PRESS RELEASE: 11th April 2012 – FOR 
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bravo to the UK’s First Working Dog Rescue Centre
Recent media stories have highlighted the sad end of many working dogs who have given their lives to protecting humans and our country, only to be let down for their loyalty. The shocking release of MOD figures, showing that over 800 dogs have been put to sleep in the last decade, has again made animal lovers question whether it is ethical to have dogs working for humans.
There is no specialised working dog rescue in the UK, so retiring dogs from the Police and security industries, or those not quite making the grade during training, have nowhere to go and therefore are often put to sleep. Whilst some are sold on independently, this bears no resemblance to the careful home checking, contracts and lifetime back up that a good rescue centre can give a dog.
In a career spanning 30 years, leading UK animal behaviourist Debbie Connolly, has retrained and rescued many working dogs on a small scale basis. Debbie currently uses boarding kennels or foster homes to assist her in getting these working dogs the help that they need. This severely limits the numbers that she can help as kennels are expensive. Debbie is now expanding her operation through Bravo Working Dog Rescue and is raising funds to move to new premises with its own kennels to secure a future for many more dogs.
Debbie said: “There are many dogs out there that don’t quite make the grade for working, who are rejected during training or retire with nowhere to go. Whilst many dogs stay with their handler in retirement, some don’t and need retraining to make them safe to live as a pet. I am being asked to help more and more of these dogs so I need to set up a bigger centre”
“As well as the pets I have helped, I also work alongside many Police and security dog handlers and I am continuously in awe of the courage and ability that these dogs show us by protecting us on a daily basis. The industries that use these animals should start to give something back to the dogs and they can do that by supporting their rehoming through Bravo Working Dog Rescue.
“Many dogs go on to retire with their handlers, but a few can’t and this can leave a dog that is not ready to be a pet dog with no options.”
The Bravo Working Dog Rescue Centre will help failed and unwanted dogs from the working world. Those without a retirement home can get the help they deserve and be given a chance to go on to become happy, loved pets. We are appealing to the world of working dogs to support and sponsor this initiative.
The horse racing industry and the Greyhound racing industry already put money into the rehabilitation of their animals, but nothing currently exists for working dogs. Anyone interested in sponsoring Bravo Working Dog Rescue can contact them on 0208 144 5799, visit www.bwdr.co.uk or email info@bwdr.co.uk for more information.
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For media enquiries, interviews, personal appearances, column contributions or feature anecdotes, please contact:
Naidre Werner
Tel: + 44 (0)845 459 9956
Mob: + 44 (0)7767 371802
Email: naidre@thesourcefor.co.uk
Notes to Editors
As with any animal rescue centre, all editorial mentions that highlight this good cause are gratefully received.
ABOUT DEBBIE CONNOLLY
Debbie Connolly has worked with animals for 30 years in all disciplines; training, boarding, rescue, showing, behaviour and strays.
Best known for the BBC series Dog Borstal, she also appeared in Britain’s Most Embarrassing Pets in 2009.
She is the Behaviour Consultant for Zep the Dep Rottweiler Rescue, Bengal Cat Rescue and various smaller rescuesand is the Behaviour and Training Advisor for The Pet Education Trust.
Debbie is an associate member of the British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers. She lives at home with her family, of the two and four legged variety. Her behaviour website is www.safepets.co.uk. The new Bravo Working Dog Rescue Centre website is currently under construction.
Debbie is available for interviews, personal appearances and regular column contributions and has a wide variety of great anecdotes and feature ideas available from thirty years of working in the business.
