Nacho The Beagle
For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with animals. And not just normal level obsessed, I’m talking borderline unhealthy obsessed as well as strangely connected to them, to the point that sometimes the empathy that I feel for animals can have a detrimental effect on my mental health.
Once when I watched a David Attenborough documentary about the plight of emperor penguins who spend their whole life in treacherous conditions just hoping for mating and survival, I cried so much that I had a migraine for two days. When I went to see Marley and Me at the cinema with my mum, not long after first getting my old dog, I was so distressed that she thought she was going to have to enforce leaving the film as she was worried I would hyperventilate from the amount that I was sobbing. One morning when I was about six years old, on the way to school, I witnessed a squirrel being run over and apparently I screamed “why couldn’t it have been me!” before bursting into hysterical tears. A little excessive to say the least but this is the type of deep love that we are talking about. I adore all animals and used to spend my time drawing the same picture of a farm over and over again when I was a child so it’s no wonder that I have turned into the militant vegan that I am today, why many of my holidays are centred around animals and conservation and why pre Covid, I spent nearly seven years worth of Saturdays volunteering walking dogs at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Dogs have always been particularly close to my heart and when I was in my mid twenties and between jobs, I looked after a scruffy little mongrel dog called Bibi for a month for a friend of my mum’s, whose neighbour had gone to prison, leaving the little mutt with no one to care for him. He had such an extreme case of separation anxiety that he literally screamed if you so much as looked like you were heading for the door without him. So as a result he ended up coming everywhere with me for the whole month and I was in pieces when I had to give him back.
Last year, I lost my dog, Otto the pug, who had filled my life with complete joy for twelve years and it was the deepest grief that I have ever suffered, leaving me unable to be on my own in my flat for weeks after his death because I missed him so intensely.
All things considered, probably fostering an animal might not have been the best decision for me but against all my better judgement, when Battersea put out an emergency call for foster carers over the Christmas break, I thought what better way to fill my time off.
When I was sent the picture of the dog I would be looking after, Nacho the one eyed beagle, along with the description and context of why he was in Battersea, my heart broke a little. At 6 years old, he had arrived 6 weeks prior after being rescued from a puppy farm, where he had spent his whole life so far. For anyone who isn’t familiar with what a puppy farm is, essentially they are horrible unlicensed breeding houses, where the owners, solely focused on the potential profit that can be made from selling animals online, keep large numbers of dogs, often the most desirable breeds at the time, in filthy and squalid conditions, forcing them to breed over and over, all the while suffering with extreme neglect. Female dogs in puppy farms often suffer painful infections from overbreeding whilst male dogs are literally viewed as a commodity, experiencing similar neglect only without the heartbreak of saying goodbye to litter on litter of their pups, usually far earlier than is safe to do and at much greater volume than any licensed or ethical dog breeder would allow.
Puppy farms are illegal but unfortunately that doesn’t stop them operating and in 2020 alone, countless numbers were raided as lockdown led to an influx of online shopping by inexperienced pet owners meaning that their business was thriving. Being a male dog, Nacho’s time in a puppy farm may have been marginally better than it would have been had he been a bitch but it was still undoubtedly grim — when he arrived at Battersea he was suffering with a severe skin condition, infected ears and sadly, had to have his eye removed due to ongoing chronic neglect meaning that healing was no longer an option and it was kinder and better for his wellbeing to remove it as it was causing him a lot of pain. Thankfully the staff at Battersea did an incredible job of looking after him and despite his horrific start in life, he is a happy little guy who loves people and dogs alike.
Nacho stayed with me for just ten days but in that time we bonded instantly. Living on my own meant that I could devote all of my time to him and I did just that. We went for many drives around South West London, he came out and about with me, enjoying some of the city’s pubs and many of the beautiful parks and commons. He made a lot of new friends both dog and human and became especially friendly with my mum’s little pug Harry. In my flat, everything was interesting to him. Having never lived in a house before he wanted into all the cupboards and drawers and he was intrigued by everything I was doing. Food was a constant source of excitement and for the whole time he was with me it was a race to finish eating before he worked himself into a frenzy trying to get hold of whatever it was that I had! But my favourite times were in the evenings when it was freezing cold outside and warm and cozy inside. Nacho loved nothing more than to jump up onto the sofa next to me and snuggle down, using whatever limb or body part he could access as a pillow, always in a deep sleep and snoring within minutes of jumping up.
