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There's nothing quite as tragic to a pet owner than losing their beloved companion, however that's exactly what happened to Adrian James when his 5 month old border terrier passed away tragically.
Posted in the Border Terrier Owners group on Facebook Adrian shared the sad news of the passing of his four-legged friend. ‘RIP my little Rocco I’m totally heart broken you had to die in such a horrible way and only 5 months old, GUTTED’ said Adrian.
Prior to his passing Rocco was very healthy and fit and a bundle of energy, so when Adrian posted this to the group many members gave him their condolences but were shocked at Rocco’s sudden passing and questioned Adrian on what had happened and he responded:
‘My poor boy caught his collar on a kitchen door handle! He must had been jumping up to get on the work top and fell down catching the collar my poor Mum found him hanging on the door.’
The tragedy hit all members of the group hard and the original post has over 750 comments of condolences and tributes to Rocco and Adrian. Hearing the horrific way in which Rocco had died struck a chord within the group; People started posting pictures of their dogs with no collar on with the caption #CollarsOffForRocco, which now hosts over 100 posts. Adrian was overwhelmed with the level of support he received and commented on the hash tagged posts:
‘Wow it’s 2.30 am I can’t sleep and I’m just overwhelmed with all your support from far and wide about my ROCCO, border terrier owners I love you for your kindness and loving words. ‘Rocco was my first dog and my eyes are sore from crying that he had to go so soon. Thank you all so much I’m still lost for words.’
The Admin of the Border Terrier Owners group, Heidi Batey, set up a Just Giving fundraising page in Rocco’s name. All of the money raised will be donated to Border Terrier Welfare, a charity that helps Border Terriers in their time of need. The page has already smashed its £250 goal, raising a grand total of £5670.10 at the time of writing – 2268% of it’s original goal.
Adrian’s sister, Sally Thomas, is helping to raise awareness of the dangers of dogs wearing collars in the home. She commented:
‘Does your dog need its collar on whilst at home? Chances are it does not, it is an unseen danger and one most of us have never thought about. ‘Please seriously consider this so you do not have to go through what my brother and mum did.’
Some people may argue your dog should wear a collar at all times however Tony Wrenn of Border Terrier Welfare has stated: ‘The law states that a dog must wear a collar with a suitable identity disc at all times when in a public space’. ‘For safety and for the dog’s comfort it is permissible to remove the collar when the dog is in its own home and within the garden provided that it is secure.’
Both Sally and Adrian are blown away by the amount of support they have received and further said:
‘The amount of money raised is far beyond what we could have ever dreamed off, people’s generosity has astounded us and for that we are truly grateful’ said Sally. ‘The support received on social media was fantastic and I know Adrian took a lot of comfort from this. ‘It restores your faith in humanity knowing that so many people’
