Disabled dog charity in Canterbury calls out for support following a viral tiktok video

KentOnline / KMTV

They recently received a generous donation from Ricky Gervais but are looking for ongoing help to support these dogs.   Kristin Hawthorne took some of the dogs for a walk earlier

Transcript

00:00Christmas has come early for these dogs, after being featured in a viral TikTok video and

00:11receiving a large donation from Ricky Gervais for their care. But their lives have not always

00:16been filled with such joy. It's sad what's happened to them, but if this didn't happen

00:19to them they wouldn't have such a good life. The lives they had before they came to us

00:22were probably a whole lot worse given the types of owners they had, so it's almost a

00:27bittersweet thing. The paralysis had to happen to them to have a better quality of life and

00:31these dogs actually have a better quality of life than most four-legged dogs.

00:35Flory's Friends Rescue charity is one of a kind here in Kent, helping paralysed dogs with

00:40just one or two legs get a second chance at life. We actually turn down about 20 dogs a

00:46week. We get so many 0800 trauma calls, we have a trauma line, we get hundreds of emails

00:52from people, either with their unwanted pet that's newly paralysed that they can't cope

00:57with. We have transfers from many charities, so for example Nelly was a transfer from another

01:02charity, they're not a paralysis specialist rescue, but they didn't want to euthanise

01:06her, so they transferred her over to us. And then a lot of things from the vet, we get

01:11a lot of referrals from the vets, so when they've got animals that come in with abuse cases,

01:16they come from left, right and centre basically. We're never short of intake. But unfortunately,

01:21dogs, as soon as they become disabled, it's euthanasia immediately, which why should that

01:26be? Why can't dogs live disabled? Why can't humans but not animals live disabled? It's

01:30just a matter of perception and that's what we're trying to change as a rescue.

01:34The charity recently received a donation of £100,000, which they say will cover their

01:38vet bills for the next year. And why they say they're very grateful for this donation,

01:43more consistent community support is needed to protect the future of the dogs in the long

01:46term.

01:47So the donation we received of Ricky Gervais, it safeguards our future basically. It safeguards

01:53the future of these dogs and the dogs that we're going to be taking in. But unfortunately,

01:58I know £100,000 seems an incredible amount of money to someone who doesn't work in rescue.

02:04£100,000 does not cover our running costs for a year. That covers our vet bills for a year.

02:09So yes, Ricky Gervais has absolutely changed the lives of hundreds of paralysed dogs. But

02:15we really hope that doesn't put people off donating to us in future as we rely on community

02:20donations for the monthly donations to safeguard our future and the dog's future.

02:25The fact that they're still dogs, they're no different from any other dog. They just don't

02:30have, you know, any rear legs and they have a wheelchair, but they're completely the same

02:35as every other dog. And sometimes I think people don't understand that they're still

02:42a dog and that, you know, they'll still do absolutely everything a normal dog does.

02:47So with Christmas well on its way, these Santa's little helpers are proving that two legs can

02:52be just as good as four. Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV, Canterbury.

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