History
Based in Aberdeen, Scotland our charity ‘DAWGS' was founded in 1994 by five local dog owners who wanted to help and protect dogs less fortunate than their own pet pooches. At first we raised funds for the PDSA, SSPCA, our local Dog Home and other animal welfare organisations. We then met a vet who took in stray and abandoned dogs picked up by his local dog warden and this launched our dog re-homing service. Calls soon started coming in from the general public who also wanted our help to find their dog a new home.
The re-homing service was initially run from our own homes before we progressed to the dizzy heights of a desk and phone in the corner of a small rented room shared with a piano tuner! While still working on a purely voluntary basis (with families, pets, homes and ‘real' jobs to fit into our hectic schedules!) we finally moved into an office on the grounds of privately owned boarding kennels, where we could provide onsite care to our homeless four legged friends. We now have four employees in our office who deal with the daily doggie dilemmas, supported by a small but dedicated team of volunteer helpers.
Our group receives no local council or government funding and as we are not part of a national organisation we do not have the financial support enjoyed by others. D.A.W.G.S. rely totally on public donations and our own fund raising efforts to keep the charity running.
Hundreds of dogs every year are found loving new owners thanks the existence of our re-homing service. Our goal is to one day, raise enough funds to build our own rescue kennels, which will enable us to provide sanctuary to even more unwanted dogs.