Hope is one of Pip's special's, a dog she could not possibly pass by and this is her story, poor Hope is a Cocker Spaniel and was found in a appalling state at the side of a road. An initial examination by the dog warden revealed that under all of the matted dreadlocks she was completely missing her back foot and wrist. After she was rushed to the vets for a more in-depth investigation it was discovered that the stump was severely ulcerated and was definitely an old injury. Hope was obviously in a state of shock and was very frightened and shaking, Pip could not put into words how horrific the injury looked, but then after 4 baths and a complete clip out of her coat it was clear to all that she was heavily pregnant, a ultrasound revealed that she had only 2-3 weeks to go before giving birth.  

WE SHOULD WARN YOU THAT THE FOLLOWING PICTURES OF HOPE ARE QUITE GRAPHIC.

Pip say's that the state she was in beggar's belief and I will never say that nothing will shock me ever again, Hope has had her stump bandaged and dressed every other day and 7 weeks on we are still redressing every other day, this brave girl gave birth 4 weeks this Sunday (Christmas day) to 3 beautiful, adorable and totally gorgeous little Cocker Spaniels. Unfortunately one was born dead and I was unable to revive it but I have named the surviving pups after their mum as she has been so brave, they are aptly named Faith and Charity.

Poor Hope has had a lot of litters bred from her during her sad hard life and all of her teats are deformed and therefore she has never been able to produce any milk, I have been a surrogate mum feeding them every 2 hours and Hope has been right there with me as a amazing mum, caring, loving and cleaning them up, especially after I have covered them with milk formula.

Hope has got a long way to go, she needs to be spayed because of the mammary tumours and then the stump will have to be amputated, as there is nothing else we can do but to amputate. Normally at this time of the year I am sending a message saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, but this year I find that in our rescue there is not a lot of happy cheer at the moment. Some of you may think that it is a little bit depressing reading my messages but I feel that it is only fair to let you all share our day to day lives and what is actually going on in EGLR.

It is paramount that we keep up the fantastic support coming from you all, the donations, the food, the bedding, the fundraising, your time, the messages of goodwill, as without this we would not be able to cope. Please keep supporting us and give us the strength to carry on.

Pip xx