TRIBUTES have been paid to a “force of nature” who set up and grew a charity dedicated to saving Staffies.

Staffie & Stray Rescue was founded in April 2014 after Callie Byrne discovered how many of the breed were left unwanted in pounds.

Callie died on Tuesday aged 48 after a short battle with illness, and her daughter Sophie Vye said she was determined to keep her legacy alive.

She said her mum previously volunteered at a rescue centre and rescued a male Staffie called Kenzie.

Kenzie had a number of problems and after seeking advice, Callie was shocked to be offered to swap him for another dog.

Unable to ignore the problem, she decided to set up her own charity for Staffie’s, helping hundreds of dogs in the process.

Sophie said: “She always had her heart on her sleeve. She was a whirlwind, you would see her here, there and everywhere.

“She was just an absolute force of nature to be reckoned with.”

Sophie said, through her mum’s work, she has seen the reputation of Staffie’s gradually improve.

“We’re so, so proud,” Sophie continued. “It’s hard because I’ve spent a lot of time being said, when you do look at all the amazing, heartfelt messages it makes me so proud.

“I worked very, very closely alongside mum, but I’ve only been full-time for under a year which is devastating, I felt we had a good thing going.

“I think the roles are going to change, we will all have to step up a bit more, everyone will pull together and it could be the start of something absolutely amazing, it already was amazing.”

Donations have and can continue to be made to the charity in Callie’s memory, which Sophie said will go towards fulfilling her mum’s dream of opening a kennel, which they’ll call Callie’s Kennel.

She added: “It’s in her memory we are still going to keep fighting for this dream and every little helps.

“She made me realise you have to live for the moment, you have to keep moving forward, love deeply, if you want to make a change, be that change.

“The world will be very quiet without her, we just have to be inspired by her which gives us strength to keep on keeping on.”

Donations can be made at https://staffieandstrayrescue.co.uk/.