Published: Tuesday, 24th March, 2009 2:00pm

Nine hour dog walk raises £1,400

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A MARATHON charity dog walk nearly ended in disaster when a hungry hound forced one of the walkers to take shelter on a kennel.

Chris Wills, 27, who grew up in Woodcote, and girlfriend Helen Partridge, 38, raised £1,400 by walking 84 dogs - and two cats - at the International Animal Rescue centre in Goa over nine hours on Saturday.

Helen said: "Predictably, there were a few highs and lows.

"Around the dogs' lunch-time, Chris had a lucky escape. Some of the dogs started to get a bit nasty as they knew their food was on the way. Chris actually had to climb over the top of one of the kennels because the dog wouldn't let him out until it got its food.

"Distracting the dog with biscuits always works but as I had them in my bag and was far away down the track walking my dog, that was the only thing he could do, given that no-one heard him shouting for help.

"But there were some high moments along the way too. We walked the overflow cage first of all and there were quite a few recent mums in there whose pups had been weaned.

"They seemed so happy to be out and so in need of a cuddle, I felt really happy to be doing that for them.

"All in all, we are really glad we survived the challenge and did it in the first place."

The couple have been volunteering at the animal shelter for three months since Helen took voluntary redundancy from the BBC and Chris left Reuters.

They have raised £1,396 for the charity through sponsorship at www.justgiving.com/animaltracks