Anyone who knows me personally or who reads this blog regularly knows that I am absolutely bonkers over dogs! I love all animals really but dogs have a special place in my heart. I rescued my own dog – Cooper, an amazing fox terrier, eight years ago. I’ve fostered rescue dogs and volunteered for rescue organizations.
Given my love of animals, I find it so painful to see so many abandoned dogs (and cats) in Italy. There’s not one corner of Italy I have visted where I haven’t seen these poor creatures. MANY, MANY of them were once someone’s pets and were left on a 
You may think that I am living my dream but my real dream is to make enough money to buy a big farm in Italy and turn it into an animal rescue…in the mean time, I’m always on the lookout for ways to help. Tonight I was surfing the Net and discovered Puglia Pooches!
Puglia Pooches is really a couple – Val who is British, Mino who is Italian – who live in Puglia and instead of ignoring the plight of abandoned dogs (unfortunately more common in the south of Italy) have decided to do what they can to help by taking these dogs into their home. Val and Mino not only feed and house these dogs, they take care of any medical problems they encounter. And according to Val’s latest blog post – a crate of eight abandoned puppies left on was just left their doorstep.
While I don’t know this couple personally – I’d love to stop by and meet them the next time I am in the region – it truly looks like they are doing incredible work with very little resources and clearly need help. They need donations to keep their work going but also offer those of us far away the chance to sponsor one of the dogs. And…and trust me I’ve thought about this…they’re happy to place some of the dogs with a loving home in Italy or abroad.
Maybe a donation or sponsorship with Puglia Pooches would make a great Christmas present for a dog lover in your life?