A charity is seeking dog lovers to help look after pets across the Harrogate district.
The Cinnamon Trust matches walkers and foster carers to owners who are no longer able to care for their pets alone.
They may be elderly or undergoing medical treatment which prevents them from going out for walks each day. In some cases, the owner may be moving into a care home or facing the end of their life and looking for someone to look after their pet in the long term.
Mandy Scott, appeals coordinator at the trust, said:
“We need more volunteers in the Harrogate area. We’ve got seven volunteers already. There are three long-term foster pets, and across Yorkshire there are 114 pets with 795 volunteers.”
The charity, which was founded in 1985, matches each pet and owner with a team of volunteers. This means there is less pressure on a volunteer to walk a dog every day and there is always cover if anyone is unwell or goes on holiday.
Flexible arrangement
Volunteers can give as much or as little time as they are able, even down to a single half-hour or hour long walk each week, and Ms Scott said the trust recognises that people’s availability can change over time.
When an owner dies or moves into a care home and can’t take their pet, a long-term foster place is found among the volunteers. The trust keeps in touch with all foster carers and helps to coordinate any vet treatment required. Pets which are older and need more care can be rehomed at one of the charity’s two sanctuaries in the south-west, where they receive 24-hour care.
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Volunteer walkers range from teenagers completing their Duke of Edinburgh awards – with support from a parent – to people in their 80s who are still active. Each is checked via references from people who have known them over many years.
Ms Scott added:
“It’s about their experience, their empathy with the older generation, their experience with animals and how they will manage in a crisis. We ask them to complete a form and they can elaborate if they want to – you get a good feel for people that way.”
Once matched, owners are slowly introduced to volunteers, who use ID badges when meeting them in person to give reassurance that they are sent by the Cinnamon Trust. The process of finding the right volunteers after a request for help can be onerous, but Ms Scott said it is worth it to give someone peace of mind.
“It’s an absolute privilege to be able to say you’ve got that extra help, you can close the appeal. You talk to an owner and they say, ‘once I had spoken to you, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders’.
“We do what it says on the tin. We provide that extra help and reassurance.”
For more information about volunteering with The Cinnamon Trust, click here.
