Feature meet the owners who love the dogs some people can't

The Diamond

Monday March 27, 2017

Meet the owners who love the dogs some people can’t

By Elise Christian

T

he front door opens slightly and a small wet nose pokes out and takes a couple of keen sniffs.

From behind the door a friendly female voice shouts “Sorry! One sec!” before the nose goes back in and the door closes.

A couple of seconds later, it flies open to reveal a beaming young woman with small-sized Staffordshire bull terrier in her arms that was fit to burst with excitement. Its tail was wagging so hard I thought it might take off.

The small grunting noises it was making indicated to me that it was desperate to be back on its feet, so it could say hello properly. “Sorry, Hepsey gets a bit excited! Come in, she’s keen to meet you” the woman said smiling. Hepsey looked up at the woman then and gave her two sloppy licks on her chin (as if in agreement) and the woman hugged her harder and laughed.

The smiling young woman is 25-year-old, Hollie Danby, of Heavitree Road in Plumstead, London.

Hollie’s family bought Hepsey when she was just nine weeks old from a local family who had a litter of puppies to sell.

Hepsey was in perfect health at the time, but now 11 years old, she is starting to show her age.

In April 2016, she developed glaucoma and two months later she had surgery to remove her left eye. After the initial healing process, Hepsey reverted to her normal happy self.

The strong bond between Hollie and Hepsey is clear to see as Hepsey leaps all over Hollie and tries to climb up on her lap.

It’s this love and support that Hollie and her family showed Hepsey after the loss of her eye that helped her to return to normal. She was initially in a great deal of pain and had to wear a cone around her neck to prevent her from pawing at her wound while it healed.

But within a few weeks, after lots of tender loving care, she was back to bounding around the house and playing with her favourite squeaky dog toy.

Hollie said: “Hepsey is a really friendly and happy dog,

she has always hated walks and just loves to lay on the sofa with us. She suffered from glaucoma and her eye had to be removed because it was causing her too much pain. She’s so much

happier now without it. She’s still the most beautiful dog in the world.”

Unfortunately, there are dogs who haven’t been as lucky as Hepsey - lucky enough to have

an owner who loves them from start to end, even when old age brings new obstacles.

Bonnie – an 18-monthold Collie Cross - is an example of one of these dogs. The Romanian

The Diamond street dog was found abandoned by railway tracks with severe injuries to her face and a missing paw and tail. Her vet has since suggested that her wounds were human-inflicted.

Staff at Beacon Animal Rescue Centre, Canterbury, flew Bonnie over to the UK to try and rehome her but they knew they had a tough job on their hands as her injuries had caused her to look severely disfigured.

But, Kate Comfort, 26, of Snowdon, Kent, became the answer to Bonnie’s prayers when she adopted and loved her regardless of her unconventional look.

Kate explained her reasons for adopting Bonnie.

She said: “My best friend runs Beacon Animal Rescue Centre and she showed me Bonnie when she was first found by the railway tracks. And I knew no one would want her, so pretty much I knew I was taking her home.”

Kate said that cosmetically she doesn’t care how Bonnie looks, but her vet is keen for her to have reconstructive surgery to give her a snout because other dogs think she is being aggressive – so they scared and want to fight.

The surgery should also help Bonnie to eat and drink more easily.

Although Bonnie is far from the average dog, Kate cannot praise her enough and does not find her any harder to love or care for than her three other dogs.

Kate said: “Originally we hoped to find a home for her…kind of took her on as a foster carer. We took her to a few homes but couldn’t do it because we had already fallen in love with her.

“She seemed so vulnerable and in need of love and stability. My other dogs were a bit afraid of her for the first few days so that was an anxious time.

But they adore their sister now.”

Bonnie’s surgery will cost £6,500 and Kate is drawing on support from family, friends and local people to help her raise the money.

Kate is also documenting Bonnie’s progress on Instagram @BonnieComfort so people donating money to help can follow her journey.

Although Bonnie had a rocky start to life, she is lucky that she was given the opportunity for a second chance, and thankfully, there seem to be a vast number of people across the country that are open to giving dogs like Bonnie this chance.

Catherine Orton, Veterinary Nurse at PDSA, Telford and Founder of Blind

Monday March 27, 2017

Dogs UK described some of the harsh realities that befell some of the dogs currently waiting to be rehomed.

She said: “Some of our dogs are deliberately blinded.

The common thought in Romania and other countries is that it stops the dogs returning home when they are dumped.

“Some are blinded through trauma and are left untreated and dumped. In Spain, it isn’t unusual for dogs to be surrendered with permission to euthanise after 7 days.”

As a veterinary nurse, Catherine has known many owners who have euthanised their dog after discovering it will become blind as they are adamant that they will have no quality of life – especially dogs

who need eyes removed.

She is bravely admitted that she feels the true fear is not to do with quality of life, but to do with how the dog will make the owners feel.

Catherine said: “They are completely heartbroken seeing a dog with no eyes, even though the dog is absolutely fine.

“I have prevented many dogs from being euthanised by asking them to come and meet my dogs and see how wonderful their lives are, before they make a decision on putting their dog to sleep.

“The veterinary attitude varies enormously from practice to practice. Some vets are happy to euthanise, others would try to encourage the owner to let the dog try.”

Blind Dogs UK is one of many organisations across the country that attempts to give disfigured and disabled dogs a new lease of life.

Wolfie’s Legacy UK was also set up for this purpose and they currently have dogs from the UK, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Serbia, Hungary, Bosnia and Romania.

Mary Garland, Home Check and Transport Coordinator at Wolfie’s Legacy said: “Many of the abroad countries mentioned have a lot of strays that are unimportant to them.”

Mary not only gives her time to rehoming dogs at Wolfie’s Legacy, but she also has her own dog which she has rehomed after he was thrown from a balcony in Romania.

Aron is a mixed breed, approximately six years old and his back legs are now paralysed from the fall.

Mary said: “The paralysed dogs are hard to find to find homes. People, I feel, find the thought of adopting a disabled dog scary. It’s the unknown.

“Aron uses a wheelchair for going out for a walk and gets around on his bottom indoors, no problem. I need to keep him very clean and check his legs for sores but otherwise much the same as my other dogs.

“Many people will ask why I don’t put Aron to sleep, although annoying, it can be an opportunity to educate them that disabled dogs does not mean inability.”

Thankfully, a spokesperson for Dog’s Trust UK has said they rarely have any problems rehoming disabled, three-legged dogs.

As I sit and look at Hepsey, I find it difficult to understand why anyone would struggle to think that a dog such as this – though she has one eye – would have no quality of life.

But, then I look at Hollie showing her such adoration and understand that maybe it takes a special kind of person to give the dog the quality of life that it needs.

Catherine said at Blind Dogs UK, they currently hold 150 dogs and rehome approximately 80 every year.

I can already imagine these 80 individuals or families are individuals like Kate, Hollie and Mary, who choose to acknowledge and overlook the disability to give the dogs the most normal, happy lives possible.

These women do not judge and they do not idealise, they simply act. Can you honestly say you would do the same?