Rescue dog Jack scores at QPR
A HARE HATCH rescue dog scored away at QPR last month.
Black lab cross Jack, his owner Nike Roe, and some of his pooch pals from Friends of Animals Wales (FOAW) visited the club’s training ground in Hillingdon.
Manager Mark Warburton and director of football Les Ferdinand MBE were won over by the away team.
And players including Dominic Ball, Sam MacCallum and George Thomas also enjoyed their canine meet-andgreet.
They were there in the hope that QPR can help tackle the problem of finding homes for the animals FOAW currently has up for adoption.
Ms Roe became involved with FOAW following a meeting with the charity’s founder Eileen Jones.
“We were both at Number 10 when we were campaigning for legislation to empty puppy farms,” she explains.
“The work that they do in helping dogs from overseas, funding treatment for sick animals and re-homing rescued dogs appealed to me.
“Everyone involved is a volunteer.”
Jack is an ex-FOAW dog, who suffered years of abuse before being rescued by the charity. He is still receiving physiotherapy to help him to walk.
He recently won Rescue Dog of the Year at the Animal Star Awards, organised by Mary Burgess. Jack received several nominations for the category, and was chosen as the winner by industry professionals in animal-related careers.
Ms Roe is a dog behaviouralist who has worked with Mr Ferdinand’s pets in the past.
“QPR were keen to restore the reputation of footballers following a recent high profile case of alleged animal abuse by a Premier League player.
“Many of the team are dog lovers and the club want to support us going forward.”
All of the dogs who accompanied Jack were ex-breeding stock or in need of operations due to abuse or untreated conditions.