PENDLE MP Andrew Stephenson attended an event at Parliament to raise awareness of the Dogs Trust annual Christmas campaign.

The event aimed to highlight the famous Dogs Trust slogan of ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas’, in a bid to combat the problem of dogs being given as gifts at Christmas only to be later abandoned in January.

Laura Vallance, public affairs manager at the Dogs Trust, said: “We are really pleased to be raising awareness about this important issue in Westminster.

“It is vital that dog ownership is seen as a long-term commitment and not just an impulse buy, especially at Christmas time.

“We see an influx of dogs being handed in to our rehoming centres over the Christmas period and we aim to curb this problem by educating people on responsible dog ownership and the potential risk of buying pets online on an impulse.”