Today has been a long time coming. Where to start? Well, how about when a dog called Louve was adopted, way back in January 2012. All went well, to the best of our knowledge, until her owner fell ill, and Louve’s dislike of cats made it impossible for his children to keep the dog. So Louve, then aged just over 11 months, came back to the refuge, where she has been ever since.
Big, beautiful amber eyes peered at us from behind bars. For some unfathomable reason no one was interested in adopting her, so it fell on the employees and volunteers to give this dog all the love they could. Sharing attention with 120 other dogs is not easy, but luckily Louve was fine with other dogs, so was able to have some company.
The next thread of the story concerns Ronan, a young military guy who volunteers at the refuge and whose speciality is walking dogs who pull a lot! He has just been posted to Brittany, and wanted a dog to take with him. He has walked Louve on a regular basis, so to a large extent his decision was easily made.
So it was bye-bye Louve, after 27 months at the refuge. And remember that was not her first time with us. From this point of view it was a fabulous day!
But there was also sadness. Yesterday was the final day of Melanie’s contract of employment. This was despite the enormous efforts made to keep her on the staff. Sometimes the law makes things impossible, no matter how much we want them.
Melanie is great friends with both Ronan and Louve, so she came in today to wave goodbye to them both. Dedication and devotion, despite her sadness.
Thanks for all your hard work, Melanie. We know your love and commitment to the animals remains strong and we all hope you will continue as a volunteer. You are invaluable and we will all miss you. Humans and dogs alike.
That was not all the news of the day, though. Who remembers Dastin, the fabulous Rottweiler who was adopted earlier this year and who now lives in a chateau? Well, his owner has relatives visiting from Austria, and so highly did he speak of the SPA that they came along to see what they could find. And they left with a dog who has been with us for 18 months. And as with Louve it was not her first stay at the SPA.
So to our great joy, lovely Molly was adopted and is going to her new homeland on Sunday. She fixed her eye on her new owner from the word go, and being in the park just confirmed that this was a match made in heaven.
The day would have been just about perfect had it not been for the arrival of Little Minx, who has proved to be too lively for her elderly owner. We did try and explain that she was incredibly active when she was adopted, but sometimes people have to learn these things for themselves, rather than taking our word for it. So this tiny little dog is back at the SPA, where no doubt she will climb up the bars and do her best to get the exercise she craves. The right home is out there, we just know.
In better news, little Pip started her journey to Scotland, and Moira will tell you all about this in due course as it is she and her husband Roy who are doing the delivery! I have loved having Pip at my house for the past week (as did Isa and Lisa before me) and we all look forward to hearing her adventures!
Molly and her new owners – Austria bound!
Little Minx – Too lively 🙁
And Pip – Next stop SCOTLAND!