The Sad Story Of A South Yorkshire Stray…

South Yorkshire is a very large county – sadly – it has a very high and abysmal cruelty record. Dogs are dumped around the 4 cities on a regular occurance, with the dog pounds always bursting at the seams. There are no large organisations who have a presence there helping the dumped dogs in the dog pounds.

We are a small rescue that tries to help the dogs who have nobody. Volunteers are also sparse – are people too busy these days to care? Do they not see? Are these places so hidden from the public eye that they don’t know that so many dogs are abandoned and put to sleep – because there aren’t enough homes? I don’t know, but I’m always upset.

I have been in dog rescue for many years and have seen a lot of sights. I got a call late the other night from a lady that ran a Greyhound rescue who had seen a huge Mastiff in a dog pound and was heartbroken that such a lovely boy had been allowed to be almost starved to death, and then was in a put to sleep situation. Who would take on a boy like this? She hoped someone would. Very few rescues take dogs from the pounds – one of the highest needs for animal welfare – and its neglected.

The dogs are put to sleep quietly – without a fuss.

Digby would have been just another injection – another doggie bag. Its not the pounds fault, its not the councils fault – but who’s fault is Digby?

Our rescue is so small – I fund raise to pay for dogs to be in boarding kennels and can usually scrape through to pay for 5. I had 8 in boarding, with the kennels only having 1 isolation kennel – we couldn’t take another one in from the pound, until the isolation was free – another 7 days. Where could he go? I couldn’t let him die now i had heard about him.

My husband went to pick him up for me because I was working – I work full time. What he collected was a bag of bones with skin draped all over it, but he was just the most sweet and gentle giant – he wasn’t bitter or angry at what people had done to him – this was what he had grown to accept – to accept hunger and pain.

We took him to the local vets, he weighed 58kg – not bad for a dog that should weigh about 80kg. Found out that he was actually called Alfie and was born in 2004 – he was 6 years old. His sores on each joint were infected, his stomach was literally an empty bag, just hanging limply under his protruding ribs. The vet checked his heart which was strong, was worried about his weak hind legs, but we decided that could be down to muscle weakness and we would let him recover. We collected some wormers asked for a 10% discount on them, (not the vet bill because we dont get a discount), and walked out with the smelly boy.

We went home and made him a bed up in my garage. My dogs won’t accept any more strangers coming in, this boy needs a nice quiet home where he can recover in the warmth. I found the largest dog coat I could and the largest dog bed – then, settled him down for the night. Hoping he would be warm and settled.

Next day, he had to be woken up, he was fast asleep – was he settled that he now had a little tea in his tummy? I hoped so. He had a gentle walk around, his tail wagged as he met people and other dogs. He was a bit spooked at the horses and the turkey – I can’t imagine he’s seen them where he’s been.

Alfie (a name he was once called, maybe a puppy that grew too big?) needs help. Our small rescue is stretched to the limit with such small resources. Every penny of our money is spent on either boarding bills, vet bills, transport bills or special food. We can’t afford any staff or buildings. We don’t have money sat in the bank account to hopefully earn interest. If we have money – we spend it on a dog in need. Dogs like Alfie.

We are desperate for money to help us build 4 isolation kennels. Yes – they will always be full. However, it will mean we can constantly keep taking dogs off the destruction register, and hopefully move them into boarding kennels where hopefully (eventually) – someone will find them and give them a good home.

In the mean time, we will pay for their keep and try to get volunteers to come and walk them and give them some care and human company back.

Luckily for Alfie, someone has cared enough that he won’t end those last 6 years unloved.
He now belongs.
Please help us to keep going and helping more dogs like Alfie. We can’t manage without donations to pay the bills and help broken bags of bone like Alfie find loving forever homes.

Please visit www.rainrescue.com for more information about Alfie.