Upon getting Nacho, I immediately set to work on social media, posting pictures and videos of him whenever I could, determined to find him a home and ideally with someone who I knew so that I would continue to have him in my life in some way. And, unsurprisingly I was flooded with interest for him thanks to the additional help of my friend Sophie who promoted him to her entire network plus literally everyone I met out on walks wanted to stop and talk to him. Again this came as no surprise as he just has something very special about him. But the most exciting message came from my friend Sara, who got in touch to say that she was really interested in Nacho. She had recently registered on the Battersea website to rehome anyway and Nacho seemed like the perfect dog for her family. Excitedly we got ahead of ourselves and started planning future trips to the beach, my role as chief dog-sitter and which dog accessories we could order for him. This would literally be the perfect scenario for me, unable to keep him myself due to my job and the fact that I live alone (Nacho struggles to be left on his own so it would be quite a tie for a solo owner) but still be able to see him. Our next challenge would be to persuade the cautious rehoming team at Battersea that Sara’s young children would be okay with a rescue dog but thankfully we had a plan. On New Years Day, we all met for a walk in Richmond Park and as expected, her whole family fell for him, how could they not? And he was just wonderful. Friendly, gentle and relaxed — the perfect addition to their family.
The following week, I returned to work and had to take Nacho back to Battersea as I wasn’t able to work from home. Now it was even more imperative that we got our plan into motion, so we set to work immediately. I sent through my weekly foster report with the additional details about his behaviour around children. Both Sara and I had interviews with the rehoming team and we sent some photographs of little Nacho and the two boys together just to try and strengthen our case. And the next day, after an anxious 24 hours of waiting, Sara got the call to say that she had been approved for rehoming him! What wonderful news and just what we had all been hoping for. But much to our dismay, this wasn’t the end of the story. Along with the news of the approval came the bombshell that had at no point been mentioned to us up until now, that another family, who had expressed interest in Nacho before the New Year, had also been approved and had first hold on him. Meaning that Sara and her family would only be able to rehome Nacho if this family had a change of heart, or decided not to take him after meeting him. We were gutted and despite all of our best efforts, there was nothing we could do.
Since taking him back to the kennels I have been returning to walk him at the weekends when I’m not at work and my heart sunk on Friday when I was told that this weekend I could only walk him on Saturday because he had a rehoming appointment on Sunday — the time that we had all been waiting for had arrived. And all we could do was wait. So, yesterday I took him out for what I knew might be my last time ever seeing him. It was a perfect winters day in London — cold and crisp with beautiful blue skies and we enjoyed a peaceful morning together in Battersea Park. When I put him back into his kennel and watched him happily greet the staff who were just as pleased to see him, I knew that as long as he is shown love, Nacho will be happy with anyone.
Today was filled with anticipation as I checked and refreshed the Battersea rehoming page over and over, waiting for an update and to see what the ending of the story would be and sadly, it is a bittersweet one. This afternoon, Nacho the Beagle went home with the first family, the ones who had been eagerly awaiting him to get the all clear from his array of health conditions, which thankfully, on Friday, he got so that they could come and meet him. Selfishly, I hoped with all of my heart that Nacho would go home with Sara to join her family, a place where I would be able to see him regularly — unfortunately, it was not to be. But regardless of the crushing disappointment that we are all feeling, ultimately, he is now in a home with a family who I am sure will give him the amazing life he has always deserved and I hope as I type, he is cuddled up to someone on a sofa, comfy and warm, using their leg as a pillow as he always did with mine.
So, Nacho, the little one eyed beagle who stole my heart, I will never forget you.
