A COUPLE are using a Kickstarter campaign to help unleash a new dog walking product designed to keep the owner well-equipped in a survival situation.

The ‘Survival Leash’ includes a D ring, a compass, a flint to start a fire, an emergency whistle and is made of paracord which can be unravelled to help create a raft or a shelter.

Richard Greenwood and Samantha Kitchen, who set up the company Fur Heroes, hope to raise £3,550 through their Kickstarter campaign to help get their idea into shops.

Miss Kitchen said: “Rather than taking out a loan, with Kickstarter the risks are smaller but the benefits are bigger,”

The 30-year-old's online fundraising campaign was launched this week.

She said her partner had the idea of the lead when he became worried about her going on adventurous walks with their dog.

Miss Kitchen, who grew up in Bromley Cross, explained: “I have got lost on walks a couple times. He was always worried about me going off the beaten track with the dog so he invented this leash.”

She has given up her role in the family business Velden, an engineering company in Bolton, to help get the product off the ground and she hopes it can break the international market.

The ‘Survival Leash’ has a patent pending and the company hopes that reaching the Kickstarter total will prove to the big retailers that there is a market for their homemade product.

Miss Kitchen said some independent retailers have already been in contact regarding stocking the product which will be first delivered to paying customers in July.

The project has already raised £2,700 towards its £3,500 target.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/338791545/survival-leash-the-life-saving-dog-leash?token=61329d0d