Battle scars
Here is a sorry story for you, from November 2010
I let the dogs out as usual just before 9pm, so that I could watch a bird programme uninterrupted. Hetty Fritz and Buster always screamed and barked at the foxes, and Ralph rushes out silently.
Anyway after 10 minutes, the programme had started, Hetty and Fritz had returned looking peculiarly guilty, and there was no sign of the others.
I went to look and eventually found Ralph , in the darkest corner,surronded by brambles, killing a fox by strangulation, like a jaguar, and absolutely silently. I tried to drag him off, but being partly Staffie he has strong jaws.
My breathing is poor at the best of times as I have COPD and half my left lung missing, so I nearly came a cropper myself! Once I got my breath back I donned thick leather gardening gloves, collected a couple of leads and returned to the murder scene.
Ralph had got tired and let go fairly easily, so I got him inside and washed his facial wounds of which he had many. I sat watching the box and mopping my bleeding dog until about 11pm, when I put the dogs to bed.
The next problem, like after all murders, was disposing of the body. Picture this panting granny out in the pitch black with a feeble wind-up torch, apologising to a corpse as she stuffs it into a big feed sack. Luckily it was rubbish night so I double-wrapped it and put the unlucky creature in the bin.
I woke every hour to check on Ralph, who I had given some canine antibiotics I happened to have.
I had phoned the emergency vet for advice: to visit them it's £108 to go in the door!
Next morning we saw our vet - she was very surprised to see us as I had only been there the day before with Hetty who was probably on her way out,although she was still happy in herself.
Hetty had stopped eating and her heart murmur was 5 out of 6 so if the new medication hadn't worked by the Monday it was to be the end for her. Sad but true.
Still, I wouldn't be without them.
Since then I have always let the little ones out to de-fox the garden before I let Ralphie go!
Battle scars
Here is a sorry story for you, from November 2010
I let the dogs out as usual just before 9pm, so that I could watch a bird programme uninterrupted. Hetty Fritz and Buster always screamed and barked at the foxes, and Ralph rushes out silently.
Anyway after 10 minutes, the programme had started, Hetty and Fritz had returned looking peculiarly guilty, and there was no sign of the others.
I went to look and eventually found Ralph , in the darkest corner,surronded by brambles, killing a fox by strangulation, like a jaguar, and absolutely silently. I tried to drag him off, but being partly Staffie he has strong jaws.
My breathing is poor at the best of times as I have COPD and half my left lung missing, so I nearly came a cropper myself! Once I got my breath back I donned thick leather gardening gloves, collected a couple of leads and returned to the murder scene.
Ralph had got tired and let go fairly easily, so I got him inside and washed his facial wounds of which he had many. I sat watching the box and mopping my bleeding dog until about 11pm, when I put the dogs to bed.
The next problem, like after all murders, was disposing of the body. Picture this panting granny out in the pitch black with a feeble wind-up torch, apologising to a corpse as she stuffs it into a big feed sack. Luckily it was rubbish night so I double-wrapped it and put the unlucky creature in the bin.
I woke every hour to check on Ralph, who I had given some canine antibiotics I happened to have.
I had phoned the emergency vet for advice: to visit them it's £108 to go in the door!
Next morning we saw our vet - she was very surprised to see us as I had only been there the day before with Hetty who was probably on her way out,although she was still happy in herself.
Hetty had stopped eating and her heart murmur was 5 out of 6 so if the new medication hadn't worked by the Monday it was to be the end for her. Sad but true.
Still, I wouldn't be without them.
Since then I have always let the little ones out to de-fox the garden before I let Ralphie go!