BIGBANK, the Association of Estonian Dog Owners and patron Marju Länik handed the proceeds from the BIG Match Show 2010 over to Tallinn Animal Shelter on Thursday 18 November. The shelter will use the funds to improve the living conditions of its animals.

 The charity dog exhibition BIG Match Show held in Tallinn on 17 October raised 31,651 kroons in support of the shelter, which will be used primarily to upgrade the conditions in which the animals are kept and carry out sanitary repairs. The shelter also needs to acquire plastic cages known as ‘skippers’ in which to transport its animals.

BIG Match Show patron Marju Länik hopes the money raised will be a boost to the well-being of the animals cared for at the shelter. “I hope and I’m sure that quite a few animals will benefit from the proceeds, whether it be in the form of a new kennel, a good feed or the medical help they need,” she said. “Healthy animals are much more likely to find new owners and new homes.”

Rein Nuudi, the director of the animal shelter, which is a non-profit organisation, was positively surprised that the BIG Match Show managed to raise such a large amount of money. “As a charity event the dog show has more than fulfilled its remit, and we’re really happy that we can use money donated by good people and good companies in our work to buy and do what we need to improve conditions for the animals we look after,” he said.

This year’s BIG Match Show was attended by almost 1000 people, with 200 dogs being entered. The overall winner of the event was Milo, a mixed-breed owned by Lea Rahu. Both pure-bred and mixed-breed dogs took part in the show in different categories according to their age and size – puppies, adults and seniors of above or below knee height.

The BIG Match Show, which has now been running for six years, is an annual charity dog show – the largest of its kind in Estonia. Its aim is to draw people’s attention to the problem of stray dogs and other animals and possible solutions to this problem, as well as to support animal shelters throughout the country. In previous years the proceeds from the BIG Match Show have been donated to the Rakvere, Kohtla-Järve, Pärnu, Tartu, Võru, Haapsalu, Viljandi and Valga animal shelters. The event is organised by BIGBANK AS in cooperation with the Association of Estonian Dog Owners. This year’s BIG Match Show took place in all three Baltic States – not only in Estonia, but for the second time in Latvia and for the first time in Lithuania.

From left: BIG Match Show patron Marju Länik; shelter director Rein Nuudi; Association of Estonian Dog Owners board member Aire-Piret Pärn; and BIGBANK representative Kristi Berggren.

For more information and comments please contact:

Aire-Piret Pärn
Member of the Management Board
Association of Estonian Dog Owners
Mobile: +372 55 555 138
E-mail: airepiret@koertekoda.net

Kristi Berggren
Project manager, BIG Match Show
BIGBANK AS
Mobile: + 372 53 018 050
E-mail: kristi.berggren@bigbank.ee