Rotary Club of Shrewsbury GUEST SPEAKER – Lee Pogson
Lee Pogson with President Pat McLaughlin At the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury luncheon on 17 August 2016, Lee Pogson from the Dogs Trust explained, in a most interesting way, how the trust works during its 125th anniversary year as they continue to keep dogs safe from cruelty and neglect. They operate from 21 centres in the UK and Ireland. At Shrewsbury they currently house 140 dogs and employ 36 full- and part-time staff. The trust tries to ensure that no healthy dogs are destroyed. Ill dogs are treated whilst neglected and abandoned dogs are rehoused with foster carers. All dogs are micro-chipped and are generally neutered.The trust’s buildings are environment-friendly, using recycled water, solar heating, green roofs, etc. Much educational work is undertaken, with officers from the trust visiting schools. Lee also highlighted the campaigns in which the trust is involved, most notably over the issue of battery puppy farming and dog smuggling, highlighting how the trust had used a fake dog to illustrate the weaknesses of the existing system. She then looked at the future of the trust, which was to involve the opening of more charity shops, to refurbish the rehousing centres and to introduce greater training of dogs. Summary report by Rotarian Pam Bowen
www.dogstrust.org.uk/our-centres/shrewsbury/