Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ......

Goodbye Twinkle - safe journey

 You may have well seen the recent activity on our face book page, or seen the links on the home page to the official statement, but last weeks events taught me one thing, it doesn't matter how many years you do this job, some things are harder to get through then others. To be fair, I had the easy job, I didn't have to meet Twinkle, hug her, kiss her, and make the dreaded decision, but the events took over so many hearts and lives that on Friday night we held a nationwide vigile to Twinkle, the little puppy who's being was so painful there really was only one option. I've copied below the full statement by Vicky (our chairman) who had the harrowing task of letting her go, a job that should have bestowed itself to the breeder, who instead of doing the right thing, sold her - even suggesting she could be bred from. Thank fully Twinkle found her way to somewhere we got to know about her, and between hundreds of broken hearts on our Facebook page really did know what he felt like to be loved.
So why was I affected so badly, you'd think after almost 11 years I'd be hardened to this, to be fair there are some situations where I have found I can detached myself from easier than I could 11 years ago, but for some reason this one was different and I really sunk quite low come Friday night as my energy was just drained from the mass outpouring of greif that came across the group which quickly turned to anger. Gardening is my escape, working with the seasons and with nature to create something that I hope will be here long after I'm gone and being the weekend I took the opportunity to hide away and do just that, sadly as many people who work in any kind of rescue will know, it didn't go quite according to plan with the arrival of an adorable Welsh couple late Sunday afternoon who reminded me that it's not all about me - it's about the many other bulldogs out there who need our help, sadly, sometimes it's harder to just carry on to the next case than others but I think I'm there, life goes on as they say

The new Pond



Faries

Statement 19th January 2012

How it all began....
A simple question posted on the Bulldog rescue Facebook page ‘ any one heard of BARALASIS????’
This was picked up from this advertisement on the www.

DUE TO HAVING A SLIGHT PROBLEM WITH HER BOTTOM. ITS CALLED BARALASIS WITCH IS PINS AND NEEDLES IN THE BUM AREA WITCH IS MAKING HER INCONTINENT THE VETS HAVE SAID SHE WILL GROW UP TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE WILL JUST TAKE TIME SHE WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE PUPS WHEN SHE IS OLDER. she is a happy little thing and loves playing and it dont bother her in anyway, plz ring 4 more info UPDATE She is getting better day by day and she only gets incontinent after food or when she is very excited

None of us in Rescue nor the vet we consulted had ever heard of this made up condition ! neither had google !
This has led to an amazing chain of events, it sparked interest in what was happening and the Bulldog Rescue and Rehoming Group Face book page members started following what was going on .
It transpired that the puppy was sold for £800 to a young lady who signed a paper saying she knew the puppy had health issues but accepted and had had it explained to her and was buying her at the agreed price.
Next day ,less than 24hours after the puppy had been in the new home the person who bought her realised she had taken on much more than she could cope with because the puppy was continuously passing faeces ,and was quite weak on her back legs .She asked for her money back and to return the puppy. The breeder refused saying she had signed to say she knew the pup had problems and would not accept the puppy back or return the money.
It was at this point watching this posting Rescue began to worry, never mind the ethics of the breeder all we could think about was someone had an incontinent puppy that they no longer wanted but needed to recoup their money .
Our face book questioner began to pursue the problem finding out the breeder and then the purchaser, so we still had the problem an unwanted puppy going to be passed on …. A breeder who totally refused to take responsibility for a puppy whom, in that condition should not have been sold.!
Bulldog Rescue take very seriously the role of being rescuers, fortunately the number of true rescues of ill treatment and actual cruelty is quite small, but we have had experience in the past of this type of health problem and we know from bitter experience that the puppy who is very cute looking grows into a full sized bulldog who because of the stench is quickly relegated to the outside.
If it is lucky it gets a warm kennel, if it is not it gets left in the garden shed and lies in a bed full of poop and pee and burns its skin so badly it becomes infected and sore.
This is not a maybe it’s a fact, we have had quite a few dogs in this condition.
One beautiful male aged 2 had been given to a young family in Nottinghamshire about 2 years ago; they loved him and thought they could cope. When we were called in to look at him to see if he could be rehomed through the rescue, because the neighbours had called in environmental health. we were quite unprepared, first of all the smell, the instant the door was opened. We were then shown the dog through the window, they were reluctant to go out in the yard because the dog leaked poop all the time. The yard had been cleaned but all around the walls at bulldog bottom height was splattered faeces .
He was a very sweet boy but could not come indoors and no one went out to play with him. They were desperately hoping to save him but knew in their hearts that no one would cope with this level of care .As he showed weakness in his rear legs they didn’t know if he was hurting .He was seen by a vet diagnosed with hemivertebrae and was PTS.
We were therefore very aware of how this puppy may end up if we didn’t step in. The Rescue Facebook members suggested if through negotiations we could get the new owner to sell her to us, we could raise the money by donation.
Our intrepid Facebook member worked hard on setting up the purchase whilst Tania set up Pay pal to handle the donations and we put out an appeal.
Rescue has a set figure of £100 with which we can purchase dogs with ,but we still needed to raise £700.
Overnight this money came in, in large amounts, in small amounts, people gave what they could and gave it willingly to purchase this puppy and save it from being passed around.
We made it quite clear that there was no guarantee that the puppy would be able to be homed but that it was needed to be got out of the circulation of sellable dogs! Urgently, whatever this puppies outcome when she has been vet examined we know and the Facebook page members know ,that no one will ill-treat, or misunderstand that puppy again.
She belongs to Rescue now and will be looked after ,have medical care and be assessed for life expectancy and quality of life ,as her back end is weak we are also aware she may be in pain .
Yes, the Breeder sold her and kept the money, refused to take her back totally wrong!!! but we couldn’t wait for litigation, the puppy had to be got out of that situation .
The new owner was naïve thinking she had got a bargain puppy but quickly realised her mistake and a reputable breeder [who would never have sold such a poorly puppy in the first place ]should have taken her back and refunded the money .
Fact remains the dog needed getting before it was sold on, the wonderful members of the Facebook group provided the means to buy, pay for her X-ray, to get her into Rescue and at the end of the day that is what Rescue is all about .
The Puppy… is safe from that scenario she’s cuddled up in the determined ladies house right now , she’s got to be assessed by an experienced vet and her future will be decided .Whatever that is the group of people who worked together on this cannot be thanked enough.
Bulldog Rescue will give a further update as to the puppy’s condition when we know ourselves the extent of her problems.
Thank you all very much for caring and helping this dog out of a crisis .
Vicky Collins-Nattrass
Chairman Trustee on Behalf of Bulldog Rescue and Rehoming Charitable Trust

