HOLYWELL Pet Cemetery has unveiled its first military dog statue following a successful fundraising camapaign.

In October 2021, the Leader reported on the business' plans to create a National Military Working Dogs Memorial on site.

Since then, their fundraising efforts - which include everything from raffles and collection tins - has seen them collect over £100,000.

And, last month, it was able to put in place the first of four dog statues it plans to house at the memorial site once it is complete.

The bronze figure, which cost £24,000, depicts Theo, who represented the British Army and the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment.

He served with his handler Liam Tasker in Afghanistan. Sadly they were both repatriated together after an ambush whilst on patrol.

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Theo is currently placed on the veranda at the tearooms which are also based at the site.

John Ward, who runs the cemetery, hailed the statue's arrival as a 'move forward' for the overall memorial project.

Speaking to the Leader, he added: "We have managed to raise over £100,000 so far and the support has been very much appreciated.

"The cost of the foundations and so on for building the memorial space is going to cost around £22,000, so at the moment we would only have enough to pay for another two of the statues.

"So, we're still fundraising in the hope that we can get all three of the further dogs here. We are aiming for next year for the official unveiling."

The Leader:

PIC: The statue of Theo the dog. Picture by National Military Working Dogs Memorial.

One of the other dogs set to be commemorated in the coming months is Buster, known for being the dog 'who saved a thousand lives'.

John says that support for the project has come from all over including from Crufts who donated £15,000 to get it off the ground.

Holywell Pet Cemetery (also known as Pet Funeral Services Ltd) is based at Brynford near Holywell and has been running for a total of 31 years.

During that time it has helped hundreds of people lay to rest their beloved animals, including one flown 6,000 miles from Hong Kong back in 2015.

Now, it is hoped that a special memorial in honour of dogs who have bravely served in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, can be erected there.

The National Military Working Dogs Memorial charity, otherwise known as NMWDM (UK), was established in 2017 with the sole purpose of establishing a memorial to commemorate the Military Working Dogs who bravely served their country in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts as in Bosnia Afghanistan and Iraq.

John is a trustee of the charity and works to raise both awareness and funds to enable the memorial to be constructed.