THIS YEAR’S Pedigree adoption drive is well underway with a target of €100,000 set for this year’s campaign.

Every year the adoption drive strives to help re-homing centres nationwide who provide food, care and a safe haven for abandoned dogs who just want to be part of a loving family. Unfortunately these animal welfare organisations depend entirely on private donations in their bid to help unwanted pets as they receive absolutely no government funding.

This year’s adoption drive hopes to raise over €100,000 by making a donation for every single item purchased from the Pedigree range between April 1 and June 30 2010 and then donating the money raised to Irish dog charities.

According to Pedigree, this year’s campaign will also try to raise awareness of the wonderful work these centres do, encourage dog lovers to support their local centres and let people know about the thousands of abandoned dogs who are badly in need of a loving home.

Now in its third year, the Pedigree Adoption drive is attempting once again to raise awareness of animal welfare and most importantly to encourage Irish dog lovers to adopt a dog from their local shelter or welfare organisation when making the decision to add a dog to the family.

This year dog behavior specialist Cesar Millan who is best known for his hit television series Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Wild has now turned his attention to promoting the adoption of homeless dogs across Ireland as part of the Pedigree Adoption Drive.

“I am really excited to be supporting the Pedigree Adoption Drive campaign this year, promoting animal welfare is something that I am passionate about” he said. “In 2007 my wife Illusion and I founded the Millan Foundation, a non profit organisation dedicated to supporting the rescue, rehabilitation, and re-homing of abused and abandoned dogs.

Many wonderful dogs end up in animal shelters, not because they are bad or unlovable, but because their owners are just not able to care for them. We want to help by providing FREE “Your New Dog: First Day and Beyond” DVDs for dogs adopted in Ireland as part of the Pedigree Adoption Drive. By giving families adopting a new dog the basic understanding of dog psychology, so they will be able to work through problem behaviors with their new dog, instead of returning the dog to the shelter. I want to help dogs adopted from shelters become balanced, contributing members of the family, ensuring them a life-long home” he explains.

Last year, Pedigree and the dog lovers of Ireland raised €100,000 to help dog shelters across Ireland. Thanks to this generosity, dog destruction figures in Ireland are improving. Ten fewer dogs were abandoned and fourteen fewer dogs were put down in Ireland every day in 2008, the year that The Pedigree Adoption Drive was launched.

Cesar also points out that not that all dogs in re-homing centres are ‘problem’ dogs “Most have simply been neglected or abandoned” he explains. “Some are there because their owners, for one reason or another, have decided they can no longer look after them”.

However while it’s easy to make a snap decision when you see a dog in need of a home at an animal sanctuary it’s really important not to act lightly and really consider the decision to adopt. Pedigree recommend you take a look at their adoption test online at http://adopt.ie.pedigree.com to see if you’re ready to adopt a dog and give them the loving family they deserve.