Following our appeal for help with Sunny just over 3 weeks ago, we wanted to update you on his brilliant progress!
Sunny has had two surgeries; he has had a dental resulting in the extraction of lots of teeth and he’s had his BOAS surgery. He was neutered at the same time, so a double whammy! Both the surgeries went very well and Sunny is still recovering. Apparently, he was a five-star patient!
He is starting to look so much better – his coat is slowly growing back and his character is beginning to show. He’s a funny little pug with a sense of humour, very laid back and would happily spend all day eating and sleeping! He‘s still having treatment for his ears and has eye drops daily and doesn’t mind having this done, especially as he gets a bravery biscuit afterwards…
Sunny says ‘thank you everyone for your kind words and the donations you have sent towards my veterinary fees, from what I have heard the bills are eye-watering… ( they think I can’t hear them talking about me, but I can hear what I need to hear, like food being prepared and my name being mentioned).’
‘I’m getting better slowly.. I still can’t bark properly, although I can eat and would like much more food in my bowl but apparently have to be content with little and often. I felt very poorly and had to stay at the vets overnight, they were very kind to me but I was pleased to go home. My friends Bertie and Iris have been very gentle, I haven’t been allowed to run around with them though so they sat with me, which was lovely, as they kept me warm and safe. I’ve been told that I might be able to go for walks soon, I just hope the purple stitches I have in my nose have gone, how embarrassing is that going to be if I have to walk around with those in?!’
❤️ Lots of love, Sunny XX ❤️
The PDWRA would like to say a massive THANKS to everyone who kindly donated towards Sunny’s treatment costs, your help makes such a big difference and is hugely appreciated!
If you’d like to see our original appeal post from when Sunny first came into our care, please click here.
If you would like to donate towards the PDWRA’s ongoing costs, please click here.
‘Hey everyone – my name’s Winnie and I’m 7 years old! 💖
As you can probably tell from my pictures, I’m completely blind but I was born this way and so it doesn’t stop me from living my best life.
My foster mummy says that I’m the life and soul of any party. I’m active, playful, friendly and always up for fun. I’m not a shy girl at all and will happily greet anyone who comes up to me and gives me attention. 👋
Once I’ve adapted to my new surroundings and got used to a routine, there will be no stopping me! 👀
I was previously in a home with 15 other dogs and so a forever home with another dog or two would be perfect for me. I love other dogs and want to play with them. I am excitable but I do have good manners around other dogs. I’m also great around friendly cats, bunnies and guinea pigs. 🐶🐱🐰🐷
I love children and will play gently with them.
I don’t like being left alone much and so a family who takes me out and about with them and won’t leave me for long is what I need. I love outdoor adventures, but love sofa days wrapped in a blanket too. 🏡
I’m currently in the Essex area and the lady looking after my case is Lisa. If you would like to know more about me, you can email Lisa direct:
Please apply by clicking the button below if you think you could give me all the love I need:
I’m Dottie. I’m 3 and a half years old and I have what’s called fear reactivity. This means that I get very scared and react to noises, strangers and things that I’m not used to, 👿 and so I’m looking for a very experienced child free home. I just can’t help myself, I HAVE to bark and chase birds, shadows, reflections, lights etc as I get so anxious about them.
I love attention and affection, and I need constant reassurance as I get very anxious and stressed if someone leaves the room or the house and I will spin around frantically, bark and chase my tail. My foster mum thinks I need a quiet, calm environment where my person can focus on my routine and my ongoing one to one training with me 🏡,
I like to play with my doggy siblings but I also need my time out. I get stressed if another dog barks and so a home where I’m the only dog (and animal) would suit me best.
In the midst of one of the hottest heatwaves of the year 🌞, a little pug was found wandering the streets of Shrewsbury. He was in a terrible state, covered in painful, infected wounds and suffering from heatstroke, he was clearly in desperate need of veterinary care.
Thankfully, a local veterinary practice took him in, provided the urgent treatment he needed and launched an appeal to try to find his owner. But nobody came forward.
Hillbrae Stray Kennels then took him into their care, keeping him safe and comfortable in one of their air-conditioned kennels while he received the ongoing veterinary attention he desperately needed.
Over the following days, he needed daily veterinary visits. His deep, infected skin wounds required clipping, bathing and treatment, while one of his eyes had a severe ulcer. Vets were initially unsure whether his eye could be saved, but an intensive regime of daily eye drops was started in the hope of preserving it.
Then one of our Voluntary Area Coordinators saw the appeal and contacted Hillbrae to let them know that we would take him into our care. He needed to remain with them for his seven-day legal stray period, but as soon as that was complete, one of our wonderful volunteers made the journey to collect him. 🚘
And that was when we met Sunny ☀️
This little pug had been through so much and was clearly in considerable pain, yet somehow his beautiful personality still shone through. He was affectionate, enthusiastic, happy and full of that unmistakable pug character. Despite everything he had endured, Sunny was still a little ball of light. 💫
Sunny went into foster care with one of our trustees and immediately settled in alongside her other pugs. Since arriving in rescue, he has continued to make progress. His skin has started to heal, and after an enormous amount of care, his eye has also begun to improve. It is a testament to the care he has received and to Sunny’s own resilience.
