RADIO RUHANIYAT. 10-12-2013: Episode 324

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...and such is the order of God's Creation.

THE SURROGATE ‘DOG-MOTHER’! -Compassion!

I have learnt a lot from our dog: Krispie. He’s an 11-years-old Pomeranian who often leaves me overwhelmed. God sure, had a reason to put him in our lives. When he makes a mistake and gets a scolding, he’s humble enough to come and kneel up to your knees with his ears down: so typical of trying to say sorry! No one taught him to do that but he has his ways of apologizing. An epitome of humility: no matter what; he forgets his punishments in a second and wags his tail as if nothing ever happened. He’s full of love and attachment. I often wonder if we humans can give up our ego as easily as some of these animals do. Animals can be very caring and compassionate and certainly have more purity in their minds than many humans.

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 at 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, and 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 showers Bramble the roe deer with affection, and makes sure nothing is matted.

"They are inseparable," says Geoff.  "Bramble walks with her everywhere, and they keep kissing each other.  They walk together around the sanctuary.  It's a real treat to see them."

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

Compassion is an inherited trait and all humans are born with it. Some people keep it alive, others embed it. A person who lacks Humanity, Love and Compassion is considered dead even if he or she is living and breathing.

Remember: Whatever you give out in life is what you receive back in life.

And also remember: Everything happens in our lives for a reason. Jasmine had to go through abuse and abandonment to understand the importance of love and compassion. Thereafter, she took up the role of the Surrogate “Dog-Mother’: a role she was meant to play. But destiny had to make her go through some negatives in order to help her understand the significance of the positives!