Bridlington dog owner praises people of the town for rallying round Reema

Suzanne Clarke used to take her nine-year-old dog Reema for beach walks, around a mile-and-a-half from her Bempton Crescent home.

But an operation for Reema, along with Suzanne’s car breaking down, meant they were unable to manage this.

She wrote a post on a Bridlington Facebook page asking if any taxi drivers could help by taking Reema to the beach in the back of their car.

She was overwhelmed with the response from the Bridlington community, particularly when taxi driver Paul Brown stepped in to help.

Suzanne said: “I got so many replies, it was absolutely lovely. We were inundated.

“One lady messaged me and said she would insure her car for me.

“We have only been here for a year after living in Europe and we absolutely love it – it’s mainly down to the people.”

Suzanne and her husband Andy had been living in a campervan in France when they adopted Reema and her brother Kevin, then puppies.

“Eventually we came back to live in Whitby and the dogs loved it,” she said.

“The first time they had seen a beach was in Whitby.”

Paul told the Brid Free Press he was happy to help out.

"I quite pride myself on being available for bookings for people with dogs and animals in general," he said.

“I know a lot of drivers don’t like to for various reasons, excluding assistance dogs, but there are still a lot of us who would carry dogs.

“I have found that word has got round that I am happy to do so and I have a few people now contacting me for taxis with their pets, which is good for business for myself but also a good feeling.”

One thing Paul won’t do is put the dog in the boot, as he wouldn’t do it with his own dog “so wouldn’t do it with other people’s.”

Suzanne is now also able to get out and about a bit more with Reema since an elderly lady got in touch to offer them the chance to buy her car, which she no longer needed, very cheaply.

Sadly, though, they lost Kevin a couple of years ago.

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