Shrewsbury woman comes to the rescue of stray dogs
A Shropshire woman is helping to rehome dozens of abandoned dogs from Cyprus in this country after being touched by the plight of the animals while visiting her parents.
Jodie Lane, from Shrewsbury, has already rehomed more than 30 dogs since March and has 20 more dogs booked on flights for the next two months.
The mum-of-three said she started the charity after visiting her parents on the island and witnessing the large number of stray and abandoned dogs on the streets.
Hairdresser Jodie, 29, said: "There is a lack of information about neutering and spaying in Cyprus. Dogs get used for hunting season and then dumped in the mountains and they breed with each other.
"Because my mum and dad live there, they have rescued a few themselves."
She said she decided to set up a Facebook page in March in an attempt to find British owners for the animals and collect donations for the costs of flying them over to England, which costs about £800 per dog.
Jodie said the site has got an amazing reaction, with more than 1,400 followers of the Facebook page.
She is now applying to turn the organisation – called Jodie's Cyprus Dogs Rehoming – into an official charity.
She is working with the Cyprus Government's dog pound and a rescue sanctuary in the country.
"When funds allow, I bring the dogs over that haven't got a home and they go into a foster home until we can find them a forever home," she said.
"I have got a job on top of it and three children.
"I do the page pretty much every evening and I can't remember the last time I sat down and watched EastEnders on the telly."
She said she was brought up in an animal-loving family who had dogs and horses and she has taken on rescue dogs herself.
As part of the fundraising efforts for the organisation, a charity ball will be held at the Albrighton Hall Hotel outside Shrewsbury on November 1.
Tickets are £35 and include a three-course meal.
For more information ring Jodie on 07891604156.
