In the run-up to the publication of A Street Dog Named Pup on the 1st April 2021, meet some of the dogs and find out why I wrote them into the story –
Saffy –
When Pup meets Saffy, he immediately feels safe. Saffy, a yellow Labrador, is kind and caring to all the dogs she knows. But Saffy found herself on the streets after being stolen from a family she loved. However, she never forgets the kind hands that held her, or the wind in her ears, or the sun on her back when she ran on white sand with her owners.
It is estimated that dog thefts have risen by 250% nationwide following increased demand for puppies during the pandemic.
Dog theft is one of the cruellest thefts both for the dog and the owner. The emotional turmoil of the owner looking for their dogs, is matched by the turmoil of the dog taken from the ones they love.
One of the big problems with reuniting both lost and stolen dogs with their owners is a lack of a single standard data base for microchips. Making it compulsory that dogs are always scanned on their first veterinary visit would also ensure that stolen dogs could be identified, and would prevent thefts too.
Here is a petition to ask for a single database of microchipping and also that it would be compulsory to scan cats and dogs on a first veterinary visit: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/551556
About A Street Dog Named Pup:
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned in Dead Dog Alley. With Nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit street dogs who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds onto the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken….
Michael Morpurgo “I’m not sure I’ll ever look at a dog the same way again. Unforgettable.”
Lauren St John “A masterpiece. Gill Lewis does for Pup what Anna Sewell did for horses in Black Beauty. A wise, brave book, steeped in kindness.”
