I am participating in the Friends of Animals Wales (FOAW), Miles of Smiles Challenge 2021. I am going to be completing a section of the Welsh Coast Path along the Gower to help raise enough money to fund a new Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. FOAW focus on ex Puppy Farm breeding dogs. They have usually spent their lives locked up in sheds, never knowing the love and kindness they so desperately need. All rescued dogs currently go straight into foster homes, so FOAW desperately need a Centre where all rescued animals can be assessed.

Both of our dogs are from FOTA.  Dill is a little 'Cavashon' .He clearly originated from puppy farm breeders, and sadly has many of the affects of this. He is only 7, has a grade 6 heart murmur, an hereditary condition , and he is on medication for life. He has an exceptionally long, dipping back, causing pain, again, puppy farm breeders use larger, long backed dogs, as they can carry more puppies, He has unseated elbow joints, with onset arthritis, and we are in the process of investigating his hips too, as he has had recent lameness. He needs pain relief for life, has physio therapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, and clinical massage. It is all very sad, but we do our best for him , and he is a very happy little dog. Many ex. breeding dogs, after suffering for years, just churning out these puppies, find their forever homes from FOTA, and many need the love and mental rehabilitation too. 

Esme is 6yr old cross breed, from Romania, she was found with an open infected fracture to her front leg. She was terrified, and caught with a catch pole. I cannot imagine the pain she must have felt as she was dragged, and then pushed into a crate. She was taken, had her leg amputated, and put straight into a pound, where she spent months, until she nearly gave up. It was then that she was found by a rescuer, and given the chance of a new life by Eileen, the founder of FOTA.  The work that all the volunteers do is truly commendable.

Both these dogs mean the world to us, and it is only through the work that this charity does, that makes it possible for them to escape from their pasts, and find their new forever homes. So please help by donating to this truly commendable cause, and by doing so help many many more dogs to recover their traumas and live the life they so deserve.