Peter Egan stands with Street Paws!
“We are a nation that prides itself on loving dogs, and that love must extend to people at their most vulnerable”
Peter Egan
“When I look back on my childhood, I see noise, laughter and glorious chaos. My father’s Irish family had come over from Dublin in the 1930s and seemed to occupy every inch of one North London house. My English Protestant mother found herself the only outsider among this exuberant Roman Catholic clan, and somehow made it all work.
There must have been 14 or 15 of us under one roof, and in the middle of that beautiful madness were two steady, loving presences, our chocolate Labrador and a black Welsh Border Collie called Bobby.
Bobby was really my first great love. I was about five, and he was utterly bonkers in the way only a Collie can be, racing up and down the stairs between my brother and me, skidding through the front door as though the world depended on it. But he was also watchful and loyal.
In a house full of adults, arguments, jokes and strong opinions, Bobby was my constant. He listened without judgement. He was simply there. That feeling, that quiet companionship, never leaves you.
Dogs have been a thread running through my entire life. In times of joy they share it with you, in times of grief they absorb it. They do not ask questions about your past or your prospects. They respond only to kindness and consistency. If I had the land and the time, I truly believe I would devote myself to running an animal sanctuary, because I cannot imagine a more worthwhile calling than giving animals safety and love.
That is why I feel so strongly about the work of Street Paws and the No One Left Outside campaign. For someone facing homelessness, a dog is not a luxury or an inconvenience, it is family. It may be their only source of warmth, protection and unconditional affection. To ask a person to give up that bond in order to access shelter is to misunderstand completely what animals mean to us.
Compassion should never come with conditions. We are a nation that prides itself on loving dogs, and that love must extend to people at their most vulnerable. I am proud to stand with Street Paws in saying that no one should be forced to choose between a roof over their head and the companion who has stood by them through everything.”
