Assistance dog charity plea for £100k to stay open

Dog Aid helps people train their own dogs to be assistance animals

A charity that helps adults with physical disabilities to train their own canine pet to become an assistance dog needs to raise £100,000 in four weeks or faces closure.

Dog Aid, which is based in Shrewsbury, said it needed the help because, like many small charities, it had suffered rising costs and a reduction in grants and donations.

As well as starting a fundraising appeal, it has appealed to businesses for sponsorship to raise the funds needed by November 15, or it would have to "start closing the charity".

Chief executive Belinda Johnson said the impact of having an assistance dog for her clients could be "truly life changing".

Since Dog Aid was founded in 1996, it has helped 476 disabled people to "train their dogs and improve their lives".

Ms Johnson said that they have received a "fantastic response" so far to the appeal, with donations close to £20,000.

Her charity has five members of staff, and they help people with dogs to coach their own pets.

She said: "We work in quite a unique way in that we don't breed dogs, we don't place dogs, and we work with the bond that already exists between a pet and the owner."

'Made my world bigger'

Abby from Telford has joints which dislocate easily and can experience a lot of pain as a result.

She said she was "very grateful to the charity" for helping her train her own dog, Pepper.

She said Pepper, "helps me to be safe on a day-to-day basis" and has "made my world a hell of a lot bigger".