Animal crackers
BRITAIN has a reputation as being a nation of animal-lovers. Sometimes that’s difficult to believe when cases of sickening cruelty and neglect hit the headlines.
But every so often a story comes along that reaffirms that reputation.
The case of Flash, who is heading for a new life in Weston, certainly falls into that category.
He was one of 125 dogs being kept in awful conditions at an oil factory in South Korea.
After being saved from that ordeal he was then kept in a cage most of the time for four years at an abandoned pets sanctuary.
Things might have been worse, however, as he could have been sold at a local meat market.
Flash’s plight came to the attention of Thom Smalley during his volunteer work at the sanctuary and it was more than he could bear.
Thom started taking Flash on regular walks and, unable to bear the thought of him continuing to suffer, he set about raising enough money to ship him over to his parents’ home, north of Newark.
Flash’s story touched many people’s hearts and support flooded in for the internet campaign, much of it from this area.
The target has been reached and Flash is all set to arrive at his new home within a few weeks.
So, while there are still individuals out there who set out to cause pain and suffering deliberately to defenceless animals, Thom and his family have shown through their international rescue mission that there are plenty more whose actions mean that animal-lovers’ tag is still deserved.