A Reflection on Lizzie (Content Warning - Distressing Images)

WARNING THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS DISTRESSING IMAGES!

Some years ago, GSD Welfare Fund received a call from a concerned council worker.  She visited a tenant who lived in a flat and was horrified at the situation there.  The tenant owned 11 German Shepherds, 10 females and a single male.  One of the females nursed a litter of 5 puppies. Her real horror came from the condition of the poor dogs.  All were emaciated and too weak to stand.  The desperate female trying to feed her pups, couldn't make enough milk and the pups were fading.  Some of these dogs had club feet amongst other abnormalities and health issues.

The council worker immediately called a well-known animal rescue charity but was told they were too busy. As a last hope she called us.  Sadly, we're not empowered with the authority to take dogs without the owner’s permission.  Our chairman rang this well-known animal rescue charity and informed them we would be going the next day to the premises in question, and if they weren’t there, then they could rest assured that we'd have the local press there to show the public how they'd let these German Shepherds down and left them in such conditions.

We arrived the next morning (it was a Tuesday) at 11 am and thankfully an officer was there to meet us. We gained entry and were aghast at what we found.  These poor dogs were too weak to walk and had to be carried out. The females had been continuously bred from, with the male allowed to mate with them at every season.  The weakened female with the puppies lay at death's door, along with her puppies.  The officer wouldn’t allow us to take the male.  He informed us that we had to leave the poor man with one dog.

With several vehicles already waiting, we loaded our precious cargo and drove away as fast as we could and took them to safety.  We'd arranged boarding kennels, and also vets ready to come and treat them.  Sadly, three of the pups and two of the females didn’t survive.  The rest, thankfully, made a full recovery health wise but remained mentally scarred and afraid. We found understanding homes for them.  

This beautiful girl was Lizzie and this was the condition all of them were in.  This is a day that is forever etched in my memory. Some people ask why do I do what I do? How can I turn away after seeing such cruelty.

Debbie Hill

Sadly the photos below are the only ones we still have of Lizzie, and while they effectively record the cruelty she endured, they don't represent the final, and much happier remaining years of her life.