We are fundraising to cover the vet and travel costs to re-home our best friend Buddy.

Buddy’s story:

Buddy lives on a small island in the Southern Grenadines, he is part of a group of dogs that get a daily walk to the nearest beach. It's paradise for those moments shared on the walks but this paradise comes with a reality and Buddy's reality away from the beach is living in a small wooden hut with a 2 foot chain. His owner does not care for him as we know how to.

Our story:

Sam and I became part of a small team that offer advice on animal welfare. We stayed on the island for 5 months and quickly became part of the pack, taking 11 dogs to the beach every morning, including Buddy. We enjoyed every moment, even the challenges we faced. It was important to respect peoples views while at the same time helping them to understand that general animal welfare is good for them and the dogs/cats/goats. We have continued our travels further south in The Caribbean and will always help animals wherever we go.

My story (Ash):

154 times I put Buddy back on his chain. I would tell myself, only 22 hours and you can take him off again. From all the dogs we walked Buddy was the hardest to say goodbye to. His owner would tell me Buddy was useless because he doesn't bark when somebody is in their yard and they don't want him anymore. This only made it harder for me as I know and see the results of neglect. Last week I received news that Buddy’s owner has gotten a puppy. We all know the impact of a replacement dog. Well that's the decision made, how can I wait till we end our travels to rescue him, not knowing when that would be.

Our plan:

So we did our research on rehoming a dog and it seemed like the decision was already made. Me and Sam are a team and we meet challenges with a strong will, our only downfall for our rescue plan is money. We saved enough for us to travel to South America and buy a van, we never anticipated we would re-home a dog. So here we are, asking family and friends to give a little towards our crazy heart filled plan. The costs include vet bills and travel expenses to transport him to Chile, where we will give Buddy the biggest adventure.

But what about all the other dogs? I ask myself. I wish we could take them all but I am a strong believer of anybody can make a difference, no matter how small. If you have ever had the connection to man's best friends, you know when you know. We know we want to change Buddy’s life for the better, he will be part of our lives and we will change his. We will always be in contact with other helpers on the island and depending on how this all goes we could even look into helping some of the other neglected dogs find new homes as well -we are open to anyone that would like to know more!

We go back to the island in February and have 3 months before flying to Chile. Just enough time to get the necessary vet visits done. We would like to raise enough money to get him away, the rest is a challenge for another day.

Below is a breakdown of the costs involved in transporting Buddy to another country:

£50.00 - Kennel: Petmate Sky Kennel IATA approved for flying (second hand)

£100.00 - Kennel: Petmate Sky Kennel transportation UK - ST Vincent

£12.00 - Pet passport: for all documents

£16.06 - Pet passport: document for Barbados (flying through, not a connection flight)

£16.06 - Pet passport: document for Chile

£70.00 - Travel: Boat: Vet Clinic in St Vincent (30 days prior to flight)

£45.00 - Vet Clinic: Microchip

£26.00 - Vet Clinic: Rabies Vaccination

£15.00 - Vet Clinic: Distemper, Adenovirus, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus, Leptospirosis Vaccination

£30.00 - Vet Clinic: Export certificate and exam

£205.00 - Vet Clinic: Rabies Titer blood test

£30.00 - Vet Clinic: Health Certificate (within 7 days of flying)

£10.00 - Medicine: De-wormer

£10.00 - Medicine: Flea and Tick treatment

£10.00 - Medicine: Travel sickness tablets (natural)

£5.00 - Travel: Boat: To St Vincent (cargo)

£117.00 - Travel: Flight: St Vincent to Barbados (cargo) LIAT

£400.00 - Travel: Flight: Barbados to Santiago (1 stop Panama - cargo) COPA

TOTAL: £1,167.12

Additional items for Buddy:

£20.00 - Accessories: Dog lead and Collar

£6.00 - Accessories: Grooming brush

£7.00 - Accessories: Engraved ID tag

£10.00 - Accessories: Travel food and water bowl

£16.06 - Travel: Argentina passport document

TOTAL: £59.06

Thank you for reading,

Ash, Sam and Buddy

Picking Buddy up in the mornings he would get so excited but training is important so here he is sitting and waiting like a good boy:

Buddy on the beach with friends, he loves to swim in the sea:

Buddy giving us the face that melts our hearts:

Dropping him back to his home. His (heart breaking) 'why are you leaving' face: