A thought for Thursday...
Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage.
Agnes Repplier
Like many other bloggers I too am taking part in today's campaign against abuse, in my case animal abuse and in particular puppy farms.
We always imagine it is happening somewhere else, away from our current situation.
However, for us it is a subject much nearer to home, in fact it was Birmingham.
Five years ago we lost our German Shepherd, Inca.
Like all of our dogs she led a long and happy life, she was 15 when she died.
We always have 2 dogs so we set out to find a companion for Max.
Now Inca was indeed a beautiful dog and in her early days she had been a show dog.
This stopped when she became ill and had to be spayed, this is the point we bought her through a contact our vet passed on to us.
When we started the search for another German Shepherd we contacted the German Shepherd Rescue Society, in Newcastle.
A few days later Alison, the manager contacted us to say she was travelling down to Birmingham to collect two 5 month old bitches.
We went up to Newcastle on the following Saturday.
In a run, inside a kennel where the two puppies.
They would not come outside.
Jon went into the kennel and brought the two puppies outside.
They were clambering to get away from the human interest.
We went inside the compound and again the two dogs cowered.
One of the dogs already had a home to go to, we said whichever dog was left we would happily give a home to.
We left our details and travelled home.
We hadn't been home long before the phone rang.
It was Alison saying we had been approved as owners following checks with our vets.
The other puppy had gone to its new home.
We set off immediately and travelled to Newcastle.
We brought our new puppy home.
That night we named her Wilmaha, Wilma.
She found a corner in the kitchen and stayed there for the best part of 2 weeks.
She soon trained in the garden.
Over a period of 6 months she eventually found the courage to come and look at us as we sat and watched TV, a few more months and she would stay in the lounge for a few minutes.
This slowly increased and she would lay on the carpet and stay in the room.
A neighbour who breeds German Shepherds told us the story of Wilma had made the front page news in many dog journals.
She had been bought in order to breed from.
She had been reared in a back yard with no socialisation or mixing with other animals or humans.
We also heard that her sister and mother had been so distressed they had been put to sleep.
We knew we had a difficult journey ahead of us, but 5 years down the line Wilma is here, currently at the top of the stairs having a nap waiting for her morning walk.
Her previous owner was prosecuted but these days that counts for little.
Only this week in our local press a man who previously had been banned from keeping animals caused endless suffering to yet more animals.
Puppy farming is horrific.
It is the result of greed.
To read more about it, read about the work of the Hope Foundation.
BY:ANONYMOUS
Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no
heart in all the world is more grateful for
kindness than the loving heart of me.
Do not break my spirit with a stick, for
though I might lick your hand between blows,
your patience and understanding will more
quickly teach me the things you would have
me learn.
Speak to me often, for your voice
is the world's sweetest music, as you must
know by the fierce wagging of my tail when
your footsteps fall upon my waiting ear.
Please take me inside when it is cold and
wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no
longer accustomed to bitter elements.
I ask no greater glory than the privilege of
sitting at your feet beside the hearth.
Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot
tell you when I suffer thirst.
Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp
and play and do your bidding, to walk by your
side, and stand ready, willing and able to
protect you with my life, should your life
be in danger.
And, my friend, when I am
very old, and I no longer enjoy good health,
hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts
to keep me going.
I am not having any fun.
Please see that my trusting life is taken
gently,
I shall leave this earth knowing with
the last breath I draw that my fate was always
safest in your hands.