We share the sad news that Binfield Dog Rescue will close its doors for the final time on the 7th August. We sadly can’t take any more dogs in, and won’t need any more donations, but thank you to everyone who’s ever donated to BDR, whether that be food, toys, bedding, or money…the kindness shown to our dogs has been astounding. Every time a dog comes in having been mistreated or neglected or dumped because they were old or because they didn’t get on with ‘the new puppy’…your faith in humanity takes a knock. Then you wonderful people turn up day after day bringing treats, and you realise for every awful owner in the world, there are thousands more dog lovers outnumbering them.

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Having opened in 1966, many many paws have passed through the kennels in the 58 years of operation. Originally run by Mrs Peake, who entrusted the rescue to Brian Johnson.

Sadly in June, Brian passed away. He’d not been well for the last 10 or so years but kept working, walking the dogs daily and dishing out dinners, until he went into hospital. He worked well past retirement age until he was 78, as Mrs Peake had said the rescue could keep running as long as Brian could run it.

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Brian didn’t like to say no to any dog needing help. When all other rescues had said no, Brian always said yes. He took in many dogs with chequered pasts…dogs who’d bitten, dogs with fear aggression / resource guarding, many of them couldn’t be rehomed so lived out their days at the rescue.

We’ve had big dogs, small dogs, happy dogs and grumpy dogs, long haired dogs and short haired dogs, dogs who loved going out for walks and dogs who’d rather sit in the office for a cuddle…the only thing they had in common was that they needed a new forever home.

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A huge thank you to everyone who’s taken a dog from Binfield over the years, we hope they gave you as much love as you gave them. Do feel free to add photos on this post, some of us have been volunteering there for 10+ years and we love to see them again happy with their families.

Over the years, Brian ran without any paid staff and relied solely on the kindness of volunteers, and it’s not an easy ‘job’…some that came and walked a dog once, some that happily spent time mucking out kennels and scrubbing them clean, and others that definitely preferred giving cuddles and belly rubs. Some came once a week, some persuaded the companies they work for to use Binfield for their community work days when they’d turn up with an army of colleagues ready to pitch in…then there were those that gave up any scrap of free time they had and became fulltime permanent volunteers, and the support they gave Brian enabled him to keep going. We’re not going to name anyone individually, but some of you know that you’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty, and there just aren’t the words to express how incredible you’ve been. You know who you are.

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However often you helped out, we know you did it for the dogs, and we appreciate you all.

Thank you for many many years of support.