Enid & Bailey: A story of love, loss and new beginnings
I am 78 years old, fit and healthy, and blessed with two adult children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren! I retired 11 years ago and have been involved (Secretary) with Western Australia’s 2/28th Battalion Association for more than 30 years.
In the meantime, we adopted several pets, including a purebred Chinchilla cat named Vincent, who crossed the rainbow bridge when he was 17. Later came a German Shepherd named Jess, whom we met via SAFE Inc when we were visiting Karratha. Jess came to Perth on the plane back home with us and we had her for four years till she passed away.
Afterwards we rescued a second German Shephard named Phoenix from another rescue. Phoenix was with us for four years before she crossed the rainbow bridge to be with Vincent and Jess. We then heard about a neglected German Shephard, Connor, at the pound. We adopted him, but he had been so badly treated, it was a daily struggle to keep him safe and pain free. Darling Connor only lived to be eight years old.
Back to the SAFE Karratha website and there was Meadow! It wasn’t long before she was on a plane to join our family. We changed her name to Maddie. Sadly, my husband Richard had a stroke four years ago; his health deteriorated, and he passed away in January 2024.
Maddie was my comfort and the love we shared was immeasurable. Five weeks after Richard died, Maddie had a seizure, and I reluctantly had to let her go. She is now in the garden with her own special plaque.
I said no more husbands or pets, but “I’ll just have a look at SAFE Karratha website” (again) and up popped Bailey, a 9-year-old Australian Bandog. I was instantly in love with her. At the time, Bailey was being cared for by a volunteer foster carer, Kerry, who fell head over heels in love with Bailey for her sweet nature, despite being in pain. Bailey wasn’t a spring chicken anymore and came with medical issues. I wanted to take care of her. Bailey’s adoption was arranged, and she flew to Perth in June 2024.
Bailey is quite a character. She loves dragging her toys, my shoes and clothes around the house, but she never destroys anything. Bailey loves car rides, and I have a perfectly safe harness for her. The other day we went to Bunnings and were there for nearly 1.5 hours because Bailey wanted to stop, say hello and lick everybody.
Bailey has been my excellent emotional support during the last few months. She just has to be wherever I am and on the couple of occasions I have had to leave her at home, she throws doggy tantrums!
Bailey is an excellent watch dog, and her growl comes up from her pretty white feet. I can’t imagine life without her!
