I am totally off topic here. I want to talk about my little rescue dog Sparkie. I contacted RSPCA, Last Chance and Battersea, to get a small dog as a companion to my rather crazy Huskamute, Odin. I have to say, these places where sadly inadequate in their responses. The RSPCA emailed me back about a dog I’d seen on their site, to ask me, where I’d seen it as the one I wanted was rehomed three weeks ago. Obviously, they don’t know or update their sites much. The others did not contact me at all, except Battersea, who has a three day, I’ll get back to you, policy!!! Is it me, or do these places keep harping on how over flowing they are? Maybe the reason for that is that they NEVER get back to anyone who contacts them.
Anyway, I stumbled across Rescue Remedies one Friday night at 10pm. I rambled through their site and saw Sparkie, a Staff/Jack Russell mix. Just the right size and stature to put up with Odins boisterousness. I dutifully filled in a really long questionnaire, supplied pictures of my garden fence (as requested) and of odin. I hit send, didn’t expect to hear back for ages, yet 15 minutes later my phone rang and it was the centre. Within half an hour I was booked in to have Sparkie visit me on the bank holiday Monday. THEY came to ME!!
To cut a long story short, my husband and I fell in love with him, although it took Odin over a week to warm to him and even now there are still a few issues to iron out. Sparkie was painfully thin, as he wasn’t settling at the centre and had been a stray for a while. All he wanted to do was sit on your lap and be cuddled. It’s been almost two weeks since he arrived and now it’s like he has always been here. I can’t think why anyone would want to let this dear little dog go. I wish I had thought about rescue centres years ago. So to anyone who is thinking about getting a dog/cat, please try the rescue centres first. If you are lucky you will get a precious little boy like mine.
Here is a short clip of Odin and Sparkie in the garden. Finally playing with no teeth, snarls or reprimands.
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I'm a huge cat person, but your dogs are cute. I got both my cats as rescues. I'm pretty sure that one was abused, she did not like to be held or touched, and everything frightened her. Today she has no problem with climbing into our laps, or laying on my bosom lol
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you made a home for Sparkie! More people should take rescue animals and put the puppy mills out of business! Good blog!
Sparky is one lucky dog. I rescued mine from a pet store, an unplanned event. Don't ever take a young granddaughter into a pet store. I did and instantly my eyes locked on to the saddest eyes -- a 3 month old Peekapoo. A dog? At my age? Before I knew it my granddaughter and I are taking this puppy home. I had no idea what to do with this puppy and believe me the first year my patience was tried and tried over and over. Two years later I don't know what I would do without her, she is my constant companion. The puupy store is close due to neglect of the animals, so I guess you could say I did rescue Sugar from that place. The same granddaughter has her own story to tell about convincing her father to rescue a Chihuahua abandoned in a parking garage in New Haven, CT. An old dog, cataracts and obviously overbred, the dog is now living out her life in relatively luxury with her own special cage (left open) and a family that loves her. Haichi has some issues but follows Leo (a Sheltie) around the house and yard. Yep, my granddaughter really knows how to push buttons when it comes to rescuing man's best friend.
ReplyDeleteMarie Roy aka Collette Thomas
I used to have 7 cats julie. Love them.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to hear your story Marie. I suppose your never too old to have your heart strings pulled.
I've posted this for a lovely lady you found it hard to post. Google acting up AGAIN!!!
ReplyDeleteLorelei Buckley
Lovely, Margaret, thanks for sharing this story. We have a houseful of pets, all rescues, and they keep our home lively. I've always had dogs and cats together. As long as I'm able, I'll have two dogs. I had one alone for years and at age 8... he got deathly sick. A change in diet and a young female (spayed), and he lived another seven years. Now we have two females, and they're inseparable. Congratulations on the new family member. He's adorable!!
Thanks SO much for raising awareness of how rescued animals are so rewarding and well worth the effort, Margaret. Sparkie and Odin look lovely dogs, and Sparkie is so cute.I agree about some of the rescue societies and centres shootiung themselves in the foot sometimes by their lack of response or just by making it so difficult or expensive to adopt an animal.
ReplyDeleteI got my little Jack Russell from a centre in Wales and it was a relatively painless procedure. He'd been half starved and had a broken hip and pelvis which had been allowed to heal without a vet, but he's on medication, and it doesn't seem to trouble him now. It was love at first sight for me He is the sweetest most loving little dog one could imagine.
Oh, bless him, Hywela. I wish I could asdopt more, but these two are more than enough lol Lets hope others will try rescue centres and lets hope rescue centres step up and do their jobs.
ReplyDeleteAll of my animals are rescues: two dogs, two cats and a horse. They have repaid me more than I could ever do for them. And I wrote a novella about my first rescue dog, Dancer. Not plugging it here!--but I tell you it was good to get that on paper. She was one super dog. Congrats on saving your Sparkie
ReplyDeleteMy dog, Midnight, was also a rescue. She was a stray who'd been abused. When she came into my life, they thought she was old and probably not good for households with children. Perfect for me. But, wouldn't you know it...she was only ten months and full of energy! That was eight years ago.
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