A LOCAL initiative is trying to help stop cash-strapped farmers from losing their best friends.
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Many drought-stricken farmers are being forced to surrender their working dogs as food, water and money is in desperately short supply.
The project is asking for the community's generosity to go towards buying dog food that can cost about $45 for a 20 kilogram bag.
Members from the Henty Lions Club travelled to north-west NSW handing out pamper packs for women and found there was a "crying need" to help the farmers.
Club president Julie Colley said it is hoped that monetary donations can help farmers' mental health, while also supporting local businesses.
"The reason we decided on money is that we'll spend it up there in their local community so that shopkeepers will benefit from this initiative too," she said.
"Many of these farmers will have more than one working dog and if they lose them, they virtually have to start all over again: buy and then train them.
"[Dogs] are also their mates; losing them would add to their sense of inadequacy and that would be the final straw if they have to surrender their dogs."
The club is seeking donations until the end of January and has already been overwhelmed by the support from the community and those living in areas as far as Perth and Tasmania.
Club member and former farmer Connie Ross said this is a project that is close to her heart.
"I think people are so generous because they're always being asked to open their wallets and their hearts," she said.
"It's Aussies helping Aussies.
"Being members of a rural community, we're conscious of the issues like mental health ... we're trying to save the farmers as much as the dogs."
The money will be going to areas, such as Gilgandra and Bourke, and the club will reassess the initiative in the new year to see if it needs to be continued.