A LOT of people don't realise how much these animals contribute,' sighs the Countess of Bathurst, founder of the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA). 'They have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe.
I believe we should come together as a nation and support them in their twilight years. It's the least we can do to acknowledge that loyalty.' When serving as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 2016, Lady Bathurst discovered that financial support for service animals comes to an end when they retire. 'Naturally, handlers want to keep their partners and they can easily cover the expense of food, toys and kennelling, but the cost of veterinary care can be daunting, as insurance is difficult to obtain due to the dog's age,' she points out. 'It's unthinkable that an officer might have to consider rehoming their four-legged companion simply due to financial worry, so I wanted to do something to help.'
Launched in 2022, the charity helps with the medical and veterinary bills of retired dogs and horses across the police, fire, prison, National Crime Agency, and border force services.
'Working alongside wonderful local retired police-dog charities, the NFRSA fills in the gaps and is here to make sure our blue-light families and their animals know that all they do to protect us is valued,' Lady Bathurst emphasises. 'When those vet bills come in later in life, we're here to help. It's a privilege and I'm so proud of what the team has achieved.' At the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment in Kent, it is clear exactly how much the support of 'Lady B', as she is affectionately known, means to the handlers. 'It's great to have that reassurance for when the time comes for our dogs to retire,' says the head of the establishment, Inspector Stephen Biles.
'Being a handler is more than a job-these dogs are part of the family. They protect their officer and that creates an indescribable bond.
Denne historien er fra March 20, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 20, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
