Condemned to life?

I know lots of you will have been moved by the tale of my canine cousin Keanu who has spent six long years in a Dogs Trust home, waiting for a new owner. I mentioned him in my last blog http://bit.ly/78W5xh and lots of people posted on Twitter about him. I wish I could give you good news but so far, Dogs' Trust report “Nothing at present, I'm afraid - I nudge the centre on a regular basis for more, though... (re: Keanu progress!)” Which presumably means he's still there.

Dogs Trust have a policy where they never destroy a healthy dog. They say Keanu is very happy in kennels and gets on well with his trainer. I'm sure it's as good a home as can be. Some boarding kennels are very nice. But be honest, would you want your dog to spend six years in one? And since Keanu is a healthy dog, that means he could, conceivably, be there until he dies. Is that right?

Then there's a little dog called Freedom, who has been in his rehoming centre for six and a half years. Apparently no-one wants him because he is very nervous and appears aggressive. I understand that so well – I was that dog, when I was in kennels. Ma maitresse had already seen my profile on the internet and passed over it, and walked past the kennel where I was barking and snarling in sheer terror when anyone came near me. Thank goodness the lady in charge persuaded her to take me out of the kennel to see what I was really like. And I turned on all my considerable Gallic charm to make sure she didn't leave without me.

But I understand Freedom's fear. I was petrified, most of the time I was there. There were lots of big dogs all around me, barking all the time, and I'm scared of noise. I had to share the kennel with another dog and although he was little, smaller even than me, and quite kind, I was still scared.

Do you know what it's like to be really afraid? So afraid you become aggressive? I do, and it's not a nice feeling. Imagine feeling like that every waking minute, and having far more waking minutes than you should because you're so afraid of every small noise you can't sleep. Then consider what it might be like to feel like that for extended periods of time. Then consider if keeping an animal like that is really the best and kindest option.

Ma maitresse says that in the 1970s when ponies were so cheap you could buy one for £5 from sales in Wales and the New Forest, a leading vet wrote a very controversial article saying the only way horse welfare would improve was if a virus wiped out 80% of the pony population. That's because, with ponies then costing about a fifth of the cost of a vet callout, people were not greatly motivated to spend good money on them. An extreme view?

Rescue kennels all over were reporting being full to capacity and beyond after Christmas. So what happens to all the dogs which could possible be rehomed that can't get into a rehoming centre because poor dogs like Freedom are taking up places?

Am I, as a dog, really saying dog charities should be putting more dogs to sleep? Wouldn't that be terrible? But ask me, honestly, if I would have been prepared to go on at that same level of terror for years and years and I'll tell you honestly. No. I would rather have had a quick and mercifully end . To a dog like me, to be given up for adoption was bad enough (if you read my first blog, you'll understand a bit more about my circumstances). But just to think about spending any longer in kennels than I did is terrible, and my heart goes out to all those poor dogs who spend years and years behind bars.