This year’s Nerdies Charity is all about the furries. Debbie from Wet Nose Foundation has kindly sent me a story she wrote a while ago about a rescue they’ve done. Read below. All proceeds of our auction go towards helping little animals just like this one. If you’d like to donate to the cause either take part in the bids happening right now, or consider making a donation directly into their bank account found here.
Every day is the same in this place… dogs, dogs, dogs, everywhere! I can never get a bit of peace and quiet around here! All I want to do is rest my sore back leg, but do you think the other dogs will leave me alone? Now that I am on heat, I am attracting so much unwanted attention and there is just nowhere to hide!
My name is Bullet. I am just over a year old and was born here. At first I did not have a name, but things changed a few months ago after a nasty person shot me. The bullet shattered the bone in my right back leg and it just hangs there now. I try to ignore the pain, but sometimes it just gets too much. After that my name became “Bullet”. I have tried to understand why someone would shoot me and why no-one has tried to help me since then, but I cannot figure it out, after all I am not aggressive or naughty. I suppose I will just have to learn to live with the pain! I long for the day that someone will bring us some good food to eat. All we ever get around here is raw chicken. The people just throw the chickens down in the dirt. They still have feathers on them and are buzzing with flies. Some of them really stink and have even turned green… and these guys think this is good food! Sometimes we get cow’s udders and intestines which is just as bad, but at least it makes a change from chicken, chicken, chicken!
The older dogs around here say that this place is a “puppy mill”. I asked them what that means. Clemmie, the old bull dog explained, “It is a place where people get as many of us dogs as they can and then they make us have babies like machines, all the time! Over and over and over again, we just keep having babies! Then they steal our babies and sell them for lots of money. That is why we are so many dogs here.” It sounds very strange to me and I wondered how long I would have to stay here. Clemmie told me that she has been here for about eight years and that she is so tired and sore and sick from having babies all the time. I must admit she does not look very good and has lumps and huge growths all over her. She says that she is in so much pain that she just wishes she could die! I wonder if her pain is as bad as the pain in my leg? I think she must have been a very proud and majestic bull dog in her day.
Suddenly, a whole lot of people come walking through the gate. Some of them are in blue uniforms and others are holding cameras. Who are they? What are they doing? Why are they looking all around the place? It seems they are looking for dogs that were sick or injured, I better stay out of their way before they see me. “This one has something wrong with its leg” I hear a lady in a blue uniform say, and I run. “Catch it, catch it!” she shouted, but I was too fast for her. That was close I think as I try to catch my breath. My leg hurts from my rapid escape, but at least they did not catch me, I will never trust a human again. Every time I get too close to a human they hurt me. I have been kicked, hit with a stick and shot! Do they really think I am that stupid? They start to load some of the dogs who are injured, why? I don’t understand! Out of the blue somebody grabs me from behind…I struggle and wiggle, but they are holding too tight. What are they going to do to me? Help! Help! They hold me up for the camera to see the fleas running around on my tummy and look at my sore leg and then put me in a box.
They load me on the back of a bakkie and before I know it, I start to feel sick. Finally I arrive at a pretty place where the grass is cut and flowers decorate the garden. I hear a lot of other dogs barking and for some reason they sound exited. I wonder what this place is? I see people taking Clemmie out of a box, she was also caught. I call out to her and she softly tells me not to worry because these are such kind people, and the other barking dogs are welcoming us to a happy place. “We are free at last” she says as a tear of joy runs down her swollen check. Food! Real dog food! Wow! And a bed and a blanket! Clemmie must have been right. These people really do care. Today is going to be the first day of the rest of my life.
Its morning and I’ve had the best sleep ever. This place is going to be alright, but I still don’t trust humans and they better leave me alone! I hear footsteps… then a lady with a loud voice calling a dog called Shelley. Why is she stopping at my kennel? Why is she picking me up, I don’t like this… where is she taking me now and why is she calling me Shelly? Another trip in a bakkie and I end up at a place called Valley Farm Animal Hospital. The next thing I know, I’m getting sleepy, I can’t open my eyes, I’m confused, I’m scared….. “Shelley….Shelley” I hear a kind voice calling me that strange name again. I start to wake up and realize that I am in agony! What did they do to me? I turn my head towards the pain, but something is wrong. My leg…where is my leg?
I hear a man in the background explaining how my leg was so badly infected that they had to amputate it and cut out a lot of infection. No wonder I am in so much pain, they have cut off my leg! The lady in the blue uniform is here again and she keeps stroking my head and talking to me softly. I don’t like being touched and I wish she would go away, although her soft voice is strangely comforting. I battle to fall asleep and the pain won’t go away. At least I have a nice soft bed in here too. I’m feeling better today. I still have pain, but the nurses took me outside to see if I was able to walk.
They decided that I can go home today, wherever that may be. The lady in the blue uniform arrives again and tells me that she has come to take me home. She explains in the car how I am going to meet all her other dogs and that I am going to be spoiled rotten. I don’t know what that means, but I hope it has nothing to do with rotten chickens! We arrive at yet another new place and a few excited dogs come to smell me. I hear the ladies children call her Mom. That must be her name. Mom protects me from the other dogs and takes me into the house. She puts me on a soft cushion in a corner and leaves me there. What now? I can see her walking around and preparing food and talking to her family, but why did she just leave me here. It suits me though because I don’t trust people, remember? She gives me some chicken and rice for supper, what was she thinking! Chicken! Well, this time is it plucked, fresh and cooked and mixed with delicious rice and gravy. Not bad ….. I fall asleep wondering what this new place will have in store for me.
Over the next few days, Mom and her family seem to leave me alone most of the time. I am grateful for that because I am so nervous that I have got butterflies in my tummy. She plays with her other little dogs in front of me all the time and they seem to have so much fun. I wish I could play with them, but I’m still to uncertain. I’ve been with Mom at her house for two weeks now. It’s 3 o clock in the morning and I hear Mom get up. She must be taking the other dogs outside for a wee again. Without thinking I jump up and run to her with my tail wagging in circles. She screams “look, look at Shelly!” in excitement and I get such a fright and run back to my bed. For the first time, she hugs me and kisses me and tells me what a good girl I am. What a fuss. I hope this is not a dream and I am going to wake up soon. Suddenly it dawns on me. Mom and her family have been waiting for me to trust them. They were too scared to overwhelm me and decided to give me time and space. Now that I have made the first move they are spoiling me rotten. So that’s what it means! Now I also know what home means, I know what love and friendship are, I know what dog food is, and the pain in my leg, and in my heart are gone forever!
