You didn’t have to be a dog lover to feel your heart break at the news reports of the fire at the Manchester Rescue Centre which killed more than fifty dogs last night.
Two local men broke into the burning complex to kick down doors and rescue as many dogs as they could; locals jammed roads on their way to the scene with food and blankets and overnight more than a million pounds has been raised for the charity.
That the fire was started deliberately is horrifying enough, but what is perhaps even more haunting is the fact that this was the second tragedy to befall these poor dogs, having already been abandoned by the people who they trusted to care for them.
While cute puppies remain commodities to be bought on a whim and discarded when the hard work becomes apparent, there will be little respite for the rescue centres who try so hard to re home these abandoned dogs.
Fifty dogs lost their lives in horrendous circumstances yesterday but 9,000 perfectly re-homeable dogs are killed each year in this country by Pounds and ‘Rescue’ organisations simply because there are no homes for them.
As I watched the pictures of the wonderful people of Manchester lining up to help outside the smouldering Rescue Centre my one consoling thought was that perhaps people might now be moved to show similar compassion and help save the lives of the 25 dogs a day who die silently all for the want of a family to love them.
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