DOG lovers have completed a marathon to find loving homes for abandoned pets.

Staff at Technoprint in Winsford walked, ran or cycled 275 miles, the distance between London and Paris, and raised almost £500 for Homeless Hounds, its 2020 charity of the year.

The company also ran a Premier League prediction competition, which was £5 to enter, with half the proceeds supporting the dogs and the other half as winnings for the most accurate prediction.

Alan Ryan, managing director of Technoprint, said: “We’re all a bunch of dog lovers so Homeless Hounds was the perfect charity choice for us all to get fundraising last year.

"We’re proud to have raised nearly £500 for this worthy cause as it not only goes to helping out the day-to-day activities of the charity, but also brings us together as a business too and keeps us fit."

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Technoprint, the UK’s largest independent supplier of patient information leaflets for the pharmaceutical industry, nominates a new charity every year.

Employees have supported Macmillan Cancer in the past. This year's nominated charity is Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

Homeless Hounds strive to save the lives of stray and abandoned dogs by housing them in their kennels until they find loving foster homes, or transporting them to other rescues with the help of its volunteers.

Stray and abandoned dogs that are picked up by the dog warden only have their kennel fees paid for seven days. If they are not claimed by their owners in this time, there is no one to pay for their boarding.

Many of these dogs are destroyed every day because no one wants them, no one wants to pay for them and the council kennels need the room for the many more dogs coming in daily.

The charity rescues dogs that are sometimes ill or injured and donations pay for vet fees and boarding facilities to care for them until new homes are found.

Receiving support such as this £477.50 gift from staff on Station Road provides a vital lifeline in giving these dogs a new start in life.

Mary Horner, of Homeless Hounds, said: “We were delighted to receive this donation from the Technoprint team which will go towards helping pups in need get the care they need to go on and start new lives in loving foster homes.

“Peter and I decided to bring Loki the Akita puppy down to see everybody who took part and say a big thank you. He received a lot of attention and treats for his good behaviour."