IDriving home from the animal shelter, Steve Greig felt a sense of peace as he held his 12-year-old Chihuahua in his lap. For months, he has felt inconsolable since his dog Wolfgang died. “It didn't make any sense,” he says. Mr. Wolfgang was hit by a car. Greig had the idea that he could adopt a dog that no one else wanted and give the animal one last chance at a loving home. The Chihuahua, whom he named Eeyore, was the oldest dog at the shelter and had a heart murmur and four broken knees. Eeyore spent the entire car ride looking out the window, wagging his tail. “It wasn't a no-kill shelter, so his future wasn't that good, but it gave him a new lease on life,” Greig says. “I'll never forget it. I felt like Wolfgang kept this dog alive and it was exactly what I needed.”
I found it so rewarding that I soon adopted another older dog. “And then one dog turned into another.” Currently, she has 11 dogs. He sometimes receives calls from shelters informing him of dogs that may be put down, but he says he can't resist. “The problem with older people in shelters is that they're the last to be seen. If you have an older person with health issues, they're the last of the last.” Greig says. lives in Colorado, but most of his dogs were rescued from other states, from “high-kill shelters” where elderly, disabled, and unhomed dogs are euthanized. is.
Although he recently retired as an accountant, he says the fact that the dog is older, rather than Greig, means it's easier to handle. “It's not like I have 11 puppies. They love routine, just like I do.” The oldest is 19 and the youngest is 8, but they're Irish wolfhounds. So it looks like it's over 100 years old. Greig gets up early and takes them out. 5 people can walk without problems. Others usually sit in the wagon and come back for medicine and breakfast. Some dogs need more care. One of his dogs is diabetic and has stomach problems. This means consuming boiled fish for meals and insulin at the same time every day. “You have to plan around that. Some people are on special diets. The couple is blind, so they don't go out by themselves. They have to leave it outside and bring it inside. “Sometimes they get lost,” he says with an affectionate laugh.
These are last chance pets. These animals either wait months to find new homes or spend their final days in shelters. In some cases, an animal's needs are so great that finding a home is nearly impossible. Tom Whiteside, of Doris Banham Dog Rescue in Nottinghamshire, said he has adopted dogs from puppy farms and dogs used in combat. “We've thrown dogs out of vans and cars. We take in all the damage, both mentally and physically, and it's our job to rehabilitate them. In many cases, it's successful. However, some dogs are so emotionally scarred by what they've been through that they never change.”
Whiteside sometimes receives calls from veterinarians whose dogs owners want to put to sleep, or from owners themselves. “The public says, 'I have this dog and I'm putting it to sleep,' but if that's a stupid reason, we say, 'Wait a minute, let's see what we can do first.' The 2021-2022 annual stray dog survey found that 240 dogs were put to sleep by Dogs Trust's 218 responding local authorities. Four of those cases were because they were prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act. The remainder were due to health or behavioral reasons. Whiteside sometimes receives dogs from local authorities that can be rehabilitated, or at least allowed to live at the centre.
HHélène Svinos rescued her cross-shaped dog Maz from Afghanistan. He was found in Mazar-e-Sharif by his friend, a veterinarian who was visiting the city, and was thought to have been hit by a car. Maz is 13 years old and has both of his legs amputated. “Yesterday wasn't a good day. He didn't want to walk, so he just has to roll around like any other dog,” she says.
She balances looking after Maz and five other dogs with her job as an A&E doctor in Manchester. Two mutts found on the streets of Romania, Bambi, who has a lame hind leg, and Inca, who is blind, also have disabilities. She has three Springer Spaniels.
Dogs with high needs require more work in some ways, such as incontinence issues, but are easier in others. Unlike her spaniel, they can't climb on the kitchen counter or open the refrigerator. “There are a lot of disabled dogs that need homes,” she says. “People will criticize shelters for putting up really disabled dogs, but not providing them with homes. That's a shame because people are missing out on wonderful dogs. I think. There's no reason you can't do everything with them.'' She has a stroller for dogs who can't walk far. They climb the hill and go to the beach. “Is possible.”
She says her dog is an inspiration. “When you see a two-legged dog taking life so seriously, you can't help but feel sorry for yourself.'' He was found in a river. His zest for life is just amazing.”
Many of the older cats and dogs that come into shelters don't have very dramatic backstories. Lauren Moore, the RSPCA's fundraising manager in the north of England, said usually the owners had died or were simply too unwell to care for them. “Entering a kennel or cat kennel environment can be traumatic,” she says. “They're in their twilight years. We want to make sure they're as comfortable as possible.”
The RSPCA runs the Older Animal Rehoming Scheme (yes, ears). This was established because older pets take longer to rehome than younger pets. This system reduces the burden of medical costs, among other things. Moore has found that people who go through the scheme often come back for another elderly pet. “I think there must be a special bond that says, 'I'll take care of you in your last years.' And these animals know that and appreciate it.” Moore says there are many benefits to having a cat or dog. “Some may be looking for a less demanding partner.”
