Goodbye Lady

Sadly we lost our Lady, on Easter Monday 2008, she died unexpectedly and suddenly while we were away in our caravan. She was just beginning her twelfth year.
She was very special to us and many people, having appeared on stage in 2005 as Sandy in Annie and has enjoyed competing in Flyball and generally looking after everyone, she was often mistaken for Pippin the famous TV dog, and she new it!

I had just started to teach her heelwork to music and she was loving it. Could jump back, weave in and out of my legs, roll over, high five, low five, wave and run along with her front paws on my bottom.

She hadn't been really ill, but was a little under the weather, we put this down to her age and she was slowing up. I had planned to take her to the vets this week to get her checked over, but sadly it was too late. We miss her terribly, she was always close by and if she could have been in my pocket she would have.

Who is going to fetch my slippers now, bring the post, after barking at the postman, who will tell us there is someone at the door?

It is some comfort to know that we were with her at the end and she didn't suffer for long. Lady deserved that.

Goodbye our Lady, we miss you.

Sue, John, Milly & Cleo

28th March 2008

Aunt, 16, tried to save toddler mauled to death by rottweiler

Caroline Davies
Sunday December 30, 2007
The Observer

The 16-year-old aunt of a baby boy mauled to death by a rottweiler tried desperately to rescue him from the jaws of the 10-stone family pet, it emerged yesterday.
Police paid tribute to the bravery of the teenager as they revealed how Archie-Lee Andrew Hirst, aged 13 months, was snatched from the arms of a seven-year-old girl in the backyard of his grandparents' Wakefield home.

The aunt was upstairs when, it is thought, the seven-year-old carried Archie-Lee into the yard to stroke the two-year-old female rottweiler.

The terrified girl alerted the aunt, who battled with the dog before calling the emergency services.
Detective Superintendent Steve Payne, leading the investigation, said: 'I have to pay tribute to the auntie. She struck the rottweiler a number of times, but it wouldn't let go of the child.

'She then returned to the premises and got her mobile phone and alerted the emergency services. She did her best to recover Archie from the dog, but unfortunately that was in vain. It is a full-sized rottweiler. Clearly we're talking about powerful dogs here.'

Archie-Lee's mother, thought to be in her late teens, and father, who both live in Wakefield, were said to have been on the scene within minutes. Archie-Lee had been spending Christmas with his grandparents, who have five children. The aunt was looking after the seven-year-old and a six-year-old girl at the time. A 14-year-old son was not at home.

Paramedics scaled a 7ft fence around the yard to attend to Archie-Lee after the attack on Thursday. He had suffered severe injuries and died later in Pinderfields General Hospital.

Det Supt Payne said that the dog, which the grandparents had owned for six months, had not behaved aggressively before. The police shot the rottweiler dead immediately after the attack.

'It has mixed with the family. While it lives in the yard it is a pet, it is in no way a guard dog, and there have been no previous signs of any aggression from this dog. It was completely unpredictable.

'Clearly the death of any young child is a tragedy - in these circumstances it is even more of a tragedy. It is nobody's fault,' he said.

A post mortem examination showed that Archie-Lee died from injuries consistent with a dog attack.

Neighbours Adelaide and Andy Foster, who live a few doors from where the attack happened, said that they often saw the dog barking in the yard. 'I was really surprised and shocked. It was a very loud barking dog in a small yard,' said Mrs Foster. The couple heard it being destroyed. 'We heard a shot and it echoed round the house.'

Chris Window, from the Rottweiler Club, said young children should never be left alone with large breeds of dog.

'It doesn't matter whether it's a rottweiler or any other dog; you have got to be really careful about leaving young kids and dogs together. All breeds of dogs are animals. They do revert to animal instincts.

'If a dog is confronted with a situation that it is not used to, it can react unexpectedly.'

Sue Says " I completely agree with Chris Window, Children must never be left unattended with any dog. It is vitaly important to teach children how to behave around dogs just as it is to make sure dogs are fully trained. My heart goes out to the family of dear little Archie-Lee.

Safety for children around dogs

Professional
Association of
Applied
Canine
Trainers

RSPCA Shock Admission

Posted January 11, 2008

Article and Press release from PAACT the Professional Association of Applied Canine Trainers
I believe that the actions of the RSPCA in Spaying and Neutering dogs as young as 6 weeks old may contravene the "duty of care" part of the Animal Welfare Act.

All the welfare organisations and responsible bodies I contacted, including Battersea Dogs Home, The Kennel Club and The Dogs Trust. Are rightly horrified at this practice.

I urge you to read this article explaining what the RSPCA are doing, and their response to my concerns and questions.

Please circulate or publish it either on the web or in magazines or national newspapers.

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