Big Issue readers shared their favourite dog memories and snaps with us. Image: Supplied
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It’s International Dog Day! This event – marked on 26 August each year – celebrates the life-affirming bond between humans and their four-legged friends.
They are essential companions to Big Issue vendors across the UK, offering vital support and company as vendors earn a living through selling the magazine.
To celebrate International Dog Day 2023, we asked readers to tell us what their canine family members mean to them.
Pete B shouted out Bramble, his Lakeland Terrier and a “pioneering canine paddleboarder”.
Bramble. Image: Pete B
“Bramble has been an indispensable part of our family life these past 11 years having found her to cure our kids’ fear of dogs,” he said.
“My husband didn’t want a dog really. Almost 15 wonderful years of this funny, loving, stubborn, greedy, mischievous dog made him a dog lover,” she said.
“He broke his heart the day we had him put to sleep. He adores our other two dogs.”
The relationship between dogs and humans is special, which is why they become such an essential part of our lives.
Brody. Credit: @72_Jake
“Brody – my boy. I spent 50 years of my life not really understanding the attraction of dogs having always been a cat person,” wrote @72_Jake.
“I have a good life and he has enhanced it beyond my wildest dreams.”
Elizabeth Corkhill echoed this sentiment, describing her “beautiful wee stinker Ruby” as “life-enhancing”.
Ruby. Image: Elizabeth Corkhill
International Dog Day was created in 2004 by animal advocate Colleen Paige. Paige chose 26 August as it was the date that her family adopted their first dog ‘Sheltie’ from a shelter.
Romanian rescue adopted by Doug Small. Image: Doug Small
This annual day is now celebrated around the world – including by Big Issue readers.
This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.
