People are being reminded that a dog is for life, not just for Christmas - as the Dogs Trust launches its annual campaign.

It is asking people to think twice before getting a dog this festive season.

The group took the opportunity to place 51 cardboard cut-outs of dogs along Dublin's North Canal. The cut-outs represented the 51 phone calls it received on one day alone last January from members of the public, looking to surrender their unwanted dogs.

Printed onto the cut-outs were some of the reasons given by people as to why they could no longer look after their dog. Some of the reasons included, "He's too old", "I can't cope with the puppy's behaviour", "we have a new baby" and "we're down-sizing".

Hamish Breathnach (2) takes a closer look at the campaign | Image: Dogs Trust

Mark Beazley is the executive director of Dogs Trust.

"We wanted to try something a little different for our Christmas campaign this year in order to attract the public’s attention and hopefully spread our charities message of ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’ throughout Ireland," he said.

Some of the helpers involved in the Christmas campaign | Image: Dogs Trust

"We really wish to encourage those thinking of getting a dog to take due consideration at any time of the year and especially when buying a dog for Christmas. Very often homes can be quite frenetic during the festive season and it may not be the best time for a dog, especially a puppy, to be introduced into an environment where the normal routine is disrupted."

"In the New Year, when the Christmas festivities have died down, we would encourage those who have made the decision to get a dog to consider adopting a dog from your local rescue centre, local pound and Dogs Trust," he added.

More than 1,000 abandoned dogs per year come through the doors of the charity, and thousands more they cannot take in.