A family from Sittingbourne, Kent have given a loving new home to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s 1000th dog of 2013.

The nine week old Staffordshire Bull Terrier pup named Emerald arrived at the world famous animal charity along with his six littermates because their owner could no longer care for them.

But it wasn’t long before precious little Emerald caught the eye of a new family, and was at Battersea for just eight days before finding a new home in Kent.

Walkers and their waggy-tailed friends are being encouraged to put their best paws forward in the world’s largest dog walk this summer to raise money for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Thousands of fundraisers and canine companions are set to bound around the coastline on The Leas, South Shields, on Sunday 9 June, in the Great North Dog Walk, which has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest dog walk 17 times since starting in 1990. Organisers are hoping to smash last year’s total of more than 23,000 walkers and 185 breeds of dog taking part in the event.

On the day when long awaited amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act were announced in the Queen’s Speech, leading animal charity Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has outlined some of the steps it is taking to help prevent the use of dogs as weapons in acts of anti-social behaviour.

There is good news for devoted pet owners struggling to find rented accommodation with their best friends. A specialist insurance policy is available through Endsleigh Insurance Brokers and Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, to encourage more landlords to accept pets in their properties, making it easier for pet owners to rent with their pets.

Record numbers of pet owners are giving up their dogs and cats and leaving Battersea Dogs & Cats Home to pick up the pieces. The world famous charity has received almost 5,000 enquiries this year from members of the public struggling to care for their dogs, a 50 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

Battersea is releasing the shocking figures as a new series of Paul O Grady: For The Love Of Dogs airs on ITV. This eight-part series reveals the work that goes into caring for thousands of abandoned dogs every year.