A big drama on Saturday afternoon during the National Sheep Herding Championships in the Zeeland hamlet of Nabbegat. Border collie Sally from Assen died suddenly during the event. Owner Caroline Visser not only lost her best competition dog, but especially her buddy, who was not yet eight years old.
“You don’t know what happens to you at such a moment. I saw her slipping away in my hands. We were waiting for our turn. Normally Sally is watching very concentrated. Now I saw that she was sitting in a different way and looking around. Then I knew immediately that it was not good. My husband and I literally saw the light disappear from her eyes. You are powerless.”
Elan Vally Sally, as the border collie is fully called, formed a special couple with shepherd Caroline Visser for many years. The two had qualified for the European Sheep Herding Championship this year and were doing well during this National Championship when disaster struck. The dog probably suffered cardiac arrest.
“I’m not going to have a section done. I won’t get her back with that.” She has to make do with the memories. “Sally was a special animal. She was very stubborn, sometimes did not do things that my other dogs do. Then she would just sit there, like: you will come back here soon. She was really only focused on me, that made us a super team.”
The dog was part of the sheep herd at De Landjes in Marsdijk in Assen and the sheep stable at Witterveld. She will be cremated tomorrow. “We do that with all our dogs that die. I have only kept the ashes of the most loved ones. And yes, I will certainly do that with Sally’s ashes as well.”