MOST people – dog fans or not – would have been horrified by the death of 53 animals in the Manchester Dogs’ Home fire.

Arson may be being blamed but it has been very heartening to see the national and local response with money and aid flooding in. It just shows that, when it comes to animals, we as a nation are very soft-hearted. We want to help in any way we can, and combine an emotional response with a very practical one to simply try to help in some way.