The Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company (DTV CRC) has donated one of its former unpaid works vehicles to a local dog rescue and re-housing centre.
The Citreon Relay vehicle became unused after the organisation updated some of its older works vehicles and decided to donate it to Maxi’s Mates.
The van is a welcome boost to the charity, which will be used to transport stray dogs, take them for vet appointments and to transport large items that are needed for the charity.
Maxi’s Mates on Redcar Road, Dunsdale in Cleveland was set up to help stray dogs find a new home. It was established in September 2012 after the rescue of Maxi – a mastiff cross near the A66 sliproad in Middlesbrough.
Four of the Trustees at Maxi’s Mates worked as volunteers at Waterfall Kennels but when the council announced that it was going to close down, they campaigned for a new place and registered Maxi’s Mates as a charity.
The organisation secured the stray dog contracts with Redcar & Cleveland and Hambleton Councils and have already rescued over 160 stray dogs this year alone. Over 30 people volunteer their time at the centre which houses 25 kennels but has the scope to expand up to 40 as well as benefitting from indoor and outdoor exercise areas.
Trustee and secretary Jane Galliford, said: “We would like to thank DTV CRC for this wonderful donation to Maxi’s Mates. This will be a fantastic addition for us. We used our own cars to pick up stray dogs or to take them on vet runs so the van will be a big help.
“It will also save us money too as it will enable us to pick up large items that have been donated such as building materials where before we would have to pay for these to be collected.”
Chris Douglas, Estates and Health & Safety Manager at DTV CRC, said: “When we found out about Maxi’s Mates and the great work they do to rescue and re-home stray dogs, we thought it would be a nice gesture to support our local community by donating one of our unused vehicles to the charity. We hope they will benefit from having a larger vehicle to transport the dogs safely.”