Member Article

Rugby legend adds bite to dog charity's fundraising

One of the world’s greatest rugby players has teamed up with a Black Country business to raise much needed funds for a local greyhound rehoming centre.

Zinzan Brooke, who played 58 tests for the All Blacks and was the only rugby player to score a drop goal at Wembley Stadium, has helped demolition experts C&D Consultancy raise more than £1300 for Bark Inn Kennels in Aldridge.

The former Kiwi number ‘8’ hosted a special Q&A evening that attracted 80 people before swapping the microphone for golf clubs as part of a special golf day at The Astbury, near Bridgnorth.

All of the funds will go into rehoming retired greyhounds, including food, maintenance of the kennels, veterinary treatment and transport costs.

“We are delighted that C&D has made us its charity of the year and this will definitely help us find homes for more dogs. Last year we rehomed 92, there’s no reason why we can’t do 100 over the next twelve months,” explained Michelle Owen, founder of Bark Inn Kennels.

“It costs us around £600 for each kennel per year and we have to raise all the funds ourselves or rely on volunteers to help us. The two events have been a great start and it was a real honour to meet Zinzan at the Q&A evening. I’m not really a rugby fan, but his stories were hilarious.”

She continued: “John Woodward, the MD of C&D, took his current greyhound Ellie from us and understands how we work and what make us different. It’s not just a case of getting a dog out of here, we make sure there’s a trial period to ensure the relationship is going to work.”

Bark Inn Kennels was established in 2009 by Michelle and has grown into one of the largest greyhound rehoming centres in the West Midlands.

The management team is supported by 10 volunteers, who help with dog walking and looking after the kennels.

It also offers overnight boarding, which helps generate important funds for the rehoming service.

C&D’s John Woodward added his support: “You can’t help but be impressed with what they achieve at Bark Inn Kennels, especially with the small team involved.

“With this in mind, we wanted to do our bit and have named it as our charity of the year and will look to raise significant amounts of money for them. The two Zinzan events and a recent piano recital by Philip Lange has given us a good start, but there’s plenty more to come.”

He concluded: “One idea is to get local businesses to sponsor a kennel for the year. This is just £600 and we’ve already had three firms back the campaign.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .