Dear Sam

My name is Kate, we met on Saturday at the adopt a dog day in Cauden and you took away two dogs which I had rescued. Here is the story of how I met the dogs.

The fair haired one we called bones came along our path last July in Labourdonnais, Mapou. I was taking the children home from school and notice him weaving along the side of the road with a metal chain tied far too tightly around his neck. I stopped to have a look and was appalled to see that it was digging into his neck and causing him to bleed. It appeared to have been put on when he was much smaller and not loosened as he grew. The end of the chain appeared to have been snapped as if he had pulled himself loose from wherever he had been tied. He was in an appalling state. He had very little hair and what he did have was just small tuffs around his main body. His legs and back where devoid of any hair and he was covered in mange. One of his ears had been partly eaten away and he'd bitten his skin so much due to the mange that he was bleeding in numerous areas of his legs, tail and sides. It was obvious that he hadn't eaten properly for months as he was so emancipated that his bones were sticking through his skin like paper. He was dehydrated and in a state of near exhaustion.

I was amazed that he let me pick him up and put him in the car, but I think he was so near to the end that he'd given up. I took him home first, fed and watered him but it all came right through him, so I went directly to the vet. The vet considered putting him down as he was in such a state, but we decided to try him a few days to see how he would react to the treatment he gave him. To our delight and surprise within two days he was eating and drinking well and appeared very happy.

Unfortunately he didn't hit it off with my other dogs and so lived outside my house, but came by every meal time. My dogs accepted him coming along at walk times but not into the garden. Within approximately three months he had regained all his hair and his bones disappeared back into his body.

Once he was on his feet I considering bringing him to paws but he went missing for a few weeks and when he returned he had a huge lump the size of a small football in his side. The vet said it looked like he had been kicked very hard or hit with a hard object, but not a car. He had to pierced the lump and drain out the build up of liquid, which was approximately

four pints!!. This had to be done several times but thankfully he pulled through that also. He is a loving loyal dog who has become very resilient to what the world has thrown at him and it amazes me how much love and trust he still gives to human beings after what they have done to him. He would be a great guard dog too.

The little black and white dog we called ticaloo, (due to the amount of ticks we removed from her body when we washed her). She was abandoned by her owner on new years eve this year. He left her alone with her four newly born pups, with no water or food. She came around to our house and we bathed and fed her up. After three weeks the owner returned and took the puppies away in the night leaving her alone. Her nipples were full of milk and she became feverish. Thankfully she pulled through okay and we had her sterilized. She is a very gently and loving dog full of the joys of spring, always jumping and running around. She would make someone a lovely house dog especially if they have children as she loves to play.

Thank you very much for taking them on board and I hope you manage to find them a loving, caring home. I would have loved to have kept them but I have three already and my son is allergic to dog hair, so I have to try and keep the amount of animals at home to a minimum.

Lots of love Kate Beechouk