ISLAY Dog Rescue has rehomed its 300th rescue dog.

The milestone figure was cause for celebration at the centre, just outside Cumnock.

For the charity has only been running for three years.

Islay Dog Rescue (Ayrshire) is a small, independent dog rescue organisation run jointly by Lorraine Jardine and Richard Thomson and is based at their home, a small farm.

For Murdoch, the dog in question, it really was a fairy story. Abandoned at around a year old he spent the next year in rescue with no interest shown in rehoming him.

At the same time as he was beginning to despair at finding a home a local woman was facing the heartbreak of losing her best friend, her dog Bubba.

Marteen Cowan, from New Cumnock was woken up one morning by her dog yelping. It was obvious he was in dreadful pain and she took him to the vet immediately. He was a young, fit dog so the hope was that it was nothing serious.

However, despite trying desperately for two weeks to help him to recovery, it became apparent that his condition was really serious and he was not going to make a recovery.

Marteen had to make the hardest decision to let her boy go.

HEARTBREAK She explained: “Bubba was my life but I couldn’t continue to see him suffering. He was getting morphine every 1½ hours and had no quality of life. I had to let him go.” Despite her heartbreak, Marteen took on Murdoch on the same day as Bubba passed away.

She said: “I was completely heartbroken but I knew I had to turn the hurt into something good. By helping another dog I felt like I was doing something for Bubba, in his memory, like taking on one of his fur-brothers.

“It was really like fate that brought Murdoch to me. Mark (the foster carer) also lives in New Cumnock and he had made Murdoch a Facebook page, which my partner showed me.

“Lorraine at Islay Dog Rescue pulled out all the stops to get our homecheck done and Murdoch to us the same day and I can’t thank her enough for moving so quickly for us.

“I miss Bubba every day and will never stop loving him. He has taken part of my heart but Lorraine explains it well. She welcomed me to what she calls the “patchwork heart club” – meaning that as each dog passes or moves on it takes a part of your heart with them. However, when another dog comes into your life (one who needs you more than you need the hurt) then they bring their own patch with them to stitch onto your heart. Murdoch will never replace Bubba but he desperately needed a home. The fact he was the 300th dog rehomed by Islay Dog Rescue is just great.” The charity began through tragedy.

Just over three years ago two of their dogs were run over and killed. When they tried to rehome a couple of rescue dogs it became apparent that it was a difficult task - and that’s when they became aware of the desperate plight of rescue dogs in the country.

Lorraine explained: “The hidden facts are that hundreds of young, healthy, beautiful dogs are put to sleep on a daily basis in the UK. Once I became aware of the awful situation these poor dogs face it was like a door had opened and I knew I couldn’t rest until I did something about it.” The first dog to come to the rescue was a brindle and white, 7 year old, grey faced cross called Bruce, now living with a family in dunoon.

Lorraine said: “We thought if we could rehome two dogs each year we would be doing really well. We now rehome an average of two dogs each week.

“People often say that they wouldn’t take a rescue dog as they have problems and you don’t know their background. That is so untrue. The difference between a family pet and a rescue dog can be the 10 seconds it takes the dog to be signed over or picked up by the dog warden. The dog hasn’t changed dramatically in those 10 seconds. Some dogs do have issues but not all dogs with issues are rescue dogs.” Although the rescue works predominately with kennels based on the farm, they do have a couple of foster carers. Foster carers open up their homes and hearts to dogs who need some extra help to find a home.

Mark, from New Cumnock, says “I’m a dog lover, have had dogs most of my life, but after the immense heartbreak when my last one died I decided not to go through that again. I still love having dogs in my life though and the next best thing, perhaps even better than owning one, is to foster. I could only own one or two dogs, but I can foster many, many more and help them find their way to a new home.

GRATEFUL “I particularly like working with Islay Dog Rescue because their criteria for dog adoption is not as rigid as others.

“Each adoption application is evaluated on an individual basis by Islay Dog Rescue rather than by a preset tick box form. People who want a dog will get a dog one way or another.

“If otherss turn everyone away who doesn’t live in, for example, a detached house with a big garden, then these potential dog adopters will go to a breeder to get their dog and the problem of the rising dog population, particularly the unwanted dog population, will persist.

“To anyone who is looking to adopt a dog, even if others have turned them down, check out Islay Dog Rescue.” Lorraine said: “For Richard and I, to be able to say we have now rehomed over 300 dogs is spectacular and we couldn’t have imagined such a successful journey all those years ago.

“We would not have been able to save those 300 dogs without the constant help and support of the public, and we cannot begin to express how grateful we are to everyone who has been involved over the years.

“We get asked what’s next for us now that we’ve reached this goal? Well, here’s to the next 300.”