Belle

A safe place to land

Eight-year-old Jack Russell Belle arrived at Bath Cats and Dogs Home in October after being found alone in a garden. Her owner had moved away and left her behind.

As an older dog, Belle needed several medical checks. She had a small mammary mass, a luxating kneecap, osteoarthritis and a cataract, as well as dental problems that needed treatment. Our vets were also concerned about her breathing and carried out scans of her lungs.

Thankfully, the scans were clear and the mass was benign. But while Belle’s medical needs could be treated, she was finding kennel life difficult.

Belle was extremely stressed and vocal in kennels, so once her medical concerns had been assessed, the team moved her into the care of an experienced fosterer. She settled quickly into home life.

Her fosterer worked with Belle on crate and muzzle training and gradually helped her get used to spending short periods alone. By her third week in foster care, Belle could be left comfortably for around three hours.

Five months after she had been abandoned, Belle was adopted in March.

Although we have not yet received an update from her new family, her time in foster care allowed her to practise the everyday skills she would need in a home and gave the team a much clearer picture of how she coped outside the kennel environment.

For dogs like Belle, foster care can offer something that kennels cannot always provide: a quieter home environment and more individual support. By opening their home to Belle temporarily, her fosterer helped her take the next step towards a permanent one.

Could you offer a dog like Belle a temporary place to call home? Find out more about fostering with BCDH.