Promising lead for at-risk collie Billy after spell at Algarkirk charity

Billy, a two-year-old Collie Kelpie, is on his way to a specialist foster carer in Kent under supervision from staff at Jerry Green Dog Rescue in Algarkirk.

More than 2,500 people have signed an online petition raised when rumours emerged that Billy was to be “put to sleep”.

But Jacqui Bell, chief executive of Jerry Green Dog Rescue, said: “No dog will be put to sleep unless it’s the most humane thing to do and we’re hoping that we’ve found the right place for Billy.”

Dog owner Jacqui revealed that the charity received more than 400 offers of help for 
Billy last weekend from which three or four were identified as potential foster carers.

Jacqui said: “Billy came to us in June 2016 with quite a sad history and we had him at our North Yorkshire centre for a period of time.

“He was, what is described by the farming community, as a spoiled farm dog and when he arrived with us, we spent some time trying to get Billy adjusted to our kennels.

“But we were advised by two senior vets that he had cognitive disabilities and high levels of anxiety which meant that Billy’s quality of life was diminishing.”

Billy’s anxiety resulted in him “chewing through cables and electrical wires”, according to Jacqui, after which he was moved from the North Yorkshire centre to the charity’s outh Lincolnshire kennels in Algarkirk.

Jacqui said: “We worked with several experts and one of our most experienced centre managers in South Lincolnshire to put Billy in a lot of foster-based homes.

“Then we moved him to a very experienced foster carer, but he didn’t thrive in that environment and Billy even managed to cut himself by going through a glass panel.

“We knew that we were doing everything we could for Billy, but we also knew that we would reach a point where we would have to stop.”

Jacqui admitted that a “request for euthanasia” had been put in for Billy last Friday but since then, a foster carer has been found with experience of dealing with behavioural issues similar to Billy’s.

“Billy’s had a very difficult start in life and so we want to give him as good a quality of life as possible,” Jacqui said.

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