Dog and bone leads to Wokingham community award
Innovative schemes to find pets that have gone walkies on their own, has earned Wokingham Borough Council’s animal warden an award for outstanding service to the community.
Mandy Dorman who came up with the pioneering pet text scheme Dog and Bone earlier this year, was recognised for her exceptional dedication to finding new ways of tracking down wayward pooches, as well as reuniting them with their owners.
Wokingham borough mayor Cllr Annette Drake presented Mandy with an award for outstanding service last month - each month the mayor rewards a local person or group that has provided an exceptional service to the local community.
Mandy was nominated for her text-based scheme, Dog and Bone, which was launched in January. It’s believed to be the first text pet-tracing system in the country and works by dog walkers in the borough registering their name, mobile number and general area they live with the council. Text messages are sent out to the network of registered volunteers when a dog has gone missing. The idea is that dog walkers are more likely to be out and about where a missing dog could be hiding, enabling escaped dogs to be returned safely to their owners much more quickly.
Mandy’s idea has been so well received that other local authorities are now interested in adopting a similar scheme.
However it isn’t just the Dog and Bone scheme that earned Mandy the award, she also received it for her innovative use of the council’s website where she posts photos of found dogs online, making it easier for owners to track them down.
She was also praised for the new out-of-hours collection service for Wokingham stray dogs, which provides a stray dog drop off point, which was a police responsibility until Sunday April 6, yet due to a change in law, is now a requirement of local authorities. Mandy has gone one step further to help the cause by providing an out-of-hours collection service, whereby stray dogs in a contained area and reported by a member of the public, are collected by the council.
Mandy was nominated for the award by Wokingham environmental health manager, Peter Haikin, who described her ideas as ‘ testing examples of how to use modern communication technology to bring services directly to customers.’
Mandy said: “Dog and Bone is a simple idea that seems to be catching on really well. It’s nice to be recognised for doing something new and different by the mayor, and of course receiving the award is a great honour. I just hope my ideas help more dogs to be reunited with their owners as soon as possible.”
Cllr Annette Drake, Wokingham Borough mayor, added: “It was an honour to present Mandy with an award for outstanding service to the community. Her innovative ideas are making sure there are fewer stray dogs on the loose, but best of all, reuniting much missed family pets with their delighted owners.”
Mandy Dorman who came up with the pioneering pet text scheme Dog and Bone earlier this year, was recognised for her exceptional dedication to finding new ways of tracking down wayward pooches, as well as reuniting them with their owners.
Wokingham borough mayor Cllr Annette Drake presented Mandy with an award for outstanding service last month - each month the mayor rewards a local person or group that has provided an exceptional service to the local community.
Mandy was nominated for her text-based scheme, Dog and Bone, which was launched in January. It’s believed to be the first text pet-tracing system in the country and works by dog walkers in the borough registering their name, mobile number and general area they live with the council. Text messages are sent out to the network of registered volunteers when a dog has gone missing. The idea is that dog walkers are more likely to be out and about where a missing dog could be hiding, enabling escaped dogs to be returned safely to their owners much more quickly.
Mandy’s idea has been so well received that other local authorities are now interested in adopting a similar scheme.
However it isn’t just the Dog and Bone scheme that earned Mandy the award, she also received it for her innovative use of the council’s website where she posts photos of found dogs online, making it easier for owners to track them down.
She was also praised for the new out-of-hours collection service for Wokingham stray dogs, which provides a stray dog drop off point, which was a police responsibility until Sunday April 6, yet due to a change in law, is now a requirement of local authorities. Mandy has gone one step further to help the cause by providing an out-of-hours collection service, whereby stray dogs in a contained area and reported by a member of the public, are collected by the council.
Mandy was nominated for the award by Wokingham environmental health manager, Peter Haikin, who described her ideas as ‘ testing examples of how to use modern communication technology to bring services directly to customers.’
Mandy said: “Dog and Bone is a simple idea that seems to be catching on really well. It’s nice to be recognised for doing something new and different by the mayor, and of course receiving the award is a great honour. I just hope my ideas help more dogs to be reunited with their owners as soon as possible.”
Cllr Annette Drake, Wokingham Borough mayor, added: “It was an honour to present Mandy with an award for outstanding service to the community. Her innovative ideas are making sure there are fewer stray dogs on the loose, but best of all, reuniting much missed family pets with their delighted owners.”
Wokingham Borough Council
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