Hovis

PUPPY FARM

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.

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!

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!!