For years Gracie had no name. She had no life. She existed in a puppy farm as ‘stock’ for a puppy farmer. Her only worth was the puppies that her body could produce. That was until the volunteers of Puppy Love Campaigns found her. But it was to be some months before they could get her to safety.
In that time Gracie’s health continued to deteriorate, a litter of puppies was delivered, the puppy farmer continued to profit. However, Puppy Love Campaigns don’t give up and as soon as they were able to, they returned and Gracie was removed, going straight to the safety of the small rescue trusted to take care of her needs. When ready they found her a loving home. For the first time in her life Gracie was in the hands of humans who cared.
The work that Puppy Love Campaigns does is difficult and by necessity secretive. The puppy farm where Gracie lived operated with a license, it was a legal business, but as the footage shows, it should not have been. Footage and evidence gained during the rescue of Gracie and others before her, was gathered by the volunteer investigators to form a case against the puppy farmer.
A few months before they were able to save Gracie, another schnauzer was rescued by the volunteers. Through a network set up by Schnauzerfest, Walter went to the Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue Centre, from where he was adopted and now lives happily in Devon. This is highly sensitive work as rescuing dogs is only part of the story. Getting action taken against the puppy farmer responsible is as important as taking the dogs to safety.
This video shows Walter and Gracie living in conditions that are shocking, nasty and inhumane. It’s no wonder dogs coming out of places like it have multiple health and psychological problems. Following the work done by Puppy Love Campaigns, the puppy farmer did not have their license renewed and it’s believed they are no longer in business, certainly they cannot be operating legally.
Gracie was adopted in February 2019 by Lucy and Jack. Gracie began a long journey to recovery. Shortly after arriving in her new home, Gracie began experiencing serious bouts of sickness and diarrhoea, losing large amounts of blood on multiple occasions and being hospitalised several times. Multiple veterinary appointments and interventions were needed to stabilise Gracie’s digestive problems and get her health on track. All of this necessary treatment came at a significant financial cost to her adopters, but, never once did they flinch from doing what was needed. They had well and truly fallen for the nervous, traumatised dog they’d taken into their life, knowing they would do what was needed to keep her safe and loved.
Today, Gracie’s best canine friends are Katy, Tilly and Thomas who live around the corner and who have helped to show her all there is to know about living with humans. They spend a regular time walking and getting up to mischief. Until rescue Gracie had no experience of kind people, or that life might be enjoyable. With the help of Lucy, Jack but mostly her canine friends, she’s now learning this every day, in spite of the health challenges she has faced, which are ongoing.
Recently Gracie has faced another serious setback with her health. Her eyes have caused her problems and she’s facing a battle to save her right one which ulcerated and has been refusing to heal. Her vets have been treating it for several weeks, she’s had a variety of interventions, topical treatments and painkillers. It’s hoped that the most recent treatment has been successful. All this has been occurring against the backdrop of Covid-19 with the extra complications, stresses and financial challenges that brings, not least for Gracie’s adopters.
Schnauzerfest Trustees are pleased to make a discretionary grant towards the veterinary costs involved in Gracie’s eye treatment.
“Gracie has changed our lives and all for good. Although she’s still very nervous, watching her take small steps to enjoying her new life and being able to feel safe and happy has been an incredible journey for us both. We feel privileged to have Gracie and to share her journey.
We didn’t realise we’d adopted a magpie, her hobbies are collecting shoes, socks, tea towels and any item left unattended that she can gather until there’s no more room in her bed. She’s still nervous in busy places and wary of humans, but loves her walks and will run up to other dogs tail wagging (she forgets about the humans then). She’s the gentlest dog I have ever met and we absolutely adore her”
