Family are so grateful that Cookie's alive after blaze

Posted on August 14, 2007

Meet Cookie, a young border collie whose tail's finally wagging again after a terrible ordeal.

Cookie was one of the dogs caught up in the horrific blaze at Appledown Kennels at Eaton Bray last Wednesday, which claimed the lives of three pets.

He was staying there while his owners holidayed in Spain, and it was his boarding block that caught fire in the early hours of the morning.

Firefighters rescued him from his pen, and he was dramatically revived using an oxygen mask.

Staff and volunteers still feared Cookie wouldn't make it, but the young dog, who celebrated his second birthday last week, showed his resilience.

His owner, Sandra Dear of Mill End Close, Eaton Bray, said it has been "an emotional rollercoaster" and stressed how grateful she was to everyone who aided Cookie's miraculous recovery.

"He doesn't seem traumatised by it at all, he's amazing," she said.

"I want to say a big thank you to all the people involved."

Sandra and her family went straight to the kennels after touching down at Gatwick airport, and they were shocked to learn about the fire.

"My boys were absolutely gutted when they heard the news," she said.

"They'd phoned my dad but he didn't want to phone me with the bad news while I was on holiday."

Panic turned into relief when they found out that Cookie was alive, but vets still feared that he was going to lose his sight.

Thankfully that didn't turn out to be the case, and the young canine's now being treated with eye-drops to help him recover fully.

Cookie was treated at the Julia M. Boness Veterinary Hospital in Barton Le Clay, where staff sat with him 24 hours a day until he'd recovered.

Even after the trauma of the past few days, Sandra said she wouldn't think twice about taking Cookie back to Appledown.

Julie Shelton, who owns the Harling Road kennels, said: "It's so great because everyone thought he hadn't made it. It's fantastic news."

Julie was on holiday when she heard about the blaze, and she jumped straight on a plane home, leaving her family behind in Canada.

She said that staff at the kennels were devastated that three dogs had died in the blaze, which has been put down to a freak accident.

A German shepherd and a rottweiler died at the scene, and experts were unable to save a labrador, which died later.

The kennel owner said: "It was an awful thing to happen, it's really traumatic."

But she added that she'd been touched by the response the kennels have had from the local community, where lots of people have pitched in to lend a hand.

"It's been heart-warming that people have come in and helped us, it's unbelievable," she said.

"Still we're having phone calls. The majority of people are asking what we need. It's out of this world."

Ms Shelton said her staff had done a superb job and was full of praise for Kim Hutchinson and manager Stephanie Flisher for their reaction to the crisis.

"The fire services were amazing. We're just trying to find out how to thank them - they need to know how wonderful we think they are," she said.

Appledown is continuing to honour existing bookings, and Ms Shelton said that dog owners have been very understanding.

The kennels have been absolved of any blame by fire investigators, and the fire isn't being viewed as suspicious.

Source: Dave Burke, Leighton Buzzard Observer, 14 August 2007