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blog (older blogs are further down the page)
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blog (older blogs are further down the page)
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OSO has made the US...!!! No need for me to say anymore - just watch the video opposite. Thank you to everybody who has supported this rescue especially Elia and her crew at Animal Rescue Families - thanks are not enough! Last week Nowzad Dogs took Patch along to visit the students at Nottingham Trent University as along with their tutor Vince Conway they had kindly volunteered, as part of their ongoing course work, to help design our first flat pack charity home collection boxes. Read more here We are now working hard to get BUDDY & BEAR to the USA. SAL will travel when she is old enough. JOY has arrived in the UK after an epic journey. Six months of quarantine await but she will be guided through it by the loving attention of Vicky and the team at the quarantine. JOY will be up for rehoming eventually - please visit the Tangye Facebook page for details. We have also visited Sidney and Watty recently as well - both dogs are putting on weight - thankfully! They loved the treats we took for them! |
Joy in Afghanistan, but now safely in quarantine in the UK |
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Today we are releasing an update on the rescues we are processing at the moment - there are a few more in the background but I cannot release details yet. We have had three requests come in as I was typing this update! Your ongoing support during this crucial time is paramount..thank you to everybody. A big thank you and well done to Josephine and her buddy Scamp for raising a massive £70 from a Nowzad Dogs youth club night. Thank you to Karen and the crew at The ShareCentre for holding a dress down day and Beverely, Elaine and Carol at the Nuneaton Probation Office raising £101 from their 'Odd Pod' tuck shop! And lastly but not least everybody who asked for donations to the charity instead of Christmas presents. Thank you so much - it is a brilliant effort from everybody! Remember we still need:
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22 January 2010 So much to report and keep upto date with..where do I begin? You can read a great article about Nowzad and Pen in this February edition of "Your Dog" magazine. A massive "train hard" to Anthony - he is running the Reading half marathon in aid of our charity... and he is doing so with only one leg. Why not encourage Anthony to achieve a personal best by visiting his Just Giving site? Anthony is supporting us so we can rescue the current crop of Afghan strays that have ended up adopting a brave soldier or two on the front line in Afghanistan. We desperately need to raise the funds to pay for transport, quarantine (but not for those going to the US), and general admin fees but remember all of us in the UK are unpaid. Your money goes directly to where it is needed - the dogs! So we have in the pipeline;
I will try and give you a better update next week but I need to explain to all those following Tangye - due to the location of Kajaki (it is in the heartland of the Taliban), we cannot just drive in their and pick him up. We are currently liasing with the military for a solution. As soon as I know more then I will let you all know. Have a great weekend - I don't think I will be far from the computer........
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The email has gone crazy with support for Tangye - thank you to everybody who has offered to give him a home please email the contacts on the Tangye Facebook page if you are serious about giving a loving home to Tangye. With Lisa still at sea I am kind of swamped over here!!! Oso is currently waiting onward transport to the US - he is currently safe with Nowzad Dogs (watch a short video of him here), in Afghanistan. Click here to watch the soliders appeal who saved Oso from certain starvation. We have been made aware of another "Beardog" that needs our support - just like Nowzad, Beardog has suffered chopped ears and was probably destined to find his way into the fighting ring. But he is now currently promoting morale with the troops who are looking after him. There is also "Danger" - two American soldiers came across a group of Afghan kids punching and throwing a bag around. Curious, they asked what was in the bag and to their horror discovered it was a young puppy. Of course without hesitation the soldiers took charge of the battered pup and "Danger" has been in their care ever since keeping up morale. A wife of the soldier has been in touch asking for our help to transport "Danger" to the US to live with her and her husband when he ends his tour. Well, we said of course we would help. But we are also going to need support from you too! Sausage is a special dog that found his way to the Afghan rescue, he cannot use one of his back legs as we believe he was hit by a car in the capital Kabul before being found just in time. We have a home lined up for him in the UK where he will get the attention he needs but we still have to work hard to generate the required funding. Remember Sidney and Watty? Sidney was in a pretty bad way but the girls of the quarantine have done a fantastic job with keeping them on the road to recovery. Even though the kennels are heated Sidney has still made use of a warm coat! More than ever at the moment we need your help to support all these rescues - I actually have eleven on the books but cannot give out details yet. Plus we are still driving forward with our animal welfare plans for Afghanistan. And I was hoping for a bit of downtime!! Keep those donations and offers of support coming - we appreciate and definitely need them! |
The "new" Beardog
Sausage needs your support!
Sidney (wearing the coat) and Watty!
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You may have seen the news item about the dog called Tangye that is a resident with the British soldiers serving at Kajaki dam. We have had lots of emails asking if Nowzad Dogs can help the soldiers want to find Tangye a new home. Nowzad Dogs would love to be able to help Tangye but until we actually recieve some contact details from the soldiers themselves at Kajaki there is nothing we can do. In the meantime, a facebook page to raise support for the transport and quarantine costs that Tangye is going to need. You can also donate on our general just giving page. Whilst we will do everything we possibly can to make it happen, please be aware that Kajaki is an extremely remote and dangerous spot for us to get to. We are hoping that the British military may be able to help us out a little - keep your fingers crossed. I actually fed Tangye during a mortar attack when I stationed in Kajaki in 2007, however by then I had used up all my goodwill. More news as we get it. |
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Happy New Year everybody!! Sorry we have not been online lately - I have been having some right old problems with our email / web connection. As soon as the email was back up and running we have been bombarded with requests for help, currently there are ongoing rescues of dogs from all over Afghanistan of which more news soon - but suffice to say that we are going to need a lot of support over the coming months. A big thank you to Jane and the staff of Boots the Chemist in Stirling for their parcel of supplies for the Afghan rescue and to Karen and Barbara for putting the members of the Scuff and Struts Line Dancing clunb through their paces to raise money for the charity. Keep them coming please!
