Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s Community Scheme In Guildford

Published on: 29 Dec, 2020
Updated on: 31 Dec, 2020

One of the first of a planned 10 community centres by the famous Battersea Dogs & Cats Home charity, in its expansion outside its traditional catchment area, is in Guildford.

Staffie-cross Pickle was the first dog to be re-homed in the Guildford community scheme by the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home charity.

The Battersea Communities scheme uses volunteers to care for dogs and cats within their homes until a permanent family is found.

The Guildford community, set up in 2019, has now re-homed 19 dogs and four cats with one animal currently staying with a Guildford volunteer while they wait to go to their new family this week.

There are 15 volunteers in Guildford on the scheme. The plan is to re-home an additional 2,000 animals a year through the 10 communities.

Community rehoming volunteers, Neil and Anna Dunstan, enjoying looking after Teyha, the Battersea animal network officer’s dog.

The first community dog, Pickle, a Staffie-cross who spent 280 days at Battersea, was re-homed in January 2020 by the Tossell family. She had been temporarily looked after by the very first community volunteers, Neil and Anna Dunstan, who live in Guildford.

Emma Harrison, Battersea’s communities manager, said: “By working at a local level we can bring Battersea to new audiences and enable more people to interact with us and benefit from our services.”

Volunteers will receive ongoing support and training and will be provided with everything their Battersea animal will need including food, equipment and any necessary veterinary treatment.

For more informationnvisit www.battersea.org.uk/about-us/battersea-communities.