Pine
Ridge Dog Sanctuary
Connie
Cuff in her own words.
Interview
by Richard Hill
Pine
Ridge Dog Sanctuary in Ascot has been going for over 60 years. Here, Connie,
principal and widow of the founder, the late Bernard Cuff, tells us the story…
“Pine
Ridge came about when my late husband Bernard came home one evening and
switched on his television to watch the news. They were interviewing the
council and dignitaries in Slough, where they had introduced a new by-law. It
was the first township in the country, in October 1958, banning unleashed dogs
from the roads. If there was any dog anywhere without an owner, they picked it
up and took it to their pound. Bernard was horrified when he heard that if the
dog was not claimed, it would be put to sleep after seven days. He tried to get
the by-law revoked, but that was a waste of time. He finally decided to
approach the police and the council to ask if the dogs were not claimed, could
he pick them up? They agreed to that, but he had to pay for them. They would
charge a shilling (5p) a day per dog for their food. So, he used to go, when he
finished work, and at the weekends, with one of the kennel staff, and they
would pick up dogs left there because they would have been put to sleep.
“That went on, and people got to hear about
the work he was doing to save these dogs. He started getting phone calls from
everywhere. At that time, he had a property on the outskirts of Bracknell
with a couple of acres, but that came under compulsory purchase in 1959, so he
had to look for more suitable premises. Then Pine Ridge Farm in Ascot became
available. It was ideal, with its nine acres. He bought it and moved in. From
there on, the number of dogs coming into the sanctuary just grew.
“Bernard
would not refuse any dog. And we ended up with nearly 70 to 80% of totally
unhomeable dogs because they were biters, fighters, or unpredictable and people
weren't interested in them. And again, he wouldn't have anything put to sleep.
They just lived their life out at Pine Ridge.
“In
the early 80s, he concluded that we no longer could continue to take
everybody's problem dogs, and now we only accept dogs that are friendly and
homeable. They've got to be friendly dogs. But some dogs, unfortunately,
through no fault of their own, will stay with us longer than one would expect. Eventually,
the right home comes along for them, and off they go. And that is very
rewarding.
“It's
easy to find homes for little dogs and very friendly, outgoing dogs, but not
quite so much for bigger dogs nowadays, so we just have to bide our time, and
wait for the right home to come along for them. And here we are today, 66 years
on, and still saving strays and unwanted dogs. It can be anything from a dozen
dogs to 35. Our limit now by the council, is 75 but we keep sensible numbers.
“Generally,
a lot of our homes are repeat homes, where people have had dogs from us, and
they've lost them a few years later, and they come back. Through recommendations,
we get a lot of nice homes. We have got doggies that have been homed in Norfolk
and Cornwall. And these usually help with people that have had dogs from us in
the past, and we love the people when they come back, because we know their
previous dog, of course, has had a wonderful life.
“Why
Spanish dogs? That came about when gradually with the local dogs we were taking,
the numbers dropped in our own areas. We had to think about how are were going
to help dogs? We had some friends who live in Spain and, again, the plight out
there is the same. The Mediterranean countries do not believe in spaying, so of
course, the bitches just produce pups every six months, allowed to roam, and
their shelters are overflowing. So, we said yes. We've got the space and
potential. So, then we started taking the dogs from Spain around 15 years
ago. The main thing is to ensure that they are friendly, homeable dogs.
“They're
not all ‘street’ dogs, as you get in Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. In these
places, they're mostly street dogs, and they are much more difficult. With the
dogs from Spain, they're generally nice-natured, and friendly. And so
that's how we came to get involved with Spain. They drive them over. It's a two-day
drive, and they all come over with pet passports. And everything is done there
by our colleagues in Spain. They do the chipping, the vaccinating, the worming,
the neutering, and they must raise all the funds to do that. So, we do our bit
by paying for all their transport to get them here. Otherwise, they couldn't do
it, and it would be quite costly if we had to do the whole payout as well for
each dog. It generally will work out anything up to £600 per dog to have
everything done and with the transport. But at the end of the day, finding them
happy in secure homes is what want for them.
“Our
colleagues in Spain have got the contacts, and they will go and see the dogs,
and if they think it's a suitable dog to send to us, they will send us photographs,
and if we like what we see, yes, we'll take that. It’s hard to say no, because
they all want homes.
“The
transporters come from Spain, so they must be completely qualified. There's a
heck of a lot of paperwork and customs forms that they must go through now and,
since Brexit, it has made it much more difficult and much more expensive to
supply the transport and do everything. And this is why they're coming over in
small batches. When we started, we would have a van load of 10 or 12 come over.
But now we're lucky if we get six spaces per trip. They drive down through
Spain and then pick up the boat. They usually come into Kent at Dover, so then
they have to drive, but it depends on where they're delivering. They deliver
all over the country. They could have a dog that's got to go to Scotland. They
will have other people's dogs on board. It can be Scotland or Cornwall. They must
drive and deliver the doggy to them. And that, of course, is why it makes it
quite expensive, but they do give us a reduced rate to bring the doggies to us.
Of course, being a charity, which we're grateful for.
“It
costs a significant sum to run Pine Ridge for a year. Generally, it would be
around about the £60,000 - £70,000 mark. It’s a lot of money to raise. But we
do get a lot of support from people who have been involved with Pine Ridge from
the beginning, and the odd legacy, of course, does help tremendously.
Contacting
Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary
(All
visits must be by appointment only)
Website:
https://pineridgedogsanctuary.org.uk
Email:
pineridgedogs@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone:
01344 882 689
