The DogCast Radio blog

April 23 is the second annual National Lost Dog Awareness Day. Shelters and rescues across the United States use this day to bring attention to the many dogs in their care who have family looking for them. We live in a world where people sometimes assume the dogs they find are unwanted. Lost Dog Awareness Day has the stats to prove them wrong.

2015 marks the second annual RSPCA Ruffs, the charity’s alternative online dog show which challenges the ideals of beauty pageant style dog shows. Unlike Crufts which judges dogs primarily on looks which can cause suffering, Ruffs is a true celebration of dogs.
Ruffs doesn’t care what a dog looks like, what shape, size or colour they are - there are no ‘standards’ to be met, it just cares whether dogs are healthy, happy and above all loved.

With eight weeks to go before the country goes to the polls, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has launched its first ever Manifesto as the countdown to the 2015 General Election begins.

The Manifesto, which is designed as an informative political wall calendar featuring Battersea’s canine and feline friends, has been sent to MPs and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in every constituency of the UK. It aims to guide MPs in the next Parliament through the year, with Battersea’s animals highlighting key welfare issues, which need political support in addressing.

The Animal Health Trust (AHT) has successfully fulfilled its commitment to the Kennel Club and repaid, on time, an interest-free £1.5 million loan in full. The loan was given to the AHT in 2011 to help build the pioneering Kennel Club Cancer Centre at the AHT, designed to treat dogs, cats and horses. The loan significantly accelerated the build and development time of the centre which was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal in November 2012, just one year after the loan was received.

One of the Queen’s favourite breeds of dog, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, is at risk of
disappearing from our streets and parks after being listed as a vulnerable dog breed
by the Kennel Club for the first time in the breed’s history.

In 2014 the Pembroke Welsh Corgi numbered just 274 registrations with the Kennel
Club, 16 percent lower than in 2013. The breed has been steadily declining since its
peak in 1960, when almost 9,000 dogs were registered. In the last ten years the
numbers have continued to decline with there being almost double the number of the

Two dogs at the Brands Hatch site of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home are celebrating their anniversary of being in kennels – with an appeal for the right person to come forward and give them each a new home.

Four-and-a-half year old Jack Russell Jake was brought to Battersea in October, five months ago, by his owner who couldn’t look after him anymore. Jake is a lively and spirited little dog who will need an owner with a calm household and willingness to work on Jake’s behaviour.

News from the RSPCA-

Which imperfect pooch will take the lead in a national dog show with a difference?

RSPCA Ruffs launches this week!

The RSPCA is celebrating the underdog with its own dog show to rival Crufts - with clever canines who have overcome adversity and are now happy hounds.

The PDSA wants you to take part in The Big Pet Survey 2015 to help them
compile a report about the nation's pets' health.

You can see previous reports at the PDSA
site to see the insight the surveys give, as well as tips and
expert advice on giving your pet the right care to keep them healthy
and happy.

Shocking new figures come 180 years after dog and cockfighting was banned in UK.

Calls to the RSPCA reporting organised animal fighting have gone up by a third in the past five years - despite dog and cockfighting being banned for 180 years.

There was a total of 594 calls to Britain’s biggest animal charity in 2014 to report incidents or information connected to organised animal fighting, compared to 449 in 2010 - an increase of nearly 33%.

To mark the RSPCA’s Ruffs online dog show with a difference, the charity
is hoping people will start to look twice at these ‘wonky’ dogs in need of
a new home.

This Friday, February 20, marks the closing of entrants for RSPCA Ruffs
2015 - the charity’s alternative online dog show.

To challenge the traditional beauty pageant style dog shows, which judge
dogs primarily on looks, even when its these looks which can cause them to
suffer, ‘Ruffs’ celebrates them for the right reasons - their welfare and