Party got a second chance (Photo: Stichting Dier en Project)Photo: Stichting Dier en ProjectPhoto: Stichting Dier en ProjectNext
1/3 Party got a second chance (Photo: Stichting Dier en Project)
For years she was in a kennel with dog breeder Jan P. in Eersel. Not in anticipation of a new owner, but as a breeding bitch to get puppies so that the young dogs could be sold again. A sad life behind bars, with no prospect of a warm basket. But thanks to Els Adams of Stichting Dier en Project, the Berner Sennen could be removed from the grounds of the controversial breeder and was given a second chance. “I called her Party because it is a party that we were allowed to bring her.”
KwispelEnzo breeding has been under scrutiny for years at various authorities because of the many abuses. More than seven hundred dogs were kept on the site in Eersel for bread breeding. Labradors, jack russels, boomertjes, dwarf keesjes and border collies, you could go to Jan P. for just about any breed.
Sometimes P. could not get rid of animals or a bitch was too old to have litters. Then he called Els. “He then asked me if I wanted the dogs. And I never said no,” she says.
“It went through my marrow and bone.”
Once when she was in Eersel to pick up eight dogs that the breeder wanted to part with, she saw the Bernese Mountain for the first time.
“At the end of a long corridor was a kennel where she lay, with a large number of puppies. There was no room to get away from the hungry little ones. As I passed her, she put her paw through the bars and touched me. It went through my marrow and bone. He needs to get out of here, I thought. But the breeder didn’t want to lose her, he only had one Berner Sennen and those puppies made money.”
“Not a day or night went by that I didn’t think of her.”
Months later Els saw her again, in the same kennel. She had ten little ones then. The dog kept haunting her mind for a year and a half. “Not a day or night went by that I didn’t think of her,” she says.
“And then, suddenly, he called me. ‘I have a dog you can pick up, a Bernese Mountain dog. “I knew that she is. I drove to Eersel early in the morning. She immediately jumped into the car with me. And I swear to you, when we drove away, she winked at me.”
It still moves Els. “It was such a euphoric feeling that I got to take her with me. I get a big throat again when I think about it. We cut all the tangles out of her fur and bathed her. She was right at home.” Feestje stayed at the shelter for four months. “Then a great, still young couple from Groningen, all the way on the other side of the Netherlands, came forward.”
“You have to know what you’re getting into when you bring in a dog with such a past.”
“They came to have a look six times, very persistently,” Els smiles. “And that’s good, because we really don’t just give our dogs along. You have to know what you’re getting into when you bring a dog with such a past into your home It takes a lot of dedication, patience and empathy to socialize an animal in the world outside the kennel.
Party is now ten years old. She was there when her owners got married and recently a baby was born. Els receives a weekly update on how the Berner Sennen is doing, with cheerful photos showing how she is lying with the baby.
“It was difficult to give her up. I would have preferred to keep her myself,” admits Els. “But let’s be real, I’m not the only one in the world who is good for animals.”
Founding Animal and Project is located in the green outskirts of Nispen. It is a so-called very last chance shelter, where abused or difficult to place animals are given shelter. About a hundred animals live there.
In recent months, the NVWA removed all animals from the breeder in Eersel.
Party was there when her owners got married. (Photo: Stichting Dier en Project)Photo: Stichting Dier en Project
2023-08-12 08:01:12
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