We insure our car with an English insurance company called Italsure,they insure expatriates abroad.

At the end of the year they do something called The Italsure Christmas Initiative. I am thrilled to tell you that this year they chose Puglia Pooches. They have sent us €600 to start off our Land Plan. As most of you are aware our dream is to buy some land and build a small sanctuary to help the sick and elderly stray and abandoned dogs.

We believe that if we can buy a  piece of land ,the minimum 1,000 square metres,and fence it,we can increase the range of what we can do for these poor animals,immensely. Now Oliver, of Italsure, has begun to make this dream a reality.

We would like to say an enormous thank you to Italsure for starting the ball rolling and hope we can continue to keep the contributions coming in towards our project.In addition to this donation they also sent this out to all of their cusomers:

Month/Year Featured Article   Italsure Christmas Initiative Traditions start by doing something for the first time and this will be our second time doing this. Last year we chose the Alternative Gift Program from Plan International but this year we have chosen a smaller and quite unique initiative in Italy, where so many of our customers are. The initiative is 'Puglia Pooches' based down in Puglia in the 'heel' of Italy.   Puglia Pooches As the name suggests, Val and Mino house, look after on the streets and generally monitor the plight of stray dogs and also cats in Puglia. I have a dog but I am not what you would call an animal lover. However what struck me about Puglia Pooches is the desire to address and confront people's behaviour. There is something desperate about seeing a dog spending its life on a chain or dumped at the side of the road that goes beyond the plight of the animal and to the frailty of human nature. Val and Mino are just two people with limited resources but great works always start like that. The Land Plan Val believes that if they can secure a fenced piece of land of about 1,000 square metres (10,750 sq ft) they can expand the scope of their work dramatically. We cannot fulfil that plan but we can make a good start with 600 euro. If anyone would like to help, take a look at their website Puglia Pooches or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it We know they would appreciate your contributions to this project and likewise we will forward on any sent to us.   A very Happy Christmas to you all.   Regards   Italsure www.italsure.co.uk +44 207 117 8283

 So how is that for extra publicity. Fingers crossed, now things will improve.

Please help us to raise this money to help these poor animals.Just hit the donation button,which for the Land Plan, is the little dog at the top right hand corner of this page.We are not asking for ourselves but for the animals that need our help.Please help !!