We save a dog from a brutal death

We had a call from a vet yesterday. She sounded agitated which was strange, nothing much usually freaks a vet out does it? When she went on, we could see why. A man who wasn't a client, had brought a dog in to be destroyed. For no reason. That's it - I'll pay the money - you put him to sleep.

So the vet examined the dog. He was fit and healthy and wagged his tail and was very friendly and sure enough, there was nothing wrong with him at all. She refused to put the dog down and suggested the man re-home him.

At this stage the man changed his story and said the dog was aggressive and had bitten someone. By this time all the vet staff had been fussing the dog and it seemed like the friendliest mutt they'd ever seen. The vet told him she still didn't want to do this.

Then the bloke became angry and snatched the dog back and said he was going to take him home and 'do the job himself' - he told her he was going to beat him to death with a shovel. Then things got very heated. A tug of war over the dog,while a member of staff rang through to another animal sanctuary but they couldn't help.

Fortunately someone thought about the Pet Samaritans and gave us a call. As soon as we heard what was happening, we told them 'hang on to that dog' no matter what - we were on our way. It was a fifteen minute journey - would we be too late? And how would we get the dog away from the owner?

It's a tricky situation when the animal legally belongs to someone else and you don't know where they live or anything about them. Unless there is some documentation, an agreement, a signature - even if we were in time, what was to stop this man taking the dog away? Even if he let us have the dog, unless the paperwork was done, he could fetch the dog back and do whatever he wanted. Taking in an abandoned animal or one you've rescued isn't as simple as it sounds. We have no budget for taking legal action, all our rescources go to the animals. We could only try to resolve the situation as persuasively as possible.

There was a little huddle of people around when we pulled up in the van - a big sigh of relief when we saw it was just to fuss this quite confused but already lovin' it hound! Even better, the vet had managed to get a 'transfer of ownership' signature before the man scarpered. In the end the man gave in, realising that he was in a whole load of trouble. But apparently he definitely thought that as it was his dog, he could do what he wanted - take the dog away and kill him and that there was nothing wrong with that.

So was this a vicious, unpredictable, dangerous character? Well, the bloke definitely, but the dog - no way. This is a lovable, wimpish, gentle pal of a dog. Nothing sharp about him at all. Why did he want to get rid of him? Maybe..... it's because this dog is way past middle age. Fussy, friendly, bright, but not a youngster any more. We've come across this before, the dog's getting on in years, they want a new puppy and it's out with the old, in with the new.

The dog was a perfect gent to take home and settled down straight away in a cosy basket with a nice tea, some afters and a chew stick.

We looked at each other when I'd settled him in. There was a puzzled look in his eyes - where am I? This is a new place, it's nice and I like these people, but am I safe? I told him telepathically that he was going to be fine and not to worry and we wouldn't let anyone hurt him. Dogs know what you're thinking don't they? He wagged his tail a bit and relaxed and snugged down for a nap. I still feel sad, I shouldn't do, I know. This is a happy ending..... except it's miserable that these sort of situations ever happen.