Stafford dog rescue hosting festival to celebrate one year anniversary

Brighter Days Rescue is hosting the event on Saturday from 11am until 4pm at Weston Village Hall on Green Road, Stafford.

There will be a dog show, with categories including cheekiest puppy, golden oldie, waggiest tail, best dog and handler dress up, and best sausage catcher.

Alongside this will be food and shopping stalls, pet 'pawtraits', and face painting.

The entry fee is £1 and class entry to the dog show is £3 per class, £5 for two classes, or £7 for three classes.

"Rescue is borderless"

Raine McCaughtrie's dog rescue, Brighter Days Rescue, does look after dogs in need of a good home from the UK.

However, a large proportion are saved from countries such as Bulgaria and Spain where there are even more stray dogs who need saving.

The 53-year-old said: "A lot of people ask us why we rescue dogs from abroad when there are stray dogs in the UK - but we have, we do, and we will continue to rescue UK dogs.

"But rescue is borderless, rescue is rescue no matter where it is. It's saving a dog's life.

"For dogs in UK shelters, it's like five star hotels compared to abroad. There are a lot of dogs in this country that deserve a home but they are safe. They're not at risk of being inhumanely killed."

Raine says that certain countries are "cruel" towards dogs, treating them "like vermin" and with a lack of respect.

However, others simply have larger numbers of stray animals, which says "is a problem that humans have caused and not caring for them by getting them neutered".

Therefore, Brighter Days Rescue liaises with rescuers in countries with large numbers of stray animals, like Spain and Bulgaria, bringing them over to the Stafford rescue.

Explaining why she wanted to set up kennels rescuing animals from abroad, Raine said: "I was helping a lady rescue dogs from Romania.

"The dogs were coming over and people weren't meeting them first. Sometimes the adoptions didn't work out and rescues would have to get fosterers in to look after them.

"I thought it would be a good idea to get these dogs from rescue to rescue, so people can meet them first and we can assist them through the process."

For more information on Brighter Days Rescue, go to their Facebook page or their website: brighterdaysrescue.com.

You can also email info@brighterdaysrescue.com or call 07899 287632.