The Dog With Nine Lives (2 page)

Have I made things worse?

B
ACK HOME IN
E
NGLAND
, I tried to put the little canine family out of my head. We had done the best we could for them. There was nothing more we could do. Absolutely nothing.

I kept telling myself this, but it made no difference. I was haunted by the look the mother had given me as the kennel door had clanged shut on her.

I trusted you. You betrayed me.

It was no good. However hard I tried I couldn't get her out of my head. A week went by and then a fortnight. I was still haunted by those eyes.

‘I wonder how that dog and her pups are getting on,' I said to Tony. ‘Do you think the sanctuary will be able to find them homes?'

‘Yeah – course they will,' he murmured, looking up from his paperwork, which he was doing at the lounge table, late one night. Tony and I were both self-employed, which tended to mean we worked long and unsociable hours. Fortunately, my job as a writer was home-based, which fitted in well with the dogs.

I looked at our dogs, all of whom were curled up on the settee, which meant there was no room for any people. At that time we had a white German Shepherd called Katie, a black collie cross called Jess, and a brown and white greyhound cross called Abel.

How sleek and well-fed they all looked, dozing amidst the cushions. My mind wandered back to the little brown dog in Rhodes. What a different life she'd had to my spoilt lot.

‘I thought I might just email the sanctuary and ask how they're getting on,' I added.

Tony raised his eyebrows in affectionate exasperation. ‘Good idea. It'll put your mind at rest.'

I sensed he was too immersed in his paperwork to be really listening and I decided there was no time like the present. I ran upstairs to the spare bedroom which I used as an office and emailed the sanctuary.

12 October, 2001

Dear RAWS,

We recently brought in a bitch with thirteen puppies that we found living wild in the rocks on Lindos Beach and I was wondering if you could tell me how they are getting on – and if there is any news on a home for them.

Many thanks

Very best wishes

Della Millward

The reply whizzed back sooner than I anticipated.

Tue 16 October, 2001

Dear Della Millward,

Rita in Denmark who keeps our website passed your message on to us here in Rhodes. The Lindos bitch is very well. I saw her today. She has a very sweet nature and gets on well with the other dogs at the kennels.

She is a wonderful mother and when she is free in the yard, she wants in to check her babies in the cage and then wants out again. She needs some time away from the babies although they are still not at the very demanding stage yet. She has actually taken on two pups from another bitch quite happily. The other bitch is very poorly with mastitis and an infection in her uterus.

Hopefully all the pups will be re-homed. The mother although she has a lovely nature will be difficult to re-home. We just have to wait and see what happens.

Best Regards,

Maggie Avgerinou for RAWS

I kept reading that line,
the mother although she has a lovely nature will be difficult to re-home
. So what was going to happen to her then? Perhaps far from doing her a favour I had actually signed her death warrant. Did they mean they would have her put to sleep? The thought chilled me. But I was realistic enough to know that they might not have a choice.

All animal sanctuaries are run on tight budgets and only survive because of the dedication of animal lovers. I knew this because I helped out with fostering and dog walking for Dorset Animal Workers Group (DAWG), my local rescue centre. I also knew sanctuaries abroad have an even tougher time than the ones in the UK.

No sanctuary could afford to keep a dog indefinitely, which had no chance of being re-homed. I decided to talk to Tony about my worries that the dog wouldn't find a home.

‘Maybe we could bring her back here,' I ventured.

He shook his head. ‘Love, it will cost a fortune. We can't bring back a stray dog from Greece. We don't have that sort of money.'

‘True,' I agreed.

Neither of us earned a massive amount and we had a big mortgage. I had a car that was on its last legs and had been saving up for ages to replace it. We definitely didn't have money to throw away on strays from Greece.

‘Besides, we've already got three dogs,' Tony pointed out reasonably. ‘Four would be too many.'

‘Absolutely,' I agreed. So why did I find myself sitting down at my computer that night and typing another email to RAWS.

Tue October 16, 2001 9.10 pm

Dear Maggie,

Many thanks for your message. I'm pleased she is doing well and it's great that she has taken on two more pups. I would love to re-home the mother here in the UK.

I know this is difficult to arrange because of our quarantine regulations. I've been talking to a friend of mine, who deals with rescuing animals abroad, and she told me that also there is a shortage of MAFF vets in Greece, which makes it even harder. She thinks the easiest way to bring a dog back from Rhodes is to fly her to somewhere like Gibraltar, have her vaccinated and passported and then bring her back here, six months later.

Alternatively, she could be flown back and then put in quarantine here. I'm not sure which would be the most stressful for her.

I do realise that either of these options would be expensive, but that isn't a problem. If all this sounds too complicated to you, please say. In the meantime I will find out some more information about the practicalities.

