Dog rescue charity Fetcher Dog will be special guests when Ashford United take on Hythe Town at Homelands

By Faye Hackwell

Dogs are as synonymous with non-league football grounds as Bovril, pies and a printed matchday programme.

This Saturday, Homelands will host some special canine guests, when a local dog rescue charity pays a matchday visit to the ground - thanks to a joint idea from the opposing teams’ dog-loving managers.

Ashford United boss Tommy Warrilow is often seen with his trusty Jack Russell, Ella, by his side at Homelands, while Hythe Town’s Steve Watt has two beloved beagles - one of which he adopted from the visiting charity.

Ashford-based Fetcher Dog is bringing some of its dogs that need rehoming to meet spectators, who will have the opportunity to find out more about adopting a dog and donate towards the charity’s work.

Fetcher Dog rescues stray dogs that have been captured and placed in kill shelters in Bosnia and takes them to its rescue centre in Hastingleigh, with the aim of finding them a loving home in the UK.

A year ago, the Watt family adopted Marty from the charity, after seeing photos of him on Instagram.

Steve said: “We went to look at Marty and fell in love with him.

“He’d been picked up as a stray in the mountains in Bosnia and put in a kill shelter, where there’s two weeks for a dog to be reclaimed or they get killed.”

Marty had been rescued by Fetcher Dog and, although he initially bore physical and emotional scars from a troubled life on the streets, he has now settled into family life alongside the Watts’ other beagle, Holly.

“We don’t know the full extent of his background but we’ve found little things that make you think ‘maybe that was a problem’.

“At first he was terrified of cars and would be barking at vehicles on walks and he had teeth missing - the front ones - from where dogs