A Real Dog-Lover . . . Get it?

This story came to me in email (which means it's fair game for posting) from my friend Rob Rose of Carpenter-Warren Insurance Agency (for all your insurance needs . . .). It appears to have originated at Snopes.com.

I've posted it to my travel blog because the story takes place in England.

* * *

True  Story.

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

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

Jasmine,  however, had other ideas.  No one quite remembers how it  came about, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals  at the sanctuary.  It would not matter if it were a  puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or hurting  animal.  Jasmine would just peer into the box or cage  and, when 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, fifteen chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray  puppies and fifteen rabbits - and one roe deer fawn.   Tiny Bramble, eleven 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-mum 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 the left are: "Toby", a stray Lakeland dog; "Bramble",  orphaned roe deer; "Buster", a stray Jack Russell; a dumped  rabbit; "Sky", an injured barn owl; and "Jasmine", with a  mother's heart doing best what a caring mother would do...and  such is the order of God's  Creation.

And,  just in case you wondered, Snopes.com has verified  the truth of this wonderful story and the reality of these  photographs which accompany the  story.
              
So  you can pass this story on, and maybe make someone else's day  to be just a little brighter!