There is no easy way to tell you but the dog Panda in the short video clip from my visit to the Afghan rescue was put to sleep recently. Panda had been diagnosed with distemper and with no vaccines there was nothing the rescue staff could do but end his suffering. News like this just fires us all up to do more. We are making a difference team but as expected it is a slow and difficult journey.
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Sidney and Watty have arrived safely in UK quarantine I am relieved to say. As you can see from Sidney's picture (right) he was found in an extremely poor state but he is now in the safe and capable hands of Rebecca and her team at the quarantine. Watty is still only a youngster really and full of life - I don't think she had been subjected to the pain that Sidney has been through. More photos and video of them soon.
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The video clip to the right tells the full story of our recent visit to the Afghan shelter that all of you are helping to support. We have a lot of work to do people! As you will see the shelter is still extremely small and very basic, but it is making a difference, even if it is to the lives of just a handful of animals. Keep an eye out for the awesome climbing ninja cats!!!!! And watch out for a peak of Anthony and Henry before they are due to fly to the UK. More photos soon. |
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23 November 2009 Well it looks like Nowzad is managing to inspire yet more people into doing good things! Check out Lyn's art group page where you can find her oil painting of Nowzad chilling on his red cushion back in the Now Zad compound - the painting is for sale - be the only person with a Nowzad oil painting hanging on your wall! And of course the charity will benifit too - well done Lyn!! We have several dogs on the move at the minute, going all over the place, but we are going to be away fom the computer until 3rd Dec so we will not be able to update you until then. Sadly not a holiday..........
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Much to the relief of everybody involved, Kilo (pictured in the middle of her Afghan rescue pals before she was shipped to the UK), has made it safely to the UK and has now started the long process of quarantine. Certain Afghans have received a lot of bad press lately but we must thank those Afghans who continue to support the work of Nowzad Dogs, without them we would not be able to rescue dogs like Kilo.
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25 October 2009 |
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Ann and Liz ready for the frenzied opening of the stall! |
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A big thank you to Geoff and Ann who have just got back in from holding a charity stall on Grantham Market, even though they picked the worst Saturday weather-wise so far this year the good people of Grantham didn't let them down and together they raised a fantastic sum of £157.52! (Thanks must go to Liz for all the lovely cakes she made and Sally and Tracey for their vast donation of items for the tombola. Without these 3 ladies, they would not have been able to run the stall so effectively. Why not pop over and say hello to Geoff and Ann at the Grantham Christmas Market on Sunday 29th November! Postal strikes: Currently we are receiving mail three weeks after it has been posted so please bear with us if you do not receive a reply ASAP! (and with Lisa at sea, I am kind of struggling with no-one telling me what to do.......)
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Are you selling your unwanted stuff for Nowzad Dogs? Ebay for charity! |
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What can I say but thank you so much to the International Fund for Animal Welfare who have just voted me their 'Pets and People' winner 2009 during the IFAW animal action week. It meant a trip to London to collect the trophy at the House of Lords, the trophy being presented by Baroness Gale and fashion designer to the stars Elizabeth Emanuel. I could not go alone - I travelled with the star of the day, the dog that started it all....Nowzad. It was his first trip on a train and he seemed to quite enjoy the black cab taxi ride to get to the House of Lords, as he sat upright to watch out of the window for most of the journey. Security was not a problem and he was even given his own security pass to wear. Officially the first ever Afghan dog to grace the corridors of power, Nowzad behaved himself and only growled at a few of the guests!! Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW, said: “These are very special awards recognising many previously unsung heroes of animal welfare from across the UK. We hope their truly inspirational stories will encourage others to protect animals in need.” Next week I believe we are appearing on ITV south west, so keep an eye out for us!! |
Nowzad recieves his award at the House of Lords |
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It was great to meet Janice from Home and Abroad - an organisation caring for the strays of northern Sri Lanka, a place which at times is just as dangerous as Afghanistan and also Mark Green from DogStar Foundation.
All of the presentations were extremely informative and interesting including a talk about the prevention of rabies in India by Dr Abdul Rahman from the Commonwealth Veterinary Association and his offer of support was much appreciated.
It was also great to bump into Joy who first helped us rescue Nowzad & Tali when she worked at Mayhew International and now works at WSPA. And I had a productive evening talking with Caroline and Chris from the Mayhew over our joint plans for Afghanistan Animal Welfare. If you are involved in shelter work and would like to meet like minded people all determined to achieve the common goal of animal welfare improvement then I can't recommend the conference enough. Next year the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference will be held over 17-19 November 2010 in Vienna. It was so efficiently organised by the Dogs Trust team led by Helen that it ran without a hitch. Thank you also to Chris, Hollie, Jacqui and Charlotte, David and of course Clarissa Baldwin - all from Dogs Trust who made me feel extremely welcome and all offered Nowzad Dogs their full support in the future. Photos and more links will be available from the conference website soon. And big thanks to Maria Daines the rock chick, for the track 'One Small Dog' - that plays alongside the Nowzad Dogs slideshow - YOU ROCK MARIA!!!!!!!!
