A nation of animal lovers?

Whilst my 'boy', Fonzo the bulldog, is hot on the campaign trail with me (see picture below), I listened with dismay to a report from BBC Radio Surrey this morning which reported on the cruelty inflicted on some cats in the Aldershot area.  The content of the story was actually too graphic for me, as an animal lover, to be able to convey back now suffice to say that the impression is that the torture appears to have been undertaken by human hands.  This of course comes on the back of  a weekend when another aspect of animal cruelty was highlighted at Aintree.

The 164th Grand National event in Liverpool will go down in history for all the wrong reasons.  Two horses killed (yet the race allowed to carry on; how money talks), the winning jockey disciplined for excessive use of a whip and at an earlier race in the day, a fall suffered by Peter Toole riding Classic Fly, has led to the 22 year old jockey fighting for his life in hospital.

As a firm believer in animal welfare and rights, I will do everything I can to promote well-being and continue to campaign against cruelty at every level.  I am blessed to share my life with my faithful canine and 4 cats too and, no matter what political persuasion, this is an issue that surely unites all parties.

Mad dogs and Englishmen!

There I was out walking my bulldog, Fonzo, around 7.30 this morning in the Mount Noddy area of East Grinstead when we encountered Mase (not that I knew his name at this time).  Mase is about 8 years old and a very large boxer-cross male.  He is also incredibly affectionate and loved playing with Fonzo; albeit he was trying to assert his role as alpha-dog.

Anyway Mase followed us all the way home - despite my futile attempts to find his owner - and so I ended up taking him to the RSPCA centre at Godstone.  Although Mase was chipped, and according to the records had come from the Croydon/South Norwood area, the telephone numbers left by his 'owner' were unobtainable.   I was told that tomorrow the Warden will come and collect him and then a 7 day count down starts to reunite dog to owner.

I asked what would happen if the owner was not tracked down and I was told that it depended upon "council policy" and that putting Mase to sleep is an option.  Naturally, as an animal lover, I was horrified to hear this and am still reeling from the shock.

How can an apparently healthy animal be given a death sentence simply for being lost?

There will be a happy ending to this story - I am determined.  I have the number of the Warden and I will call them on Friday for an update.  In the meantime if anybody knows of someone who has either lost a tan and black boxer cross or indeed would like to have one, then please leave me a message on this blog.

If I get elected I will do everything within my designated power and that of the Council to promote animal welfare as one of the top priorities.  Surely anyone with a heart could not just sit back and allow Mase, or dogs like him, to be put down?

Whilst the title of my blog was about "mad dogs", Mase is not mad but in fact a happy, healthy and affectionate male who helped change the entire direction of my day today....but maybe that was for a reason?