Support Rescue Dogs With The 2017 Breed Rescue Calendar

Dog lovers can support rescue dogs by ordering the 2017 Kennel Club Breed Rescue calendar, which is now available and stars dogs from breeds that have been helped by Kennel Club Breed Rescue (KCBR) organisations.

Raising money for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, the calendar features images of rescue dogs that were submitted by KCBR organisations for a competition run by the Kennel Club to find worthy models to illustrate each month of the year. 

The 2017 calendar features the following breeds: West Highland White Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, German Shepherd Dog, Dobermann, Akita, Old English Sheepdog, Golden Retriever, Irish Setter, Afghan Hound, French Bulldog, Greyhound and Bedlington Terrier.

The cover star of the 2017 calendar is 16 month-old Irish Setter, Harry, who came into the Irish Setter Breeder Club (ISBC) Rescue in September last year when he was just 10 weeks old due to a serious health condition. Harry suffers with megaesophagus, which means he has significant issues swallowing food.

Originally the rescue organisation was given his brother George, who had the same condition, after his owners couldn’t pay his vet fees. Two weeks later, ISBC Secretary Geraldine Cove-Print discovered Harry in an advert online after his owner too had trouble paying their vet bills. After £300 was raised to buy Harry via donations from the ISBC Rescue’s Facebook page, 24 hours later Geraldine was able to collect him.

Harry went into foster care with ISBC assistant secretary Karen Pare whilst George was taken in by Geraldine for several weeks whilst they received specialist care to make sure they were as healthy as possible for new homes. During this time the pair acquired a large fan base via the ISBC Facebook group, which lead to further money being raised to pay for their medical bills. Although they will always be at risk of a lung infection called aspiration pneumonia, following specialist veterinary care and a specific diet regime, both brothers’ condition has significantly improved.

Harry’s new owners, Sarah and Simon Docherty from Buckley, North Wales, stumbled upon his story when they saw that friends of the ISBC were raising funds in order to rescue Harry. The couple had previously owned another Irish Setter who had the same condition as Harry, as well as cancer, but who sadly passed away in April this year. The pair weren’t looking for a new dog but as soon as they read about Harry on Facebook they quickly changed their minds.

Proud owner Sarah said: “We firstly fell in love with his story due to his poor start in life. We’ve always had Setters and his plight tugged at our heartstrings and made us want to help. Then in discussions with the ISBC Rescue we fell further in love with him through his updates and stories about how he was getting on in his foster home, his cheeky character, and how he developed his own personality as his health improved.

“Upon setting eyes on him for the first time, we instantly fell head over heels in love and we couldn’t be happier, or more proud of him, for being on the cover, and handsome Mr August, of the Kennel Club Breed Rescue calendar.”

Harry and his new owners will be joined by Karen Pare from the ISBC Rescue, along with other dogs which feature in the calendar, at London’s biggest dog event, Eukanuba Discover Dogs on 22nd-23rd October at ExCeL London to promote Kennel Club Breed Rescue organisations and encourage people to buy the calendar to support rescue dogs.

As winners of the competition to find the stars of the calendar, the ISBC Rescue will be presented with £100, and the 11 other rescues which had their dogs chosen to appear in the calendar will each receive £50 granted by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said:  “Congratulations to all of the dogs in the new breed rescue calendar – we are thrilled to showcase their pictures and stories. The hope is that the calendar’s sale will help to encourage people to consider rescuing a purebred dog which needs a permanent home, whilst also raising money for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust which supports and funds a number of rescue and rehoming organisations.

“The Kennel Club Breed Rescue organisations do such fantastic work and we look forward to having Harry and the other calendar stars at Eukanuba Discover Dogs to showcase the amazing rehoming stories as well as educating the general public about rescuing a dog.”

The Kennel Club Breed Rescue calendar will be on sale for £5 throughout Eukanuba Discover Dogs and through the Kennel Club online shop for the rest of the year. All proceeds go to the Kennel Club Charitable Trust to ‘make a difference for dogs’.