We have a great article in The Tenerife News this week, hope you have seen the paper!

If you havent got a copy there is a cut down version on their website have a look here.

Some months ago we decided to produce a Calendar for 2009 to raise some much needed funds for the animals in our care.

We decided on the theme of ‘Entertainers and their Pets’, after all we have some fantastic Entertainers here in the South of Tenerife and many of them are only too willing to help out with the local Charities, whether one that cares for Animals, one for humans, or a special event for ‘one of their own’.

First step was to find a Photographer prepared to work with us and through THE Tenerife Forum (www.thetenerifeforum.com) we quickly found Gordon Bamber (Torrenter) and Nikki Attree (Warmwind).

Gordon is a very keen amateur photographer who has produced some stunning photos around and about in Tenerife since he moved here a few years ago.

Nikki is a professional photographer as well as being a very keen windsurfer – again there are some fantastic photographs in Nikki’s portfolio (have a look at www.tenerife-photography.com).

Then, we had to identify which of the Entertainers had pets and approach them to see if they would like to be involved in the project – it was difficult choosing who to leave out, but as there are only 12 months in the year, we did have some tough decisions to make!  So, the final list:

· John Sharples with Samantha

· Paul Stone (Billy Idol) with Emilio

· Cy Benson with Buster

· Miss Crystal Starr with Sadie and Sal

· Avril Taylor with Annie

· Simon King with Elvis

· Mark Turver with Jeff (it’s a family blog so I can’t say his full name)

· Mel Faulkner with Gizmo

· Dee Daniels with Bowie and Orphy

· Rebecca Malone with Bud

· Simply Mo with Oscar

· Karen Kennedy with Chloe

I hope we didn’t offend anyone that we left out, if we did it was certainly unintentional, there will always be other opportunities in the future, and speaking of ideas we are always looking for new suggestions and things to do to help us raise money for the animals – if you have any good ones, let us know!

OK, what was next on the list?  Ah, yes we needed someone to design the format and find a printer to produce the end product.  After a couple of false starts, we found Mark and Richie from Think Design (funnily enough, via another member of The Tenerife Forum, Jennie!).  Once we got the design and the pricing sorted we were ready for the next stage – finding the sponsors.

We wanted to keep the cost as low as possible for the sponsors; we all know how difficult things are here at the moment.  Armed with a mock up of what we hoped the Calendar would look like we started our search – some weeks later we closed the deal on our 12^th one.

· Protectapet

· Noeline and Gerry Murphy (The Chieftan, Temple Bar and Irish Fiddler)

· Crown Leisure (Harley’s Restaurant, La Fortaleza and James Brasserie)

· The Wigan Pier

· Mrs Brownhill

· Motorworld

· Hotel Playa Sur in El Medano

· Launderette Services

· The Hole in the Wall

· Cheers Bar

· THE Tenerife Forum

· Roy’s Pizza and Indian Tandoori

We are very grateful to all of our Sponsors and hope that when you look at our Calendar throughout the next 12 months it will remind and encourage you to visit them, use their services, or recommend them to your friends and family.

During this time, Gordon and Nikki had been meeting with all of the Entertainers and their Pets and taking some lovely photographs.  It was time for Think Design to work their magic and put it all together for us into something that we could sell!

This limited edition Calendar is now almost sold out, and we are now considering whether we need to produce a single sheet A3 version with all the photos on it – let us know if you think we should do!

We hope that you are as pleased with the final product as we are, thanks to everyone that has been involved with the project.

Thanks particularly to Suzie and Andy and the Team here at Cheers Bar for providing a venue for the launch (as well as sponsoring October for us!), we had a great night with one or two of the entertainers showing up and performing.  We raised 588.76 Euro on the night from Calendar sales, Raffles and a special donation from Cheers Bar!

The table of raffle prizes was great, with donations from Cheers Bar, Jet Blaster, Ocean Blue Divers, Tenerife Bar Supplies, Ricco, Dorada and Peter & Linda – thank you to each and everyone of you, it really is appreciated.

This is usually 7.50 Euro but will be available for only 6 Euro - with a Euro of that going to K9 Tenerife as well! Garlic Bread can be added for an extra Euro (normally 2.50 Euro).

This is in addition to their normal menu that will be available.

We have just heard that this fabulous new book has arrived on the Island and is just about ready for distribution!

Dont forget the very generous offer from the Author of this book that anyone who purchases their copy via K9 Tenerife will be helping the animals in that he will donate 4.50 Euros to us.

The price is 9.95 Euro where ever you buy it from, so please buy your book from K9 - just contact us at tenerifelifeline@k9tenerife.com and we will let you know how you can obtain your copy.

Their new website is now up and running, have a look here www.tenerifelifeline.com

Thanks

Stephen

Well, we are pleased to say we have signed off the final draft of the K9 2009 Calendar and it will be printed this week ready for us to collect on Friday - We think it looks terrific!

