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

Tis the season to be .....

...... Plain bloody stupid if you are behind the latest RSPCA campaign

The Pedigree dog, without which no dog would exist, but once again we see the RSPCA spending thousands of pounds on newspaper adverts and petition campaigns - I bet when you put your lose change in the collecting tin the other day you thought your money was going to make sure that all the animals in the shelters would get a nice Christmas - you'd be mistaken to think that any of that money actually goes to the animals because most shelters are financially independant of the RSPCA and operate almost like a franchise. Money donated goes towards paying salaries (fair enough if it's going to the inspectors), keeping the head office at Horsham running and financing campaigns such as this.

Quote: The way that dogs are bred today, in order to win shows, is having a huge impact on their health and welfare. This is why we’ve launched our Born to Suffer campaign which calls for pedigree dogs to be bred primarily for health, welfare and temperament rather than the way they look.

Outdated propaganda, almost every single bulldog breeder I know will put health and temperament above everything else. Of course I can't speak for other breeds but certainly the health and temperament of the bulldogs that end up in rescue have certainly improved in the last 10 years

Quote: But it’s not just show dogs that may be suffering. Not all pedigree dogs will appear in shows, but many are bred by breeders who want to produce show-winning animals, and who sell their surplus dogs as pets.


Sorry, but purchasing from a show breeder is the best way of ensuring your puppy is bred properly and with care by someone who actually gives a s**t and isn't in it purely for the money. The argument is simple - OK, you may not want to show your bulldog, but you still want a nice healthy bulldog that actually looks like a bulldog and a breeder that aims to show what they breed will not only have some understanding of the breed standard but will also be making that extra effort to produce good quality, healthy dogs.

Quote: To win shows, dogs must meet a 'breed standard' which is set for each individual breed and describes the way a dog should look. Breeding for looks in this way can lead to dogs being bred with exaggerated physical features. According to scientific studies some of the UK’s favourite breeds of dogs have been bred to such extremes that they can no longer breathe or walk normally. For example, dogs with short, flat faces often have narrow nostrils and abnormally developed windpipes. They can often suffer severe breathing difficulties and may have difficulty enjoying a walk or playing. Dogs with folded or wrinkled skin are prone to itchy and painful skin complaints, and dogs with bulging or sunken eyes are prone to injury, pain or discomfort.



Yes they can but there would be more if there was absolutely no control over what or who was being bred. In today's world if you make dog breeding easier by removing the only controls there are then you are playing right into the hands of the people that breed for the sole reason of making money without a care for the welfare of their dogs or their offspring.

I'm sure this is going to rumble round like thunder caught in a valley, but over the last couple of years the Kennel Club have alienated alot of breed clubs and breed councils by going through a large number of breed standards with a fine tooth combe and changing the wording of things simply to appease the media. The RSPCA probably only ever see the badly bred pedigree dogs because most pedigree dog owners who need help will go to their breed rescues and to people that understand and care about the breed, it's only really those that need to offload quickly, who never really cared about the welfare of their dog or simply abandon their pet will find their way into RSPCA shelters and in light of that they really don't have the experience or the knowledge to understand the dog stood in front of them.

Of course this all started with "that" programme and as filming of the second installment is well underway I have offered an interview which according to the programme maker has been accepted because the BBC have insisted that there is a balanced argument regarding the issues it raises. I'm not convinced it will happen as I too have strong opinions that may not be welcome but we will see.

OMG - Another one of "those" moments



Blue eyes in bulldogs is a fault - not an excuse to add pounds to the price












With the likes of Jemima Harrison on the war path again with her Pedigree Dog's Exposed campaign, I saw a message this morning that really did make me go OMG. Read through this advert....

