This months Circle Of White Light Radio donation goes to the Cork Dog Action Welfare Group.

A big "Thank You" to everyone who donations to Circle Of White Light Radio. Without your donations, I would not be able to keep the wheels going and to be able to make monthly donations to worthwhile charities and groups.

Here is some information about CDAWG.

Cork Dog Action Welfare Group Limited (Cork DAWG) was formed in 2007 to help combat the huge problem of unwanted & neglected dogs in Cork city and county. We are a registered charity (CHY 18000) and company (458674). Our mission is to rescue, treat and provide new homes for unwanted, neglected and abused dogs and to give them a second chance at life. Typically, we have over 70 dogs in our care, at our shelter, in private kennels or in foster homes, all awaiting adoption. For every dog that is adopted, more are waiting to come in to us. In 2021, we rescued over 650 dogs and puppies. We are predominantly made up of volunteers, with one full time and two part time employees. Our phone is always on and we take calls late into the evenings and at weekends. It is basically a 24/7 service, especially in cases of emergency. We also receive numerous emails / calls daily from owners asking for help with re-homing their dogs. We expected an increase in surrenders following Covid-19, however it has significantly surpassed our predictions. Dogs are literally being discarded like rubbish which is extremely sad to witness and overwhelming for all involved in rescue.

The majority of dogs taken into our care are located in the shelter in Charleville, This is a privately owned facility which we are renting and is a considerable outlay of our funds. As the shelter only has capacity for 20 DAWG dogs we also have to use private kennels particularly for the very urgent and needy cases. Some of the dogs are fostered with a network of volunteer foster families. We provide food and cover all vet costs for our dogs while in foster. Many dogs coming into our care need to be neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and may need veterinary treatment which is frequently extensive. Through our commitment to high levels of veterinary care, we ensure the dogs are rehabilitated before being re-homed, thus ensuring the dogs’ welfare and ensuring that they are going to suitable homes.

Veterinary bills are a constant and significant expense for the organisation. Many dogs come to us in appalling condition and require surgery, often life-saving treatments. All dogs are neutered / spayed and owners adopting puppies that are too young to be neutered sign an undertaking to have the dog neutered once it is old enough. Our average monthly veterinary bills are approximately €12,000 each month. Costs are kept to a bare minimum and expenses are continually monitored by the Board of Directors. We always negotiate the best possible rates for the charity whilst ensuring the highest standard of care is provided to the dogs. All potential new homes are fully checked before a dog is re-homed to ensure the dog has the best chance of a successful and permanent adoption within its’ new home.

In addition to the vital rescue and re-homing work we do, Cork DAWG serves as an important educational and information resource in the community. We enjoy an excellent reputation both locally & nationally. We have a very active Facebook page with over 70,000 followers and over 8,000 followers on Instagram. We also have a strategic partnership with Yay Cork.

Fundraising is an ongoing challenge against a backdrop of increasing costs. Our traditional fundraising was very limited due to Covid-19 restrictions and we concentrated our efforts online. We are back fundraising with our dogs since late 2021 which is wonderful!

Our goal is to purchase our own shelter and no longer be dependent on renting premises or availing of private kennels. We have learnt from research that purchasing a property and developing it as a shelter comes at a considerable cost. Based on previous viewing of potential properties and depending on location we estimate the expenditure would be minimum €250,000. Raising this level of funding while trying to manage the operating costs of running a very busy rescue is a huge challenge but one we are determined to achieve.

Without the existence of Cork DAWG, thousands of unwanted and neglected dogs in Cork would have little or no hope, many of them would not survive without our intervention. We believe we play a vital role in placing dogs with families where the lives of both humans and dogs are enriched by the presence of each other.