Henry was rescued from a likely fate in the Chinese dog meat trade in 2017. He had been attacked by another dog, resulting in terrible wounds, a broken back, legs, and paralysed rear end.
He was saved by Harbin SHS Animal Rescue charity in Northern China, and after months of veterinary treatment in April 2018 he was adopted by Northern Ireland-based Sharon Warnock, Henry’s ‘momager’, who had seen his story on Facebook.
She arranged for him to be fitted with his special custom wheelchair – hence the ‘Wee Wheels’.
Henry became a therapy dog, living life “in the fast lane on two wheels” and visiting schools, children’s hospitals and care facilities, helping build empathy and understanding about differences and disability, “bringing happiness and encouragement to all who meet him”.
The cute pupper has a huge fan base with 147,000 followers on Facebook, and more than 1m likes on TikTok.
Northside Graphics has been producing Henry’s annual calendar for the past three years, and his range of merchandise has grown alongside the pooch’s popularity.
“This year he’s doing a mini desktop calendar, he’s doing a big calendar, he’s doing bookmarks, coasters, Christmas cards and more!” said Northside sales and marketing director David Brown, who hosted Henry and his team and features in the video, where he [Henry] is seen inspecting different pieces of equipment, reviewing paper stocks, and even presses ‘print’ with his paw at one point.
Warnock commented: “This is our third year doing the motivational calendars with all the money raised by sales going to the rescue in China to help save more dogs from horrific circumstances.
“We were let down the first year by another printer, however every cloud has a silver lining and it was definitely a blessing in disguise. After contacting several printers, Northside Graphics came highly recommended… and after speaking with David Brown and being assured of great quality with a quick turnaround, we’ve never looked back!”
Warnock said that all Henry’s merchandise was now printed and supplied by the team at Northside Graphics “and we now hope to increase our range of merchandise for sale all year round”.
Sales of the Henry Wee Wheels & Friends 2025 calendar, with photography by Graham Crichton, went live last week, with more than 100 sold in just a few hours, and the Northside team on standby to print more to meet demand, having already printed an additional run of the Christmas cards.
