so with the best intentions to care for them long-term. But as the calls to Dogs Trust show, in these extraordinary times circumstances can change in a heartbeat, leaving owners with incredibly tough decisions to make.

“It is heart-breaking to hear someone having to choose between, for example, a roof over their head, or their dog and we’d like to thank the people who made these calls for allowing us to share their story and for coming to us in their time of need. Unfortunately, we believe the worst is yet to come and we expect many more calls like this as the pandemic fallout continues - and we will do all we can to help those in need of our support.”

The charity provides a range of services to help keep dogs and their owners together, such as support for dog owners without a home and a unique fostering service for dog owners experiencing domestic abuse. Dogs Trust Dog School is also providing easy to follow online videos helping dog owners tackle behaviours they are seeing as a result of lockdown that could eventually result in dogs having to be given up, such as separation anxiety. The charity also offers the Canine Care Card, which guarantees that if an owner should pass away or become very unwell, their dog will be cared for by Dogs Trust.

Together with the support of the public, Dogs Trust is working to ‘Change the Tale’ for dogs like Nanook. If you are struggling and need advice or support to give up your dog, would like to know more about how Dogs Trust is helping keep dogs and owners together or if you would like to donate to Dogs Trust, please visit www.dogstrust.org.uk/changethetale