Wednesday 24 March 2010

Rescue love

Until the bad news came on Sunday evening, we'd had a really enjoyable weekend. Mostly down to a particular type of creature. The furry kind. The barking kind. Now I know a lot of people like to put themselves in a box, as either a "cat-person" or a "dog-person". I might just been one of the few (?) who can safely say I'm an "anything-furry-or-remotely-cute" type of person. I love cats and dogs equally. For different reasons of course. But anyway, can't have either because we live in a flat, no garden, no easy access to outside space and we're both out all day at work. End of. Well until recently, when we discovered a newly opened dog rescue centre in a nearby village. They needed volunteers to walk dogs. To keep giving them as much of a normal life as possible until they get rehomed. So guess what we did both Saturday and Sunday morning? We went walkies.

All I can say is I will NEVER understand people who abandon their pets. Tying up a dog to a tree in park? Honestly???!!!! Anyway, before I get angry just thinking about it, I wanted to show you the beauties we were privileged enough to take for a walk.

A beautiful husky (if I lived in the countryside and didn't have to work I would have taken him straight home - so beautiful and well behaved)


A labrador cross husky - Boyfriend walked him on Sunday and said he was really sweet too


And finally the most mental dog ever - this little jack russel - I though he was going to strangle himself pulling on that lead, honestly. And I thought if he doesn't do that, I'm bound to step on him. But fear not, I was careful! Very sweet too, although full of energy, don't be deceived by his small size!


(sorry for the rubbish photo - just wanted to show you why I thought he was going to choke. Look at the size of him. He was PULLING me. Mental)

And if seeing those beauties isn't enough to make you decide to take one home instead of buying a puppy, then think of this. The beautiful husky at the top was a stray found in London. Battersea is full to the brim, so they can't take anymore in. Council kennels are only bound by law to keep unchipped dogs like that for 7 days before they're allowed to put them down. This one had a lucky escape.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great thing you (and your boyfriend) are doing.
I miss my Labrador's terribly - I've had one of each colour. The last one, a Chocolate Lab, was completely mental, but such a character. Sadly I lost her when she was only 3 and a half.
I can never understand how people can be cruel to any kind of animal (lets face it, it's not just dogs that get abandoned or treated badly).
You'll get attached to certain dogs, you know you will - fingers crossed they all find happy homes where they can be cared for and loved for the rest of their days.
PS - I'll try and find one of my favourite photos of my Choc Lab (called Eliza), which was taken not long after I came out of hospital with Violet. I'll post it on my blog - hope you'll go and have a look - it'll make you smile.

The Curious Cat said...

Gosh...that is a frightening fact about unchipped dogs...what if you lost yours by accident...yikes! Unchipped - how long do they get?! We always used to get our cats from rescue centres...I'd love one now again but not settled enough. Beautiful doggies here though - my heart goes out to them - especially the cheeky jack russell! Clearly he was loving the freedom! :) xxx

The Girl said...

I'm with you as a lover of anything remotely furry. I made friends with a squirrel this weekend for god's sake, I started referring to myself as his Mummy!

That is an amazing thing you're both doing and a great way to get a cheeky little fur fix.

It makes me feel very ill when I think of people being cruel to animals, how can you do that to something so helpless? I always end up in tears at those pet rescue or animal 24/7 programmes that follow the RSPCA about.

Jack Russels are absolutely insane animals, I've never met one that isn't ridiculously hyperactive and too much to handle!

Jennifer said...

Very beautiful dogs, how great that you can help them out even though you don't have the space to keep one.

Diane said...

We used to do this as a family on Sundays at our local RSPCA until they moved centres and got a new manager who only lets you walk them in their yard - Health & Safety!! We didnt see the fun in that. We did meet some wonderful animals over the 2 years that we did it on on several occasions, nearly ended up with a dog!!