At the end of December 2008 just after Christmas my friend Jilly and I drove 4000 miles on a return journey to Albania. We will never be able to forget the suffering and misery of the animals in this country that we saw during our brief stay. We saw stray dog after stray dog living on slum sights, horses and ponies tied on short ropes alone with hardly a blade of grass in sight for them to eat, live turkeys with their legs tied being sold at the side of the road, sheep with foot rot and other untreated health problems and donkeys pulling carts. The amount of litter was horrendous, it was everywhere, people obviously just dumped their waste in the streets and fields. Jilly and I fed every animal that we saw but some were too frightened to come to us to eat the food. They had obviously been mistreated by humans and could not believe our kindness.

We stayed in a small hotel in the town of Lezhe for New Years Eve. The Albanians celebrate New Year by constantly setting off fireworks/bangers on every balcony of every flat all through the night. It was unbearable, unsafe and like a war zone. All of the stray dogs were frightened and running around the streets to try to get away from the noise. The fireworks even continued well into New Years day.

Whilst going for a walk on New Years day in Lezhe we heard the pitiful screams and cries of a puppy from a good distance away. We ran towards the cries and ended up on a slum site which housed 3/4 shacks made of timber, metal sheets and barbed wire. To our horror the crying puppy was wedged between 2 pieces of splinted wood trying desperately to get free. We started to try and break down the shack. A man came out of one of the other shacks and even though he couldn't understand English he knew from our distress that we were desperately trying to get the puppy free. The man started to call for who we thought was the owner of the puppy and 5 people came out of the shack where the puppy was stuck, it was apparent that they were leaving this puppy to die. Eventually the man got the puppy free and handed him to Jilly who cuddled him underneath her coat. We were led to belive that these people were proud people but we saw a different side when they demanded money from me for the puppy. Due to the language problems we felt that there was no other way to secure us to take the puppy away from them than to pay them. We do not know how long the puppy had been stuck and subjected to this ordeal including the fireworks, cold, pain & discomfort, his body was covered in sarcoptic mange and he had little fur to protect his body and he was starved. He was so distressed and absolutely terrified. Poverty was no excuse for the cruelty that these people had inflicted on this puppy.

We had no other option but to bring the puppy back to England. There are no animal shelters in Albania and there was absolutley no way we would have found a home for him there with his condition as even the most appealing dogs were stray. This puppy deserved a chance of a good life which we were going to provide for him. Jilly runs an animal rescue shelter in Devon England and I am a great animal lover and there was no way that we were going to leave this puppy to die and we defy anybody who could do that.

After rescuing the puppy we immediately set off to England. We called the puppy Teddy as he slept for most of the journey in absolute comfort cuddling into a teddy bear soft toy. We gave him small meals, due to his condition, little but often. When we needed to overnight we took him into the hotels and bathed him in medicated animal shampoo to ease his sores and constant scratching. After spending some time with us Teddy soon showed signs of becoming a normal puppy. He went from being a frightened, cowering puppy to looking for mischief, his favourite was to empty our handbags and pull off the bed covers!

The Quarantine Kennels, Foredown, met us at Dover to take Teddy to their kennels in Devon. The reason why we chose this kennel in Devon is because Jilly lives very near and can visit Teddy frequently. We were sad to see Teddy go but were glad that he has a fantastic life ahead of him. He is being extremely well looked after at Fordowne and everybody loves him.Thats all he ever wanted, to be loved and be free from pain and discomfort and fear, along with the many other stray animals in Albania.

We are publicising the rescue of Teddy in order to raise the awareness of the plight of the stray animals and the dire neglect and disregard of animals in Albania. We would welcome other people's experiences who have visited Albania or those who visit regularly, to help in the plight of the animals or indeed who have brought back an animal from Albania. We would also welcome any donations to Teddy's quarantine fees, or if you wish to help in any way. Please send to or write to;

Jilly Proffitt

Animal Rescue Centre

Dingley Dell

East Cliff Walk

Teignmouth

Devon

TQ14 8TR

Jilly Proffitt: Founder Member and Jenny Bell: Volunteer Member Stoke-On-Trent

A progress report will be updated on the future of Teddy and hopefully his story will soon be published by a national newspaper.

Thank you

Jenny Bell & Jilly Proffitt