aren’t they dangerous?" 

The usual response is a very patient explanation about how soft, gentle intelligent & loving this extremely

 mis-understood breed of dogs are, my final comment is applicable not just to rotties BUT in fact any breed

that is accused of being "devil dogs"... it’s not the animal it’s the owners that make the animal aggressive.

 We see many rotties that have been left homeless for a great variety of reasons & they are all special in

their own way, however every now & then one really breaks your heart……….

This is Zulu’s story and the reason why we rescue………

Zulu came to FRR in early May 2007, weighing 27kg (a healthy male rottie will weigh about 45kg) he was

 thought to be about 4 years old. His whole underneath was infected and he seemed to be incontinent.

One of our dedicated foster carers took Zulu in as it was felt that kennels were not ideal for this poor chap.

A trip to the vets, the first of many for Zulu resulted in some medication to try & control the incontinence,

on a follow up visit the vet felt that there had been no improvement in his incontinence but he had put on a

 few kilos in weight and appeared brighter in himself, his medication was changed and a follow up

appointment arranged.

Zulu became happy to plod around the park on his walks, occasionally summoning up the energy to chase a

 ball , but he was unable to mix with other dogs as we were unsure as to the reasons behind his illness. At the

beginning of June Zulu took a turn for the worst and developed double incontinence and was losing blood.

An emergency visit to the vets for x-rays to try an establish the cause of his problems revealed that Zulu had

a fractured spine, probably caused by the abuse Zulu suffered at the hands whoever owned him before he

was picked up as a stray. On the 9th June 2007 the extremely hard decision was made that the kindness thing

 for Zulu was for him not to wake up from his x ray surgery…...