Dogs Trust’s Freedom Project has seen demand grow for its services.

A charity scheme which supports people fleeing domestic abuse by providing temporary foster homes for their dogs has issued an urgent appeal for more volunteers after seeing a significant increase in demand for its services in the last 12 months.

The Freedom Project, run by the charity Dogs Trust, helps people fleeing domestic abuse by providing a safe home for dogs while their owners are staying in temporary accommodation. Many refuges do not have the capacity to accommodate pets.

Once the owners have found new homes, their dogs are returned to them. So far this year, Freedom Project volunteers have fostered 211 dogs, helping 163 people to escape from domestic abuse.

However, more fosterers are needed to help the charity cope with a 23 per cent increase in demand for its services in the past year. 

All fostering costs are covered by the Freedom Project, including food, treats, grooming, bedding, and veterinary treatment. To protect both the dogs and the foster carers, dogs are not fostered in the area where the owner is from and the foster carer will not know who the owner is or where they live.

Laura Saunders, Freedom Project manager at Dogs Trust, said:  “We’ve seen first-hand the ways that perpetrators use dogs to coerce, control, physically harm and threaten within abusive relationships. This is incredibly frightening for survivors and is often aimed to leave people isolated.  
 
“By providing temporary foster homes for dogs, we support survivors to access safe accommodation with the reassurance that their dog will be taken care of until they can be reunited.  
 
“Whilst we are pleased to have been able to help so many people, there is still very much a need for our service, and we urgently need more foster carers across the UK so that we can continue this life-saving work.”  

Anyone looking to become a fosterer, or wanting to find out more about it, can either visit the Freedom Project’s website or call 0808 196 6240.

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