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Our ICE Advent event continues with the Doggy Shoebox Christmas Appeal which was founded by ICE member Alun Prosser of GoConnect.

There are hundreds of dogs in the South Wales area awaiting rehoming and unfortunately are often in temporary kennels for long periods of time with nothing to keep them occupied. This not only causes stress and anxiety but can also have an adverse effect on their physical health, affecting their chances of finding a new family.

 

doggy shoebox

To address this, Alun who is the founder of GoConnect Ltd set up a DOGGY SHOE BOX XMAS APPEAL in 2015 with the aim to fill as many shoe boxes as possible with lots of doggy goodies to help make those without a home feel a little less lonely over the cold, dark winter months.

 

“I’m a huge animal lover – dogs in particular and there have been very few times in my life when I’ve not had one by my side. For many years’ I have supported charities and organisations that rescue badly treated and stray dogs and came up with the shoe box idea last winter; The Xmas shoebox for orphans’ appeal is very well established and I thought why not do the same for dogs and so I just created a very simple facebook page and thought I’d get around 5 or 10 boxes at the most.

The support was amazing and we had over 30 filled shoeboxes and numerous bags of donations which went to organisations such as Hope Rescue as well as those who are street homeless with dogs. Such was the success we are running the appeal again in 2016 and already have collected more than last year and we want to continue to reach out to others. I have the help and support from some fantastic people who are also extremely passionate about making a difference with collectors and donations from as far as Swansea and Llanelli.”

 

For those looking to donate – ideal things to include are: Robust chew toys (such as kongs, nylabones, tuff toys etc.), tennis balls, hard rubber balls, small footballs, dog treats (bought and / or homemade), antler chews, fleece blankets, collars, leads, harnesses, dog coats, plaited pull toys.

Over the next two weeks Alun will be distributing out these items to rescue centres and shelters throughout South Wales to help support the fantastic work they do. The Doggy Shoebox Appeal also supports a community organisation called Help4Wales who offer an animal fostering service and are always in need of food, toys and accessories to help ensure a smooth transition for animals over to their new owners so all donations really will be put to the best use possible.

They are also going to distribute a number of items to those who are street homeless with dogs and will be heading out in towns and cities over the winter months to provide food, clothing and dog items to those who need it most.

Any money donated to this cause will be used to support this side of the appeal so they welcome all the support on offer.