Henry and Anthony - our first Afghan cats!! We are now in the process of helping Sally rescue two cats from Afghanistan that would have died a lonely death from starvation or torture if she had not intervened. Tell everybody you know who is a cat lover - then get them to spread the word by emailing, blogging or posting the story to everyone they know - we need all the help we can get! It does not matter how dark this world gets there is always some small ray of light. Well done Sally - take a chuck up from all of us at Nowzad Dogs. This is their story: |
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'One morning the English contractors woke to hear a constant meowing coming from outside their front door. There they found a tiny skinny black kitten with an injured back leg that he could not use. Although he was weak with starvation he was very noisy and insisted that somebody would take notice. The contractors could not get close enough to him to check out his leg but what they could see was a large lump just above his paw. Within minutes he had a tin of tuna which he gobbled up, and before the female contractor knew it a second little kitten appeared much smaller than Anthony with barely enough strength to look up, he could only eat a teaspoon of tuna. Within a couple of weeks of tempting them with treats, they could get close enough to see Anthony's injury which looked like a hard boney lump. Coming from a nation of animal lovers it was with a good diet and lots of TLC that he started walking on his injured leg. The contractors have no doubt that if the two cats hadn't come to them that morning they would have defiantly died or got into the hands of children, tortured and killed which sadly is seen too many times in Afghanistan. The cats had absolutely no trust in humans at all; it took eight long weeks to get them to trust the contractors. In dark days out in Afghanistan those two little kittens did wonders for morale. Their characters are amazing, Anthony is very demanding where as Henry is cute- with a butter wouldn't melt in his mouth type of attitude. Henry is still much smaller than Anthony and is unable to meow, all he can mange is a little squeak, he has not developed as well as Anthony this is probably due to the malnutrition in the early weeks of his life. With the caring support of those English contractors working in horrendous conditions out in Afghanistan and the back up of Nowzad Dogs these two cats will have a loving and pampered life in the UK'.
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Mission Accomplished! Remember Sandbay, Dirtbag, Royal and hesco the cat? Well our extremely determined and as mad as us mate Louise has achieved her self imposed task of getting all four to the safety of an English quarantine. Direct from her website baghdadcatrescue.com On 01 October 2009 Sandbag, Dirtbag, Royal and Hesco all arrived in the UK. The last 6 weeks or so has not been without its problems not least Sandbag and Dirtbag running off a week before we were due to leave, someone stealing one of the travel crates the day before we were due to fly, the airline messing us around in Kuwait and then getting a call on 01 October to say that the dogs and cat were stuck in Amsterdam and the vet would not release them! The animals finally arrived at Precious Pets quarantine facility late on 01 October 09. Myself and Emma Simpson, a field officer for SWHP visited them on 02 October and I am pleased to report that they are all doing just fine. A photographer was present at the visit so please keep your eyes open for the press coverage that will be published. The dogs were extremely happy to see us and they played and behaved perfectly whilst having their pictures taken, although I suspect the supply of Marks and Spencers Chicken and Sausages may have eased the way here!!! Hesco the cat is not quite as settled as the dogs and is at the moment still very nervous so contact with her is being kept at a minimum until she is fully settled. I am due back in Baghdad in just over a week but I will be seeing the animals again before I leave. A lot of people have been involved in this rescue but special thanks has to go to Emma Simpson, an SWHP field officer who first raised our attention to the plight of these animals. Without Emma's persistence then none of this would have happened! Blue Cross would never have been drafted in to accept the donations and Baghdad Cat Rescue would never have learned of the appeal and stepped in to make the dream a reality! So a big thank you to Emma for this! £13,500 has been raised to help pay for all of the associated costs for this project so thank you to all of you out there that donated. If you want to donate to Baghdad Animal Rescue please use the justgiving page here and Nowzad Dogs will hold the money until it is needed. I think that settles the blog for today and I didn't have to write anything!!
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27 September 2009 A double celebration is in order!!! Firstly Carla has made the long journey to the US to be reunited with the soldier that first rescued her and much to the soldier's joy it was a bigger and healthier Carla that landed in the States. Also we have had Smudge and Patch successfully released from quarantine. Patch has come to stay with Nowzad and Tali for awhile and wasn't that sure of himself after the long journey from the quarantine. There after followed a fairly destructive night (sleep crate which he chewed his way out of, muzzle which we left lying around - Doh! and his plastic food bowl), before I am glad to report he has settled in quite nicely - just got to keep those bellowing lungs of his in check now!!!! Check out Patch's first video here. Have you ordered your 2010 Nowzad calendar - only £9 including P&P within the UK. Please click the link above if you would like one. Well done and thank you to Sue (the mother of the soldier that is going to adopt Kilo) as she has almost single handed organised all of the funding to ensure Kilo makes it back to the UK. I think we are going to ask her to stay in touch after Kilo's rescue and help with our fund raising!!
Right got to go and walk five dogs. Wish me luck!
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Carla now
safely in
the US
Patch on his first night of exploring!
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03 September 2009 GREAT NEWS! BearDog has finally found a home! We can't thank the Mayhew Animal Home enough for supporting us by going out of their way to find a loving home and family for the big but cuddly BearDog - big thanks to Caroline and all the Mayhew staff. Well chuffed! The funds are coming in thick and fast for Kilo which is great news - still a long way to go but we will get there, I have no doubt about that. A big thank you to Marilyn and Dave for clearing out their loft and holding a carboot for Nowzad Dogs - they raised £100! Anybody else need a clear out? Our 'eCalender' for 2010 is now released and costs £6. 25% (£1.50) of the RRP from each 'eCalendar' purchased is given to Nowzad Dogs. So if you want our desktop calender then please click the link below.
If you still hang calenders the old way then details soon of our 'hardcopy' 2010 calender featuring the same pictures.
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The Afghan stray no more!
Marilyn and Dave manning their carboot for Nowzad Dogs |
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28 August 2009 I am not sure where all the time goes! I have only just realised that I hadn't updated this blog since 8th August. So give me five minutes of your time and I will get you all up to date. BearDog is still looking for that special home, currently is being fostered by one of the staff from the Mayhew - check out his video of him and Paddy playing - Beardog is just a great big cuddly bear...! Nowzad and Tali continue to adore the pampered pet lifestyle that they have well and truly come to know, Tali will bark at anything that moves in the back garden and insists on attempting to leap at wasps, bees and all types of flying creatures that stray into her airspace. Although, Mr Wasp did let her know once that it was not always a good idea.... Have you checked out the clip of 'Nowzad on the loose' on our video page or even Wylie taking swimming lessons? If not check it out soon. We are busy typing the next newsletter which should be out in the next week or so, I guess the pressure is on now that I have made it public. It will include photos from the Afghan rescue and our current rescue bids. We are also looking at using Just Giving for our main portal for you to donate via, you can then choose the dogs and rescue efforts you want to support although there will still be a general donation page.
