JUST
A LITTLE SUMMARY OF 2011 EVENTS
It was only a
matter of time before I was selected to
edit this years 'diary of events'. Hi for
those who don't know me (and there would
be few) I am GUMP, six years old,
beautiful, horizontal and extremely
popular with one and all.
I have been with
mum and dad at the Sanctuary for just
over two years now and I think it's fair
to say I have worked hard. My mentors
Malarky and Fonz have taught me well and
I am not only a registered P.A.T. dog
(Pets as Therapy) but also a blood donor
having given a few pints of the red
nectar to a few poorly dogs this year and
hopefully saved a few lives.
Before I continue I
know I have to give you the sadder
aspects of this year, namely the losses.
We not only lost 14 dogs this year, but
two wonderful owners, Mick from Guernsey
who was apparently one of the first
homings when mum and dad started out, and
Dee from Alderney who made those amazing
Christmas cards for us all.
 
Mick and
Dee
I can't believe we
lost so many brothers and sisters and
cousins this year. Aunty Alison had an
awful year, three of her beloved whippets
crossed the bridge, namely, Magic, B.J.
and little Alfie
  
Magic, B.J. and
Alfie
Others that left us
were:-
  
Gilbert, Toggle and
Tia
  
Summer, Sally Ann
and Ranger
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Blue, Jack and Xena
Malarky
Mum and Dad said I
have to thank all of you for loving these
guys and giving them wonderful homes for
the remainder of their years. Thank you
all so much xxxxx
I am so pleased I
have done that bit, it is so sad as I
know a few of them died tragically and
younger than they should have.
Well it's been a
strange old year, sadly not as many of my
mates from the U.K. have come over as in
previous years. Mum says this is
something to do with people not being
able to afford to keep their pets, I am
so glad I got here when I did - we all
hope that it will pick up next year.
Anyway on to
happier times, well happier but
definately not drier. Oh boy what a lot
of rain we have had this summer. I really
don't like getting out of my chair when
it's wet but mum says I must 'do my bit'
so I'm afraid come rain or shine or wind
I had to show my face.
I became a P.A.T.
dog this year together with Ziggy, Star
and Pola Bear. Malarky and Fonz have been
doing this for years now so they deserve
a bit of a rest, but they still attended
Clifton Nursing Home and more recently
our new allocated home Silver Springs.
New P.A.T. dogs
recruits, Star, Pola Bear and Ziggy
As mentioned
earlier I also became a blood donor, boy
that was a bit scary but once again Fonz
and Malarky told me not to be such a woos
so here is me being brave!!
Me giving a pint at
New Era Vets
Like Santa I need
'little helpers' as when I give some of
the amber stuff I need to have a few
weeks off before providing another pint
so Pola Bear, Star, Scout and Ziggy are
all donors and at long last Fonz and
Malarky can take a back seat. The bit I
like best is the end when they give me
lots of goodies to eat and I don't have
to have an excuse to lay horizontal on my
sofa.
Then my other
duties as a P.A.T. dog meant that me and
my brothers took to the streets of St.
Helier, this time not for our Charity but
for P.A.T. dogs charity. Below is me and
some of my pals just before we get going
to woo the people of Jersey.
P.A.T. dog walk
2011
As for events, well
there were the two Open Days, Spring and
Autumn, I sometimes have to give my seat
up and lay on the floor which isn't good
but once again I get bickies and lots of
cuddles so that is a plus. I'm still a
very popular Sponsor Dog and lots of my
sponsor mums and dads come and see me.
Our first outdoor
event was at the RJH up at Trinity, it
was a three day fair and mum froze the
whole time. It's got to be the windiest
place on the planet (apart from our
field) when it blows, but these are the
sacrifices us pooches have to make (bring
on the violins!!!) to raise awareness and
donations for our pals stuck in kennels.
Talking of
donations, well how about this, the 2011
Swimarathon was celebrating 40 years and
guess what, we got named as one of the
charities to benefit. Well mum and Al
were like the cat that got the cream
(probably not a good comparison to make)
they were grinning from ear to ear.
Alison and mum went to receive their
cheque and took Malarky with them, it was
quite an evening to remember as was the
cheque for £1,500 wow!!!!!
Mum and Malarky
accepting their cheque - just look at the
silly grin on her face!
From cold wet
weather we then had our walk. This is the
second year we have held the Great
British Greyhound Walk. Some of you might
remember this is an event that takes
place all over the U.K. on the same day
and the same time. Oh boy was it hot, in
fact the hottest day of the year. Mum
said she will never do this again in heat
like that but it was far too late to
cancel, so we told everyone to make sure
they didn't do the whole walk and to have
plenty of water at hand. Thankfully there
are showers each end of Victoria Avenue
so we all stood under them when the event
had finished. This is yet another 'do'
where Alison and mum grinned the whole
time they are so proud of all us guys and
this year we had the top number of
greyhounds and lurchers competing total
of 105 dogs.
Just some of the
dogs and owners
Unfortunately Nog
my really shy brother couldn't come as he
is just so frightened of people and
Spencer and Danny were confined to
barracks on account of their delinquent
behaviour!
From a heat wave
(for one day only) we then went from the
sublime to the ridiculous, Trinity Fete.
The most beautiful setting ever but it
rained and rained and rained. Mum and dad
took the trailer up on the Friday and had
to be towed out of the mud and it just
went from bad to worse. The Saturday it
just never stopped. Danny met us up there
and Peter popped to see us as well but we
all ended up sitting in the van sipping
coffee which Peter had kindly brought up
in a flask, well I didn't sip coffee,
mum, Danny and Peter did, me and the guys
had to make do with water. Sunday wasn't
much better but it did stop for a while
so mum and Danny got us walking round as
no way could we open up the trailer. To
be honest I think we were all glad to get
home in the warm and dry. Such a shame as
it was a truely lovely setting and oh so
many trees!!!!!
Mum, me, Fonz,
Malarky, Ziggy and Danny braving the
elements at Trinity Manor fete
Thankfully our next
event in town was Animal Day in the Royal
Square and it was a very pleasant day. I
must admit apart from having to get up at
the unearthly time of 4.30am it was a bit
of a doddle as me and the guys really
just had to lie around and look gorgeous
(no great hardship when you look like
me!). We got mega amounts of strokes and
tit bits were just in abundance.
Sometimes mum won't give us them all,
makes us take them home to share with our
brothers and sisters, I say they would
never have known but mum said that would
be very selfish.
Then came the
biggest event of the year, Charity Week,
a whole week in town. Even I must admit
to being slightly fatigued by the end of
it (pavements are a bit hard even with
our duvet) but folk are just so lovely to
us and mum says the donations are
amazing. We get so many different people,
visitors, locals and kids well they are
just wonderful. We even managed to charm
the boys in blue, well in this case girl
in blue
 