Many thanks

Della Millward

I read the email back to myself and bit my lip when I got to the line about the expense not being a problem. Who was I trying to kid? Tony had already made it clear that we couldn't afford it. I
knew
we couldn't afford it. On the other hand I did have my car savings. Having a newer car surely wasn't as important as saving the life of a little Greek dog.

I convinced myself it wasn't, and, feeling only the merest flicker of guilt because I was going against Tony's wishes, I pressed SEND.

Maggie's reply came back before I had a chance to think through the implications of what I was doing.

Wed, October 17, 2001 16.44

Dear Della,

It is great to hear that you are considering taking Mummy dog back to UK. I didn't hold out much hope here of finding her a home, yet she has such a lovely character and such soft, sweet eyes.

We have sent 2 dogs and a cat this year to UK using the Pet Pilot scheme. Vaccinations, passport and micro chipping are all done by our local vet. Blood tests are done 30 days after the rabies vaccine, and that is a simple matter of sending the blood to Athens to be tested. Keeping the animals for seven months was a huge responsibility for us (dogs are stolen from the kennels, they can get into dog-fights, get sick, escape etc.)

The pet pilot scheme may be a bit cheaper. We have also sent a lot of animals straight into quarantine. That way at least the owner can visit the dog and it will be safer although it is more expensive. Also then, the animal can arrive into UK on any airline (scheduled)

You have to seriously consider your options, see what expenses it would involve. Let me know what you decide.

Best Wishes,

Maggie (Avgerinou)

I decided to have another chat with Tony. I knew he loved dogs as much as I did. I would appeal to his better nature and also I would reassure him that it wouldn't cost him a penny.

‘About that Greek dog,' I began.

My timing was obviously not brilliant, because before I could get any further, he put his hands in the air, palms facing me and shook his head, ‘I don't want to hear another word about that dog.' ‘But I could afford to bring her back if I didn't buy a new car.' ‘I'm not discussing it any more.' He walked away. I sighed heavily. I knew he was right. It was a crazy idea.

I went upstairs and composed another email to Maggie.

Friday October 19, 2001

Dear Maggie,

I have decided that I will definitely go ahead and bring her back here to the UK. Give me a few days to look into things my end and I will be in touch again.

Many thanks for all your help with this

Very best wishes

Dellax

Lindy comes to England

I
DIDN'T DARE TELL
Tony what I was up to. I wasn't in the habit of deceiving him, but I just couldn't live with the thought that I might have inadvertently made things worse for the little stray dog in Greece. I felt personally responsible for what happened to her.

For the next few days I corresponded with Maggie regularly. I decided to call the little dog, Lindy, after Lindos Beach where we'd found her. By coincidence Maggie decided to call her Lindy too – and in crossed emails we realised we had independently chosen the same name.

It seemed like a good omen! Although I think by then I'd have clung on to anything that indicated I may be making a good decision, rather than a very bad one!

Incidentally, we later discovered that we hadn't found her on Lindos Beach at all, but Pefkos Beach – I never have been good at geography – but by then it was too late to change her name!

Maggie said that while the sanctuary was quite happy to keep Lindy until she'd had her rabies vaccination and quarantine period and could come to the UK on a pet passport, they couldn't guarantee her safety. Dogs were sometimes stolen from the kennels, they had fights with other dogs, there were illnesses and sometimes dogs simply escaped and took their chances living wild. She thought it would be safer if I arranged quarantine for Lindy in the UK.

So I began to do some research. The kennels I found was near Salisbury, Wiltshire, which wasn't too far from where we lived. They said we could visit as often as we liked while Lindy was in quarantine, which was reassuring. They also said I could pay her bill monthly, which was a huge relief. I knew the quarantine cost would run into a couple of thousand pounds, possibly more, but at least I wouldn't have to pay it all at once.

Then I came up against a major stumbling block. Maggie had said that I needed to find an airline that would fly from Rhodes to Athens and then from Athens to Heathrow. It had to be an airline that would take dogs as cargo. It also needed to be the same airline so they could transfer Lindy from one plane to another. Maggie had mentioned I'd need a volunteer to go to Athens and make sure Lindy was transferred properly and not left sitting on the tarmac somewhere forgotten.

None of this was going to be easy. Then to make matters worse we discovered that no airline would take an unaccompanied dog between Rhodes and Athens. Someone would have to fly with Lindy for the first leg of the journey.

I panicked. For a couple of days I thought I might need to personally fly out to Rhodes and arrange to do this myself, which wasn't ideal because I didn't speak the language. And it would obviously also be quite a bit of extra expense.

And there was the small matter of what Tony would have to say about it. He'd already made it clear how he felt about the whole thing. The worry niggled away at me and I wondered, once more, if I should just give up this crazy idea of bringing Lindy back to England. Even though I knew I was already too involved.

Then to my very great relief Maggie offered to do it herself if I would pay for her flight, which of course went without saying. I could have hugged her. Once again it struck me that while there might be a lot of indifference to animals in the world, there are also some wonderful people around who will bend over backwards to help.