A lot of hard work has gone into producing this and we would like to thank Nikki Attree, Gordon Bamber (Torrenter!), all of the Sponsors, the entertainers and of course their pets as well as Mark and the team at Think Design for making it all possible.

We will be holding a Launch Party for the Calendar from 6pm on Sunday, 26th at Cheers Bar in Los Cristianos so I hope some of you will be able to come along and join us there.

(If you havent tried one of their Sunday Roasts, maybe this coming Sunday is a good time to put that right!)

We hope to have some of the people that have been involved with the project at the launch, although I know a few have prior commitments and wont be able to be there (some are even going back to the UK to avoid it!).

Amy Winehouse (without her dog Bud) will be performing her show at 10pm, however I am sure that we will be treated to a few songs from the other entertainers during the course of the evening as well!

Pre sales of the Calendar are excellent, so if you want to buy one and havent made your order yet, let us know soon!

Thanks again

Stephen and Cathy
K9 Tenerife

Stitch is the runt of a Chow Chow / Springer Spaniel litter and was named by her owners after the cartoon “Lilo and Stitch” since her sister was named Lilo.

Lilo and Stitch

A little ball of fluff as a puppy, she is co-owned by the founders of The Official Test Centre, based in El Médano, Tenerife - a unique windsurfing-specialist rental centre.

Ball of Fluff

Subjected to a life on a beach (torrid, I know), Stitch has been brought up interacting with other people and more importantly with other dogs everyday, which has helped mould her character a great deal. (It has also helped that one of the owner’s girlfriends is a vet, providing a constant sounding post for obedience training!).

Cool Stitch

Coming close to her second birthday, Stitch is incredibly attentive yet gentle-natured, which coupled with her appearance draws a lot of attention from the centre’s guests.  As she has grown older though, her mongrel personality has shown itself, being clever and loyal like a Chow Chow yet obsessive like a Springer Spaniel.

Never Left Behind!

She never wants to be left behind, hence being taught to ride on the nose of a surfboard and Stand Up Paddle board; and just mention “ball” and she is entertained all day.  She has become the centre’s true mascot, having been featured in various international magazines and is regularly complimented as the best trained dog in El Médano.  If you fancy meeting her in person, take a trip to El Médano - she’ll be found at the end of the promenade in The OTC centre (www.otc-windsurf.com).

… will be Saturday, 1st November 2008 at The Cheshire Cat in Torviscas.

Entries from teams of up to 4 people are being accepted now, contact stephen@k9tenerife.com to register.

More details to follow, so watch this space.

Hi there

Just to let you know that we are back on line today after a glitch during a transfer from one Server to another.  It shouldnt have happened, but you know what these things are like!

Some E-mails may take a while to catch up, but most seem to be coming in OK now.

Thanks

We still need a few Sponsors for our 2009 Entertainers and their Pets calendar - come on, take advantage of a whole year’s advertising for only 150 Euro.

The Calendar will be A4 Portrait style with the Sponsor panel at the bottom of each month so a full year being hung around people’s walls, plus at least one month (more if you take 2 or 3 months!) on prominent display - how cheap is that for advertising?

Please contact us NOW to reserve your place!

I have just received the following in a newsletter from The Dogs Trust:

You may have heard the news that Dogs Trust will no longer be taking an exhibition stand at the Crufts Dog Show or the Discover Dogs event. I’m emailing all our valued supporters to explain why we feel this move was necessary.

It is indisputable that dogs are suffering terribly as a result of the way they have been bred. Dogs Trust has been lobbying the Kennel Club and Government for many years now on the issue of inappropriate breeding practices. Sadly, this behind the scenes activity has not resulted in enough change.

The tipping point came with the airing of a recent BBC documentary on the pedigree world. After the programme was shown, we were inundated with requests to take stronger action. As a result, our trustees debated the issue at their recent meeting and voted unanimously to withdraw from Crufts and Discover Dogs.

In doing so, the trustees wished to send the strongest possible signal that we believe that urgent action has to be taken.

I must stress that our decision not to attend Crufts or Discover Dogs in no way means that we have stopped having dialogue with The Kennel Club. This is the time that all organisations with an interest in dogs need to come together to affect real change.

As well as continuing to work with The Kennel Club, we will be consulting widely in order to help deliver results.

I also want to reiterate that we are not anti pedigree dogs, pedigree breeders or their owners. We know that the majority of breeders prioritise good health and temperament in their dogs and are responsible in their breeding methods. However, while so many dogs are suffering, we feel our continued presence at Crufts would send out the wrong signals. We believe that, in this instance, action will speak louder than words.

I do hope that you can understand why we felt it absolutely necessary to withdraw from these events and that you will support our campaign to protect dogs from the pain and misery caused by bad breeding.

With best wishes and thanks for your continuing support.

Clarissa Baldwin OBE
Chief Executive

Source: Dogs Trust Media Centre