A Few Words from
Marcus
Here at Dog Rescue we try
our utmost to rehome the animals that come into
our care. Sometimes, this is easy. Puppies and
older, well-trained family pets are in great
demand. Sadly, some of our less popular canines
remain with us for very many months.
In order to encourage
visitors to consider our longer residents, it is
my job to write some inspiring words about them
to attach to their enclosures. I write such notes
as if from the perspectives of the creatures
themselves. This can warm the hearts of potential
owners, and I know that my writings have been an
important initial factor in many successful
rehomings.
Marcus was my greatest
challenge. But let me tell you his story in his
own words - as written by me.
‘Hello, my name is
Marcus. You might think I look rather large and
fierce. That is because my daddy was a Rottweiler
and my mummy was a Doberman/Pit Bull cross. I had
a happy puppyhood, living wild with my parents in
woodland near Bodmin. What fun we had hunting
rabbits and other creatures such as cats, dogs,
sheep and small children.
Unfortunately, bigger
people were not very kind to us. They kept trying
to shoot us, and eventually they succeeded in
killing my mummy and daddy, leaving me an orphan.
I was forced to move onto the Moor and fend for
myself with little to eat but sheep, cattle and
hikers.
Eventually I was caught by
the army and placed with the nice people at Dog
Rescue. I am really looking forward to finding a
new home. Because I can sometimes be a little bad
tempered and don’t really like people, the
Home Office prefer me to wear a muzzle and live
in a carbon fibre reinforced steel cage.
Nevertheless, I would be an ideal pet for a
patient and caring owner with experience in
treating rabies.’
The usual applicants for a
dog such as Marcus soon came forward. There was
the single mother with three small children, and
one on the way, who thought a large, untrained
dog would be an ideal addition to the family.
Then there was the middle-aged lady living alone
and on benefits on the fourteenth floor of a
council tower block, who had already taken in
twenty-five stray dogs and forty cats. Finally
there was the short, overweight, tattooed, macho,
unemployed and not very bright labourer who was
seeking a dog to match his self-image. As usual,
we had to advise them all against rehoming.
One day, however, the
canine psychologist from the TV show ‘Dogs
from Hell’ arrived looking for a subject for
his next programme. Marcus was ideal. In no time
the Marcus of old could hardly be recognised,
covered, as he was, in human blood and smashed TV
recording equipment.
He was last seen heading
back to his home on Bodmin Moor, where he has now
become something of a legend.
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