Gala Bingo Teams up with TV Star and Animal Rights Activist Pete Wicks to Raise Funds for UK Animal Sanctuary

Calling all animal lovers! Gala Bingo is exchanging Facebook shares for pounds this month and there’s no limit to the amount of times you can press that share button. Recently, the bingo operator carried out research and the findings showed that two in five dog owners admit having given up a dog in the past (shocking!) and one in 25 Brits chose to abandon them as strays!

Now, I’m a huge dog-lover, I’ve chosen four paws over the pitter patter of tiny feet and I’m now the proud mum of four dogs. I’ve three male adult dogs and only in October did I welcome a beautiful golden retriever named Tilly into my brood – I don’t know where I’d be without the drippy noses and wagging tails, oh and the barks for breakfast! 

In response to the shocking statistics, Gala Bingo has joined forces with Thornberry Animal Sanctuary and Pete Wicks (you may know him as a TOWIE star) to host a live stream on Facebook for fundraising on Friday 13th December (the day after the General Election don’t forget to vote!). 

A Dog is For Life

We all know how hard it is to look after a dog (imagine four!), they need walking constantly, feeding, grooming, trips to the vets and then there are unexpected costs that you may not even have thought about. My Westie is prone to many infections due to his pedigree breed, I knew that, but I wasn’t expecting him to need medication at the cost of almost £100 every month! Before deciding on getting a dog, you really need to think about the wider picture…

…dogs are not just pets, they’re family members and each one brings joy and they’re own personality. My Schnauzer loves to twerk when its dinner time and when he’s happy he rubs his beard everywhere, whereas my Bischon is a snob and hates attention! If you’re as passionate about pets as I am, then Gala wants you to get involved and it won’t cost you a single penny.

Tune in on their live Facebook feed on Friday 13th and get involved to play games and win some super prizes and for every share of the post on the day, £1 will be donated to the Thornberry Animal Sanctuaryso get involved with the chat, bring your mates and tell everyone you know to raise as much cash as you can for all those abandoned pets. 

Pete Wicks was asked to comment on his involvement with the upcoming fundraiser and he was only too happy to say: “I am very passionate about animal welfare and do all I can to help improve the lives of vulnerable animals across the country. I’m delighted to be supporting this campaign with Gala Bingo, which will be helping to raise vital funds for Thornberry, a local animal sanctuary doing fantastic work in the north.”

Jenkins-Omar, Thornberry’s fundraising, and marketing manager added: “We tend to see an increase in dogs coming into the sanctuary in January, but we also see an increase a few months later when people realize how difficult and time consuming their new pet can be. Our policy is non-judgemental and we never shame people who bring in their animals to the sanctuary - after all, if you can’t look after your pet for whatever reason, the most responsible thing is to bring it to a place where it can get the care it deserves while we find them a more suitable home.”

Head of brand marketing at Gala Bingo, Karina Adrian concluded with: “We’re so pleased to work with Pete and Thornberry Animal Sanctuary to bring awareness to this vital cause. It’s so important that people make sure they can give a dog the life it deserves before they commit. Dogs can be such great companions to people of all ages and all backgrounds. They deserve happy and healthy lives and they make our lives happy and healthier too. They really are man’s best friend; that’s why we want to raise as much money as possible for the sanctuary which does a fantastic job looking after them.”