Sylvia's Diary 17-05-24

So yet another week has passed and of course it's been full of all the ups and downs that this world has to offer.  Some beautiful little cavs came in last week and our hearts went out to all of them. They looked so used up, so lost and so sad, it's very hard to see such a gentle kind breed like this.  Today it's no longer sunny and instead we have a storm and cold winds blowing with driving rain and slate grey skies.  We had a wonderful foster come from up North and collect not only some very beautiful dogs to go to foster but one of our lovely Cavaliers who was in such a state went too.  This will mean for the first time in her life, tonight she'll sleep in a house and be loved and cared for. So, despite the rubbish weather my heart is full of happiness.

There has been a lot of phone calls this week we've had a lot of dogs brought to us.  One poor lady brought her young Doberman to us, he is less than a year old.  She had to bring him because both her daughter and her husband were unwell and in hospital. It must have been so terribly sad to have to let your dog go because you literally cannot care for him because you're caring for your family members.  He's a wonderful dog but very, very bouncy! His name is Winston and I saw him when he arrived. He greeted someone like they were his long-lost soul mate, even though he'd never met them in his whole life!

The police brought in a Labrador, to help somebody who was having a terrible time and could not care for their dog any longer.  It would have been very easy for the police to not help, to wash their hands and say "well you got the dog so you need to find a way to get it to someone to care for it” but when somebody is already not well, this is very hard for them mentally and physically. Anyway, the dogs with us and he's a beautiful Labrador, so he should find a home. We are very grateful to to the police for their kind actions and compassion for both the dog and the human.

We also had three terribly sad old pug-type dogs brought in.  They had been looking for a home desperately and I mean desperately as the owner had to move and where she moved to she wasn't allowed to keep the dogs.  She left the dogs with  her elderly mother who had a garden with a shed and as her own dog did not like being around the pug trio she had to have them live in the shed. A few years ago, one of the pug was diagnosed with cancer and they were told that the dog would have a few months to live, so obviously he's on borrowed time but he is doing well and he is still happy!  This little trio of puglets that are homeless are not dogs that many will want to help. They're old dogs and deserve a soft and wonderful place, with humans that will love and provide them with warmth comfort and kindness.  I feel so sorry for them when I see them looking out waiting for someone who will never be able to come back and get them.  We have kennels full of these very sad dogs now. It’s important that my staff have some good happy things that happen to keep their spirits up and the fosters taking some of these dogs into their homes is what really lifts our spirits.

The whole week has also been full of phone calls after our opening hours. I always pick up the phone with ”Hello this is Many Tears emergency line, is this an emergency please?” and nine times out of ten they say it is. Then I hear their emergency.  Last night the emergency was “I have just come back from being out” (it's 11 .45pm at night so where was she out that late leaving a dog?) and my dog has torn up my house and I don't want it!!!" I felt sorry for the poor, poor, lonely sad dog, but obviously at that time of night I can't do anything to help so I asked her to call in the morning. I don't know if it was her or someone else, but every hour that night I got a call and when I answered they down the phone, over and over. This is very annoying and worrying because I'm trying not to wake Bill up, as he needs as much sleep as he can so he can recover.

Another man phoned up and said he had a pocket bully and asked us to take him. I said I wouldn't know until the morning whether we had the space and that the dog  would have to get on with other dogs because we are very short space . He said "Oh no, he can't do that. He can be a bit violent at times".  I said I'm really sorry we wouldn’t be able to take him, so the man got angry, saying “ So you want me to shoot him do you?”  I tried to be calm and tell him how we have no spare kennels at the moment, so he then said “You call yourself a dog hotel?” I explain no, we are not a dog hotel but a rescue who are very full!  He wasn't very pleased and put the phone down on me and then about five minutes later called me and called me a name which I will not write and put the phone down again.  Poor dog, what is going to happen to him? It's horrible.

Some people have been lovely. The staff seem to be working extra hard and have been helping so much so that there's less worry for me  and I've been able to look after Bill as best I can.  Hank, my Irish Wolfhound and I have been  doing lots of cooking for Bill. Hank does the clean-up but he is not supposed to... but if my backs turned he is so tall that he counter surfs with ease and then afterwards he sits there all innocent, like nothing happened but then I notice something is missing off the counter! (It could be a lump of cheese or whatever he fancies!). I've been trying to train him to go and lie down whilst I'm doing the cooking but he's not that good at that bit. He's certainly very, very good at the clean-up bit though!

Bill is recovering, thank goodness and now I'm worrying about the next dog collection run that we've got coming up. We've got to pick up a lot of dogs and I am worrying about where they're all going to go and how we're going to keep them all happy, how much  bedding we have and dustpan and brushes and all sorts of ridiculous things that play around in my mind at night that haven't happened! I then remember to say a prayer to thank my God. I am hopeless at that but I'm really good at asking for things, like, "Please get Bill better", "Please do this", "Please do that", but I'm not that good at thanking my God for all he has done to make this happen and whether you believe in God or not someone up there, or somewhere, is looking over this place.

It's a tough place to manage, a tough place to run but an incredibly wonderful place to be, so thank you everyone for your support as always thank you for bothering to read this. And remember if you need healing, our dogs will supply the tools so please feel welcome to come. Please email mtvolunteering@gmail.com to arrange this. 

If you care about the rescue and support what we do, please consider making a donation to help us to continue to rescue the Winstons, Marleys and Puglets that desperately need us.
Thank you
Sylvia