Saturday, September 1, 2012

Jasmine the Greyhound


Subject: Jasmine the Greyhound

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 center,  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...  
  
Please  pass this along, and maybe make someone else's  day just a little brighter!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank You John, This is a beautiful story!!!!

Jasmine is God's gift and an example of His work on this earth!!

Brad said...

This really warms the heart. Thank you for posting this. This is the kind of thing that should be playing on a 24/7 positive news channel. It'd be the only news I'd watch.

SiNeh said...

A feeling of perfect oneness
Thank you for publishing this.
I hope you don't mind that I post this on an other place
I will surely give the link back here where you posted it and give you the credit
dear John~

Love~, Light~, Peace~
SiNeh~

Anonymous said...

Terrific Story! Thank You!

A.B.