Her Majesty, The Queen Accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh Visited The London's Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, And Was Given a Canine Guard of Honor

The Queen was given a canine guard of honor before meeting staff, volunteers and ambassadors including Amanda Holden, television presenter Paul O'Grady and model David Gandy.

Meanwhile, a corgi looking for a new home caught the Queen's eye at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Twelve-year-old Beama arrived back at the south London kennels - where he first arrived as a puppy - last week after his previous elderly owner went into a home and could not take him.

But the monarch, a keen dog-lover and a long-time corgi owner, managed to resist his laid-back charm, despite the best efforts of Britain's Got Talent presenter Amanda Holden, who attempted to find Beama a palatial new pad.

Outspoken Liverpudlian O'Grady was the next to try to help Beama find a home by royal appointment, joining Ali Taylor, the home's head of canine welfare training, to present the corgi to her.

After O'Grady, who has made several television programs about dogs, commented on him being a "big boy" she replied: "Yes, well corgis can get quite big."

She then gestured towards watching cameras and reporters and added: "He's quite interested in them." O'Grady replied: "I think he's a bit star struck." The Queen was visiting to officially open the home's new Mary Tealby Kennels and unveil a plaque.

The kennels are named after Mary Tealby, who founded the home in 1860 after becoming concerned by the number of stray animals roaming the capital's streets.

Originally known as The Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs it was based in Holloway in north London before moving south of the Thames in 1871. It began taking in cats in 1883.

Watch Her Majesty as she is given a canine guard of honor at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

The Queen and Prince Philip met Battersea staff, volunteers, dogs and Battersea Ambassadors Paul O’Grady, Amanda Holden, David Gandy and Dame Jacqueline Wilson on this historic occasion for the Home.

The Queen, who has been a Patron of Battersea since 1956, and The Duke of Edinburgh, were given a tour of the new Kennels. They saw how the facilities will play a vital role in helping dogs during their early days at Battersea to improve and speed up their journey towards a loving, new home.

Claire Horton, Battersea's Chief Executive, says: “We are truly thrilled Her Majesty opened our new Kennels at Battersea and shared with us the most important day for the Home in decades. This is the biggest development in the Home’s history and we’re honoured to have our Royal Patron meeting some of the many animals that will benefit from these new facilities.”

The new £4.8m facilities replace Kennels closed in 2012 which dated back to Victorian times. The new development will provide a warm and safe environment for the most vulnerable lost, abandoned and unwanted dogs who arrive at our gates every year.

Each kennel has built-in speakers to play calming music and an external run area, whilst adjoining paddocks have paddling pools, climbing mounds, play equipment, and plants to awaken and interest dogs’ senses.

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Shelter Dogs 'in Love' Hope to Find Forever Home Together

This Valentine’s Day, two shelter dogs from Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge (RBARI) in Oakland, NJ, hope to find a forever home together. The dogs, Clover and Roscoe, have fallen in love and are inseparable.

Clover is a 6-year-old female Corgi-Lab mix rescued from a hoarding situation and Roscoe is 4-year-old male Basset hound who used to be an outside dog and is fearful of men.

To read more on this story, click here: Shelter Dogs 'in Love' Hope to Find Forever Home Together FOLLOW US!

10 Adorable Dogs Taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

From a dachshund in a shower cap to a cavapoo in a raincoat

You might be at least a little sick of seeing people dump water over their heads everywhere you turn on the Internet, even if the hugely viral phenomenon is raising insane amounts of money for a worthy cause.

But the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has now taken a cutesy turn. Here, we present some of the best canine contributions to the ever-growing collection of icy videos.

The dachshund that’s totally prepared with a cute little shower cap:




The pug that would rather just donate the damn money and have you leave it alone:




The big guy named Jet that’s pretty chill about things:




The puppy named Buttons that’s all, “can you not?”:




The corgi that actually seems excited to complete the challenge:




This chill chihuahua named Jack:

The little dude named Phineas Ernest Sander that’s rocking a fly raincoat:
Click here to see his video:
http://instagram.com/p/rurmSgF58_/?modal=true








The little cutie named Tinkerbelle that chills in protective rain gear while her human sings for some reason:

 


The dog named Boomer that realizes the challenge isn’t so bad after all:



The courageous pooch that uses an actual bucket:



Honorable mention: this cutie named Lucky that almost completed the challenge:



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