We are continuing our efforts to establish animal welfare training in Afghanistan which will not only benefit the animals but the people of Afghan as well. We are working alongside the Afghan Stray Animal League and Mayhew International - we have to be careful with information at the moment but I will keep you all up to date when I can. You have also heard about the Iraqi dog - Sandbag and Hesco the cat? Well the Blue Cross and a great lady called Louise, who is as mad as us, are both raising funds to get them back to the UK to be re-homed as they were left to fend for themselves when the British pulled out of Basra. There were also two other dogs called Royal and Dirtbag (apparently son of Sandbag), who were looked after by the Marines and sailors stationed in Basra. Nowzad Dogs is helping to raise the money for Royal. Just donate as normal to help out with this great cause. Nowzad and Tali haven't enjoyed walking in the rain - and I promised them a hot summer just like they were use to! Have a great Bank Holiday! Have fun |
Dirtbag
Kilo |
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10 August 2009 |
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Hi everyone - just a quick blog tonight as so much to do! For all of you who want to know about 'Sandbag' - the Iraqi dog who is being looked after by the British in Basra. Please check out the below link for the Blue Cross. Sorry to say that Nowzad Dogs just does not have the funds or the resources to rehome 'Sandbag'. I would like to think 'Sandbag' will be safe with the Blue Cross. https://secure.artezglobal.com/registrant/donate.aspx?EventID=14088 |
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02 August 2009 Geoff and Ann have done the charity proud by running a collection for Nowzad Dogs outside the ASDA shop in Grantham - (thanks to the staff at ASDA for allowing it to happen). I feel so good knowing that we have supporters like Geoff and Ann who are as determined as we are to make a difference to the strays of Afghanistan. Whether it is for us or another charity - 6 hours of volunteering your time can go along way to help make a difference in this world. Which brings me nicely onto Wylie dog. She is undergoing hydrothearpy sessions in a specially built animal swimming pool to help build the strength in her front legs - I think that has got to be a first....Wylie has to be the only Afghan dog to have had swimming lessons! I know Nowzad wouldn't take to it very well!!
Click here to visit the Nowzad Video page and watch a short clip of the first Afghan dog taking a dip!! |
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23July 2009 Wylie and Arnhem have completed their spell in quarantine and were given a clean bill of health by the vet!! Freedom calls and both are now settling into their new homes. Thank you once again to everybody who has helped raise the monies needed to make this happen! I hope you all feel as chuffed as I do. We were at the Dogs Trust Kenilworth Open Day (thanks for inviting us Helen!) and we made some great new friends including Gaz and Sue who made some fantastic cakes for us to sell - they went down a storm! On a rather sad note our thoughts go out to Andy and the crew at the East West Trading Group, (they are great supporters of the charity), as their dear mate Bob recently passed away - but determined to make something good come out of something so bad they held a collection at Bob's funeral in aid of Nowzad Dogs. A dapper gent Bob looked too! Thanks Andy and crew for your continued support - please visit their link (below) to see which outdoor military shows they are going to be at - please pop over and say hello - you never know what goodies you may find! And if you are going to one of the shows that they will be at and you can bake cakes............
The desperate pleas for financial support from soldiers who are coming to the end of their tour and not wanting to leave their four legged friends behind are arriving all the time. |
Lisa forcing herself not to eat all the great cakes supplied by Gaz and Sue - cheers guys!!! |
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As a charity we are receiving more requests than we can cope with - please have a look at our 'ways to help' page and see what you can do. I know how desperate the soldiers feel when they realise that they can't get their buddy home. I still think about RPG, little AK, Dushka and Patches and yes, it still breaks my heart. Somebody asked me why bother rescuing just one dog when their are thousands of strays needing help? I would rather we rescued one dog than none at all - if we make just a little difference then we are doing something positive in this world and all charities have to start somewhere. We need funding to support: Quarantine costs of Ryder, Smudge, Patch, Bonny, Peryn, Juliet and Bagzir Flight costs for Johnny Ramone, Dru, Joey and Carla - can you help? Every £ or $ helps. |
Ryder in Afghanistan |
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05 July 2009 What an Independence Day for Brownie and Oreo and their rather overjoyed owner as the two dogs touched down safely on US soil to start their new lives as family pets! Once again the fantastic support of the Nowzad Dogs family helped to make it happen. But as we know, sadly it doesn't stop there. There are still plenty more cries for help. We are trying to support the rescues of Johnnie Ramone (The patchwork gal), and Dru (the creamy gal with the Precious Moments look). Both are currently at the Afghan rescue until we can raise enough funds to get them to the US. They were found in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan.
