Derbyshire woman on dog rescue mission after adopting dog abandoned in Bulgaria Lidl car park
Laura Norrey from Derbyshire adopts a rescue dog from Bulgaria, now working with Street Hearts Bulgaria to help other dogs find homes.
A Derbyshire dog lover who fell in love with a rescue dog from Bulgaria is now on a mission to help other dogs lead better lives.
Laura Norrey, 40, from Derbyshire, was desperately searching for a new dog after her beloved border collie, Chuck, died in 2019.
Animal lover Laura was struggling to find any suitable dogs for adoption when she came across Street Hearts Bulgaria online.
The charity rescues street dogs in Bulgaria and finds them forever homes including with families in the UK.
On the Street Hearts Bulgaria website Laura came across Lidia, a mixed breed who was found by the charity’s co-founders Emma and Anthony Smith in a Lidl supermarket car park following customers to their cars in a plea for help.
The couple immediately rescued the dog and named her Lidia, or Lidi for short, after the location she was found.
In 2020 Laura adopted Lidi and fell in love with her as soon as she arrived in the UK from Bulgaria.
She purchased a dog DNA testing kit that revealed Lidi is a mix of Alsatian, Siberian Husky and Chihuahua.
Laura says: “Lidi is just my best girl, she’s fantastic and the biggest cuddle muffin ever. She’s a sweetheart and makes me so happy.”
That same year Laura was made redundant after the Covid lockdown and reached out to Emma and Anthony to ask if she could support the charity remotely from the UK.
They agreed and Laura now works full time for Street Hearts Bulgaria as the social media manager and adoptions coordinator, finding hundreds of other dogs their forever homes.
Street Hearts Bulgaria’s founders are Emma, 49, a former Leeds nurse and North Yorkshire Police officer, and Anthony, 57, a former farmer and commercial diver.
They moved to Bulgaria from North Yorkshire in 2013 and were shocked to discover that the area was overrun with stray dogs in need.
The couple initially set up Street Hearts Bulgaria to help spay and neuter the dogs before building a shelter for them around their house.
The charity has now rehomed around 1,500 dogs, including in the UK, and sterilised over 4,000 dogs to prevent puppy abandonment.
Street Hearts Bulgaria is currently battling soaring costs that continue to rise year on year.
The shelter that accommodates a maximum of 70 dogs now costs £150,000 a year to run.
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Laura said: “We are a non-profit and rely on donations and our supporters, who are absolutely fantastic, to keep going.
“It costs an awful lot to run the shelter in terms of food and medical care for the dogs and the cost goes up every year.”
Every dog at the shelter is neutered, fully vaccinated and treated for any conditions. Street Hearts Bulgaria relies on donations to survive with funds raised going directly towards the dogs’ vet and food bills.
In a bid to help cover costs and boost fundraising, Street Hearts Bulgaria has become a registered cause on the easyfundraising website and app.
For more information about Street Hearts Bulgaria click here: streetheartsbg.com