After eight weeks of tail-wagging fun in and around Cardiff, Caerphilly and Porthcawl, an auction of 38 Snoopy sculptures has raised £156,000 for Dogs Trust.
A Dogs Trail with Snoopy saw 115 big and small Snoopy sculptures take to the streets, shopping centres and parks of Cardiff, Caerphilly and Porthcawl between April and June, and attracted thousands of visitors to the region who went walkies on the trail.
The auction event at the Coal Exchange on 21st June was hosted by renowned auctioneer, Charles Hanson, and was a pawsome success, with people bidding in the room and online to give their favourite members of the pack a forever home.
Anna Davies, Corporate Development Manager at Dogs Trust, said:
“It was an incredible night at auction and we’re thrilled our Snoopy pack raised £156,000 for the dogs in our care.
“Each year Dogs Trust looks after around 14,000 dogs and our rehoming centres in Bridgend and Cardiff play a big role in that.
“Thank you to those who bidded and gave a Snoopy sculpture a forever home at auction. It’s with your support that we can continue to find forever homes for more rescue dogs.”
Of the 115 sculptures that formed the trail over the spring, 75 mini Snoopy sculptures have been returned to the schools and community groups who decorated them as a lasting legacy of the project. “Rescue Me Snoopy” has found its forever home at Dogs Trust Cardiff and “Self Care With Snoopy”, decorated by the public at Cardiff Castle last year, was raffled off to a lucky winner. The remining 38 large sculptures were sold at the auction and will be heading to their forever homes with their lucky new owners soon.
The top bid was made for Gwlad Gwlad going under the hammer for £7,000 with each of the sculptures raising thousands of pounds to help care for homeless hounds.
Online bidders came from far and wide with a range of reasons for taking part, and some of the sculptures have found forever homes in Bangkok, Texas and Washington.
Earlier in the day, ahead of the auction, staff and canine residents at Dogs Trust Cardiff enjoyed a celebratory atmosphere as the rehoming centre was officially opened by Dogs Trust CEO, Owen Sharp, and Jill Burder, the wife of Dogs Trust’s late CEO, Adrian Burder, whose dream it was to bring a world-class rehoming centre to Cardiff. The rehoming centre has been taking dogs in since last Summer, but the official opening was delayed due to ongoing Covid restrictions. A host of special guests joined the celebrations to mark the happy event at the rehoming centre which can care for up to 1,000 dogs each year, including dog lover and Dogs Trust supporter James Middleton.
James said:
“It has been absolutely fantastic to meet some of the dogs here at Dogs Trust Cardiff today. I was lucky enough to visit a couple of weeks ago and I was so impressed by the facilities and the dedication of the staff who are totally committed to each and every one of the dogs. It is heart breaking that so many dogs find themselves in need of new homes, but they get everything they need whilst they are waiting to find new families and it’s a real privilege to be here today and spend time with some of them.”
Since July last year, Dogs Trust Cardiff has rehomed 500 dogs, and are currently caring for more than 100, providing them with all the care and attention they need until they find their forever homes.
Owen Sharp, Dogs Trust CEO, said:
“Dogs Trust Cardiff has been helping dogs in South Wales since last July, complementing the amazing work done by our rehoming centre in Bridgend.
“Bringing a rehoming centre to Cardiff was the dream of our late Chief Executive and patriotic Welshman Adrian Burder, and we are proud to be continuing his dream by turning it into reality. It has been truly fantastic to officially open the centre while saying thank you to all our dedicated staff who continue to go above and beyond for the dogs in their care.”
