Haven of the Heart

Dearest Friends,

Today marks the end of another year.  The lyrics “Another year older and deeper in debt”, echo ominously in my head. Although the song remains unsung, the dogs, sensing that a wave of melancholy had cast a shadow over my aura, slowly snuggle up to me for attention, as I sit at the computer.  Hershey, a scruffy little ragamuffin, in an attempt to get to me past a dozen oversized dogs scattered about at my feet, balances precariously at the back of the looming armchair, tilting his head from side to side whilst flicking his ears rhythmically from “salute” to “at ease”.  “What do you want?” I direct my query at the comic caricature that has now begun to tap dance frenetically on the headrest of the chair like a Jumping Jack but before I finish my sentence, Hershey tumbles off the chair, landing amidst the sea of snoozing dogs.  These scramble to their feet and accost me with head butts and tail wags.  I can feel a cool current of air wafting about me as tails rev full throttle.  Suddenly a wet kiss on my cheek announces Hershey’s arrival in my lap.  To add to the confusion, the ruckus has awakened a number of cats that were snuggled near the fire in strategic places that are out-of-bounds to dogs.   A handful of the curious felines stretch languidly and wander over to determine if food is about to be divvied out, whilst the elders of the group, recognizing the ruckus as simply a  “dog thing”, retract themselves to their places of comfort and continue with their repose.  Smiling at their antics and grateful for such adulation, I feel a sense of warmth and comfort about me that has chased off any oncoming blues.  No matter how long the day nor how hard the struggle, their love carries me on.

The year brought many ups and downs.  The tainted food had caused the death of my beloved Rottweiler, Shelby, earlier on in the year.  A thirteen-week drought during the summer months presented us with many challenges and many lost trees and shrubs, in spite of endless hauling of pond waters.  Then in September, my border collie, Jessie, took her last breath in my arms.  It was her time.  Jessie was a dog that had lived her life fully since her arrival back in 1990.  Six-foot high fences were simply a warm-up for the eight-foot hurdle.  That’s how Jessie ended up in the house with me.  There was no fence high enough to contain her.  Once in the house she visited the kennel crew quite regularly, leaping back and forth over the fences simply for diversion.  I always sensed that Jessie was a bit of a show-off, feeding off both adulation and envy from the two and four-legged onlookers.  For every dog that I have ever met, there was always a person that would come to mind, that could be considered their Doppelgaenger.  Jessie was the eternal child, the classic Peter Pan, always game and ready to go.  As she passed on I know that she must have pole-vaulted over the Rainbow Bridge.  Whenever I see shooting stars, I think of Jessie, flying high into eternity.

Around the time of Jessie’s passing, a dreadful fiasco occurred that involved one of my sweetest cats, Dante.  A routine teeth cleaning resulted in problems that went from bad to worse, two weeks in ICU at Guelph, a huge vet bill but all to no avail.  The tragedy of it all was the fact that it could have all been averted had veterinarians done only what I had asked them to do in the first place, which was simply to clean his teeth, no extractions.  I rarely feel extreme anger but this situation pushed the limit.  Vets are far too eager to pull teeth when a simple de-scaling and a course of antibiotics would have done the trick.  Vets make the assumption that all cats will accept soft food.  Dante did not and refused to eat.  I wonder what that vet would have done had his child’s dentist extracted all of the child’s teeth during a routine cleaning? I hope that fate will open his eyes. 

In mid-October, Hennie-Pennie, the hen that had resided with us for more than 17 years, passed on to the world of memories.  How she survived all these years in spite of a missing foot is testimony to an incredibly strong lust for life.  She’s not the only chicken that enjoys free-range freedom at the Haven but she was the only disabled one.  The Flemish Giant bunny that shared inside quarters with Hennie-Pennie is also getting on in years.  At 14, she has outlived her sister by two years.  I fear that she may not survive the winter, not on account of the cold as her quarters are supplied with ample straw and a heat lamp but on account of her advanced years.  She is truly beginning to show her age.

