Mum and daughter swap Christmas at home for kennels

An animal-loving mother and daughter will spend Christmas Day with dogs who have no-one else.

Cathy Shilling, 62 and daughter Katie Shilling, 25, will head to the RSPCA's Danaher Animal Home in Braintree, Essex, on 25 December.

Mum-of-two Cathy has been volunteering at the shelter since 2015 and always tried to head in on Christmas Day for a few hours to help out staff and give the dogs some attention.

However, this year, her daughter, will also be at the kennels for her role as a team leader and is on the rota to work.

Volunteer dog walker Cathy, from Halstead, said: "I'll get the veg prepped and pop the turkey in the oven and then I'll head down to Danaher to spend time with the dogs and help support the staff there who also want to get home so they can spend some time with their families.

She said she started volunteering there as her daughters grew older so she could "dot a little bit of good".

Katie started volunteering alongside her mum when she turned 18 and she later took up a team leader job after university.

Katie said: "I absolutely love my job, and spending time with the dogs who need it the most is really rewarding. "

Cathy added: "It'll be lovely on Christmas Day to go out together for a walk with some of the dogs, it's a real family affair!"

In previous years over the Christmas period, the RSCPA receives about 25,000 reports of animal suffering – including more than 700 on Christmas Day.

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