VET’S VIEW: Ceremony honours four-legged friends

Brilliant national rehoming charity Dogs Trust – of which we’re extremely lucky to have our own Shoreham rehoming centre – announced its canine champions to a star-studded audience at a posh venue in London.

Dog-loving celebs and their pooches rubbed shoulders and paws, all turning out to celebrate the UK’s most heroic canines, as the winners of the 2013 Dogs Trust Honours were revealed.

The fun-filled afternoon was, as always, geared towards the winning dogs and guest pooches, including personal butlers who made sure all their needs were catered for.

The seven proud winners, whittled down from hundreds of entrants, included beautiful Newfoundland Atrayu, a constant companion to his brave seven-year-old human best friend who suffers from leukaemia, helping him swim and providing constant relief and friendship.

Daisy the bullmastiff, pictured above, helped her family deal with ongoing grief after their seven-year-old son recently lost his battle with cancer. Hero Dog was won by Alice, a Canine Partners – another West Sussex charity – assistance dog to an ex-Serviceman, wheelchair-bound following a bomb blast and carer for his 15-year-old son.

Alice had considerably improved both their lives, not only helping with daily tasks such as getting dressed, but also providing him with sense of security even recently raising the alarm after he collapsed in the bathroom.

The afternoon was a wonderful way of raising awareness of the fantastic role that dogs play in our lives every day, and amazing tasks that they do for us, as well as celebrating the brave dogs in the UK but also the fantastic work that the Dogs Trust does.

Visit their centre in Shoreham, their website, www.dogstrust.org.uk, and maybe even consider adopting a rescue dog!