An Amazing Dog Story

In 2003,
police in Warwickshire , England , opened a garden
shed and found a whimpering, cowering
dog. The dog had been locked in the shed and
abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and
had quite clearly been
abused.

In an act
of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a
female greyhound, to the Nuneaton Warwickshire
Wildlife Sanctuary, which is run by a man named
Geoff Grewcock, and known as a haven for animals
abandoned, orphaned, or otherwise in
need.

Geoff and
the other sanctuary staff went to work with two
aims: to restore the dog to full health, and to
win her trust.  It took several weeks, but
eventually both goals were
achieved. They named her Jasmine, and
they started to think about finding her an
adoptive
home.

Jasmine,
however, had other ideas.  No one quite
remembers how it came about, but Jasmine started
welcoming all animal arrivals at the
sanctuary.  It would not matter if it were a
puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or
hurting animal.  Jasmine would just peer into
the box or cage and, when and where possible,
deliver a welcoming
lick.

Geoff
relates one of the early incidents. “We had two
puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby
railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier
cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman
cross. They were tiny when they arrived at
the centre, and Jasmine approached them and
grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth
and put him on the settee. Then she fetched
the other one and sat down with them, cuddling
them.”

“But she
is like that with all of our animals, even the
rabbits. She takes all the stress out of
them, and it helps them to not only feel close to
her, but to settle into their new
surroundings. She has done the same with the
fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and
guinea pigs, and even lets the birds perch on the
bridge of her
nose.”

Jasmine,
the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the
animal sanctuary’s resident surrogate mother, a
role for which she might have been born. The
list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has
cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger
cubs, fifteen chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray
puppies and fifteen rabbits – and one
roe deer fawn. Tiny
Bramble, eleven weeks old, was found
semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at
the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep
her warm, and then went into the full foster-mum
role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble
the roe deer with affection, and makes sure
nothing is
matted.

“They
are inseparable,” says Geoff. ”Bramble walks
between her legs, and they keep kissing each
other. They walk together round the
sanctuary. It’s a real treat to see
them.”

Jasmine
will continue to care for Bramble until she is old
enough to be returned to woodland life. When
that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She
will be too busy showering love and affection on
the next orphan or victim of
abuse.

Pictured
from the left are: “Toby”, a stray Lakeland dog;
“Bramble”, orphaned roe deer; “Buster”, a stray
Jack Russell; a dumped rabbit; “Sky”, an injured
barn owl; and “Jasmine”, with a mother’s heart
doing best what a caring mother would do…and
such is the order of God’s
Creation.

And, just
in case you
wondered, Snopes.com has verified the
truth of this wonderful story and the reality of
these photographs which accompany the story -
so you can pass this story on, and help make
someone else’s day to be just a little
brighter!

Tags: funny, Humor, jokes