Me and little Megan
and Lewis taking centre stage with Fonz,
me and Ziggy in the background
Mum said Charity
week wasn't the same without Danny and
Trish, who, with their boys Matthew and
Jacob have gone to live in Newcastle
where Trish is originally from. Although
we miss them dreadfully we hope they have
a really great new life and come and see
us soon.
 
Danny and Trish who
over the years have been such good
friends and supporters
In between all this
we still managed awareness assemblies
with Brownies at First Tower School,
Scouts at St. Ouens Club House, a W.I.
session at La Pouquelaye, and two school
assemblies at St. Martin's and St.
Saviour. Also did St. George's fete in
June, not the best, another windy rainy
day. Mum and Danny spent most of their
time picking things up that had blown
away and covering the tables when it
rained and saying rude words well mum
said the rude words!!!
Back in October we
went, together with various other
charities, to the Jersey College for
Girls to fill them in on what we get up
to and how they could help. Wow some of
the girls were so lovely, I don't think
my mum looked like that when she was at
school back in the dark ages!!
That's me centre
stage again, Fonz just behind me with all
those lovely gals!
Our last event was
at the Town Hall - this was a Christmas
fete arranged by the Association of
Jersey Charities. Well I lost count of
the cup cakes me and Fonz got given plus
Peter and Sue popped in with a pocket
load of sausages (good old Peter). Mum
was dreading us both being sick when we
got back but we were fine, felt a little
bit guilty as we ate everything and
didn't take anything home to the gang -
mum reckoned by the end of the day she
never wanted to see another cup cake.
Me and Fonz with
Santa
So everyone this is
just a short summary of our activities
over this year you can read in details if
you go on to our front page Latest News.
It only remains now for me and
The guys
Rio, Malarky, Fonz,
Danny, Peanut, Ziggy, Nog, Star, Spencer
and Scout
The gals
Silks, Kella Ruby,
Pola Bear, Quinn, Fern Trin and odd one
out Kentee
Mum, Dad and Alison
and of course Yours
Truely
to wish everyone a
wonderful Christmas and prosperous New
Year and to thank everyone for the
continued support, without you guys we
couldn't operate. Look forward to seeing
you all again at our many events in 2012.
GUMP YOUR VERY
EXHAUSTED EDITOR FOR 2011
It is with great
sadness that since writing this report my
brother Malarky has left us for Rainbow
Bridge we mourn his loss together with
all the other guys and will never forget
them - run free my friends XXXXX
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