The lifesaving power of pets

"The person who gave him to me didn’t think they’d done anything wrong but he was really, really skinny. I had people screaming at me in the streets saying, how could you let your dog get in that state? I’d only had him for three days, he wouldn’t eat. You would think a starving dog would eat, but he didn’t. I had to handfeed him for eight months. He’s a shar pei-Staffie cross, when I got him he was called Rogue but I changed it to Rogan because my son’s called Josh so now I’ve got Rogan-Josh. I couldn’t really call him anything other than Rogan but everyone knows him as Roguey Poguey. He’s absolutely sound now. Yes, he’s saved me. Brilliantly. He doesn’t wear a lead, he never leaves my side. I never wanted a dog but he came to me, he chose me. He’s absolutely fantastic. I have some health issues but I’ve got to get out even if I’m in agony, I’ve got to get out and take him for walks. He’s got a sixth sense, if I’m in pain he’ll just go for a shorter walk than normal. He knows if I’m in pain and he won’t go more than six feet away from me in the park, even though he’s not on the lead. If I’m alright he’ll run off for miles." Image: Andrew Butler

"Lola loves people. Everyone loves her. She has helped me with my mental health. I have had her for seven years, she is a rescue from Battersea dogs home. We get support from Dogs on the Streets when one of us isn’ t well. I couldn’t be without her." Image: Geo Leonard

"I live on my own but I’ve got a dog, Bullseye. He’s on his way out unfortunately. He used to come on to my pitch but now I don’t bring him out. He’s a Staffie cross and he’s one of the friendliest dogs in this town and certainly helped with sales. When it’s been cold and I’ve cuddled up to him, he helped me to survive." Image: North News

"I got Beans off a travellers’ site when she was four weeks old. She had nothing to drink but two cans of Carlsberg Special Brew and she was all skin and bones. I was living in a multi-storey car park at the time so it was the worst thing I could have done to get a puppy, but I had to. Now she’s everything to me." Image: Geo Leonard

"Having my two Staffies helped me if I got really down. Having felt suicidal on numerous occasions, it’s having that company and responsibility – and the love and affection that you get from your dogs or from any animal – that makes a big difference to people who are living on the streets. I had to give them up to the RSPCA because I went to prison for a short while and I had no way of having the dogs looked after. I couldn’t afford kennels, so I put them up for rehoming. Almost as soon as they were taken in, somebody had them. Everybody just fell in love with them the minute they saw them. I’m ready for another dog, I might not go for a Staffie because that would be like trying to replace them and I couldn’t replace them." Image: Sheradon Dublin

"My dog Missy was being pushed round Oxford in a shopping trolley. She was an alcoholic at six weeks old. She’d been living in a flat with the rest of her litter, nobody put any water down so they’d knock over cans and drink beer. We got her off that and now everybody knows her in town. Even the policemen in Bath know her name." Image: Geo Leonard

"Bryony is the love of my life. I struggled with drink and drugs for a lot of my life but she keeps me on the straight and narrow. She keeps me going every day now. I know that I have to keep it together, that I need to work and keep a roof over our heads. Wherever we are, she’s always being spoken to. If I leave her outside Tesco in the morning there’s usually people chatting to her. It helps people get chatting to me, too – Bryony has probably helped sell quite a few Big Issues. People give her so many toys and treats at Christmas that we’ve had to donate most of them to the local dog shelter, K9 Crusaders, in the past. Hopefully we helped a few other dogs too in our way."