Jasmine

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

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing 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.

But Jasmine had other ideas. No one remembers now how it began, but she started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn't matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or any other lost or hurting animal. Jasmine would peer into the box or cage 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, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.

And one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, 11 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-mom 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 left to right above: Toby, a stray Lakeland dog; Bramble, orphaned Roe deer; Buster, a stray Jack Russell; Hopper, a dumped rabbit; Sky, an injured barn owl; and Jasmine with a Mother's heart doing best what a caring Mother would do.

the rest

Awwwww :D :D :D

Oh, how sweet! Jasmine even has loving, caring, motherly eyes, doesn't she? I just love stories like this. What a sweetie!

Thanks, BW! :-D

I just love stories like this. We humans can learn from them.

What a great story. On the group picture, the terrier on the far left did not look too happy, though.

that's because she was just grounded. :wink:

What a wonderful story. Thanks!!

I love this story! I need someone like that to take caer of me!!!

i think you have to go to warwickshire and find her and cry until she licks you.


http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sad010.gif

What a special story. Boy, those Jasmine's sure are a sweet lot huh ;)

Wonderful story---we have a friend in Nuneaton and I plan to e mail him the story......

That! Is one happy dog! Cool!

Thanks BW for such a wonderful story!!

Wonderful!

Isn't that wonderful. What a touching story.

What a beautiful dog! And what a sweet story of love and caring! She is something special for sure!

What a great story!

What a wonderful story and a beautiful dog. And to think they're bred to chase down game animals - just goes to show. :-D

Yes - in fact I came here from there! :-D

How absolutely fabulous! I suspect I'm the one mentioned with five greyhounds, although four of them are little Italian greyhounds. My Gryffin is fabulous. He's ten and raced in Connecticut. He snuggles and takes care of my little ones, and is also friendly with cats. It doesn't surprise me to hear of Jasmine's gentle nature.

Hi again! I adore these dogs! I have a friend in the UK who breeds what we call 'lurchers' which are greyhounds or deerhounds crossed with, I think Border Collies originally. They're the most beautiful gentle creatures. In the UK they won't rehome retired racing greyhounds to homes with cats because of the chasing thing. I looked into adopting at one point but as I had 3 cats at the time, it was a no go. Shame! I'd love to have one but here in France they're really prejudiced against them, no idea why! :shock:

I've never heard of greyhound racing in France - they just have something against the breed itself, I've no idea why.

As to prejudice, as I understand it, European countries consider racing dogs to be hunters, and require them to be muzzled in public. Perhaps they still train them on live game? I don't know. But I have heard that there are restrictions on them. I've met many greyhounds with a very strong prey drive, whom I would not trust with cats. And I've met many who are gentle as lambs. It just depends on the individual dog.

The hunting dogs that the French use here in the countryside are kept in pens or paddocks (if they're lucky) when not hunting, but when they are, they pretty much run wild. The French don't believe in training them much as they think it surpresses their natural instincts. They're used to drive the game onto the guns. We've picked them up lost on the road a few times and called the owner (the number is always on the collar). Having said that, I've never met a mean one. Next time I'm chatting with French locals, I'll ask their opinion on greyhounds. I do know it's actually illegal to hunt at all here with that kind of breed - I guess they're too good at it!

:-D

Here in the states, greyhound racing is a big sport!!! Almost as big as horse racing... Where I live it is horse racing in the fall and greyhounds in the spring.

I did a bit of googling and discussed this with Hans and think I may have misunderstood the prejudice thing. It's more a hunting issue (and that's pratically a religion in the French countryside!). All sight hounds are not allowed to hunt and technically should be always leashed in public places so country ppl don't keep them because there's no purpose to them (in their view). They have their hunting dogs outside and often a smaller lap type dog inside for the wife! Also this is a fairly poor region and a big dog who doesn't earn it's keep is too big a luxury.

Amma, greyhound racing is big in the UK as well where there's a big betting culture. Apparently it's the second most popular sport after football (soccer). I have major issues with it because of the welfare of the animals... :hunf: