Today was much sadder than yesterday.
At the beginning of February the Police Municipale brought us a dog who had been found straying. He was chipped so we knew his name was Rantanplan, and we even had the name of the owner. Except it was the same old story, phone number not working, and no one of that name at the address on the central database (because as ever we sent a letter). However we have ways and means (thanks Veronique) and a volunteer was dispatched to the owner’s new address to see what her excuse was.
In this case it was not so much an excuse as a lie; she had given the dog away but she could not remember to whom. The neighbours were of a different opinion and said that yes, Rantanplan did live next door. Hmmm. What is the point of doing this, you may ask. Well, it shows that we do not give up easily and that despite people’s attempts to shirk their responsibilities, we can track them down (with a little help from our friends!). Who knows, perhaps people like this woman will reconsider before doing the same thing again.
The question remains, did she know how ill Rantanplan was, and is this why she threw him out? We will never know. When he arrived he was suffering from severe arthritis and was immediately put on pain killers. However this lovely-natured dog soon started showing signs of aggression, firstly towards other dogs (so we put him in a kennel alone to give him some peace), then gradually towards humans too. Something was clearly wrong. You could see from his gentle, puzzled eyes that this was not normal for him.
Thorough analysis showed that as well as arthritis, Rantanplan was suffering from an advanced tumour of the ligaments. Any treatment would be purely palliative and this dog would never be pain free. So with much sadness we said goodbye to Rantanplan this afternoon, and he is now running free over Rainbow Bridge.
I know his former owner will not be reading this, as it is generally only dog lovers who follow this blog and the SPA Facebook page. She is clearly not one. But I hope justice is meted out in this life or the next.
On the subject of dog lovers or not, for those of you who read the news article about the dog who was seen being beaten half to death by his drunken owner in the centre of Carcassonne yesterday, yes the dog is safely in our care. Or rather at the moment he is at the vets awaiting an operation. After this it is hoped that he will go into foster with one of our employees for some TLC. A you can imagine, the damage is as much psychological as physical, but he is in excellent hands. And yes, we are prosecuting the owner for cruelty.
When will this ever end? And if you are wondering why we do all the fundraising, here is your answer. I won’t tell you how much this operation will cost, and needless to say it will be us that foots the bill, as the owner has no money. If you would like to donate, or have done so in the past, you know your money will be well spent.
No blog is complete without some good news, so here it is. Gulli, the pinscher found his owner! Not only that, though, we have homes for three of our dogs in the UK, and are looking for people to drive them over. The two border collies, Ako and Heart will be going to Wiccaweys, who homed lovely Harlequin for us over a year ago, and Babette will be going to a new association whom Moira will be visiting ( and telling you all about) soon. If anyone is travelling back in May and doesn’t mind taking a canine or two, please get in touch!
Gulli- RECLAIMED