New year, New start, same old same old

Earlier this week the Daily Mail published an article regarding the number of stray dogs and one person's opinions regarding how difficult it was to adopt one. It made me realise that after 10 years my mindset is in "rescue" mode and that no doubt there were many many people out there sharing her opinion so I thought I'd go through some of her gripes and explain them:

First mistake. I called the dogs home to register our interest and was told their policy was never to re-home puppies into families with children younger than eight years old because — and I quote: ‘We can’t guarantee the puppy won’t, at some point in the future, bite one of your children

This is a policy we try very hard not to adopt, but I know that many many rescue centres do. We cannot guarantee that any dog won't bite you or your children in the future but there are many many dogs that need children, especially if they have come out of families with children. It's true that in cases where the history is unknown or we know the dog simply isn't used to small children we won't take the risk either, but there's certainly no blanket ban here. The way I see it is that we won't take any necessary risks but won't rule you out completely if you have kids. Having said that if you talk me into to letting you take a dog listed that can only be placed with kids over 10 and you have a 3 year old that gets bitten you'd soon be on to me screaming and wanting to know why I let that happen!

Hurdle number two was that every member of the family had to visit Albus at the centre 70 miles away. Not just once. Or twice. But several times for ‘bonding’ purposes before they would release the puppy to us.

I'd be interested to hear what they would have done if they hadn't insisted the dog meets everyone and then after getting the dog home realised the dog didn't like one of them? Better to be safe than sorry in my opinion

Hurdle number three was The Home Visit. By then, I was starting to feel more than a little irritated. We had already expended a huge amount of time, money and energy in meeting their re-homing requirements. Sending a warden to assess our home seemed to be an excessive measure.

Sorry, but any responsible person needs to be sure the new family and their environment is suitable, I must admit being "irritated" by a home check sounds a little bizarre to say the least and is definitely not excessive in my opinion

Let’s not forget we are talking about a dog — not a child. We were clearly a nice, middle-class family trying to do the right thing by giving not one, but two, strays a loving future with our family.

I find this statement infuriating - nice middle class families are just as likely to be unsuitable as a nice working class family. I'm sure there must be a word for people who assume that because they are middle class they are an automatic good home?

But their stance through the entire process was one of distrust and annoying superiority

My guess is that this rescue place, as with almost every other rescue place, have been taken in by people who are not who they say they are enough times to make sure that ALL new potential families are checked out. If the dog went into a family who kept him tied up outside in the rain because the rescue didn't take the time to make sure they weren't so middle class they weren't prepared to let the dog in the house the headlines wouldn't have been far far worse!

The warden arrived for the inspection bringing another dog with her and asked if it could come inside the house. I suspected immediately this was a test of how dog-loving we are.
I made all the appropriate cooing noises despite the fact it was quite a smelly dog who proceeded to relieve itself all over our hallway rug.
By then, I would have done anything

I'm surprised the home checker didn't see through the charade to be honest and it'll be interesting to see how long this placement lasts.

Don’t get me wrong. I am as much of a dog lover as the next person. But there were many times during our re-homing adventure that I couldn’t help feeling the pooch police had lost the plot.

You have clearly never been conned by anyone pretending they want the dog for purposes other than that of a pet

Oh, and of course we still needed to pay £120 per dog for the privilege of this grilling we’d been subjected to.

How else can the rescue centre cover their costs? Have you any idea how much the day to day running costs?

If for any reason we are unable to continue to look after the dogs, we are not allowed to give them away to family or friends — they have to go back to the rescue centre.

Yes and .......? If the original owners had put the same stringent requirements into the sale of the dogs in the first place they would never have been strays. The ability to abandon a dog and have no come back is the exact reason why so many rescues adopt this clause - including us!
Oh, and Juno and Albus are micro-chipped back to the dogs’ home, so if they do ever find a gap in a fence and decide to run off, the dogs’ home will always know.

We also do this and twice now the people we rehomed the dog to have claimed to have found the dogs as strays and handed them in to dog wardens (incidentally both times the dogs had been rehomed to members of the police force but that's a whole new story). When I take responsibility to ensure that every single dog we rehome has a safe future I will do whatever it takes to ensure just that, including keeping the chip numbers registered to us, something that the people we are rehoming for are incredibly grateful for
The article sums up with So there you have it. Barking mad or sensible measures? I’ll let you decide or, perhaps, we should let sleeping dogs lie

From the point of view of someone who has been lied to, had dogs abandoned because they couldn't be bothered to make the same journey to take the dog back and have turned up for a homecheck to find out that the 2 bed house with the nice secure garden was a 5th floor flat with a balcony I would say very sensible measures indeed - but what do you think?

Read article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2081502/Stray-dogs-There-345-day-hard-dog-loving-home.html