Milestone for Dogs Trust

Dogs Trust is celebrating its 125th anniversary and staff at the Ballymena rehoming centre are marking the occasion by looking back at some of the organisation's most notable achievements.
Dogs Trust Ballymena staff celebrate 125 years with the help of some four legged friends.Dogs Trust Ballymena staff celebrate 125 years with the help of some four legged friends.
Dogs Trust Ballymena staff celebrate 125 years with the help of some four legged friends.

Since its small beginnings, the charity has been instrumental in changing the quality of life for dogs of all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life.

From its early years campaigning against the widespread use of dogs for vivisection and the persecution of stray dogs following rabies scares, to opening shelters for stray dogs and providing veterinary care for poorer dog owners, Dogs Trust has long championed the cause of the nation’s four-legged friends - something it continues to do to this very day.

Today, the charity runs campaigns to educate people on responsible dog ownership, how to keep children safe around dogs and the importance of neutering and microchipping.

Dogs Trust Ballymena opened its doors in 1970 and has since helped 15,000 dogs find loving new homes.

It also works internationally to improve the lives of dogs abroad, and its outreach work in the UK assists dogs whose owners who are homeless, fleeing domestic violence or struggling to find rented accommodation with their pet. To help celebrate 125 years of saving dogs lives, the staff and dogs at Dogs Trust Ballymena have been getting creative with a fun, themed picture featuring some of the four legged friends currently awaiting loving new homes.

Dogs Trust Ballymena Rehoming Centre Manager, Oonagh Phillips said: “It’s wonderful to look back over the years and see how far Dogs Trust has come in making vital improvements in dog welfare.

“I’m sure Lady Gertrude Stock couldn’t have imagined that the initial meeting of a handful of dog lovers would grow to become the largest dog welfare charity in the UK with a slogan famous worldwide.

“Helping stray and abandoned dogs has always been at the forefront of Dogs Trust’s aims and in this, our 125th year, we were delighted to welcome the introduction of compulsory microchipping in England, Scotland and Wales.

“This essential element of responsible dog ownership is the most effective permanent way of ensuring a lost dog is reunited with its owner so we hope to see a decline in the stray dog population in years to come.”