SMILEY FACE FOR BAILEY: Dog made into ‘emoji’ character
Pooch picked for icons
A HAREFIELD hound has a unique claim to fame after being made into an “emoji” character.
Emojis are small, fun images that can be inserted into electronic messages, emails or texts to express your mood.
They are similar to emoticons, or smiley faces, that have been used for years, but this new Japanese innovation allows for a much wider range of icons.
Now the Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, has its own range of 23 dog-based emojis based on popular breeds in the UK.
Each image is based on a real life dog and includes Bailey the Bichon Frise from Dogs Trust Harefield, in Harvil Road.
Richard Moore, manager of Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre Harefield, said: “We are delighted that Bailey is the inspiration behind the Bichon Frise Dogs Trust Emoji. He has always been a superstar in our eyes and we really hope this campaign helps him to find his perfect family.”
The arrival of the Dogs Trust Emoji aims to celebrate canine diversity in all its ‘barking’ glory after Apple updated its existing emoji keyboard to provide a more racially diverse range of characters.
Through the Dogs Trust Emoji keyboard, the charity hopes to capitalise on a new trend to remind would-be dog owners about the variety of breeds at rehoming centres.
Adrian Burder, CEO of Dogs Trust says: “As the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, we have a responsibility to ensure all dogs are fairly treated, and represented, in both the digital and real world.
“While we fully support the recent updates to diversify the emoji keyboard, with nine million canines in family homes across the country, we also feel dogs deserve that same representation.
“We see so many wonderfully different dogs every day, we wanted to share this with the public.”
Staff at Harefield describe Bailey as “a very sweet boy who can be a little shy”. He loves other dogs, they hope he can be rehomed in a family which has another existing dog to learn from to help him build his confidence.
Dogs Trust Emoji is available to download for free on Apple iOS and Google Android.
If you would like to rehome any of dogs at Dogs Trust Harefield, contact them on 01895 453930 or visit www.dogstrust.org. uk.