VERY RARE BLUE EYED STUNNING MALE BULLDOG PUPPY FROM A LITTER OF 5, The Odds Of A Blue Eyed British Bulldog Are A Zillion To One ( Look It Up On Google ) These Dogs Are £10,000 Plus In The USA Not In UK ( Very Unique ) He Has A Redish Brown Body With White Head & Black Around His Right Eye With A Perfect Tail. He Has An Amazing Pedigree And Is Very Strong & Chunky, He's A Healthy Puppy With A Great Temperament Being An Excellent Example Of The Breed. The Bloodline Is Truly Outstanding, THE SIRE HAS NO LESS THAN 12 CHAMPIONS IN HIS 5 GEN PEDIGREE ALONE, Bullies Such As CHAMPION CALIBRA KRYPTONITE, CHAMPION CALIBRA GOLDEN JUBILEE, CHAMPION ROWENDALE RUM TRUFFLE, WORLD CHAMPION ‘MYSTYLE GOLDEN WONDER & Many More. CHAMPION ‘MERRIVEEN MAKE MY DAY’. The Dam Also Has Top Bloodlines Being Grand Daughter To MULTI INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION OCOBO FREDDY MYSTYLE, SHE ALSO HAS MANY CHAMPIONS IN HER 5 GEN PEDIGREE ALSO INCLUDING A FEW WORLD CLASS CHAMPIONS, To Many To Name. He Was Born On The 16th September And Is Ready To Go ON The 10th November. He Will Come With KC Pedigree Papers , 5 gen Pedigree Tree, 4 Weeks Free Insurance, Puppy Pack, 1st Injection, Micro Chipped, Health Checked, And Wormed To Date. He Is Only Available To A Good Loving Home. He Is £3000. Viewing Welcome. Viewing Is Also Available Via Youtube As You Can Have A Better Look This Way. NO TIME WASTERS PLEASE.


The chances are that some poor sod has already fallen for this and it angers me that whilst the likes of Ms Harrison are hell bent on attacking those that at least try and do it properly, adverts such as this are popping up all over the place from people who really don't have a bloody clue. I feel sorry for the breeders who's dogs have been listed in this advert, although to be honest reading through some of those dogs I can probably guess where the blue eye has come from.
A blue eye is simply lack of pigmentation in the eye, it can indicate deafness but rarely does, it mainly appears on white dogs, although it's also common in fawn dogs where the white colour gene has diluted what would have been a red coated dog. I've seen it on Brindle dogs too but it is certainly not a rare condition that requires a £10,000 price tag, it's a fault and a fault that should not be bred from due to the deafness risk.
If Ms Harrison gets her way all breeding in the future will be as indiscriminate as this and then all of our pedigree breeds will be "at risk". Pups with blue eyes should be sold with restrictions for a lesser amount to pet homes. They should not be an opportunity for someone to scam you out of thousands of pounds more!

God Bless America

As the Bulldog Nationals finds itself well underway and the fact that our Chairman Vicky is once again enjoying her week in the States reminds me that it's been 13 years since my one and only trip to the American Nationals. 1998 - Reggie the first wasn't even a year old and I was the only UK Bulldogger on the internet, in those days the only choices you had for chat groups were American ones and I had joined the Bulldog-FX group where in time I was invited to go out there. I remember sitting on the plane and the chap next to me asking me where I was going to stay "with a lady I met on the internet" was the reply - can you imagine saying that these days LOL. It was an absolute fabulous week and I really hope that I get the chance to go again some day as I made some wonderful friends over there. But as the week progresses, the New York Times has jumped on the breed bashing bandwagon with their article "Can the Bulldog be Saved", a quick look on Miss Puddleducks blog shows she's relishing the fact that her anti bulldog lobby has crossed the pond, it will be interesting to see where this one ends up as I can't see the yanks rolling over and playing dead quite so easily as us Brits did.