These two, (above) who were brother and sister to Johnny and Dru, never made it to the safety of the Afghan rescue. That is why we are so determined to help as soon as we receive cries for help. |
Johnny Ramone
Dru |
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I know I shouldn't use the blog unless it is for the Afghan strays but I need to mention this fella - Bruce. We have had so many emails about him that you know us - we can't walk away. Bruce was taken from his family for looking like a 'pitbull' type breed and sentenced to be put to sleep. He had never been aggressive and just loved people. Currently Bruce is being kept isolated and in poor conditions while his future is fought over. It makes me sad. Still in the UK we can't yet understand that it is not the dog but the owner. With common sense, affection and sensible training the dog does not have to live up to its normally undeserved reputation. Look at Nowzad - a former Afghan stray dog that really didin't like strangers and spent his life fighting to survive. With a lot of TLC and attention and a sensible approach to how he is handled he has adapted so well to life in the UK you would think Nowzad was born here. If we can't educate people in the UK then how are we meant to help educate the Afghan people on animal welfare issues if our only response is to put dogs that look 'dangerous' to sleep? Let's make a difference - the education starts here people. |
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26 June 2009 Patch: (the boy) has recovered well from his castration, and seems a lot calmer, although he had a big squabble the other day but only a cut ear and few bruises, it always looks and sounds a lot worse than it is. Smudge: (the girl) is very well, seems a lot happy since Patch's testosterone is not such an issue now. She enjoys being separated for a few hours a day from Patch so they can both have a good chew on some rawhide. Peryn: was visited today by his owner and he hopes to come again tomorrow. He also visited Missy (Bonnie) as well. Peryn is well but we have had to take their beds out to make a few repairs to them as they have been ripping the beds to pieces! Missy: (Bonnie) is well, she is still on antibiotics for her skin but the preds have been reduced down to ½ a pill every other day, so she will soon be off these altogether. (Fingers crossed this 6 week treatment has worked for her and she will not need anything else). We have also had to take their sky kennels out as they where chewing them up and eating them, so in fear of a big vet bill if a bit got stuck we had to remove them, although they had great fun destroying them..... Arnhem: as always centre of a lot of peoples' attention, he is getting more treats in a day than most of the dogs that get visited regularly! He knows how to work a crowd! Wylie: is very well, she is in good spirits and her owner is busy teaching her some well overdue obedience, she can now come, sit, lay, give paw and leave, the 'leave' is a really big achievement, because Wylie thought (and sometimes can still think), EVERYTHING belongs to her and how dare anyone think otherwise! She is a great dog. Wylie is going back to the referrals centre on Monday the 29th of June for her follow up x-rays so will let you know what they say. Catch up on Wylie news here on her very own facebook page!
Everyone PLEASE keep those fingers and toes crossed for our little monster, hopefully this second operation has been a success. But we still desperately need to pay for all of this treatment so please keep those donations coming in. Rebecca - the quarantine manager in the UK
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25 June 2009 For those of you who have emailed us or are waiting for me to send you posters or PR material - sorry for the delay. Currently Lisa is at sea (I am sure she went on purpose) just as the work load went up!!! We have several rescues operations that need constant attention, more about those in a minute. It is also time for the annual charity returns and I need to put together the August newsletter and Christmas, yes I said it in June, Christmas catalogue...........and for the big announcement - I have been commissioned for a follow up to the book 'One Dog at a Time' - just don't tell my publisher but I am already a month behind, not sure what the title is going to be...any ideas? Nowzad and Tali are quite happy just chilling around the house and barking at the postman as I run around trying to parcel up supplies for the Afghan rescue centre - a big thank you to Georgie for the tons of much needed supplies that she sent across to us. Also the Worldwide Veterinary Service has just supplied us with over £800 worth of supplies for the Afghan rescue - thank you. We still need dog wormers, collars, leads, dog blankets and bandages just no food thanks. I have been convinced to start 'twittering' - so I am making Nowzad earn his life of leisure - follow his daily exploits on the 'twitter' thing. We are in the middle of helping Brownie and Oreo get to the US to live with the American soldier that gave them food and shelter whilst serving in Afghanistan. More pictures when we get them. Bagzir and Juliet are now safely in quarantine in the UK - Bagzir will have to do three months of quarantine before flying to Holland to live with the Dutch Marine that found her. I went to visit them the other day - just great playful dogs. Bagzir has a small problem with mange but nothing the quarantine vet can't fix! We also need to desperately raise funds for Carla - Carla was rescued from Tani District Center in Khowst Province, Afghanistan. Malnourished she was taken back to the American soldier's camp. She was named after Carl Gustav, inventor of the M-3 Recoiless Rifle - 'cause apparently she's the bomb. She also came with a rather bad case of either Scarcoptic or Demodetic mange. She was her own chew toy early on. But the lads guessed the calculation for weight and injected her for treatment. It took 2 treatments but finally cleared up. Currently though the lads are trying to keep her safe from snakes, scorpions, other dogs and herself and of course sporadic rocket attacks. She's smart, loyal and growing. And as the soldier says who is caring for her... 'Should we leave this camp Carla's only hope is that of other dogs in this area; to become a feral, scavenging mongrel with a very short life expectancy?' Well you know us and Nowzad Dogs is not about to let that happen - all donations to this worthy cause are needed ASAP. Right I need to give Nowzad a run around the block so we can bark at complete strangers.........keep well and more news soon and no I didn't get Jenny Faulkners' phone number for all you who have asked...........
Carla |
Brownie
Oreo
Bagzir
Juliet To send a cheque or international money order - please click here to print the form. |
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21 May 2009 |
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What a night we had on Tuesday at the Dogs Trust Honours Award night mingling with the celebrities and their pampered pooches!! We were there to see if Pen collected the Dogs Trust Dog's Best Friend Award 2009 and we are happy to say he received his award from the lovely Jenni Falconer. Thanks to Sally too at Dogs Trust for making the night run smoothly and to Ben the Rottie for nominating Pen in the first place and to all the other supporters who voted for him. Have a look at our new YouTube page and see the quarantine video clips we have just put together, (sorry for the editing...still playing with the software!!) and watch the slideshow presentation filmed for VetPulse TV. Wylie is reportedly doing okay - more when we know. Still more cries for help coming in.. Enjoy your Bank Holiday!
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15 May 2009 |
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Where has the time gone since I last wrote? Things move so fast around here it is quite mad..... Our celebrations of 'Bear dog' finding a new home have been short lived - he is back at the Mayhew I am sad to say. If you know of anybody that could give 'Bear dog' a loving home with lots of exercise then please do get in touch with Lisa Guiney, Dog Adoption Officer at the Mayhew Animal Home or give her a call on 0208 968 2348. 'Bear dog' is a large breed dog and very strong so he will need an experienced owner but he is just all love! Let's hope he can find a home soon.
