Back many months ago, before covid started, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Amanda and her gorgeous little rescue pup Bertie. I’m on a mission you see, to interview and photograph people who feel their rescue dogs actually rescued them and changed their lives significantly for the better.
Amanda has long had rescue dogs – she is a true hero, taking in the old and emotionally scarred, the ones whose prospects of a home were slim. But she says these broken and forgotten dogs have each aided her own journey. She says “I lost my partner Peter 10 years ago now in horrific circumstances, I had been with him 25 amazing years. Afterwards, the only reason I got out of bed was for my animals, I had nothing else. The anger and bitterness I thought would kill me; but I was saved by love, rescue animal love. They have changed my life and made me a better person. I have never once felt alone. Bertie is everything and more, just exactly what I needed.”
Bertie came into Amanda’s life 2 years ago, following the loss of her previous rescue dog, Bessie. Her friend Tracey from Carla Lane Animals in Need persuaded her to take a younger dog this time and she fell in love with Bertie at first sight.
Bertie had recently arrived in Brighton, having been transported from Bulgaria, where unwanted dogs tend to have very bleak and short futures. Amanda was desperate to meet him but could not make it to Brighton, so a kind volunteer brought Bertie to Carla Lane Animals in Need, where he met his new Mum. The staff had warned Amanda that Bertie was feeling a little grumpy that day and may not be very interested in meeting someone new, but it seems it was love at first sight for him too because when they met, he dived straight onto Amanda and, as she says, kissed the face off her. The rest is history.
Bertie must not know what has hit him, he has truly gone from rags to riches - living the high life in Amanda’s beautiful home, with cat siblings Narla and Sydney, and all the love and pampering he so deserves. However, Amanda still swears that it is she who is the lucky one. She says: “I have learned so much from my dogs. They have made me a better person, kinder, nicer. I was without a dog for three months in 2017 and I can still remember the coldness inside. With the others I learned to give without taking, but with Bertie he gives back, I cannot say anything without getting a kiss back, that’s his give and he never stops giving. People always ask what kind of dog he is but none of that matters, what mattered is that he needed a home and I need him more than anything”.
While Bertie is still in need of some help and reassurance in certain situations, he is happy to get out into the great outdoors with his Mum, which is something they both greatly enjoy.
