Hi All,
Good News!!! Randal and Button’s owner are friends on facebook where it was posted that Buttons is home!!! Apparently some folks with higher authority stepped in and righted the wrong and Buttons went home where he belonged. Just thought you would want to know the end of the story. Here’s the original story and then the one about his release. Yay!!!
Ru
Terra Firma
This was the original story about Buttons.
“The power of the press has helped free Buttons the sea-dog, whose plight in quarantine was revealed in last week’s Western Telegraph. “
“The power of the press has helped free Buttons the sea-dog, whose plight in quarantine was revealed in last week’s Western Telegraph.
Buttons, aged 17, had spent the last seven years sailing the Mediterranean with his owners, Colin and Jane Spiers and son Tom, formerly of Llanddewi Velfrey.
But after Colin, aged 71, died suddenly on the Spiers’ 40-foot yacht in Turkey, the family returned to the UK, leaving Buttons held for six weeks in a quarantine kennel in Bristol bcause of a two-day gap in his rabies vaccinations in 2012.
Mrs Spiers, who feared that Buttons could die before being released, appealed to the Western Telegraph for help, with MP Simon Hart following up the case with DEFRA Minster George Eustice.
And on Saturday, Buttons was allowed home.
“He was filthy dirty, and he has worn away his elbows and his magnificent beard from lying on concrete,” Mrs Spiers said.
“He was so pleased to see me and Tom, but his back end is so stiff he couldn’t wag his tail.
“He’s had a very big bath and he’s a bit happier, but very clingy and sad and he hasn’t made a sound.
“I’m just hoping that by the end of the week we might see his tail wag.
“We are just so relieved to have him back, and would like to thank the Western Telegraph and Simon Hart for highlighting the case, and all Buttons’ well-wishers who have sent us such lovely messages.”
Mrs Spiers – who faces a kennel bill from DEFRA of over £1,100 – is now in contact with Ian Wright, the head of the European Scientific Counsel for Companion Animal Parasites (ESCAAP) UK & Ireland over Buttons’ case.
He has told her: “The whole episode has been an example of the pet travel scheme at its worst.
“I have no doubt that Buttons would not have been released without some pressure from the press, and that is simply wrong.”
Said Simon Hart: “I am delighted that common sense has prevailed. As a dog owner myself I had enormous sympathy for Jane and Buttons and I am so glad that this story has had a happy ending.”