Wylie has also had some bad news and has had to go back to Fitzpatrick referrals to undergo a further operation as her legs were not healing properly. She now looks very fetching in her green casts..the quarantine crew are taking good care of her. Smudge has been having his own op - although he won't appreciate it but he has just been neutered (Oucchhh) as we have a policy that all Nowzad Dogs are neutered before being rehomed - there are enough stray dogs in the UK as it is........ On a happier front - the Exmouth dog walk team had a great walk along Exmouth beach raising funds for the charity - a big thank you to Tracy at Clean Cuts Dog Grooming for all her hard work in organising it. A big thank you to Moonstone Dog Grooming in Wiltshire who raised over £400 on their Wet Nose day and Geoff and Ann who have arranged to stand outside there local supermarket to raise money for Nowzad Dogs in the coming weeks. We had a great turn out at the VetPulseTV event - which was filmed so you should be able to watch it soon on their website. Pen presented a mini version of the Nowzad Dogs story as well as listening to TV vet Emma Milne tell of her amazing work at an animal rescue in South Africa. Also a big thank you to all of you who have nominated Pen as a finalist for the Dogs Trust Dog’s Best Friend Award - Lisa and Pen are donning their best bib and tucker and heading to London for a posh night out on Tuesday 19th May to see if he has won the award. We will keep you informed! Right got to go - we have three seperate requests for help this week alone - please remember, if you have any old dog leads or spare packets of wormers / flea and tick solution or dog blankets then please send them to our PO Box. |
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29 April 2009 Busy is not the word - so much to tell you all! Firstly a big thanks to Geoff and Ann who spent a chilly day at the beginning of April raising £115 from their car boot sale - they report their attic is now clear! And another massive thank you must go to Emily from Fox Boats who organised an evening Nowzad Dogs slideshow in the Fire Station in the town of March. Her family team prepared a fantastic buffet including a glass of wine (quite annoyed I had to drive while Cavey could quite happily drink my share at the back!) along with a raffle and we have yet to confirm but the 50 or so supporters on the night raised over £500 - how good is that?!!!! And not forgetting a big thank you to Emily's mum for the Chinese at the end of the night before I drove home! Most of the parcels for the Afghan rescue that we sent during the last blog have made it safely to the rescue - so if you have any dog blankets, wormers, old dog collars, leads or anything that might benefit the rescue then please send it to our address before the end of May - thank you. A big thank you to Tracy for organising the second annual Exmouth dog walk - more details and photos on the next blog!
So onto the dogs - quite a bit to tell you about!! KAF, Juliet and Bagsir are doing well at the rescue in Afghan and we are about to start them on their journey to be re-homed.
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All of the 'char badmashis' are now in UK quarantine, however Missy and Peryn were in a bit of a bad way - extremely under fed and covered in mange - but Rebecca and her crew are now taking god care of them.
Wylie is now back from her op - which is brilliant news: Rebecca had this to say: She went to Fitzpatrick referrals (a big thank you to all at Fitzpatrick fortheir support with Wylie), for her surgery on Tues 7th April I had a message left on my mobile at nearly midnight to say she had the op and all went well (they operate until that time there)! She stayed with them for 48 hours and then I picker her up, her front legs were heavily bandaged and had bright pink tape on them (very fetching). On Saturday the 11th I took the bandages off and on Thursday the 16th she went back to see Noel and have her stitches out. He was happy with her progress and I have booked her in for 4 weeks time when he wants to re x-ray her to check the front legs have set and are healing as they should, he will also then be able to see if the front legs have started to straighten out compared with the last ones he took of her, he also wants to check that the bone he removed has not started to re-attach itself! After that she should be given the all clear and that's the last time she should need to go there. Since the operation she has had to be caged, and she will have to be caged until the 30th. She is VERY clean in the cage and has not had ONE mistake. I am very impressed with her. She has been very patient through the whole thing, she is truly a warm and patient hearted dog, even when she has been in so much pain she could not even stand and you moved her to quickly she never lashed out, (am very proud of her)!
Thank you to everybody whio continues to donate and support us - remember that all of us involved with Nowzad Dogs are volunteers - so all your money goes into supporting directly the welfare of these dogs and other animals in Afghanistan. |
Rebecca from the quarantine reported: Peryn and Missy are probably in the worst shape of them all Peryn has mange worms, conjunctivitis, and is badly underfed. Missy is all of the above but does not have conjunctivitis. They are in good spirits and have already been squabbling but nothing to serious; I think it is the same issues as P and S (Patch and Smudge). Have done the same with them, with bed issue and toys.
Peryn in the quarantine at last!
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12 Mar 2009 Well that was mad - the Nowzad Dogs team have spent the last few days sleeping after the non-stop 4 days of manning the Nowzad Dogs stand at Crufts. And did we make some new friends or what! Firstly though the result of the Nowzad portrait competition (the portrait was generously donated by Sarah Gough and it is fantastic!) Sarah actually came to visit us on the Saturday and so we thought it would be great for her to actually pick the winners. Nicole Bruck was the first name drawn out of the hat - well done Nicole! Andrea Jefferies wins the second prize which is an unframed portrait of her pet painted by Sarah. Thank you to everybody who purchased tickets - we raised £2000 which we are using to help fund the vets care that Wylie is going to need. Some many people popped over to say hello - it was great to finally put a face to all the emails. A big thank you must go to Andy and the gang from the whippet forum who donated a fantastic £220.25 from the an auction sale that had been promoted on their website (and a big hello to the Whippet Freak who finally found our stall- see I did remember!) We were left speechless when the team from Paws-2-Think dog training club presented us with a cheque for £500. They run good dog citizen training courses and puppy foundation courses. All the trainers are volunteers and so the training fees received are used to support various worthy animal charities.