At the end of the first week in December, we bade farewell to yet another one of the rescue dogs that had taken up residency in the house, Digger, a large Malamute Shepherd mix.  She had arrived at the Haven back in ’94.  I had received a call from a near-by shelter, asking if I would take on five pups that required bottle-feeding.  When I enquired of the circumstances that rendered them orphans, I was informed that the mother, Digger, was extremely aggressive and that the shelter veterinarian had suggested euthanising the dog and hand-raising the puppies.  Alarmed by such an unethical solution, I offered to take on the mother with all of the puppies, explaining that I would work with the mother dog, providing both socialization and training.  Once Digger was settled into her new lodging at the Haven, she was like any other dog with pups.  She had simply required a secure environment that provided safety and privacy for her pups.  Digger was a wonderful mother.  Her pups were all well socialized and even tempered and found loving homes before too long.  Digger had become very attached to me and had given me every reason to believe that she had not been treated kindly in a previous situation.  I decided to keep her as my own so that I would not have to worry about her.  Moreover, Digger was a passionate swimmer and the Haven provided her with ample opportunity to practice her skill.  Whenever the housedogs were loose, Digger could always be seen lapping the pond for hours on end.  Just the other night, Digger had lost her appetite for her dinner.  I had noted that she seemed more tired than usual.  I had thought about taking her back to the vet in the morning for some blood tests and possible X-ray.  Digger had had an extensive work-up including ultrasound just a few months earlier.  All appeared to be in order at the time.  I knew however from experience that geriatric dogs can go downhill very quickly and Digger was now a good 16 years of age.  Digger drank a fair bit of water that night and decided to retreat to her bed.  I checked on her several times during the night and she appeared to be resting comfortably.  When I checked on her at 6:00 o’clock in the morning, I noticed that she had stopped breathing.  Although I was deeply moved by her passing, I was grateful that she appeared to have gone gently, without pain.  There should never be pain except for the ache that their void has created in our heart.

Another heavy blow occurred, when I adopted out a lovely dog to someone who was referred to me by another adopter but who did not meet my credentials.  Upon much pleading on the part of the other party, I allowed the dog to leave on the first visit.  Five weeks later I received the dog back, ten pounds lighter in weight and suffering from severe food aggression and anxiety.  It took more than two months before the dog would settle down and accept food from my hand without displaying severe fear anxiety.  What was once a happy, adoptable lab has now become a suspicious, fearful and in all likelihood unadoptable canine, who may well end up becoming a permanent resident.

I have worked with several thousand dogs during the last four plus decades.  Many of these displayed major behavioral disorders involving food aggression, anxiety, aggressive behaviour towards other animals and often humans or simply compulsive behaviour.  Every one of these dogs came to me lean and ribby.   The owners, who in most cases were far from thin themselves, took great pride in the “fitness” level of the dog that they could no longer manage.   Dogs, like humans have a genetic blueprint, which determines their “natural” weight.  Society has become so lean obsessed that anorexia and bulimia have become household words.  Back in the early sixties, no one knew that such a disease existed.  When I developed both of these back in 1963 and my 5 foot 6 inch body dropped to 68 lbs., no one could help for the disease was yet to be identified.  I was at death’s doorstep and unable to swallow food.  It took a number of years, five to be exact, before I overcame the disorders, gradually and on my own.  Unfortunately the disease occurred during my most important years of growth and I am left with bones, which never fully developed adequate density. On a more positive side, it has given me first hand insight at understanding fully the nature of this anxiety and I can always recognize a dog that suffers from an inadequate supply of food.  Such dogs develop invariably compulsive disorders.  The owners often take these “physically fit” problem dogs to veterinarians who prescribe mood-altering medication.  The natural weight factor of the dog is nearly always ignored.  The people most likely to be strict with the dogs’ diet are usually those, who themselves have a weight problem that they cannot manage.  By succeeding at keeping the dog lean, they experience a vicarious sense of achievement.  All of my behavioural new arrivals are given sufficient food to put them “gradually” to their natural weight.  At the same time they are given the required amount of exercise, which is usually a great deal more than the home provided.  Numerous dog owners, who came to me with a dog that they were prepared to give up, followed my advice and ended up keeping their dog.  I have fifteen dogs in my house and more than twice that number in the kennels. None are thin.   Several are over 16 years of age; two are 18, to be exact.  None of them have issues over food.  The majority of these dogs arrived with major aggression toward other animals as well as humans.  They had all bitten and were classified as unsalvageable.  All were considerably less than their natural weight.  In spite of their current chunkiness, they all seem to live for a very long time and without developing diabetes.  Exercise is the key factor in controlling this disease, as well as the quality of the food.  If society would wake-up and recognize that dogs need to be assessed at an individual level, not according to a pinch test or chart, many dogs would not end up being abandoned.

