Words by Smiley Team
A fun lottery-style game is helping dog rescue centres in need, to give dog charities a helping hand.
DoggyLottery was founded by Lisette van Riel and Lee Brown, who both have a huge passion for dogs. It all started in 2014 when Lisette rescued one very special 3-legged dog named Beautie, whilst living in Dubai.
She wasn't looking to adopt a dog at the time, as she was living in an apartment on the 16th floor – far from the ideal environment for a dog.
However, she helped out at a dog rescue centre, and it was during one of these days that she met Beautie, the happiest dog she had ever seen, despite having three legs. Beautie was struggling to find a home, so Lisette ended up adopting her.
(Read about this pet food brand which is donating 2,600 meals to homeless dogs)
“After moving back to the UK, I started investigating the local situation regarding rescue dogs and rescue centres," says Lisette. "My findings were heartbreaking. The reasons dogs get abandoned vary from understandable ones to outrageous ones, like people preferring to spend money on a holiday than paying for dog boarding.
“The most upsetting discovery was the sheer number of homeless dogs and the number of dog rescue centres struggling to survive. According to research by Dogs Trust, 130,000 dogs get abandoned in the UK each year. That figure is from a few years ago so who knows how high it currently is.”
(Learn more about this reading initiative to help shy dogs)
Alongside her cousin Lee, Lisette decided to focus on raising money for rescue centres, as well as trying to reduce the number of dogs that end up in rescue centres.
“Our mission is twofold," she explains, "to raise funds for dog rescue centres who are struggling to survive through our online lottery and to tackle the issues contributing to the high number of abandoned dogs through education. Even if we can prevent just one dog from being abandoned, that will be a win in our books.”
By playing Doggy Lottery, you can help raise funds and at the same time give dog rescue centres valuable digital exposure. A huge 60% of all funds raised are donated to five different centres every four weeks.
When entering the lottery, you will be asked to vote for your favourite dog. Each dog is connected to one of the five rescue centres. At the end of the four weeks, the centre with the most votes receives the majority share.
You can help support the work of Lisette by entering the lottery, liking and sharing @doggylottery, and by nominating a dog rescue centre that deserves to take part. Find out more on the Doggy Lottery website.
