THE Swindon charity SNDogs has experienced its worst ever summer of rehoming the animals it takes in because of the heatwave.

The charity, which finds homes for rescued dogs, says soaring temperatures through June and July has made it too hot to hold events - because their dogs have struggled in the heat. And that means the public has not been able to come and see the dogs and take them home.

Jessica Bascombe is a founding member and trustee of the charity, based in Sycamore Grove and which has been running for six years.

She said: “It has been a struggle to rehome our dogs this summer, there is no way we could risk putting them in this heat – we would be devastated if anything happened to them.

“The importance of the meet-up events is vital to the process of getting them a home.

“We want to ensure that every dog that comes through here gets a loving home that they deserve but we can only do that if people can come and see them.”

SNDogs (which stands for Saving Needy Dogs) currently has 13 dogs of all breeds ­­— and has no room for any more. The charity was expecting to take in 20 more animals in the coming months, including five being flown in from Spain.

Jessica added: “We are different to most rescue centres because we only allow local foster homes to take our dogs.

“It is essential that the person adopting meets the animal first and we think by keeping it localised it will benefit both parties in this scenario.”

SNDogs relies heavily on fundraising and donations, with many contributions flooding in from around town.

The latest company to help with this was Lush Cosmetics based in the town centre.

The shop helped raise £468.63 which came from its charity pot sales last weekend. This also gave the charity the opportunity to bring along three dogs to the store, which resulted in two of them being reserved ready for adoption.

This will be completed once house checks are finished.

Jessica said: “It’s events like this that help so much with rehoming.

“We cannot thank Lush enough for their generosity last weekend, they were brilliant.

“I would also like to say a massive thank you to everyone who donates and helps in any way possible ­— without you all it would prove to be extremely difficult to our cause.”

SNDogs holds a monthly dog walk at Coate Water Country Park and the charity would like to invite anyone interested in adopting a dog to come along.

The next walk is being held on Saturday, August 25 from 10.30am-12.30pm.

More information is available at sndogs.uk