JASMINE

I tend to take these unbelievable stories with a grain or two of salt, and therefore try to check them out on Snopes.  With one very minor exception, this turned out to be a true story.
                    

In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog. The dog had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had quite clearly been abused.



In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a female greyhound, to the  Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, which is run by a  man named Geoff Grewcock, and known as a haven for animals abandoned, orphaned, or otherwise in need.

Geoff and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims: to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved. They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.

 Jasmine, however, had other ideas. No one quite remembers how it came about, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It would not matter if it were a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or hurting animal. Jasmine would  just peer into the box or cage and, when and where possible,  deliver a welcoming lick.



Geoff relates one of the early incidents.  "We had two puppies that had been abandoned  by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and  another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when  they arrived at the center. Jasmine approached them and  grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them."

But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits.  She takes all the  stress out of them, and it helps them to not only feel close to her, but to settle into their new surroundings. She has  done the same with the fox and badger cubs. She licks the rabbits and guinea pigs, and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose."


Jasmine, the timid,  abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born.  The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared  for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, fifteen chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and fifteen rabbits - and one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, eleven weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary,  Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into  the full foster mum role. Jasmine the greyhound showered Bramble the roe deer with affection, and made sure nothing was matted. "They are inseparable," said Geoff. "Bramble walks between her legs, and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary.  It's a real treat to see them."

Jasmine continued to care for Bramble until she was old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happened, Jasmine was not lonely. She was too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.



Pictured from the left  are: "Toby," a stray Lakeland dog; "Bramble," orphaned roe deer; "Buster," a stray Jack Russell; a dumped rabbit; "Sky," an injured barn owl; and "Jasmine," with a mother's heart doing best what a caring mother would do. The one exception I mentioned above is that they had the owl sitting on a towel so as to not scratch Jasmine. The towel was photoshopped out. Jasmine passed away in October, 2011.

Fun --

SAYINGS

A penny saved is a Government oversight.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have
gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

He who hesitates is probably right.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.