Dogs Trust is the largest canine welfare charity in Ireland and the UK. The organization has been rescuing and rehoming pups since 1891 with their now-famous motto, “A dog is for life.”
In keeping with this philosophy, the Dublin rehoming center has suspended all adoptions until after the New Year in an effort to discourage people from bringing home pets on a whim.
The charity took to the streets in order to demonstrate the message of their Paws For Thought campaign. Using “clean graffiti”, they peppered the streets of Dublin with massive pawprints and the hashtag #PawsForThought.
Clean graffiti is a technique that blasts away existing street grime in order to create an image or message. Dogs Trust says they used this method “to represent the owners that wash their hands of the responsibility and commitment that comes with owning a dog.”
They shared this accompanying message via their website:
“To remind people of our Christmas message that ‘A Dog is for life, not just for Christmas®’, we are urging people to “pause” and think about the lifelong commitment and responsibility that comes with owning a dog and then wait until after Christmas to consider taking on a new addition to the family.”
By encouraging potential pup parents to think twice before buying or adopting a dog for Christmas, they hope to improve these heartbreaking statistics:
- Last year, 12,549 dogs entered Irish pounds.
- 1,522 of them were needlessly destroyed.
- Dogs Trust had a 58% spike in surrender requests after Christmas last year.
While adoptions are currently “on paws”, the shelter welcomes visitors during their holiday hours and encourages potential adopters to call and discuss whether bringing home a pup in the new year is right for them.
As for the dogs spending their holidays at the rehoming center, the Dogs Trust staff are going above and beyond to make sure the season is special for them. Rather than exchanging Secret Santa gifts with one another, they decided to purchase presents for the pups instead.
Check out this adorable video of the dogs tearing into their new toys!
What do you think about Dogs Trust’s decision to suspend adoptions? Tell us your opinion in the comments!
If you support their mission, you can help spread the word by posting pictures of you or your pups “paw-sing for thought” on social media with #PawsForThought.
H/T to Unilad
Featured Image via Flickr/Kevin Carmody