The lovely people at dapperpets.co.uk dressed out both Helmand and Tali with new fully body harness, leads and collars - thank you so much. The harnesses are great as Tali and Helmand are ninja escape artists and can easily slip out of a neck collar - not good when walking along a road.
Over the course of the four days we met so many people - loads of new supporters said hello after they had first read the book "One Dog at a Time" and then hunted us out at Crufts. A big thank you to Sue and Ben the Rotti for their awesome review of the book - please read what they had to say here about it. Most of what we had on offer to raise funds was sold - which was a good thing as it meant I didn't have to carry it to the van on the Sunday! Thanks must go to Helen Hulse for donating a Bioflow magnet collar for Nowzad to help with his stiff back legs - I will take some photos of Nowzad and his new collar and let you know how he gets on at a later date but you can email Helen here. Heidi Hudson with camera in tow known locally as the dog reporter came along to interview us - see our moment of fame on Heidi's website www.thedogreporter.com cheers Heidi! We had a great offer from Meryl Lang from Millpledge Veterinary who is kindly going to donate some items for the North Afghanistan Rescue, along with thanks to Ali from Interpet for some Nylabones that are to be sent out to the rescue for the dogs to have in the kennels. Fish 4 Dogs donated some great raffle prizes. Thanks also to all the team at Dog Theft Action who invited us for some wine which really helped at the end of a hard day! Personally I must thank Gill and the team at Animals Asia who stepped in to help during the Thursday and sent visitors in our direction and last but not least to the team at the SSAFA Stand for helping to promote the charity. It was a great experience for our first Crufts - well our first show even! We learnt a lot from it and we are going to take time to sit down and work out a plan for future events. We definitely will be taking our own sandwiches in future and a few beers for the evening - there was no time to visit the bar by the time we had restocked the stand, driven back to the travelodge, counted the money, had a shower and found something to eat. The alarm was going off at 6 hours later so we could do it all over again! Thank you to Lisa, Marilyn, Marlene and Helene for your support (It was hard work at times!) and of course our best in shows - Tali and Helmand - after all it was those two that stole the show!
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Thank you so much to Helen at Feelwells who donated bags of dog treats for us to sell on our stand and for offering to sponsor every dog walker during our Exmouth fund raiser with a packet of doggie treats!
We are grateful to the team at James Wellbeloved for donating a bag of dog food for a future raffle.
Visit Marc at www.marcthevet.com
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O1 April 2009 Happy April Fool's Day - don't worry everything we say here today is true - I am not going to try and catch you out! Good news for all of you following the progress of the 'Char Badmashis' - Patch and Smudge have arrived at the quarantine. They are slightly worse for wear with ticks and mange but nothing Rebecca and her crew can't deal with quickly. Hopefully we will get some pictures soon. The two terrors have already shredded their beds and are incredibly playful! It is going to be a lot of work teaching the two of them some manners! Peryn and Missy will hopefully be arriving in the next week or so. Lisa has been to visit Arnhem and Wylie in quarantine. Arnhem is such a loving dog - really happy and excited to see anybody that pops their head in to his run. Wylie has been for her assessment with the surgeon and we are looking at around £2000 worth of medical costs to basically straighten out her front legs although I am sure there is a better clinical term for it than that. I will be starting a specific fund raising page on the Just Giving site soon to raise funds for her operation. KAF has made it successfully to the Afghan rescue centre along with 'Juliet' and 'Basgir' - more news on them when we can. We have been busy parcelling up supplies to send to the Afghan rescue including flea and tick treatment, dog wormers, blankets, puppy formula, collars and of course some well deserved posh choccy biscuits for the staff. I am hoping to do a feature on the Afghan rescue centre later this year as they deserve our full respect and thanks for the work they are doing. JACS has arrived safely in the US and is now making a home for himself in Portland.
Nowzad, Tali and Beamerboy decide to help stack the parcels - although Pen has his suspicions that it has more to do with the animal treats destined for the Afghan rescue......
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Thank you to Matthew and Sarah at The Torbay Bookshop for organising an extremely successful talk about our work in Afghanistan and how it all began. If you have read 'One Dog at a Time' and enjoyed it then please recommend it to friends and family - a large percentage of the author sales are going directly to the charity funds. Requests for help are still coming in thick and fast although the decision by the Taliban to now target aid agencies working in Afghanistan is a severe blow and one that may have consequences for our charity. We will have to wait and see how things go. Please keep those donations coming along including stamps and old coins to the postal address and if you can tell a friend about our work to spread the word - if you need an PDF version fo the latest newsletter then let us know. Off to watch the England game and have a few beers, no doubt with Nowzad probably curled up by my feet! Come on England! |
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03 Mar 2009 I have just finished loading up the van ready to drive to the NEC for Crufts tomorrow. I know I keep saying it but I still can't quite understand how we went from sitting in a remote Afghan compound with an earless fighting dog to preparing our own charity stand at the biggest dog show on the planet!!! How did that happen? I am chilling having a beer (Budweiser in fact if they want to sponsor the dogs for the product mention!!) looking at the pictures of Hannah as she tastes life with her new family tonight- a big thank you must go out to everybody who has supported her rescue. This email came from Claire "Hannah would not walk from the car to the housem, my husband had to carry her in. It has taken Hannah all day to move from room to room and is just doing it very tentatively. She has had a few treats but has not eaten her dinner yet. She is really calm, I think because she is a bit bewildered and knackered! She was barking at her reflection in the cooker earlier and was falling asleep standing up! Tonight she has been sleeping on the lounge floor with the kids either side and watching the tv and barking at it, it was really funny". We will keep you updated on her progress. And the picture opposite is what happens when you mix a dog that is feeling slightly better and a foam mattress - 'happy carnage' Well done Wylie - go girl!!! See you at Crufts!!
