Sadness as hospice snowdog art trail sculptures in Kirklees subjected to vandalism

One of the Snowdogs in Cleckheaton town centre, called ‘Day of the Dog’, has been temporarily taken off the trail whilst the hospice team assesses the extent of the damage and look for a way to repair the sculpture.

A Snowdog, called ‘Together We Are One’, has also been removed from Huddersfield town centre, due to vandalism.

Jim Coward, The Kirkwood’s media and marketing manager, who announced the news via social media, said: "This is devastating news, not just for The Kirkwood, but for the amazing artists that put their hearts and souls into creating their Snowdogs, our sculpture sponsors and everyone who has been enjoying the trail over the past few weeks. People have really taken the Snowdogs into their hearts.

"Unfortunately, The Kirkwood will now have to find the funds to fix the two Snowdog sculptures, which sadly means extra expense for our charity.

"We’ve been absolutely blown away by the positive reaction to Snowdogs Support Life, Kirklees over the past few weeks! So many people have got out on the trail already and we’re all in shock that anyone would want to deliberately cause damage to our wonderful Snowdog sculptures."

The Kirkwood organised the trail to encourage people to find out more about our charity and how they support individuals affected by life limiting illnesses.

The charity’s goal is to make sure as many people as possible know that, if they ever need The Kirkwood’s help, they are there for them – in their own homes, in the community or at their hospice.

The Kirkwood's director of income generation and marketing, Duncan Batty said: "The damage caused to both dogs is something we didn't want to see.

“This is a community project that everyone can be part of. It’s about bringing families together, attracting visitors into our towns and villages and enjoying amazing art.

“Months of preparation has gone into designing and creating each dog. Time and effort has been spent and these incidents do spoil a little bit of the magic for all of us. We want people to enjoy the trail but to respect it too.

"We want everyone to enjoy visiting and interacting with our Snowdogs, but please don’t climb on them or hang off them.

“With your help we can make sure all of our Snowdogs continue to look their very best so we can raise as much money as possible at auction to help The Kirkwood Support Life across Kirklees.

"We are hopeful that Day of the Dog and Together We Are One will be able to rejoin the trail soon, but we want to ask the public to help us look after these amazing Snowdogs during the rest of the trail.”

If you have been enjoying the Snowdogs Support Life Art Trail and would like to make a small contribution towards the repair, visit snowdogskirklees.org.uk/donate