Back in 2014, I caught a video on my phone. It featured Ricky Gervais,

Dame Judy Dench and other celebrities and showed the horrors of the Dog Meat Trade in Thailand. Like them I had been unaware of this barbaric practice and the video rocked me to my very core. I literally broke down in floods of tears.

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3 months later I hopped on a plane to Thailand to volunteer at a rescue facility caring for Dog Meat Trade survivors. I

found the whole experience extremely humbling and also rewarding watching these damaged dogs begin to trust people again. I made some fantastic like-minded friends who educated me in wider animal welfare issues and really opened my

eyes to some of the animal exploitation that I had maybe found easier to ignore.

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I returned to Thailand in 2016 and 2017. Along the way I did various fundraising activities and when Dog Meat was banned in Thailand in 2016 I decided to take the next step and volunteer in China.

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Off I went to volunteer at a shelter on the outskirts of Beijing. By God did I have my eyes opened but did I also feel that I had made a small difference? Definitely!

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I decided to return to China the following year but this time to a shelter in Northern China. 

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While I was there something happened that was to change my life forever. I spotted Grace - a gorgeous longhaired

shaded cream dachshund who had been sold into the meat trade along with her 2 six week old puppies. Unfortunately the puppies didn’t make it, but they at least knew love at the end.

 

When I returned home this time I was a flight volunteer which meant I could bring my beautiful girl home with me and also act as chaperone for 3 other rescue dogs.

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As pet ownership grows in China, so does the demand for small dogs. This in turn has resulted in puppy breeding facilities expanding across the country. When the dogs are no longer of use, they are sold into the dog meat trade. 

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I am a project manager by day and I used to spend a lot of time on the road. However, when the pandemic hit it gave me the time to start thinking about taking my rescue work a step further.

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And hence DMT DRSG was born on May 12th 2020 and since then it has grown beyond my wildest expectations. 

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I now have a team of amazing volunteers working alongside me, all with a shared love of dachshunds and the common aim of rescuing as many as we can. Most of them also have ‘day jobs’ but they

still find the time to devote countless hours to our charity.

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In September 2021 we became a registered charity.

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Our charity has really achieved great things so far - in part because Dachshunds are very popular at the moment

and so, so easy to fall in love with. I understand this and it was always my intention to try to help other breeds of dogs too so now we are working in partnership with other organisations and regularly funding the transport of the other dogs travelling

with our little ones to help bring them home too.