NATIONAL Police, the Guardia Civil, Armed Forces and fire brigade in Spain have launched their second 'Adopt a Pensioner' campaign – a scheme seeking loving forever homes for retired emergency service dogs.
The campaign, which carries a Twitter hashtag - #AdoptaUnJubilado – includes the launch of a 2018 calendar with pictures of emergency service dogs to raise money for the charity Héroes de 4 Patas ('Four-legged heroes').
According to the charity, in the first 10 months of 2017, a total of 40 retired police, army and fire brigade dogs have been adopted in Spain – 20 pensioned off from the National Police, 14 from the Armed Forces, two from the Guardia Civil, one from private security companies and one from specialist security centres.
In fact, since Héroes de 4 Patas was set up in 2015, a total of 125 dogs retired from the forces due to old age, illness or disability or reduction in faculties such as eyesight and hearing have been rehomed.
This means every single four-legged forces veteran pensioned off in that time has found a home.
The calendar, which features the cartoon dog Jubi – short for Jubilado, or 'retired' – created by graphic designer Antonio Fraguas Forges, has been put together with the help of reporters, musicians, artists and sports personalities, many of whom have posed with dogs seeking adoption to raise the charity's profile.
Celebrities include MotoGP riders Álvaro Bautista and Toni Albacete, members of the legendary boy band Hombres G, TV presenters Jacob Petrus and Raquel Sánchez Silva and the chef Chicote.
The charity has also launched a campaign to raise awareness of forces' dogs, under the hashtag #DileAlMundoLoQueValgo ('Tell the world how much I'm worth') calling for the United Nations to declare a World Working Dogs Day.
The Héroes de 4 Patas calendar costs €10 and can be purchased via the charity's website, Heroesde4patas.org, where animal-lovers can also find details of dogs seeking new families – such as the ex-National Police dog Yoda, pictured above.
Some of the great advantages of adopting ex-service dogs are that they are generally calmer, especially due to their age, live and interact very well with humans, and are exceptionally well-trained and obedient.
