Vet to run 385 miles across Sri Lanka for hospital
Dr Janey Lowes says her charity has outgrown the "makeshift" clinic and a new one is needed.
Vet to run 385 miles across Sri Lanka for hospital
Dr Janey Lowes was backpacking when she discovered injured street animals who would not be treated in Sri Lanka
A vet who left her life in the UK to care for injured street animals in Sri Lanka is set to run the 385-mile (620km) length of the country to raise money for a new £1.6m hospital.
Dr Janey Lowes, from Barnard Castle, County Durham, will take on the 'Dog Jog' challenge on 9 October, running from Point Pedro to Dondra, a route she hopes to finish in 22 days.
Lowes said there was a "need" for the charity she founded, WeCare Worldwide in 2014, to move into a purpose-built facility because it had outgrown its "makeshift" clinic.
"The figure is terrifying, but it's the price of a two-bed flat in London and this could build a whole functional hospital," she said.
Lowes set up the charity after seeing the scale of the problem in the country, along with the lack of available care, during a backpacking trip.
"I just remember feeling just useless, even as a vet. I had all the skills to help but I couldn't do anything, I didn't have any equipment, " Lowes told the BBC.
"It was a case of gosh, people in Sri Lanka must feel so helpless, the dogs must feel so helpless, because there is no help."
The charity has dozens of people who work around the clock to save the animals
At first, she treated animals in her home, but later turned a former nursery building into a clinic.
Since then, it has cared for more than 35,000 cats and dogs, giving rabies vaccines and often providing life-saving treatment to animals hit by cars.
But Lowes says it is now too small, outdated, and affected by black mould and several leaks.
She said: "Really it was too small back then, and it's too small now, every tiny little bit of space is optimised.
"You're running around the hospital and it was almost like an animal emergency through the door every time it rained."
The existing facilities are outdated, and sometimes leak, says Lowes
She has chosen the site for the new hospital, which will also include a training centre, but said it can only become a reality through fundraising.
The challenge is the equivalent of about 30 Great North Runs, each 13.1 miles.
"I've never even done the Great North Run, I don't know what I was thinking, I just needed to do something mental to raise the amount of money we need.
"It will help so many dogs."