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Feature
human-companion animal bond
‘Unbreakable bond’ celebrated by Friends for Life competition LUCY Watts and her cocker spaniel Molly (right) were voted by the public as the 2014 winners of the ‘Friends for Life’ competition at this year’s Crufts. The annual competition, which has been run by the Kennel Club since 2006, celebrates ‘heart-warming stories of friendship in adversity, where dogs have truly earned the title of man’s best friend, through bravery, support or companionship’. Five short listed dogs have their moment in the spotlight just before the judging of ‘Best in Show’ on the final evening of Crufts. Miss Watts, from Benfleet in Essex, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a life-limiting genetic condition, which has confined her to a wheelchair, needing to be fed into her bloodstream, and in a lot of pain. Since acquiring Molly, she has gained independence and confidence and has found that, when meeting new people, rather than everything being about her condition,
conversations turn instead to Molly. She now takes Molly to agility training and has spoken in Parliament. ‘Molly has not only given me confidence but also independence to live what remains of my life in a way I couldn’t have imagined before,’ she said. ‘For the first time in six years, I went out on my own and took her for a walk. It was such a liberating experience. ‘Being in a wheelchair can be an isolating experience; people don’t know how to talk to you so often they don’t include you. I found that really hard but when Molly came into my life it was like my wheelchair didn’t exist, people started talking to me and including me. Suddenly I was a part of society. Molly did that. She broke down the barrier between the able and disabled for me. I now feel included, wanted and important and the bond between us is unbreakable.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.g2117 March 15, 2014 | Veterinary Record | 273
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on June 5, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
'Unbreakable bond' celebrated by Friends for Life competition Veterinary Record 2014 174: 273
doi: 10.1136/vr.g2117 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/174/11/273
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To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
Feature
human-companion animal bond
‘Unbreakable bond’ celebrated by Friends for Life competition LUCY Watts and her cocker spaniel Molly (right) were voted by the public as the 2014 winners of the ‘Friends for Life’ competition at this year’s Crufts. The annual competition, which has been run by the Kennel Club since 2006, celebrates ‘heart-warming stories of friendship in adversity, where dogs have truly earned the title of man’s best friend, through bravery, support or companionship’. Five short listed dogs have their moment in the spotlight just before the judging of ‘Best in Show’ on the final evening of Crufts. Miss Watts, from Benfleet in Essex, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a life-limiting genetic condition, which has confined her to a wheelchair, needing to be fed into her bloodstream, and in a lot of pain. Since acquiring Molly, she has gained independence and confidence and has found that, when meeting new people, rather than everything being about her condition,
conversations turn instead to Molly. She now takes Molly to agility training and has spoken in Parliament. ‘Molly has not only given me confidence but also independence to live what remains of my life in a way I couldn’t have imagined before,’ she said. ‘For the first time in six years, I went out on my own and took her for a walk. It was such a liberating experience. ‘Being in a wheelchair can be an isolating experience; people don’t know how to talk to you so often they don’t include you. I found that really hard but when Molly came into my life it was like my wheelchair didn’t exist, people started talking to me and including me. Suddenly I was a part of society. Molly did that. She broke down the barrier between the able and disabled for me. I now feel included, wanted and important and the bond between us is unbreakable.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.g2117 March 15, 2014 | Veterinary Record | 273
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on June 5, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
'Unbreakable bond' celebrated by Friends for Life competition Veterinary Record 2014 174: 273
doi: 10.1136/vr.g2117 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/174/11/273
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
