This is Hovis before he was rescued from Yew Tree Farm at Plaitford
nr Romsey Hants. Living in
appalling conditions on premises licensed by Test Valley Council
A classic
case of
Learned Helplessness The view
from his des-res Out of
there at last but very frightened
A few
days and a good groom later
Looking
gorgeous but outside Hovis will sit in a corner This
picture was taken about 6 weeks later. It took that long for him to be
able to relax on the settee in the evening
And here
he is watching Crufts on the telly
Hovis's
first swimming lesson. He is absolutely delighted that this photo has
been chosen to go on all the posters advertising
doggypaddle our new local
swimming pool.
The court case in September against the puppy farm collapsed when the
farm owner became unwell and could not participate in her own defence.
This left it for the two sides to come to some agreement over the
welfare of the remaining 16 dogs who are in RSPCA care, hopefully this
will be resolved in the near future and the dogs, after spending nearly
2 years in kennels will find themselves lovingly tucked up in new homes
by Christmas. None of these animals had names and all were bred from on consecutive
seasons. They were machines, they had had no love or affection as they
were deemed not to be pets; they had no walks and only saw the broken
concrete of their runs and the dogs next to them. The place was rat
infested and waterlogged in winter. This lady's defence lawyer said the dogs and cats did not require
love, affection, comfort, kind words, warmth or cleanliness, as they
were commercial animals used for breeding and to show them affection
would be to spoil them. He also said that there was no difference
between these animals and say pigs or sheep! No animal, commercial or
pet should have to live like this; there is no excuse for keeping them
in such awful conditions. My colleagues and I would like to thank everyone who supported our
efforts to close this place. The people who must be mentioned are Sally
from Scallywags School for Dogs who took on Hovis. Our objective in
rescuing him was that if he was beyond help he would be better off being
put down than living like this. Thankfully, that was not the case and
Hovis is coming round and enjoying life, learning to play ball and
gaining confidence daily.
Hovis relaxes at home Paddy a Chinese Crested cross after a de-matt and restyle lost that
certain aroma that comes with a puppy farm dog and is now living happily
with Ann Wilson. Ara an 8 month old Rottie is living in the lap of luxury in a manor
house in New Milton. Labrador Lifeline Trust gave generously and found homes for 3 of the
Labs we got out including a dear girl, Abbey. She was to be put down
because she was losing her sight due to PRA (Progressive Retinal
Atrophy), which would have been passed onto the many pups she produced,
in the course of her nine years. Marion Sheppard at Border Collie Rescue who took on Hovis' brother
Tex. Both had been used as stud dogs. Tex was less distressed than his
brother but still in a sorry state, he has been successfully rehomed.
Stuart and Helen Breeze who have taken on Molly a little Collie of
about 4 years who has had many litters. When rescued she weighed a
pathetic 10kg, had an untreated eye injury, scant fur and spent the
first few weeks hiding behind the tumble dryer. Mr and Mrs Jones took on 2 Labradors, although they only came for
one. Penny and Tanya, who after years of abuse as breeding machines have
taken to their new home like ducks to water. Lyn Williams from Happy Dogs at Ringwood has kindly and generously
spayed and rehomed Hannah the 5 year old St Bernard after St Bernard
Rescue were less than helpful when we contacted them. Rottie rescue
offered their assistance as did Chinese Crested Rescue, who rehomed
Toyah. This really was a joint venture, when welfare and supporters pull
together anything can be achieved, Hovis and his 17 cellmates are living
proof that puppy farming is wrong. We all know the difference between
right and wrong, the law recognises only what is legal or illegal and
only the courts can decide. The legal process can take years during
which time the situation continues unchanged. In Second Chance and
others like us, we deal with the here and now. After hearing of the work
we were doing with the puppy farm the John Canning Trust donated us
£1000 towards the cost of vet bills for these animals, we are indeed
very grateful for this donation, and I would like to apologise to this
organization for the delay in saying so. Very gradually he started to relax, he would lie down to sleep and
would take a few tentative steps outside as long as we put him down next
to the hedge so that he could slink along beside it. This was also the
cue to start brushing out his matted (and extremely smelly!!!!) coat.
