Dogs Trust Shoreham helps terrier shattered by Covid death

An elderly terrier that lost its owner to coronavirus has been found a new home by Dogs Trust Shoreham, the rehoming centre for Sussex.
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At 12-year-old, Dylan was shattered to lose his owner and was ‘very shut down’ when he arrived at the charity’s base in Brighton Road, Shoreham.

It was hard for Dylan to settle but his story has a happy ending, thanks to the charity’s Home from Home scheme, and the terrier has found a new lease of life in his new home in Eastbourne.

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Adel Burnett, rehoming centre manager, said: “Dylan was very shut down when he arrived, after such a big change in circumstances. His life as he knew it had been shattered and despite our best efforts to make him feel as comfortable as possible, kennel life just wasn’t for him.

Dylan is settling into his new home after coming into Dogs Trust as a result of the pandemicDylan is settling into his new home after coming into Dogs Trust as a result of the pandemic
Dylan is settling into his new home after coming into Dogs Trust as a result of the pandemic

“Luckily we had just recruited a new foster carer to our Home from Home scheme called Andrea, who was now working remotely and found herself in a position to be able to provide temporary care for our dogs.

“Dylan was Andrea’s first foster dog and he seemed to feel better almost as soon as he stepped his paws through the door – gobbling up his meals and playing with his toys.

“Once Dylan’s confident, cheeky and loving side started to show, it took hardly any time at all for us to find a great new home for him.

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“A foster home can really make a difference and we’re so grateful to each and every one of our carers. If you’d like to become a foster carer please get in touch.

Just 25 days after Dylan arrived at Dogs Trust Shoreham, a new permanent home was found with Alison and Leslie Gibbons, who have adopted him and renamed him Bob Dylan.

Alison said: “He’s now been living with us for a month and he’s settled really well. He’s a lovely dog.

“We had an elderly Jack Russell before who we adopted from Dogs Trust back in 2013, when he was also 12 years old. Cedric died two years ago and we missed him so much that we decided we wanted a bit of a gap to honour his memory.

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“It’s lovely going out for long walks with Bob Dylan. He still has so much energy! We go four miles and he’s still go, go, go. He’s a really sharp little chap and knows where his home is.

“He’s very wilful and has a lot of spirit and strength of character, loves his food and being with you, preferably sitting on your knee.”

Adel said it was thanks to people like the Gibbons family that Dogs Trust was able to ‘change the tale’ for many of the dogs that come into its care.

She added: “We know that the pandemic, and its economic repercussions, is having devastating effects on some people’s lives and their ability to care for their pets.

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“Unfortunately, we believe the worst is yet to come and we will do all we can to help those dogs and owners in need of our support.”  

Dogs Trust provides a range of services to help keep dogs and their owners together where possible, such as support for dog owners without a home and a unique fostering service for dog owners experiencing domestic abuse.

Dogs Trust Dog School is providing easy-to-follow online videos, helping dog owners tackle behaviours they are seeing as a result of lockdown that could eventually result in dogs having to be given up, such as separation anxiety.

Visit www.dogstrust.org.uk/changethetale for more information.

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The charity is also lobbying to stop the illegal importation of puppies into the UK and East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton has joined its new parliamentary Puppy Smuggling Taskforce.

Mr Loughton said: “At a time when demand for dogs in the UK has never been higher, I want to urge my constituents to really do their research before buying a puppy advertised for sale online, as it’s all too easy to be duped into buying a dog that’s been illegally smuggled into the country.”

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