A Poem submitted by Allison & Hayden of New Norfolk - January 2002

There is a Jack called Billy,

Who is really quite silly!

He runs, jumps and plays all day,

Then falls asleep in the weirdest way.

Bill loves to race, a few ribbons he's gotten,

Bill loves us and we spoil him rotten!

Dear Happy Jack,

Nikki Miska Belle - Resting after her Big ordeal!

I am writing to tell you a very sad story. A couple of months ago, we as a family, decided to let our dear Miska have puppies. Everything had been planned, her man had performed his duties, the pups were due early May. That night, some hours later, a little brown dog that had jumped our back fence, into our yard, mated Miska again. We didn't want these puppies; we didn't even know what kind of dog it was, only that it was small, a golden tan colour. Even though this dog was quite cute, we couldn't take the chance on having half bred pups. We rang the vet the next morning and he suggested that Miska have a series of injections to abort the pups. The vet also advised that by not letting Mother Nature take its course, there would be, but not likely, a 1 in 1000 chance of Miska contracting a septic urine tract infection or worse.

Everything seemed okay until Sunday just gone; Miska was off her food, restless, discharging and looked funny in the eyes. Mum raced her to the vet early yesterday and the inevitable had happened. Miska's temperature was sky high; she was showing signs of a phantom pregnancy and just about dead. The vet gave her an immediate, extremely urgent spaying, put her on an IV drip to treat pyometra and clear up the urine tract infection, which had turned septic and had poisoned her.

Today, the 9th May, we collected Miska from hospital, she will be okay, her stitches are to be removed in 10 days and Miska will be on antibiotics for a further 7 days. We are so sad, because Miska keeps looking at us wondering why she is so sick, but we are glad that she doesn't know what we know, is that she can't ever have babies, or go to shows which she loves. It is so unfair, that an intruder, is allowed to roam the streets, jump uninvited into our backyard, cause all this damage and get away with it. Why can't people restrain their pets, especially half-breeds, which should be de-sexed?

From Kendall & Jarrod Painting - Launceston, Tas.

Hi Jack.

Let's see if I can do this without losing the pictures or the message, fingers crossed. Well as you can see, I've sent you three of the better photos I have of Zac (alias Nikki Tan - DOB 1996).This Jack Russell was bred by Anne Burrows and sold to people in Hobart. The story behind Zac as I know it, is as follows, the middle aged couple that bought him,decided that they no longer had time for Zac, as they were retiring and intended to travel, so they advertised him in the Mercury, where he was bought for $150 by a man who then gave him to his aged father (who couldn't care for himself, let alone a hypo JR). So then his neighbour said that she could give him a loving home, until the cat came home. It was about then that his name changed from Tan to Zac. When I arrived home from a local horse show there was a note on my door pleading for help. My other dog Monty was starting to get stiff and needed five painkillers nightly to sleep. I decided to take in and give Zac a go. As all good stories should end, they have been the best of friends since. Monty has not had any tablets since and he even lies down on the ground to give Zac a fair chance when playing. That is about it for now, until I see you all at the Bream Creek Show and Zac will be trying his luck at winning (ha ha). Catch you then and oh yes, I forgot to add the time frame of sale to when he came to me, it was only over night , that’s five owners and two names in less than twenty four hours, sad eh? The larger dog in photo that Zac is wrestling with is Monty, a three quarter Irish Wolfhound who stands as tall as the kitchen table, so, you can see that they get the look, when I walk them, talk about the short and the tall!

Sent in by Julie Smith, Southern Tasmania. 9th March, 2000