This does not mean that your older pet is guaranteed to become less mobile. Sue Lewis found herself laughing as she chased her 18-year-old dog. “We couldn't catch up with him,” she says. “I couldn't believe I had such an old dog and was chasing him.'' Lewis believes Teddy, who is part border collie and part corgi, may have short legs, but he's still fast.
Teddy and Sheba are rough collies of the same age and have lived with Lewis for just over a year. She was working as a volunteer at the Dogs Trust when the pair came to it after her owner passed away. She wasn't really interested in adopting them, and when there was talk of splitting them up to live separately, Lewis thought: They came to the house with me because they needed to be together… They brought us so much joy. ”
A little further away in the same area of the West Midlands, 16-year-old Jack Russell Libby is hanging around the vicarage where she and her new owner Alan Williams moved in two years ago. Williams has adopted several older dogs over the past few years. “If a dog has been on the shelf for a while and no one is really interested in it, it seems like the right thing to do,” he says.
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Sue Lewis and husband Pete, Sheba (right) And Teddy.Photo: Fabio de Paola/The Guardian
Williams found that older dogs were a much better fit for her lifestyle. “When you get a dog that's 14 or 15 years old, they've already been trained that way and are a little bit like us humans.” Libby, from animal welfare charity Blue Cross, says she's trained in that way and is a bit like us humans. I know what you want. “When you offer her food that may not be very appealing to her, she lets her know how she feels. She goes to another bowl and taps it.” Sometimes I walk for hours. On another day, she arrives at the end of the drive and makes it clear that she won't go any further.
Of the 152 cats at Derby's cat rescue center, 23 are over 11 years old. “I think people think they're not going to be together very long, they're going to have health problems, they're not going to enjoy being at home as much,” says Rachel Harris. Deputy director of the center. If you've ever had a kitten who liked to chop up curtains or dig up houseplants, this could be an advantage, she says. ”
IOver the past 30 years, Pete Crockett has adopted seven older cats. He has been fostering Tia, who is about 15 years old, for nine months. He believes that animals in shelters, no matter how well cared for, can “lose a little bit of energy.” Mr. Crockett likes older cats. They know how to live with humans. Their wandering days are almost over and they are less likely to be startled by rodents. “His cats sometimes required special care and nurturing, such as having been injected with recreational drugs by his previous owners, “but most were surprisingly simple.'' If your dog's vision is starting to deteriorate, you may need a fenced area in your garden. Or maybe you need a stack of books to help you sit in your favorite chair. “I'm so happy to have a cat that no one else wants,” he says.
Heartbroken by the death of her dog, Anne-Marie Kennedy didn't want another dog, but she kept seeing pictures of Charlie, a 15-year-old deaf and toothless Jack Russell, pop up on social media. was. “He was being treated badly and had pancreatitis. I thought to myself, all a dog needs is a comfy bed and someone to scratch his ears for a while. He doesn't have much time left.”
That was a year ago. “He's running around the yard feeling like a 6-year-old instead of a 16-year-old, so I think he's going to be around for a while yet,” she says. It can be a tough job. She has to get up four times during the night to make Charlie pee. “He can't go downstairs by himself. He's going to the garden, but you have to wait for him at the door. When you close the door, he thinks he's been kicked out. You have to stand there with the door open, in the wind and the rain, because it becomes really painful. You're there at four o'clock in the morning, thinking, 'Why did I do this?' ?” I am thinking.
It was difficult for him to find food because he had no teeth, but it turns out that they love porridge. Charlie, who was listening, perks up when he hears Kennedy say those words.
Although his food tastes are relatively cheap, “he's been pretty expensive in the past, and we knew that from the time we took him on,” Kennedy says. “I can't get insurance, so I have to grit my teeth and pay the vet bills. But I watched him zoomie in the garden, looking so happy and wagging his tail, having the time of his life. It's definitely worth it.”
President Kennedy said he was happy to see Charlie relaxed and safe. You think: What terrible thing happened to you? They will never happen to you again. ”
We are all aware of the inevitable and are working towards it. “It's just the idea that you're making a short-term difference in an animal's life,” Kennedy says. Williams doesn't know how long Libby has left to live, “but she's enjoying every day.” Mr. Crockett says that once Tia leaves, he plans to hang around for a while. “She then comes to the conclusion that there is another poor old cat that needs a home.” Lewis thinks of Sheba and Teddy, “They deserve to be loved for whatever time they have left.”
For Greig, experiencing periods of mourning on a fairly regular basis created a sense of appreciation for life. “I don't take things for granted. I always know how fleeting life is. When I see them happy and doing well, usually when they come I feel like I did the best I could with the time I had left with them. I'm not going to say it wasn't difficult, but I'm not going to say it wasn't difficult, but it was a lot better than what their lives were like. Knowing that will comfort me.”
He says the dogs, his last chance, taught him a great lesson. “If you want to make your life better, what's the advice I always give? Understand that it's not about you. The most unlucky people I've seen believe that everything is their fault. When you realize that almost everything isn't like that, and that's what these dogs have taught me, life becomes so much better.”
