Paws at the ready to step up in support of puppies

A north-east animal lover who supports hundreds of homeless hounds in Portugal is asking people to sign up to his charity’s latest fundraising event.

The Friends of Bianca organisation supports the Bianca Associacao, a sanctuary for stray canines south of Lisbon.

Founded by Mike Gibb, who also set up the Scottish re-homing charity Dawgs in 1993, the charity works with the owners of the Portuguese pound to improve the living conditions of the hundreds of abandoned and neglected dogs in its care.

The group is now asking dog lovers to take part in its latest initiative, a sponsored dog walk, to raise cash for a new facility for the sanctuary’s dozens of vulnerable puppies.

Currently the pound is overflowing with homeless puppies, and all cash raised from the walk, which will take place on Sunday, will go towards building suitable accommodation for the young pups and their mothers.

The walk will start at 2pm from Duthie Park’s Polmuir Road entrance and will take place along the old railway line. Anyone who wants to support the cause is invited to come along with their four-legged friends and complete as much or as little of the walk as they like.

Mr Gibb said: “At the moment they’ve got around 80 puppies at the shelter .

“The problem is they don’t have proper puppy accommodation, so they end up being stuck in any spare space available, which has resulted in some puppies being left in baths just to give them a space to stay.

“The idea with this fundraiser is to getsomemoney together to purchase some proper mother and puppy houses, so theywouldhave freedom to run about and play, and stay within safe distance of their mums at the same time.

“Anybody can come along with their dogs, and they all get a certificate for taking part.

“And what’s even better is the dogs themselves all get a special handmade Friends of Bianca bandanna, and we’ve got trophies for the owners and dogs that raise the most money.”

This year will be the third year in a row the charity has organised a special fundraising dog walk, and Mr Gibb said he hopes it will be the most successful one to date.

He said: “Last time we did it we had about 40 dog walkers take part, so we’re hoping for similar numbers this year again.

“Being on the railway line, a lot of people join in on the day and just give us money on the spot, but we’ve got a lot of people that have drawn up sponsorship already.

“You can walk as long or as short a distance as you want to, we don’t stipulate a certain length because some people have older dogs that can’t handle the big walk out to Cultsand back.

“But it’s all about taking part and having fun, it’s been a great experience in previous years.”

To sign up for this year’s Friends of Bianca puppy walk, visit www.friendsofbianca.org or call Mr Gibb directly on 07903 463163.

Mike Gibb with one of the dogs at the Portuguese centre