With the closure of Walthamstow Stadium last weekend – greyhounds have been hitting the headlines. Many journalists have chosen to go down the nostalgic route in their articles – lamenting the demise of the sport and reminiscing about the so called ‘glory days’ of dog racing. I would have preferred them to dedicate more column inches to considering the rehoming process that will follow the closure.

Last week I was in Ireland to talk to the Greyhound Industry about plans for changes to the rules governing greyhound racing in the UK and how we are hoping that they can contribute to better welfare for the dogs. I had never been involved in a video conferencing situation before and, call me old fashioned, but I think there is nothing like meeting people face to face, but it was a fascinating process!

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By now, millions of dog lovers will have seen the new BBC2 programme The Underdog Show. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a brief synopsis…

Eight celebrities have teamed up with eight of the dogs in our centres and now have to undergo a crash course in dog training. Each week (for six weeks), the celebs have to undergo tasks which demonstrate their dog handling skills – all under the eye of three watchful judges. A vote at the end of each show decides who stays in the competition and who is in the dog house.

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Part of the reason I love working at Dogs Trust is that I get to see at first hand the great love our staff have for the dogs in our care. 

This week I visited our rehoming centre at Harefield, West London and was moved to tears by a story of a very special dog and the great love being lavished upon him by our staff.

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