In spite of some challenging special needs dogs here at the Haven, we had a terrific success rate at placing them in new homes, adopting out over 40 dogs yet only 11 cats.  Seems that all the shelters are flooded with the latter and are desperate for homes.  Two elderly Shepherds, Bart and Sheba, who had been at the kennel for three years without tearing at someone’s heartstring, came to live with me in the house, as did Hershey.  All three were accepted by the resident house group and have claimed the bedding in front of the fireplace.  One would think that they had never lived anywhere else.  By bringing them into the house I was able to make way for some new arrivals.  Stormy, the little border collie, who I thought might well end up being the Haven Mascot, finally found a loving home quite close by, where he resides with another Haven rescue, Skittles, a little Brittany Spaniel.  Pippi, the very timid little black Shepherd, found a most loving and patient country home, where she thrives and gains confidence daily.

The little Petit Bassett Griffon Vendeen, Rocky, has fully recovered from his cataract surgery and lens implant, made possible by the very generous gift from our friends.   What a joyful moment when the world appeared to him in full view, unobstructed and waiting to be explored.  I shall never forget the first day that he was able to decipher my countenance.  I feel that he scrutinized and studied me like an artist would a model.  The only one happier than Rocky was I.  Rocky still requires daily eye drops for life.  Whoever will adopt the little ragamuffin will have to follow through with the medication as well as regular check-ups with the ophthalmologist.  We hope that you will help us spread the word of his need for a loving home.

Among our latest new arrivals are Chimo, a leggy Husky/Malamute, Milo, a bouncy one-year old Golden Retriever, Lucci, a needy one-year-old Wheaten Terrier and Margie, a lean Greyhound/Foxhound mix.  There are several Labs, both yellow and black and numerous crossbreeds.   Roxie, the boxer is still with us along with Sonny, the Shepherd.  The longer their stay at the Haven, the more relaxed and well behaved they become yet on the downside of this, the more attached and dependent on me they become.

Winter arrived this year quite suddenly almost overnight.  The trees were all still bearing leaves when heavy snows arrived.  Back in October a number of grade 12 students from St. Joseph’s Secondary School arrived, along with their teachers, to clear the leaves off our walkways.  They had done so in previous years as well. This year however the leaves were determined to stay on the boughs well into November.  I never had a chance to clear the leaves from the eaves of all of the buildings.  Consequently we have amber coloured icicles providing seasonal decoration in great profusion.  Snow has been falling daily, softly and steadily.

Lena my 11 year old Shepherd, who has lost the use of her hind legs on account of spinal myelopathy, was fitted with a new wheel-chair.  As long as I clear the paths of snow, she is able to whiz about, spinning and racing to and fro.  I take her out four to five times daily with the house crew.  It’s not so easy on my back as Lena is a very large dog but the pleasure that she derives is worth every bit of discomfort that I might experience.  I pray that my back will stay strong.

Daisy, the Belgian mare that arrived in April of last year, continues to challenge us whenever we attempt to trim her hooves.  Every 10 to 12 weeks I have to co-ordinate the arrival of the blacksmith with the veterinarian, so that Daisy can be sedated for the job.  It has added considerable expense to each trim and cannot be healthy for the mare.  Since Daisy becomes extremely defensive, having attacked several blacksmiths, I have had to enroll the help of a professional.  It may take some time and will not come cheap but unless I can get her to be reliable and willing, I fear that she will be too great a risk for us.  I know that deep down inside there’s a gentle spirit that has been shrouded by years of rough handling and abuse.  Animals are not born aggressive; they just learn to defend themselves.

Little Pee-wee is still as vociferous and feisty as ever in spite of total blindness.  She makes demands on me on an hourly basis, adding considerable strain to an already overtaxed workload.  What else is there though at this stage of her life?  I certainly won’t fail her now. 

In spite of all the heartaches, I’ve had an overabundance of joy.  In spite of all the disappointments, caring friends and supporters have reaffirmed my faith in humanity.  I thank God daily for keeping me alive and for filling me with passion for the creatures that were His gift to us.  I pray that fellow humans will recognize their priceless value and cherish and respect them, as God had intended for us to do. To all our friends, volunteers, supporters and adopters, thank you for being there for our waifs and for all the animals that enhance our world.  May God keep you safe!  Be well!

Blessings and love from the Haven Waifs and from their Keeper,

Ursula Hart

P.S.  Thank you also for your Canadian Tire $, Zehrs cash register receipts and Zellers points.  When transferring these to us please quote Public I.D.# 5592215 under Haven of the Heart Community Programme.  Unfortunately we are not informed of the names of “points” donors, so I cannot thank each one of you personally.  Anyone experiencing difficulty in transferring points can simply redeem them for gift certificates.  Your help is so very welcome. 

Charitable BN 88803 1242 RR0001.

Haven of the Heart Animal Sanctuary ~ R.R.1, Palgrave, Ontario, Canada L0N 1P0