Although he showed no emotion whatsoever and never, ever looked at me, I
believe he did enjoy the many hours I sat on the floor with him gently
combing out his coat. And after a bath, he was indeed a very handsome
(and much better smelling) boy. One tea-time, after being carried outside for a wee, he didn't
scuttle straight back into his crate when we came back inside. So, I
picked him up again and sat him next to me on the sofa with his head on
my lap. If I hadn't already decided before, it was at this point that I
realised he was here to stay. Progress with Hovis was slow but always in the right direction. He
gradually began to enjoy short walks outside in the field, as long as he
could walk along the hedge. He spent every evening on the sofa with me,
but the rest of the time he was content to curl up in his bed. The first
time that he left his crate voluntarily was to steal the cat's bedtime
milk. Every evening before I went to bed I always gave my two cats a
drink which they would have in the dining room once the dogs had gone to
bed. On this particular night I put the two bowls of milk on the floor
in the dining room, and then went to the front door to call them in. On
returning I found the bowls empty! Thinking that one of the dogs had
sneaked down from upstairs I looked around to see Hovis in his bed,
licking the milk from his chin!! That was the start of his customary
drink of milk every bedtime. The second time that he came out of his
crate on his own was one evening when I had been a little late bringing
him into the lounge. To our utter surprise his little face appeared in
the doorway. He quickly scuttled back again once we saw him but after
that he was encouraged to make his own way in once we settled down for
the evening. In the early spring after his arrival we were sat outside enjoying
the sunshine, Hovis was lying at my feet and I realised that he had
started to take notice of his surroundings. He watched with interest as
a butterfly flew past and then he stood up and pounced on a beetle in
the grass. After that he would regularly play outside so long as nobody
was watching him. When Hovis was neutered, the vet was kind enough to let me stay with
him. I was there with him until he went under the anaesthetic and then I
sat with him as soon as the op was over and waited for him to come round
before taking him home. The operation was more complicated than a normal
neutering as he was monorchid, which meant that one of his testicles had
never descended properly and was still inside. Two and a half years later and Hovis is still making progress. He is
very similar in a lot of ways to an autistic child. He needs routine and
engages in lots of habitual behaviour but he is extremely bright. He
does more and more 'normal' dog things. He runs about, chases a ball and
even brings it back sometimes!! He has learnt to sit and lie down on
command and he'll even do a low agility jump if he is in the mood. As I
am writing this he has just stolen my yoghurt pot from the coffee table.
Another first!!
Extract from SECOND CHANCE ANIMAL RESCUE
newsletter Winter 2003
PUPPY FARM
We cannot name the puppy farm which we mentioned in our last newsletter,
but pictured below is Hovis the Collie whose plight motivated us to
rescue 18 dogs from this hellhole.
Article by Sally for the SECOND CHANCE
newsletter summer 2005
I'll never forget that day in January 2003 when I first saw
Hovis huddled in a corner, his coat matted and filthy, his constant
salivating through stress, that image of him will haunt me forever. We
brought him home, intending to foster him on behalf of Second Chance, to
see if anything could be done to help him. He was in a state of learned
helplessness, a condition brought about by the environment that he had
been living in. Nothing he did would make any difference to his
miserable existence so he just gave up and did nothing. We carried him
in to the house because he couldn't walk and gave him a cosy bed in a
crate with the door left open in the corner of the dining room. There he
resumed his position of sit and stare at the wall which is the only
thing he knew how to do. I believe he actually slept in this
sitting/leaning into the corner position in the early days for I never
saw him lying down. We put a harness on him to make it easier to lift
him outside and for the next couple of weeks he would spend a penny
wherever we put him down on the grass. He would eat only if we left the
room and to this day he has to eat his meal in complete privacy although
if there is a chip on offer he can manage to eat that quite well whilst
being watched!
