A Perth charity worker is hoping to overcome her fear of heights for a black-out bungee jump over the River Garry next weekend.
Nia Haxton, who works with the dog rescue charity Paws2Rescue, is hoping to raise £500 for the charity when she takes the leap on Saturday, March 11.
Dog-lover Nia will be jumping at 6.30pm from the Highland Fling in Killiecrankie, the only place in Europe to offer night-time ‘black-out’ jumps.
She said: “There are four of us doing it and we have already started raising money. So far we have raised £200, but we hope to get to the £500 mark between the four of us.
“Bungee jumping is something I always said I would never do, and when it was booked I thought I may as well be one of the members who does it!”
Nia is hoping jumping in the dark will help her face her phobia when it comes to taking the plunge.
She explained: “I think I am just planning to tackle it on the day. When it was first booked I was really nervous so I watched YouTube videos of the Killiecrankie jump – and that made me feel a bit better – so I said I would be the first one to do it. I think if I go first I will be able to do it, but I’m not so sure about after watching other people!
“I am not sure how dark it will be, but if it is a bit darker I won’t quite be able to see where I am going,”
Paws2Rescue is a UK-based charity which works with stray and abused dogs in Romania, where abandoned dogs are a growing problem.
Nia first became involved after she adopted Ricky, one of their abandoned dogs.
“I adopted Ricky a year past November from them, and from there I have got more and more involved,” she continued. “Ricky was living in an awful public shelter in a small cage all by himself as he was being attacked by larger dogs.
“The rescuers we support saved him and brought him to their shelter where he received vet treatment, nutritious food and love. We are raising money all the time to feed the dogs and help with their vet treatments and neutering campaigns.”
Currently, the Romanian Government tries to tackle the stray dog crisis by using dog catchers, who keep the animals in shelters for up to 14 days. Many of the dogs are killed within this time.
Paws2Rescue is currently running an extensive programme of neutering and education across Romania to stop more puppies being born when there are already thousands of unwanted dogs on the streets.