The Fabulous Famous Five and I visited DBARC yesterday to catch up with our schnauzer friends. We did some sofa surfing with schnauzers and shared some chicken and turkey. Our little friends are doing well – read on to find out how they are, what their news is and to meet a very special little new girl called Elsa.
WILMA
You only have to meet Wilma to fall in love with her! She is a very sweet girl who loves a cuddle (and a bit of chicken). Wilma has cataracts in both eyes and has seen the ophthalmologist at The Ralph Referral Centre. She is booked in for surgery next week. Hopefully the surgery will restore her sight. Cataract surgery does not come cheap. Thanks to our Mad About Schnauzers Fundraising members, we are able to raise money for DBARC to help with the costs of surgery and other medical treatment and care. After her op, Wilma will need a very intensive regime of eye drops and she will need to be careful not to bang her head. Only once she has fully recovered will she be available for re-homing.
WOTSIT
Sweet girl, Wotsit isn’t quite as confident as Wilma, but she is very happy to be around people and be stroked… especially if you have chicken! I had to check I still had all my fingers. She is an enthusiastic eater. Wotsit has a cataract in one eye and will be joining Wilma at The Ralph next week for surgery. We had a lovely afternoon with Wotsit, eating chicken and snuggling on the sofa.
WISPA
Tiny Wispa wins the prize for most cuddly schnauzer – and possibly for smallest too! Here she is with her pal Nell (Nell left and Wispa right). Wispa is not living in Munchkin Manor at the moment but she joined us for the afternoon. She is being fostered by Janet, DBARC’s manager. Wispa has had surgery on one knee and is undergoing physiotherapy. Wispa spent the day at the vet earlier in the week for a thorough check up to determine if anything should be done about another knee. The good news is for now, there is nothing to be done but it is being monitored. I was told that she was dropped off at the vet’s with special snacks and strict instructions that she should be cuddled regularly! She is a special girl. Wispa will stay in foster care for now while her knees are being monitored.
GABBY
Gabby has been in Munchkin Manor for a few months now. She is interested in people and enjoys the company of other dogs. Gabby is brave enough to take a treat but is quite nervous and jumps away if you reach out to touch her. She doesn’t trust people yet. Gabby is soon to be fostered by a DBARC volunteer to help her gain more confidence and to get used to living in a home environment.
MEG
Those of you who read our DBARC updates regularly will be familiar with Meg. Meg is in good health but is still not ready to be re-homed. She is incredibly nervous and distrustful of people. Only one person at DBARC is able to handle her and that has taken a lot of time and work. She has made progress since she arrived, but has recently plateaued. Meg will stay where she is for now while DBARC volunteers continue to work on building her confidence.
TWIGLET
Twiglet is a very shy and nervous girl. Twiglet is in a kennel with Ivy and they are not living in Munchkin Manor. She is brave enough to take treats but isn’t ready for cuddles yet. She doesn’t have any health issues but until she is a bit more confident, she won’t be ready for re-homing. She has made progress and would benefit from moving into a foster home with a brave companion and when this is available, she will move in. We visited Twiglet and Ivy and they had a very good and thorough sniff of the famous five. Let’s hope Twiglet finds a foster home soon to help her prepare for her forever home.
IVY
Beautiful Ivy arrived at DBARC in December. She is incredibly sweet and confident enough to take treats and accept strokes and cuddles. She has been keeping Twiglet company as her kennel-mate. Ivy does not have any health issues and will be ready for re-homing very soon.
TOPSY
Topsy didn’t join us in Munchkin Manor so we didn’t see her during this visit but we did get an update on how she is doing. Topsy was taken in by DBARC about 8 years ago having been rescued from a puppy farm. She was re-homed but sadly was surrendered to DBARC again a few weeks ago. Topsy has a number of health issues and will stay in permanent foster with Janet. She has lung problems and this is managed with medication.
ELSA
Meet Elsa! This little girl is DBARC’s latest arrival. We didn’t get to meet Elsa in person as she is in foster care with one of DBARC’s wonderful volunteers. Elsa is very friendly but sadly has a number of health issues that need to be attended to. She is blind and has a swelling on her chest that is being monitored. It has been removed but the histopathology is inconclusive. Elsa will see an eye specialist soon but for now, DBARC are monitoring her general health.
We had a wonderful day catching up with the incredible people at DBARC and of course spending time with the dogs.
So much love and care is given to these dogs and they desperately need it after surviving the horrors of puppy farms. All the donations you make go towards funding the medication, surgery, care and other needs for these rescue schnauzers. We like to keep you informed about the current resident schnauzers so you can see just how much you are helping. Thank you for your support!
I will leave you with a gallery of photos from our lovely afternoon.
ABOUT MAD ABOUT SCHNAUZERS
2019 was a fantastic year for Mad About Schnauzers with a huge increase in members and thousands of pounds raised for schnauzers in need. Since we started fundraising in 2016, we have raised £88K. We know that 2020 is going to be even better with plenty of fun events planned for the year. Find out more in our fundraising Facebook group.
We wholeheartedly support DBARC, a registered Charity in its own right. We are unique as money raised by Mad About Schnauzers goes directly to them. They do not need to apply for it as our Virgin Giving page is linked directly to their bank account so the funds are available when they need it. As DBARC is a registered charity and our Virgin Giving page is linked directly to them, UK tax payers are able to add gift aid to their donations.
Funds paid to us via PayPal or bank transfer is also paid into to the Virgin Giving page except for a small percentage which we use to invest in merchandise we have made to sell at a profit. Sadly, we aren’t in the position of having such items donated to us at no cost so we have to invest in small part to grow the fund to the benefit of the dogs.
We also offer our walk participants the option to donate to Mini SAS and Schnauzer Houzers.
Here’s to another year of the MAS community changing lives and having fun, we are continually grateful for your support and participation.
