Animal Tails

Alvin and Jess

We wanted to share this photograph of Alvin, us, and Jess. Alvin was picked up as a stray and taken to a kennels. He spent nine long months there and started to fall apart. As well as the emotional distress that Alvin was suffering, he needed urgent surgery for a luxating patella.

The future was bleak for Alvin but Jess, his carer, went above and beyond the call of duty to try and find him a foster home. She never gave up, and also started a fund raising drive to pay for the surgery and after care.

A fellow animal lover helped to share Alvin's story and we saw Jess's desperate plea on Dogs Today FB page. Time was running out. We offered to foster Alvin so that he could receive the medical attention and rehabilitation he required. We had recently lost three of our older dogs, and our two elderly cats as well, and Alvin brought much needed joy into our home from the moment he stepped over the threshold.

We fostered him for two months and helped Jess continue in her search to find Alvin a permanent home. No one suitable came forward.

A year after Alvin was first found as a stray, we adopted him. This photograph was taken within half an hour of his arrival at our home at the start of the foster period. He rolled straight away and we had to bath him, which fortunately he rather enjoyed. We are soaking wet from the bathing, and from being smothered in Stafforshire kisses. Kisses (and baths!) are now a regular occurrence and Alvin has enriched our lives beyond measure. He has a great circle of friends who, like us, derive great pleasure from spending time with this incredible dog.

Here's to all the kind hearted people like Jess who never give up on an animal, and to whom work is a passion, not a job