It is and remains a difficult discussion: what should happen to a dog after it has bitten someone? It often ends with a shot at the vet. Not if it’s up to Els Adams from Nispen. She is the only one in Brabant who rescues the animals sentenced to death and gives them a second chance. “The best thing is when you see such a frightened creature again.”
It regularly comes up in the media: a dog that has bitten someone. Last month it was hit in Bergen op Zoom, where 55-year-old Edith de Waal was attacked by a Stafford. The result: ten stitches in her thigh, four under her armpit and a serious scratch on her head. A drama for Edith, which could end fatally for the dog itself.
It is an example of a moment when Els can be called in. ”We take care of animals, at the request of authorities. This sometimes includes animals that have been responsible for previous biting incidents.”
With her foundation Dier en Project she has already saved more than four thousand healthy dogs from death. “Some of them have bitten people. But there are also dogs that are not toilet trained or people shy.” And there is also room for dogs that simply have nowhere to go and which no one cares about. “At the moment we get a lot of dogs from intensive bread breeding.”
“You don’t think, you just do it.”
It was never a conscious choice for Els to start with the shelter. ”You don’t think about something like that, you just do it.” She worked for many years for international animal and welfare organizations. “More and more vets and authorities came to me with the question whether I wanted to take in a dog. Then don’t say no. People know I’m sensitive to that.”
At the moment Els takes care of about a hundred animals. The shelter is full. “First we put them in a pack. There they learn from each other, not from us.” How long the dogs stay depends on several factors. Some only have a physical problem, they are replaced fairly quickly. Those who are mentally damaged sometimes stay for one and a half to two years. And some dogs are not rehomed. “They stay with the foundation. For example, there is a dog that looks very sweet, but has bitten someone several times. There is also a severe epileptic patient. You just can’t rehome dogs like that.”
“Tears streamed down my cheeks.”
Fortunately, the success stories predominate. Like that of the dog Petra, from a bread breeder. “When Petra came in she just stared at the wall for seven months. She was that scared. Until she suddenly lay down on the couch next to me. Yes, then the tears will flow down your cheeks.”
