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A four year old rescue dog is looking forward to spending her first Christmas in her new home after waiting seven months for someone to fall in love with her.

This time last year Ruby was spending Christmas at Dogs Trust Snetterton and had waited more than 219 days for her special someone to take her home. But lockdown proved lucky for Ruby, as that was when Denise Bineham spotter her and decided to welcome her to the family.

Denise says:

“We can’t imagine life without Ruby. We adopted her in June, during the pandemic and in a few short months she had settled in. Dogs Trust matched us with Ruby and were able to support us in making sure we introduced her to new things slowly, as she could be anxious.

“Ruby is a gentle and intelligent girl, she loves playing with toys and doing zoomies in the garden. She is also a bit cheeky as she has figured out how to tell us when she is hungry, by tipping her food bowl or leading us to the treats. Ruby is very much part of the family and we wouldn’t be without her.

“We would definitely recommend adopting a dog. A dog is for life and we thought long and hard about getting one, but the time was right for us and Ruby has proved to be the best company ever in this unusual year. We are so happy that Ruby is going to be spending the first of many Christmases as part of our family and we can’t wait to make it a very special day for her.”

Emily Johnston, Rehoming Centre Assistant Manager at Dogs Trust Snetterton said:

“Ruby was with us for a while and we are so happy we were able to find her a forever home. It was fantastic to finally wave a fond and heartfelt farewell to her during lockdown. 

“Ruby is a sweet and bright girl and we loved having her here at the centre, so it was disappointing to see her being constantly overlooked by the public. That was until Denise and her family came along and changed the tale!

“We’re delighted that Ruby will be spending her first Christmas with her new family, getting all the love and affection she deserves. Seeing our dogs go to their new homes is why we do the job we do, and we are all absolutely delighted for Ruby.”

Dogs Trust fears that nationally up to 40,000 more dogs could be at risk of finding themselves without a home as a result of the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. (1)

Emily says:

“Sadly, we do expect to see more dogs finding themselves homeless in the coming months because of the pandemic, but we will be here to help. We will do everything we can to change the tale for them, making sure they all find a new forever family however long it takes, just like Ruby.”

Dogs Trust Snetterton is not currently open for public browsing, but we are still able to find new homes for some of our dogs through our ‘handover at home’ process. We have set up new processes which include social distancing measures to help keep staff and our visitors safe.

As dogs and their owners face hardships that could break them apart, Dogs Trust wants to be there to protect their bond and to make people aware of how the charity can help before their situation becomes desperate.

Dogs Trust wants to change the tale for thousands of dogs who otherwise would have nowhere to turn, and want to remind people that they are there to help wherever possible, so if anyone is struggling and needs to give up their dog, to contact Dogs Trust on 0300 303 2188. Alternatively, please give what you can to help Dogs Trust change the tale for dogs like Ruby by visiting dogstrust.org.uk/changethetale.

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(1) Calculations based on our 2019 Stray Dog Survey found that 46% of the 69,621 stray dogs in Local Authority kennels were not reunited with their owners, or left unclaimed. After the last recession, there was a 25.6% increase in stray dogs [from 2009 to 2010]. If we apply that increase to last year’s stray dog figures [2019], we could see 87,444 instances of stray dogs, and our estimations are that 46% of those dogs [40,224] could be permanently unwanted.

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