But his recovery isn’t over yet…
We now need to raise the funds required for the surgeries and treatment that will give Sunny the comfortable life he so desperately deserves. Sunny requires BOAS surgery to improve his breathing and reduce the risk of the serious health problems associated with compromised airways.
His teeth are also in a very poor condition. Many are rotten and causing discomfort, meaning he needs dental treatment to get his mouth healthy and pain free. He will also need to be neutered. 🩺
The cost of all of this is significant, particularly after the veterinary treatment Sunny has already required. As a small rescue charity, these bills can be daunting. But when we look at Sunny, we don’t see a list of veterinary procedures or a frightening invoice.
We see a little dog who survived being abandoned in extreme heat, who endured painful infected wounds, heatstroke and a severe eye ulcer, and who somehow remained the happy, loving little pug he is today. We see a dog who deserves a chance.
We can’t change what happened to Sunny before he came into our care, but we can change what happens next. We want his future to be filled with comfortable beds, long and happy walks, pug snuggles and, most importantly, a life free from pain and unnecessary discomfort.
Please help us give Sunny the happy ending he deserves…
If you are able to make a donation towards his veterinary treatment, no matter how small, you will be helping us get Sunny through the final stage of his recovery and towards the healthy, comfortable life he should have had all along.
Every donation really does make a difference.
If you aren’t able to donate, please consider sharing Sunny’s story. Sharing costs nothing and could help us reach someone who is able to contribute towards his care.
He’s already transformed from a little pug found suffering on the streets in the middle of a heatwave, to the happy little Sunny we know today. Now we just need to help him complete his journey.
Thank you, as always, for supporting the PDWRA and helping us continue to say yes to the pugs who need us most. 🙏
If you would like to donate towards Sunny’s ongoing treatment, please click below…
Just after Easter this year, I was sitting on my own, my husband being out cycling, listening to – silence. No snuffling, no snoring, and no warm cuddly shape curled up next to me, as our pug Doug had left our life a few weeks earlier. I had been given the website and Facebook page for the PDWRA, so casually opened it up and saw a picture of an elderly Pug and an elderly French Bulldog, a pair bonded for eight years, and there is no explanation for what happened next. Without hesitating but somehow knowing it was what I had to do, I found myself filling in the application form. Within two weeks we had been approved, had our home visit and Misty the Bulldog and Tootsie the Pug (their real names) were ours. Arrangements were soon made to move them from Blackpool to Cornwall.
The evening we brought them home, they walked in, found their water bowl, had a meal and made their way to the settee. They were so much at home, it seemed as if they knew they truly belonged. That night, we said goodnight and heard nothing from them till the next morning. And that is how the domestic side of life with them continues – two delightful ladies, very much part of the family.
Their new walks have been up farm tracks from our garden (which is safely fenced in), past interesting smells of foxes and badgers, next to fields where they have made friends with horses, rubbing noses across the gate. Or they have seen the wilder side of Cornwall, along the cliffs and through the woods. For more contained exercise, we book a field which has agility apparatus for the dogs. Misty loves it and flies up and over ladders and the see-saw; Tootsie prefers a sedate walk through the tunnel. We are often joined by the two young poodles and all four scallywags enjoy the adventures, especially meeting and greeting other dogs.
Tootsie had wobbly back legs when she arrived, but a little loss of weight, ramps for getting on settees and being off her lead on all the walks (not on public roads of course) have strengthened her legs and she now jumps and runs freely. Misty used to pull on her lead and bark at other dogs, so I kept her attached for a week until she was with the poodles on a walk. Keeping my fingers crossed, I let her go – and no problems at all. They are both very obedient and come back when called, so I am happy for her to meet and greet dogs which she loves. Of course they are on their leads on the roads, and they both respond to the instruction “car! in” very quickly; no pavements in our countryside environment.
Both dogs have found our menagerie of interest. The ducks and dogs are free range together in the garden; Misty has learned that duck food can be very indigestible. The tortoises are exciting only because of their meals of lettuce and cucumber, which Tootsie particularly enjoys. The Guinea pig fascinates Misty, who knows that “Guinea pig time” means she stays in the lounge while the Guinea pig is taken out or brought in from her run in the garden. The cat, a real diva, pretends the dogs will chase her, and is disgusted that neither dog has done so yet! She lives in hopes.
Both Tootsie and Misty have delighted our friends and neighbours and are welcomed into other houses to meet their dogs. Everyone says we have two amazing, beautiful dogs who have settled into our lives as if we had all been together for years. As I write this the house is no longer silent; from beside me, I can hear synchronised snoring. And we will soon all be cuddled up on the settee having had a long walk and two hours in the garden working together.
We feel totally blessed and I fully believe it was intended that I saw that page on the Internet that day.
If you have any thoughts of adopting a pug or two, don’t hesitate. Your life will be made so much fuller with one of those lovely scamps in your house.
