Claire with Dempsey and Hawksbee
I used to visit your site after our lurcher Dempsey died. We lost her to cancer on 18th March 1997. Dempsey came from Bellmead (an annex of the Battersea Dogs Home in London) in November 1991. She was about three and had been a prisoners dog. She was held at Battersea awaiting his sentencing for five months, then she waited a further three months looking for a home. She became my (Claires) dog as she was very wary of men, initially. Our five and a bit years with her were far too short. Last week our other lurcher, Hawksbee died of a heart failure. We got Hawksbee the same time as Dempsey, she was much the same age. Fortunately she had only been picked up as a stray and wasn't 'spooked' like Dempsey was. She had started to show signs of illness late last year and her survival over the following seven months amazed our Vet. Nursing her, administering her tablets three times a day, only served to bring us closer. When she died on Monday 12th July, although it had been expected for some time, it was still a great loss. Fortunaly we were at home that day and Gary held her when she went. They were our first ever dogs and it was a bit of an unknown quantity but we could not have wished for better friends. Lurchers have a bit of a reputation to live down but in the right environment they make brilliant pets.
Gary with Mackenzie, Guinness and Hawksbee
Fortunately we take comfort in our last two remaining dogs, Mackenzie
and Guinness and hope to rehome another Battersea dog in the next few
months.
Claire Wallace-Sims
and Gary Thatcher