Our Current Charity

For the next three months, we will be raising money for the RSPCA. Twenty percent of each item purchased on either the US or UK My Westie is My Bestie shop will be donated to this very worthy charity. 

Two dogs in our Westie community greatly benefited from the medical help they received from the RSPCA in Putney. In April two years ago, I adopted Islay and Finnegan. Islay had four pups with Finnegan being one of them. She is a Westie, and we are making an educated guess when we say we think he is half-Westie and half-Patterdale terrier.

My friend Lynne contacted me to say that she knew of someone who had rescued these two little ones in February of 2016. I suggested that she ask her friend to bring the two pups to the upcoming Westie Walk to see if anyone might want to adopt them.

They arrived at the walk and were lovely. There was some interest in adopting Islay, but not any to take them both. It broke my heart to think that they should be separated. I loved seeing their laid back and easy going nature with other dogs, owners of other dogs and children. I slept on it for one night and then made the call first thing in the morning to say I wanted to adopt them. 

That is when I learned their story in greater detail.

Little Islay was bought as a pup and lived in a trailer park with many other dogs and families. When she was around the age of two years old, her then-owner gave her to a woman who lived nearby. The second owner was unaware that Islay was pregnant and would soon give birth to four little pups. When the puppies came, Islay developed an infection and needed desperate medical help. Luckily the RSPCA was there to help. There she received excellent care. She recovered and had her lady parts removed. Finnegan also was given medical attention with all of the puppy shots and the snip. Bless him. The new owner got into a relationship with a man who did not like dogs. He was known to be abusive. In the early part of 2016, he told the owner to get rid of the dogs, or he would give them to the local dog fighting ring as bait. I know, who would do that?! Shocking and terrible. At any rate, the owner's neighbour had caught wind about this and offered to help. The neighbour's best friend, Laurel, helped to rescue Yorkies and offered to find the dogs a good home. The owner said she would think about it. The following week, Laurel had heard that the boyfriend of the owner had kicked Finnegan in the face. Immediately she brought the adoption papers over, and the owner signed the dogs over that day. That was in February 2016. The dogs were in poor health, especially Islay who weighed more than 13 kg. Poor girl would waddle when she walked. It turned out that the owner had been feeding them out of date puppy food. The dogs were put on a healthy diet of age-appropriate food and walked and exercised each day. A foster home was found with a lovely woman named Laura. She looked after the dogs for two months before them being adopted. 

A huge thank you to Laurel whom I have lovingly nicknamed, "Laurel the Rescuer" and to Laura for loving my two pups as if they were their own. A big thank you to the RSPCA in Putney for taking care of these little dogs in their hour of need. From the beginning of April until June 30, 2018, with any purchase on the My Westie is My Bestie shop a donation of 20% of the item will be donated to the RSPCA. So pick up some cute Westie goodies and help animals at the same time. ​

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