It is hard to believe it is nearly April , so much has been accomplished since last we wrote! The year started quietly and we reflected on the astonishing number of dogs we homed last year and thought how lucky we were to have had only two returns out of nearly a hundred dogs. There were no homes in January and then in February after a slow start the world went mad and we have homed over 20 dogs in two months! The glory of it is that they are wonderful homes and barring flood or plague we honestly believe the only time we will see our precious charges again will be when we visit them or they come to visit us!!
Some really special homes have been found for oldies -Rex and Kai have both gone to owners of Appropriate Ages!! and are adored by both! I was quite stunned to receive an email from 12 year old Rex’s new owner who is a a very fit 82 and knocks my hard leaned computer skills into a cocked hat!! She told me he had become her soul mate and thanked me for trusting her with him – I rather think the gratitude should be mine, as with Kai’s new owner, Sheila Hopkinson- the sort of home you dream of! Thanks also to Ruth Scott for taking on 8 year old Brenda who came from Irish PAWS and has really fallen on all four of them with her! Vera Brindley who had just lost Gypsey another one of PAWS dogs from a few years back , very kindly took on her son BENJI who I took away from his owner of two and a half years after he had been allowed to attack a small dog when let off the lead unmuzzled. He had a very bleak future in kennels, until Vera rang me to tell me her beloved Gypsey had died and I just mentioned we had Benji back with us! It was love at first sight aand now he shares her bedroom and her life and in experienced and capable hands is safe for the rest of his life and has brought a great deal of extra pleasure because he is so like his mum in looks and other small traits- although she was far too ladylike to growl at another dog! And then there was Mary……she too has a fairytale ending.
Of the younger dogs two year old Ted who came in poor and exhausted is now thriving. Several of our girls were barely spayed before they were offered homes, and Grace,Peggy, Chloe, Fizz, Flo, Orchid, Milly, Marje, Abbey, Kelly, Missy, Ruby and Best of all, Sophie our reckless mile a minute bundle of energetic affection and a long stayer of nearly two years! And Just 4 boys- Benji, Toby a lovely black lad who has gone to a safe home in Worksop, Eddie who is with Gaynor in Alford, and Chicago who has been adopted by ME! I filled in the homing form and gave a Donation for him, just to keep this glorious lad safe forever.
SPECIAL APPEAL FOR HARRY
HARRY came from a kennel in Kent where he had languished for six years. He has been trialled but has never raced. He has sat in a kennel for all of his life doing nothing.
He is now 6 a very handsome fawn and white boy. Tall but slight. He is excellent with other breeds and very quiet and loving and peaceful. He loves his bed and was initially cat tested and we thought sound with cats. However on a home visit this proved not to be so after he met some lively young bunnies! And we now recommend a home for him where there are children about ( whom he adores) but no small animals unless they are other dogs!!
He is quiet on the lead, does not pull, have tantrums or really do anything outrageous
apart from leaning on you for hugs. Is there anyone who could offer him a home? He will settle both with other dogs or on his own but of course we would prefer him to have at least one other dog for company!
Please give it some thought. He really does need a home soon. He is on the website.
OF OUR LONG STAYERS Homes are urgently being sought for SHAEMUS, FOSSE, TROUBLE (now Gordon the Greyhound!) KAY AND TEX all of whom we have had over a year now. They all have minor issues of one sort or another but none of them are beyond training out of their bad habits and all of them ARE improving every day.
UPDATE ON MUFFIN’S POORLY FOOT !
Now that Muffin ( he of the hair raising tales)has against all the odds, reached the age of two, the operation that several of you so kindly sent donations for can be performed and in the next issue Muffin has promised he will tell you all about his day in the hospital. In the meantime he is asking for prayers to help him in his forthcoming ordeal. He has promised not to bite the vet again! …………. His “sister” Bluebell is trying to think of something she can have wrong with her, as she is already fed up at the thought he might be in the limelight AGANE! ( She cannot spell at all).
OTHER NEWS
A Grant from the Jean Sainsbury Trust, a donation from the RAIN Charity and from Jill Kirby left us in the very satisfactory position of having enough money to do a proper job on a much needed project to improve access to the kennels and provide an isolation kennel. Just as well- because once we began to excavate the old drive it quickly became apparent that the project was a lot larger and more expensive than we had budgeted for. Largely because there is a huge drop from the road that is not apparent until you dig out. Grateful thanks to Shaun, Bill and Richard for all their hard work- also to young Shaun and Allan and our employed professionals.
Work is still in progress but by the next Newsletter we expect that the new kennel will be in use and visitors will be able to get in an out of Fen Bank without risking life and limb to passing traffic- we may live in the middle of nowhere- but it is an extremely busy road.
OTHER WORK IN PROGRESS
Under the New Fire Regulations we were also required to put in two side opening windows upstairs in the Sanctuary House to prevent anyone roasting in the event of a fire! So this too is on the works list, as is a new outside porch at the rear because the other one is about to fall down! This is not a luxury item up here- the wind whips across at 70+ mph and there is nothing between us and Siberia !
Our new Kennel assistant Jenny who is keen on DIY and has done some useful repairs on the kennels is also screeding and repainting the kennel floors as well as bringing the gardens back to life. We also welcome back Debbie who worked for us three years ago and has come back to help out and Kelly remains as our Supervisor helped also by Grace a volunteer in a million ! Sadly, after 3 years our volunteer Deirdre has hung up her leads for the time being But her husband is doing a 260 mile walk for the dogs in September. More later!
So it’s been a very busy three months- and we are grateful for the coming of the longer days so that we can get everything done and hopefully home a lot more dogs.
Sandra Miller Hooker
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