A Very Lovely Letter

Recently our Executive Director, Mark Beazley, received a very lovely letter from a schoolgirl called Amie from Co. Tipperary.  Amie's school had been visited by South East Education Officer Deirdre and it was clear from her letter that over 2 years later, Amie was still very much impacted by what she learned about dogs during the workshop.  Below is a copy of Amie's letter, along with the response given by Deirdre:



Dear Amie,

First of all Mark would like to thank you very much for your lovely letter, he said it made his day!  Mark has asked me to write to you on behalf of all the staff and dogs at Dogs Trust, as I am the Education Officer who visited your school two years ago with my Education Dogs, Sadhbh and Cónán.  I am so pleased that you enjoyed our visit and that you are still thinking about us two years later!  I have some good news:  I will be returning to your school this December to do some brand new educational workshops.  Myself and the dogs are really looking forward to meeting you all again!

I am glad to hear you and your sister have such a love for dogs – especially King Charles Spaniels and Pugs!  You were wondering what dogs would be suitable for younger children.  At Dogs Trust we

believe in ‘deed, not breed’ – that basically means we think any breed of dog can make a great family pet if they have an owner who does the good ‘deed’ of bringing them up with lots of care, attention and respect.  My advice to you would be to always try your best to be a responsible dog owner and to help your family make sure your dog is healthy and happy.  Remember, dogs need two meals and two walks a day, plenty of water, a comfy bed, some fun toys and most importantly, an owner who loves them.

At present we have over 200 dogs and puppies at our centre, all looking for their fur-ever homes!  Since Dogs Trust opened  in 2009 we have seen thousands of dogs come through our doors.  In fact, we rehome around 1000 dogs every year!  One dog who really sticks in my mind is a Greyhound called Brave.  He was tied up outside Dogs Trust with a broken leg, held together with tape.  Luckily our fantastic vet team managed to save his injured leg and Brave even went on to work as an Education Dog in East Munster!  It’s stories like this that make working at Dogs Trust so fulfilling. We think every dog deserves a second chance, which is why we never destroy a healthy dog.

I hope I have answered all your questions, and I’ll see you very soon!

Best wishes,

Deirdre

 

We would like to thanks Amie very much for writing to us, as knowing the positive effect an Education Workshop can have on our future dog owners is what makes the job the Education Officers and their dogs do so very worthwhile!  If you would like to book a workshop with one of our team, contact education@dogstrust.ie or find details of your local Education and Community Officer on learnwithdogstrust.ie.