Skye: my story

This story was submitted to the original Bullmania by Geoff Davies, a volunteer foster carer for Bullies In Need, the English Bull Terrier rescue that ran from 2002 until it closed some years ago (today's rescues are on the rescues page). Skye has her own gallery here, added by the family who adopted her. The text is Geoff's, lightly tidied.

This is the story of one of my fosters, a two-year-old EBT that I called Skye, who had been mistreated.

It was a nice sunny Sunday back in September when I had agreed to meet Matt, who was adopting my foster at the time, Molly. She was such a loving little girl I very nearly failed, but I knew my work with B.I.N. had to go on, so, very upset, I let her go. The following day I rang Lisa, the rehoming co-ordinator for B.I.N., and said I didn't think this was for me because I was so upset at letting Molly go. Deep down I knew Matt would do me proud by Molly, which has turned out to be the case. Thank you so much, Matt and family. So here goes.

A little girl with no name

I was working in the West Country when I received a phone call from Lisa asking if I could collect a two-year-old EBT from Somerset. After a few questions I agreed. Wow, I had a new foster.

After a few phone calls I met the lady from the pound at a service station just off the A303. After the pleasantries were exchanged I asked where the little girl with no name was, and was told she was in the van. Well, let's see her then.

The kennel lady got this little girl out of the van and it was then that my heart sank. Here was a little dog that had been so mistreated and was so unhappy; I could see in her eyes that she just didn't want to be here any more. It really broke my heart to see her like this, so I decided there and then that I wouldn't give up on her and that she would get my total attention.

I lifted her out of the van and looked into her eyes. They were vacant, like there was no bull terrier there, just a shell of a dog. It was heartbreaking, but I knew I could mend her if she let me. I rang Lisa and told her the situation and the problems this little girl had: she had been beaten and might have brain damage, her nails were curling over and cutting into her feet, she had cigarette burns on her body, her ears were compacted with infection, and it seemed she was blind in one eye. Just some of the problems this little girl had.

I will admit now that I did something I never normally do when transporting: I let Skye curl up on my lap all the way home. And something else I'll admit: I was in tears all the way. This little girl had got to me already and I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible, and if that meant her sitting on my lap, so be it.

Turning the corner

We got home without any hiccups. I gave Skye a good meal and she settled down for the night, and all was well until the next day. While I was on the phone to Lisa she became very agitated and turned on me in a big way. Wow, she was scary. I just managed to get her into a crate before any damage was done. As it happened I was speaking to Lisa at the time, and she said that I must do what was best and that I must be confident we could rehome Skye at the end of her stay with me. I asked Lisa if I could have some time working on Skye and, to her credit, she told me to just get on with it. She supported me every single step of the way and spoke to me every day for updates. And guess what: Skye was turning the corner. My vet was working hard on Skye and I was putting in lots of time with her, just building her confidence in humans again, and it was working, thank God.

After about three weeks Skye really had turned the corner. She was still a bit snappy around food, but that's something we could deal with quite easily. Her feet, eyes and ears were on the mend. We found out she was deaf and partially blind in her right eye, but I didn't care, because she was coming round and becoming a very loving little girl who just loved to sit behind me and lick my ears and head for ages. She and Paddy seemed to have quite a special bond too.

Letting go

After two months Skye had become a beautiful little girl who was really growing on me, and I knew that soon I had to decide whether to keep her or rehome her. I spoke to Lisa and said I wasn't sure whether I wanted to let her go. She told me that a really nice couple had applied for Skye and asked if I would speak to them. Very reluctantly I agreed. The only problem I could see was that they lived in the west of Ireland. Wow, what a home check this was going to be.

So off to Ireland I went to do the home check. It all went well, and what a nice couple. Now it was time for them to come and meet Skye, so I arranged to meet them at a train station near me. They flew in, I collected them and brought them home to meet my little Skye. Was this going to be a sad day for me? Well, yes, it was. Katherine and Skye got on so well that I just knew this was right for her; they both had a real twinkle in their eyes for each other, and Harry got on so well with her too. So I agreed with Lisa that they could take Skye back with them; there were no problems with that as Katherine worked for the airline.

Off to Luton airport we went. This was one of the saddest days of my life, but I just knew it was right for Skye, and more importantly Skye knew it too. At the airport I was getting very stressed because my little girl was going; I took my frustration out on an airport worker and had to apologise quite quickly before I got ejected. I was desperate to spend as much time with Skye as I could, and that's what I did. I waved my goodbyes and off they went.

My drive home was once again a very tearful one. I was upset that Skye was going but so pleased that she was going to be with Katherine, Harry and Finney, her new little brother, a Sussex spaniel who I must add is a wonderful little lad. About three hours later I got a phone call from Harry to say they had all got home OK and all was well, and that really settled me down.

I flew back to Ireland in December 2006 to do a follow-up on Skye, and I couldn't want better for her. She is doing so well and is very much loved.

I'd like to thank Lisa and Ann from B.I.N. for all the help and support they gave me. But most of all I would like to thank two very special people for taking and looking after my little girl. So thank you, Katherine and Harry.

PS: hopefully I will be going to see them soon.