BELLA
Sex/colour Female Black with white (and some black blotches)
D.O.B: approx 2005
Breed: Lurcher poss Saluki-Greyhound mix
Came to AFG: 2007
BELLA came into the care of AfG with a Greyhound, oddly also with the name Bella- though neither seemed to recognise any name (see: BELLA Greyhounds homed).
We were contacted by concerned members of the public about 2 Greyhounds living in the back garden of a ground floor council flat left unattended for most of the time and never seen to be walked.
Being housed in a dilapidated shed with a garden consisting of just mud.
We visited the ‘owner’ sadly a vulnerable, elderly alcoholic.
The flat and ‘garden’! were certainly not suitable for any animal to be kept.
The man frequented the local pub where we expect after a few drinks, he was taken advantage of.
He could barely remember how long he had the 2 hounds and did not seem to know who the men were who basically ‘offloaded’ the two hounds onto him.
We traced the Greyhounds background so were quite aware who got rid of her very easily, then later found out the other man bred Lurchers.
Firstly (Greyhound Bella) was passed over to him at the pub, then after a few days, the 2nd man convinced the man, his ‘unwanted’ Lurcher would be an ideal ‘companion’ for his Greyhound so she would not be lonely.
Nether of these vile men had any concern whatsoever for the future welfare and safety of their unwanted hounds and were obviously happy to give them away to who ever would take them.
We were very saddened by the conditions the dear hounds were kept in and although it seemed they were well fed, it was obvious by the massive holes they had dug in the garden, they were completely bored with no stimulation.
The elderly man was pleased to be able to sign both hounds over to AFG.
We asked him to contact us, if he were ever to be used by anyone in future to try to offload any more dogs onto him.
He assured us he would not get any more dogs as he admitted he was not even able to look after himself properly.
His neighbors did keep an eye on the situation and did keep in touch with AfG, we were happy to hear that no more dogs (or in fact any other animals) were kept at the property in the future.
Luckily AfG had 2 suitable foster homes for ‘The Bellas’ ( made easier
with vets visits etc, Bella was named Stella at that time, named Bella
again once adopted).
Bella was such a friendly affectionate hound, she loved all people, adults and children and was sociable with all other dog breeds.
She was able to happily settle into her foster home to continue with all necessary vet treatment including neutering.
We had several rescued hounds in foster homes at the time and Bella was featured in a newspaper article with 2 others needing forever homes.
As a result, soon after Bella (along with the two Greyhounds Bella and Fluke) all found their loving forever homes.
Bella settled in with an active retired gentleman who had sadly recently lost his wife closely followed by his elderly rescued dog.
So Bella came to him at the perfect time.
Constantly being by his side and enjoying her comfortable home with large garden and plenty of lovely walks especially enjoying lots of free running on the nearby beach.
A perfect match and the perfect home dear Bella deserved.
Below shows the dilapidated shed and small enclosure both hounds were kept in, the ‘Bellas’ together when rescued and the newspaper article of the ‘Bellas’ and other foster Greyhound Fluke when ready for adoption.
The top photos show Bella happy and healthy after finding her forever home.
