26th April 2012

Sadly in this rescue we get times that animals come to us that end up not finding a home and die with us here.
Ben the Yorkie was one of those dogs, although he did actually find a home when he was 14 years old to people who we thought would love him till the end after arriving here as an unwanted pet. At the age of 17 years old he was returned because he had got elderly, could not hold himself as he used to and was not house clean and developed health issues - he kept suffering mini-fits. Without a care in the world they dropped him back to us simply because they knew that the time was near to make the final decision and they didn't want to make it.
Furious does not explain the emotion I went through with this little dog. To say that the family are blacklisted for life is an understatement due to their complete lack of compassion and throw away attitude.
Regardless of that Ben had to be our main priority. He deserved more than those uncaring and selfish people and I truely hope that they stumble across this blog just so that they know the digust and contempt I hold for them for the rest of my days. Just remember that we all get old sooner or later and you have taught your children a very valuable lesson in life in your case...when something gets old, dump it. I wonder if they will do the same to you?
I was of course expecting a weak and frail dog to turn up, but no...he was very agile for his age and proved to us that he still loved his walks. He did half an hour every day and led the pack happily far ahead on his extendable lead walking with the younger dogs and holding his own! At the end of the walk he turned around and wanted to go again...but we had to draw the line and insist that was enough for that day! He had a lovely, if little volatile nature if you wanted to pick him up, but we got round this easily and within a few days of being back with us accepted being picked up to the point that he allowed a full clip out of his coat and he was much more comfortable after that.
Feeding time was a tad of a nightmare as he would only accept home cooked food and preferred a different meal each time. Braised steak in gravy was his favourite and up to the day before he died he ate it all up with great gusto! He also liked to be handfed 6 dry food biscuits every couple of hours as a filler in between meals. This was all done for him as was constant bedding changes and a clean bed being given to him a couple of times a day - he was old and accidents happen. It really was no bother.
Unfortunately Ben then took a spiral downhill on Wednesday morning. On getting him to the vets it was confirmed that he had gone into Renal Failure and judging by the way that he had suddenly started swinging his head from side to side and having seizures in close succession, it was in line with a probable brain tumour.
Ben was not a happy dog at this stage and it was the final kindness that we could do for him. He may have been abandoned by his previous owners, but he died very much a loved dog. RIP Ben.

A few days before that, on the Monday, Doofus - a Labrador x Pointer bought in from a Birmingham dog pound - had to be taken into the vets after he became ill overnight.
Doofus had been seen by a member of the public being thrown from a moving car and they had taken him to the local dog pound. He served his 7 days and although he had been reserved to come to this rescue, it made no difference and he, along with 12 others who were not so lucky that day, were earmarked for euthanasia. As he was being walked to the euthanasia room, the dog warden doing some of the transport for him, spotted him and grabbed him. He was a lucky boy and we pray that his luck continues.
Overnight he had an inability to keep any food or water down and had laboured breathing and he was diagnosed with having Pneumonia. This meant a stay at the vets where he was put onto an intraveneous drip and intraveneous antibiotics. His temperature was high and although they managed to reduce this, the bacteria became immune to the type of antibiotics being used and he had a slight relapse. Four days of worry and they finally sent him home as he started to become depressed in the kennel and felt he would be better in a home environment.
His treatment is ongoing at present as he is still very quiet and we are not in the safe zone just yet.

Bella the American Bulldog who has been with us for a few weeks went in for her spay which could not be done immediately due to her recent season and all went well. She is reserved to go to a new home on Saturday subject to a homecheck. Bella has got a perfect nature and arrived in rescue through no fault of her home, but due to a family break up. She is one of those dogs with no issues at all.

Today we had a few adoptions happen - two baby female rats who went off to pair with another two does. These rats were born in rescue after their previous owner who had lots of rats, had put a male in with her group of females a week before they were due to arrive in rescue. Only one gave birth and she produced 7 babies - 5 boys and 2 girls. At the age of 8 weeks they are no ready to find their new homes.

We had a male ferret adopted to go and live as a spoilt house ferret and his two new friends accepted him with little trouble. Originally arriving here as a stray that was never claimed, his life has now taken a turn for the better.

Plus, we welcomed Peppa the Shihtzu into the rescue. This girl was originally a puppy farm breeding bitch. The farmer sold the other dogs, except Peppa who was taken to the vets to be euthanased because she could be snappy. She was rescued from this situation and although she was very loved in her new foster home, one of the original resident dogs took a dislike to her, so she came to us for rehoming. Initial assessment shows more fear than anything else, but she is obsessed with food so we shall take advantage of that and use that positively for her training. She shows good body language if she is worried by averting eye contact and will make a lovely dog for an experienced owner.