Shelter News

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HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS FROM OUR SPONSORED WALK THIS YEAR (20TH APRIL 2008)

Please click on the photos to enlarge them.

MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Our German Shepherd Puppies (A story for you)

Some emaciated German Shepherds were brought in to us by an inspector. One female (called Bacall) already had puppies, another female (called Demi) was pregnant and we feared that she would not give birth safely.

To our surprise she had 11 puppies, but sadly two of them were still born. The mother, Demi, was so weak and thin it was decided that she could not possibly rear 9 puppies by herself, so we decided to leave her with just 2 (Charlotte and Haiti), and hand rear the other 7.

A rota of foster carers was organised by Anna (who was in charge of the German Shepherds) they were all briefed as we knew it would be a major job hand rearing these 7 puppies successfully. The puppies were split into two groups according to their sex- being 3 boys and 4 girls –leaving 2 girls with mum.

The puppies were all named after Caribbean islands (Cheryle’s idea) and had to be stimulated and fed every two hours on a milk substitute, first from a syringe and later from a babies feeding bottle. The puppies changed hands daily and you either had the boys or girls. No one had them for more than 24 hours at a time in case they collapsed from exhaustion, as they still had their normal working day to complete.

Sadly, one of the pups died on her second night of life, as despite all my efforts the little girl just didn’t have the strength to live and just faded and died in my arms.

Shortly after this, on veterinary advice, one of the boys was put to sleep as he had a cleft palate – a decision very hard on everyone.

We had to focus on the ones left, with now only 5 to hand rear, as the 2 with Demi were progressing well. Everyone went onto autopilot, setting their alarm clocks, warming bottles and wiping little bottoms at 2am!!

All involved were like zombies walking around doing their jobs and it was a miracle no one fell asleep.

We were all keen to make sure the puppies put on weight and survived and held daily discussions about weight gains and progress.

It was touch and go at times as some of the puppies did better than others, but we all pulled together and worked as a team, the final goal being 7 healthy German Shepherds.

Eventually all our hard worked paid off and we found new homes for them all. Everyone had become very attached to “their puppies” and it was hard not to get emotional when they left to start their new lives. Aruba (boy) was first to go, followed by Lucia and Labadie both girls (sadly Labadie was returned but soon went out again to her existing family). George was next, then Maya (girl) and finally Charlotte and Haiti- the girls reared by their mum.

Demi, the mother, and Clooney, their enormous father, also went to lovely homes, as did the other German Shepherds who were brought into us weeks previously. We all hold different, but very fond memories of these dogs, and they will certainly stay in Anna’s memory for a very long time.

Diane – just one of the many foster parents

Dad Mum "Demi"