This is a TRUE Story
(Really! I checked it out!)
(Really! I checked it out!)
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.
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, a deer, 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 doe 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.
"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;
"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.
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