Over the Christmas period, hundreds of dogs have been cruelly abandoned.

They end up in the local pound, where they are given the statutory seven days to be reclaimed.

After that period, if the pound is full, the dog can be put to sleep. Thus hundreds of perfectly healthy and friendly dogs, who have all been someone’s pet, are discarded in this throwaway society of ours.

Pickles, a lively and loving 10-month-old cross-breed nearly didn’t make it to Christmas, as his time was up in a pound three weeks ago.

He has been living with a foster family in Abingdon but is now looking for a permanent home, together with many other rescued pound dogs.

Animal shelters are mostly closed over the Christmas period and are already full to bursting, so it has fallen to volunteers driving around the country to save as many unwanted dogs as possible.

These people and the small shelters which take them in are the unsung heroes of the rescue world.

The Government is looking at ways to deal with the problems of irresponsible dog ownership and Dogwatch UK hopes they will address the pressing problem of over-breeding.

We are working with other welfare bodies to campaign for change but, in the meantime, we are having to save huge numbers of unwanted dogs in pounds around the country every week.

Over this Christmas period the situation has been particularly dire.

If you could offer a foster or permanent home to one of the many pound dogs like Pickles, looking for a chance of life, or make a donation to help with emergency kennelling, contact dogwatchuk@hotmail.co.uk or juliaclark275@aol.com Julia Hammett, Hurst Rise Road, Oxford