Man’s Oldest Friend

By Nick Morrison

The dog is mans oldest domesticated animal the figure of 130,000 years has been attributed to this relationship .

dog 4

Although the initial association with wolves probably goes back far longer. Cats horses and donkeys also spring to mind , as well as the conventional farming livestock . There are many recorded instances of positive relationship interactions with other animals as well but gorillas and owls as I found out recently were new to me .

Dogs do however sometimes suffer because of this relationship from unthinking or sometimes cruel humans . This is where the dog sanctuary comes into play.

There are two main reasons for a dog to wind up in a sanctuary . The first is from the municipal dog pound where a dog has been picked up as a stray or abandoned . The second is Owner  hand in . There are many reasons behind this but basically it is a change of circumstances for the owner . This could be bereavement moving accommodation where the new accommodation wont take animals, marriage breakup  –  the list goes on .

An unfortunate frequent case is the family that have taken on a cuddly pup with no thought to what they going to do once said cuddly pup grows up into a large active animal requiring frequent exercise .

All dogs coming to the sanctuary require assessment and some form of rehabilitation . Rehabilitation can take a few weeks , months or in some cases years . There is the occasional case  where a dog can never leave the sanctuary.

Loving Homes Dog Rescue 

Holm Sanctuary 3

The Loving Homes Dog Rescue  is a registered Scottish Charity  and is well-equipped to deal with these animals.

It has two paddocks equipped with high fences where the dogs can be exercised and a 3 acre field left wild where dogs can sniff rabbits and the like .

Coffee Morning

The sanctuary has recently been hit with an unprecedented string of vets bills mounting to over £7000 . This takes a bit of finding , to that end they are holding a coffee morning this coming Saturday in the Saint Magnus Centre starting at 10.00 AM.

Holm sanctuary 2

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1 reply »

  1. Hi Nick
    I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t know that this dog sanctuary existed! Bringing it to the attention of the wider public is a good thing to do.
    And, you are absolutely right – where would humans have been, without the help of dogs, millennia ago? And where would some of us be, without them now?
    We won’t be able to get to the coffee morning on Saturday – is there some way that we can donate to the sanctuary?

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