Home is where the dog is – a phrase that animal rights campaigner, Nikki Tibbles, knows all too well. Nikki is the founder of charity, Wild At Heart, who aims to rescue and save the lives of the estimated 600 million stray dogs worldwide – her dedication to our four-legged pals is undeniable. Nikki’s work with the organisation sees her and her team visit countries where homeless dogs are in abundance, bringing them back to the UK, educating people on animal welfare and rolling out neutering programmes to prevent more strays on the streets. Her cause couldn’t be clearer – all animals are worthy of a good life. We caught up with her to find out more about her kind-hearted mission.
All my life I have grown up with rescue dogs. My holidays were spent rescuing dogs whenever I went to Sri Lanka or India. It’s really important for me to be able to give something back into our world, especially now when we are responsible for so much of the pain that our planet currently finds itself in. Around 15 years ago, I went to Puerto Rico and I spent two weeks saving dogs, feeding them, talking to residents and educating them to put water and food down. I ended up bringing two dogs back with me – a couple of puppies I’d found on the side of a highway. I flew them from San Juan to LA, and then to Paris, and finally smuggled them through the channel tunnel. There had been no rabies in Puerto Rico then for about 35-40 years so I wasn’t doing anything wrong.