The End

Before we begin this blog, you may want to remind yourself how it all began back in March
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-you-sitting-comfortably.html
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-i-did-at-weekend-by-edward-aged-2.html
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/04/time-ticks-by.html
Saturday 5th November 2011 - the day none of us thought would happen, and the day all of us have been working towards. Edward has gone to his new home. We've been looking back over his time here this morning and apart from the fact that the 19.1kg dog that arrived left here weighing in at 26.1kg is probably the one thing that makes us all want to punch the air and shout - we did it!!!!
Last night, I shut Edwards kennel door for the very last time, this morning I let him out knowing he would never be shut in a kennel ever again, he, of course, had absolutely no idea how the morning was going to unfold

As usual he was demanding to be let out this morning so he could go through his usual routine of deciding which toy to play with today

Next stop the Bathroom

Don't forget my feet

Look who came to say goodbye - my fairy godmother Kate - where would Edward be without this wonderful lady

Goodbye Annie - I lubs you

Goodbye Edward

So many dogs have left here but I don't think any of them have left the mark that Ed left, today is the first day of the rest of his life and boy what a great life that is going to be. We've all just been stood around with a "what shall we do now" expression remembering the highs and the lows of the cheesy wotsit who arrived as a bag of bones, the worries that he wasn't putting on the weight, the fear that his fur would never grow back, the princess that demanded to be let out before the chickens of a morning. The idiot that stuck his face in the nest of flying ants and gave us all the shock of our lives as his face swelled up before our eyes, the charmer that would never let you forget to do his feet and the sweet gentle dog that had come out of goodness knows what and is on his way up to leafy Surrey, where his arm chair awaits - that's after he's cocked his leg up it of course. Have a great life Ed, you've left a paw print on all of us and we look forward to hearing of your antics with your fantastic new mummy who will do an absolutely amazing job of completing the long long journey that has been your recovery - you are one special bulldog and don't you ever forget it.

Edward March 2011

Edward November 2011

Maybe people aren't so bad

I've always joked that I'd much rather be surrounded by dogs than people, but yesterday we witnessed the fact that people actually aren't so bad.
The story began on Wednesday when I was approached by a lady who's 5 month old Bulldog Rex had been seized by Animal Health for being illegally imported. She'd bought him from an advert on Pets4Homes and had no idea that what she had purchased was illegal until the vet that checked him over noticed the blood tests were missing in his pet passport. What followed was horrendous for all involved when she arrived home to find her dog being seized as being imported illegally and moved to a quarantine kennel in London, made worse by the fact that he would have to stay there until January 2012 and if the family couldn't pay the £1000 bill he'd be put to sleep. I spoke to the kennels (who wish to remain anonymous) directly and they confirmed the story as true and so the campaign began to raise the money to pay the bill and get Rex off of death row.
The following day I spoke the Animal Health Officer in charge of Rex's case, she confirmed that this happens on a regular basis and that there's been at least 20 cases in London alone this year - and that's just the ones that got caught! But she also confirmed that if we could raise the money he would definitely be released to his family in January and seemed quite pleased that we had got involved to help the family in question - it was at that point she let on that as part of a documentary for the Discovery channel she was being followed around by a TV crew, and that the crew had filmed Rex's removal and that they wanted to follow up the story by filming his reunion in January with his family and report the fact that thanks to Bulldog Rescue, 100s of complete strangers had put their hands in their pockets and raised the full amount in just 24 hours! Yes, we did it, the bill is paid and Rex goes home after Christmas and the happy occasion will be filmed and hopefully aired next year.
But there's a more serious side to this tale, if 20 people have been caught, how many go undetected? You know I'm not a fan of ePupz, Pets4Homes and the pet sections of GumTree, Loot etc etc and we're pretty good now at spotting the scams that insist that they are people of God and it's not their fault that the litter of cute bulldog pups are stuck in Scotland when they've had to rush to Nigeria. I asked the AHO yesterday what would be the one piece of advice to give to a prospective buyer and she confirmed "See the pups with their mum" but is that enough? I know of people that cross reference the advert with the Kennel Club lists, all litters that are registered via the KC can be traced, follow your gut - if something doesn't feel right then don't do it, make sure you buy from a KC registered breeder, preferably an "Assured" breeder and if the dog has been imported ask questions - lots of questions and make sure you sign for the dog because there may come a time when you need to prove it wasn't you that smuggled him into the country.
I'll keep you posted on Rex's progress, but what a lovely way to end a very long week