A Dog Named Jasmine

          A Dog Named Jasmine

 In 2003, police in Warwickshire , England , opened a garden shed

and found a whimpering, cowering dog.  It had been locked in the

shed and abandoned.  It was dirty and malnourished and had clearly

been abused.

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound

female, to the nearby Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run

by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing 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.

But Jasmine had other ideas.  No one remembers how it began,

but she started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary.

It wouldn't matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any

other lost or hurting animal.  Jasmine would peer into the box

or cage 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, 15 chicks, eight

 guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.

 And one roe deer fawn.  Tiny Bramble, 11 weeks old, was found semiconscious

 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.

   

 From left, 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..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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