Call centre workers have answered an SOS from foreign dog sanctuaries - taking it upon themselves to offer a home to under- threat canines.
Staff at the Thomas Cook Contact Centre, in Larbert, became aware of the plight of the two organisations - Palamartsa Animal Sanctuary in Bulgaria and Elpida Shelter in Greece - through urgent Facebook messages.
Joanna Cully, of Thomas Cook, said: “The first person who got involved in this was Mike McAleer, who came across a post in 2011 from the Dogs Trust.
“This particular dog shelter in Greece had run out of money to feed their dogs.”
From there Mike drummed up support among his colleagues and began a series of fund-raising endeavours for Elpida - completing a 50km cycle himself - making £900 for the shelter.
Then the Thomas Cook team heard about Palamartsa, run by British couple Patricia Corderoy and Jimi Nichol since 2008.
Sadly Patricia, recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, has had to return to the UK and is now asking for help to re-home the 23 dogs under her care.
Thomas Cook staff came up trumps again and now two of the dogs, two-year-old brothers red setter/collie Marmie, short for Marmalade, and Bovvy, short for Bovril, have now got new homes.
Marnie is now living temporarily with foster owner Cherise McAinsh in Stenhousemuir, while Bovvy has his paws permanently under the table in Bo’ness with new owners Laura Taylor and Gavin Walker.
And puppy CC, from the Palamartsa sanctuary, is now living with Thomas Cook employee Marnie Forster in Grangemouth.
Joanna added: “If we can get at least one person’s interest, that might be one more dog saved. We would always stress to people to adopt UK-based rescue dogs first, but there are other dogs out there who need help too.”
All the dogs from the Bulgarian and Greek sanctuaries have their own Dog Passports, which means they are all neutered or spayed and up to date with all their vaccinations.
Visit www.k9-rescue.co.uk for more information.
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