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28th Feb 2009 We have just been to visit Wylie and Arnhem in quarantine and yet again Rebecca and Vicky and the other members of the quarantine staff are doing a fantastic job in making our Afghan four legged friends feel right at home. Arnhem may have been rescued by Airborne warriors but he is turning into a right softie! Wylie is just so happy to see visitors it almost brings a tear to your eye to see her wobble to her feet as she excitedly bounces towards you. Sophie the vet explains the condition that is causing Wylie problems: "Wylie has a condition called hypertrophic osteopathy. This is a condition that develops in young dogs under one year of ages and is often secondary to distemper. Distemper is a disease that is quite rare in the UK thanks to routine vaccination at an early age. However, this is not the case for dogs from Afghanistan. Wiley's condition affects the growth plates in her bones and therefore affects the way she grows which would cause her severe inflammation and pain if left untreated. Her outcome depends very much on how well she responds to pain relief and how much her developmental changes affect her. So far, she is responding well to medical treatment but she will need surgical treatment in the next couple of months" We will keep you updated on her progress. And almost time to celebrate as Hannah is going to her new home from quarantine on Tuesday!! Let's hope her new family have covered the sofa!!!!!!! Back at the ranch we are desperately getting ready for Crufts and our first big show. Lisa is sewing our table covering for the stand and I'm generally annoying her and sorting out the small displays and items we will have for sale to support the charity. Remember we will be in Hall 1 - Stand 36 and hopefully Tali and Helmand will be helping us out. Make sure you come over and say hello. But it also means I might be a little slow in answering email for the next week so please bear with me.
10th Feb 2009 Yesterday was a good day for Beardog and all his supporters - freedom from quarantine! It has been a long six months but at last we were able to give Beardog a proper leg stretch and boy - is he fast..it's like watching a horse gallop past! We took Beardog to the Mayhew and the waiting throng of press who were eager to publish the great news about Beardog who had been destined to become another victim of the dog fights until an unknown soldier intervened. Check out the press reports below. Beardog is now up for adoption and a loving new home - please contact the Mayhew if you feel you are able to give a very friendly but large dog a new home. When I finally got home at midnight it was a great feeling as Nowzad trotted to the door to greet me to know that thanks to the vast army of Nowzad Dogs supporters we had successfully rescued another of Nowzads' stray mates! |
Wylie
Arnhem
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4th Feb 2009 Wow - we are still receiving a mail bag of 40 - 50 letters a day for the charity from the Mail on Sunday article so not quite what will happen when the book is launched which will promote our work even more! A really big thank you to everyone who has taken the time and effort to write to us - including the 100 or so emails we have received. If you haven't heard back from us just yet - you will but it is just taking a bit of time.......I actually read all the letters to Nowzad who is permanently camped by my feet when not under the table (opposite). If only Nowzad knew what he has started!!! Currently it is quite a good job that I have just left the Marines otherwise we are not sure how we would manage to run the charity.... Please if you know somebody who sent us a donation but did not enclose an address then can you thank them for us? We will be sending out a newsletter (as soon as I write it!) to everybody who has donated.
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31st Jan 2009 All of us at Nowzad Dogs would love to say a big thank you to all those who have donated after reading the article in the Mail on Sunday - it is really appreciated and needed and we have been very moved by the kind words sent us to along with the donations - with your wonderful support we can hopefully continue to have help further strays and promote animal welfare and training - please visit our rescue history page. |
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28th Jan 2009 Email we received at the end of Jan 2009 from a combat engineer serving in Afghanistan who has taken on the job of looking after Darcha (pictured right), an Afghan stray that has adopted the lads! For now the unit is keeping Darcha safe with them. "There are a lot of stray / loose dogs, some times in packs up 5-6, we see them at night on sentry, some of them are huge. We have a scrap food pit (4x4x3m) which is attracting them I think. One day I was taking Darcha for a walk when I heard a weird whining noise, so the two of us checked it out. A big dog with its ears and tail docked was stuck in the hole, it seemed like one of its back legs was hurt, as it really didn't want to move. My first thought was "this dog has been down here for a while, it probably can't walk right and if I go down into the hole plus I am probably going to get bit and get rabies, so I should shoot it and put it out of its misery". But I couldn't shoot it, the dog had been down there a few days freezing, starving and with a bad leg all this time. I knew I had to do something. I went back to the hole bringing with me a ladder, some ropes/ belts to retrieve / restrain the dog and my rifle and knife incase things got out of hand. As I was pondering what to do a section of ANPs (Afghan National Police) turned up. I convinced them to help me get the dog out alive with what little "Dari" I had. So I jumped in the hole with a few ANP we rigged up a harness and then the rest of the section pulled the stray out. Surprisingly the stray was very docile, probably because of how cold or weak it was. As I took off the harness I noticed it had a crude wire harness around its body, I quickly cut it off. At first the stray could barely walk, and I was beginning to think maybe the best thing to do would be to put it out of its misery. But it managed to walk a few metres before it sat back down again, so I just picked it up and tied it into the front bucket of my JCB tractor to move it to the front gate. Pretty amusing sight really. I got it out of the front gate, out of the bucket, tried to get it to eat some biscuits but it was not interested. It just sat there looking sad, that reminded me of my hypothermia training, so I started to pat / rub the stray down trying to warm it up as it had a layer of frozen ice on top of its fur. I even tried to tell it to "Pas Bordo" (go away in dari) but no luck, then the ANP caught up heard me telling it to go without success when they said ah "Bali Bali, Pas Bordo" the dog jumped up and took off like a bat outta hell, hobbling a bit in a straight line "home". It was pretty cool watching the dog take off, Karmas all good. Chalk one up for the good guys!" I think you will agree - chalk one up for the good guys! |
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registered charity 1119185 © Nowzad Dogs 2007-2010 |
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The
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