New exercise area to be opened at Newport City Dogs Home
Posted on Tuesday 24th September 2019
Lindsay Horth, Debbie Hayward, Susie James ,Lesley Sperinck, Nicola Rosendale, Paris Head, Councillor Ray Truman at the awards presentation
A dedicated dog exercise park – the first of its kind in Wales - is due to be opened by Newport City Council thanks to a generous donation from charity partners Friends of the Dogs Wales.
The two acre site is attached to Newport City Dogs Home at Coronation Park in Stephenson Street near the iconic Transporter Bridge.
Use of the exercise area has been piloted by the dogs home team along with their partner volunteer walking group organised by Opt to Adopt in Newport to exercise stray and abandoned dogs in their care.
And this week their hard work in getting the project off the ground was acknowledged by RSPCA Cymru who presented the home with an Innovator Award for the scheme.
The home was also presented with RSPCA Cymru’s Gold award in the Stray Dogs Footprint section of the annual PawPrints awards.
Once the exercise park is formally open to the public Newport residents who own vulnerable dogs, for example those dogs which are liable to run off, are timid and may be attacked by other dogs or for those who own a dog with behaviour issues or is aggressive, the facility will provide the safe environment where the dog can run freely.
Dog owners will be able to book a date and time and pay for the exclusive use of the field online.
To get the scheme up and running dog owners are being asked to register their interest with a link to be provided in the coming weeks.
Councillor Ray Truman, cabinet member for licensing and regulation, congratulated staff and volunteers on the awards and praised everyone for their hard work in ensuring the kennels are run smoothly and stray and unwanted dogs are cared for.
“The new exercise area is a great asset for the dogs home and we would like to thank our charity partners Friends of the Dogs Wales and Opt to Adopt Newport for their help in helping us achieve this.
“We know this area will provide a safe and secure place for dog owners and their pets to exercise in without the worry of their dogs being off a lead and perhaps running away or being a danger to others.
“The RSPCA’s awards are also recognition of the continuing hard work that goes on by our staff who ensure stray dogs are looked after and cared for, we are also proud of the number of dogs who are able to be rehomed,” said Cllr Truman.
The awards were presented during a celebration at the National Assembly for Wales attended by AM Lesley Griffiths, minister for environment, energy and rural affairs on 23 September.