Vicky Snook
Lost and Found is a collection of heart-warming stories from people who have rehomed a dog or a cat from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. From a young boy whose Battersea dog helped him to deal with a serious autoimmune disease, to a woman whose Staffie was the friend who got her through cancer and a former Battersea hound who became a search and rescue dog.
The stories express how life changing a pet can be to an individual or a family and people will be able to identify with the bonds that are created when finding that feline or canine companion.
Why do animals have the power to change people’s lives?
Research has shown that spending 15-30 minutes with your pet will make you feel more relaxed and calm and playing with your dog also raises your brain’s levels of dopamine and serotonin. There are physical and behavioural benefits for you and your dog as well as the obvious increase in exercise which is only ever a good thing.
Due to the therapeutic nature of animals, dogs are often used as therapy dogs to aid the elderly or infirm in institutional settings such as hospitals and residential homes.
Some dogs can even prevent us from becoming ill, facilitate our recovery from ill-health, and even serve as an early warning system for certain types of underlying ailments including cancer, oncoming seizures and hypoglycaemia.
Dogs are also frequently used in service roles to help people and other animals – they are used to rescue in natural disasters as well as by the Army and Police. They can detect many things if trained including bedbugs in hotels!
Which story from the book is your favourite and why?
All the stories in the book are great so it is hard to pick just one favourite. Each story has something special, whether it is overcoming illness, providing comfort and companionship to owners or helping other people in need.
My personal favourite is Ice’s story as I was involved in the rehoming. She is an older dog who was struggling in kennels. She started her journey at Battersea’s site in London and was then transferred to Battersea’s other site in Old Windsor before her new owner spotted her on the website. We had not rehomed abroad before from Battersea so it was a learning experience for us in helping to arrange the pet passport. Her owner did really did go above and beyond to rehome Ice, travelling for hours on two occasions.
After working with Battersea for 8 years rehoming Ice is still the one that really sticks in my mind and helps me during the tough days when we desperately search for new homes for the current residents.
How can people who don’t have cats and dogs enjoy this book?
Everyone will be able to identify with the human stories in this book, whether it’s the touching and heart-warming moments that bring a tear to your eye, or the funny tales that will make you laugh. The bonds that are created between owners and pets and with each other will have readers hooked on the stories from start to end.
Why is it important that people are educated in responsible pet ownership?
Owning a dog or cat provides companionship, love and exercise….but also has responsibilities. At Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, we encounter some dogs and cats with behavioural and health problems which are frequently due to owners not understanding how to care for their pets properly. We believe that with the right advice, many of these problems can be prevented and owners can ensure their pets are happy and healthy. We also understand that dogs are bought and used as a status symbol, rather than companionship and the Home works with communities London wide to try to change these mind sets to understanding that dogs are for companionship.
Please can you tell us about your role in Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
I have worked with Battersea for 8 years. Our goal is to firstly rescue and care for any cat or dog needing our help and secondly find them the best home they could hope for. It can feel like an endless task at times as the numbers of dogs and cats needing our help and looking for a new home never slows down. Seeing the look on a new owners face when they meet their new pet for the first time is my favourite part, the look of sheer joy, excitement and love that they have for their new companion can be overwhelming. I find helping cat and dog owners thoroughly rewarding as, if we can help them, it really can change their pets life. If we can support an owner in overcoming an issue or gaining knowledge in pet ownership we can potentially prevent them having to bring their pet in to rescue. Education and support is so important to help prevent the rise in numbers of animals coming in to rescue.
During my time with Battersea I have seen many animals with varying stories, some very sad and others unfortunate due to family changes. I have helped to rescue dogs abandoned in ditches and help cats and dogs that have been abandoned in various conditions. Being a rescue centre we are often called on to help with other animals arriving at our doors. I have rescued a horse that got tangled in a barbed wire fence on Old Windsor land, taken in a ferret that someone had found in Staines, taken in two rabbits that someone couldn’t keep, found a sparrow hawk that landed at the Old Windsor site and even had a chicken brought in for us to rehome!
How did the idea come about and how were the stories collected and put together to make this book of tales?
In 2011 Battersea identified that a book of true life short stories about people rehoming pets from Battersea would appeal to our audiences as well as helping to raise valuable funds for the Home through its sale.
Once Penguin was chosen as our publishing partner we worked with them to appoint Jo Wheeler as the writer and then we researched a number of stories for the book.
We rehome so many special animals to special homes but this book has captured a snapshot of some really great examples of how a rescue dog or cat really can change someone’s life. Rescue animals are sometimes dismissed as being problematic or undesirable with owners choosing to buy a puppy or kitten privately but I feel this book truly shows how rescue animals can change your life. They have so much to offer if given the opportunity – all cats and dog deserve home and kindness whatever life they have previously had or wherever they may be. Every year Battersea rehomes hundreds of animals, many of which play a special role in their owners lives, it would be wonderful to be able capture many more of these stories to share with our supporters.
What is next for the home?
Battersea is dedicated to helping dogs and cats and we aim to never turn away an animal in need. To continue this mission Battersea is embarking on its biggest and most ambitious fundraising appeal in its 153 year history to help raise funds to improve its old and outdated kennels, some of which are still 150 years old. Battersea cares for around 6,000 dogs every year, and with the public’s support we could help improve the lives of more dogs made homeless through no fault of their own.
To find out more about rehoming a dog or cat from Battersea please visit www.battersea.org.uk