I hadn't even met Maggie, but she was willing to go to extraordinary lengths for me and for Lindy. It still moves me to tears when I think about that.

As we made arrangements for the quarantine and the flight, Maggie kept me updated on Lindy's progress via email.

Tuesday October 23, 2001

Hi Della,

I saw Lindy on Tuesday. She came for a hug, big loving eyes but soooo thin. We are doing our best with vitamins extra food etc. but she obviously was undernourished before she was pregnant and it will take time to build her up again. A vet has looked at her and said she seems well but we don't want to neuter her yet, she is too run down, so maybe you can get that done in the UK.

She has an appointment with another vet to be micro chipped and given the rabies shot. I don't think this has to be done if she is going into quarantine, but it will cut down the time she has to be in quarantine as it counts exactly six months from the date of the rabies vaccine. He will give his opinion too as to her condition.

Can you confirm what she actually needs to get into the country, health wise, vaccine wise etc?

I am so relieved that this sweet dog is being given a chance in life. Thank you.

Best Wishes,

Maggie (Avgerinou)

I worried too about Lindy being run down and undernourished. I was responsible for moving her from that beach and for all that had happened to her since. But actually bringing her back to England was starting to feel like a reality.

Sunday November 4, 2001

Hi Maggie,

I sent the forms off to my kennels today, so hopefully you should hear from them within a week or so.

I took one of my dogs, Jess a collie cross, riding with me today. She had a great time running around in the forest and is now lying flat out by the fire. It's starting to get a bit cold here; frost on the ground, but Lindy's kennel is heated, so she'll be ok.

I've been trying not to look forward to seeing her in case things didn't work out, but am starting to hope now. This probably sounds mad, but she was so happy when I first saw her running along Lindos beach. I knew she couldn't survive there with all those pups, but I did feel a bit of a betrayer, taking her along to the kennels. I can't wait until she's here and through quarantine and I can let her run along an English beach. My three dogs love the beach.

Anyway, please let me know when you hear anything and what money you need me to send for expenses etc

regards

Della

Monday November 5, 2001

Hi Della,

I don't think Lindy is too miserable up at the kennels. She is free in the yard every morning with the other dogs, whom she seems to get on with. She seems an easily satisfied dog, not a cowering one like a lot we get in, and very gentle and friendly. She will get to run on the beach again but this time with an owner who cares for her. She will be well fed and sleek-coated. That I would love to see, so a photo eventually would be much appreciated.

We separated her from the pups today, her milk has almost dried up and the pups are eating food now.

Let's see if she can get some weight on now.

So we wait for the papers to come!

Regards,

Maggie

There was a lot of official documentation to do for the flights and for the quarantine side of things, and there were obviously some translation problems between the UK and Greece. A few days later Maggie received the MAFF Boarding Document for Lindy. Under ‘DESCRIPTION' someone had written:

Male, Lindy
16 years, brown.

We had in fact estimated Lindy to be between four and five years old, and she was patently not male! Her teats were still quite dangly and obvious! Maggie and I both laughed about this.

But finally, we got there. All the flights were arranged. The quarantine kennels were booked, the paperwork complete.

I had, by now, confessed all to Tony. Much to my relief he hadn't demanded an instant divorce. I knew he cared about dogs as much as I did – he just had a more sensible approach to the whole issue of animal rescue. Normal people put their spare change into animal-charity collecting boxes. Or if they were really passionate about a cause they did a sponsored walk. They didn't bring stray dogs back from Greek beaches.

I had never been particularly normal when it came to animals, but even I had to confess I'd followed my heart on this one and not my head. Still, it wasn't as if I'd planned it from the outset, was it!

Tony was also a little worried about how Lindy would get on with our other three dogs. I wasn't worried about this – I had a feeling that she would be fine. She'd seemed quite passive and laid back and Maggie had said she got on with the dogs at the kennels.

I promised Tony that if there was any trouble I would re-home Lindy when she got here – while keeping my fingers crossed that there wouldn't be. I also promised I'd cover all the expenses of bringing her back. Tony had no arguments left. In fact, as time went on the topic of Lindy often came up when we were talking to friends or at dinner parties, or just out with our dogs.

Tony would smile proudly and say, ‘We brought this one back from Greece. She was living wild with her 13 pups on the beach.'

At first I used to correct him. ‘
Who
brought her back from Greece?' I'd ask him, and he'd just grin.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Lindy finally flew back to England on a chilly grey day in November. The manager of the quarantine kennels phoned to let me know she'd arrived safely and that she was a bit cold so he would set up a special heat lamp in her kennels.

‘You can come and visit her whenever you like,' he said with a smile in his voice. ‘And I can also tell you her official release date is the 21st May.'

‘That's amazing,' I told him, with a little shock of surprised pleasure. ‘The 21st's my birthday.'