Rescue: Staff at Happy Ending's want to raise £3,500 for an operation to save Alfie's lifeLike most puppies, he has boundless love and affection for anyone who so much as gives him a glance.
But Alfie the 20-week greyhound and labrador cross hasn’t had much love back.
He has had five homes in as many months after he was given away by a series of owners before ending up in the doghouse.
Home for now is an animal sanctuary, which has discovered that 20-week-old Alfie has a deadly liver condition that only an expensive operation can cure.
Staff there believe that Alfie’s original owner found out he was ill, feared they wouldn’t be able to pay for treatment, and passed him on to another unsuspecting owner. In all, he had four different owners.
The sanctuary has admitted that it too doesn’t have the funds to pay for the £3,500 operation and may have to put Alfie down unless someone with a big heart and deep pockets comes forward.
Alfie: The greyhound and Labrador cross has been abandoned by four familiesChris Johns, co-founder of the Happy Endings Rescue Sanctuary in Hailsham, East Sussex, said: ‘We took him from a woman in Dartford who said she was moving and couldn’t keep him.
‘It was quickly apparent that he was not well and we contacted his previous owner to let her know. It was only then she admitted that he had been ill when she had him and she had lied about moving to get us to take him in. It probably explains why he has had so many homes before – people didn’t want to spend any money on him finding out what was wrong so just passed him on.’
Alfie’s condition was diagnosed when he was given a medical check-up shortly after arriving at the sanctuary.
Mr Johns said: ‘He turned up totally bewildered and was very needy. Initially we thought it was because he had been let down by so many people abandoning him and passing him from pillar to post. He didn’t seem to have an appetite and only ate a very tiny amount, often being sick, so we asked the vet to run some extra tests on him.’
An ultrasound scan revealed a rare condition called a liver shunt, in which toxins are not removed from a vein as it passes through or around the liver, which acts as the body’s natural filter.
Instead, Alfie’s body is being flooded with dangerous substances such as ammonia, which is making him ill.
Refuge: Happy Endings Rescue Centre, where Alfie currently lives after being repeatedly abandonedTerry Kemp, a veterinary nurse and co-founder of Happy Endings, said: ‘It would be really good to give him a chance. Without the operation things are very bleak for him.’
The sanctuary, which also has a base in Kent, has been swamped with abandoned cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep, horses and donkeys since the start of the credit crunch. Mr Johns said: ‘We never put a healthy animal down but sadly, without this operation, Alfie would not have a good quality of life. Alfie is a lovely dog, he’s got a such a sweet nature. He’s had such a terrible start in life but if we can get him the operation and all goes well we could find him a home for the rest of his life.’
÷ Anyone who wants to make a donation towards the operation or help in any other way should visit the sanctuary’s website at www.happyendingsrescue.org.
source: dailymail
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