Pete Wicks increases footfall at dog centre

A dog rehoming centre said footfall and interest in the charity had increased after it took centre stage in a TV show.

Pete Wicks, a personality from The Only Way is Essex and other reality programmes, fronted the documentary, which was filmed at the Dogs Trust in Basildon.

Lisa Cooper, manager at the trust, said more people were coming into the centre and contacting it with concerns about their own pets.

She said the reaction was "brilliant".

Mrs Cooper said rehoming inquiries and footfall had gone up by 40% and inquiries about volunteering had risen by 50%.

Wicks learnt about the rehoming process in the documentary, as well as getting involved with weighing newborn puppies.

"The effort that the staff go through to find these dogs a new home - and Pete shining a light on that for us has been amazing - and I think it's helped people recognise what we do here," said Mrs Cooper.

The four-episode dog-umentary was aired on the free-to-air channel U&W, and U, from 7 January.

The trust has been in Basildon for 11 years. Last year it said it rehomed 500 dogs and now has 70 dogs in its care.

Wicks previously said: "I hope the viewers get a real insight to the life and stories of these wonderful dogs, and the heroes and volunteers who care for them day in day out."

The Dogs Trust ambassador visited the charity's sites at Harefield in west London, Leeds, and Ballymena in Northern Ireland.

Wicks adopted his first rescue dog when he was 19.

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