Shelley Knight

TAKEN FAR TOO SOON (8/7/2019)

Shelley was a huge personality, and had a wonderful sense of humour. She was beautiful inside and out and we will all miss her terribly. She was, cruelly, taken far too soon.

Lorraine told the IRR Facebook members “It’s with a heavy heart I have to tell, that our lovely friend Shelley Knight, lost her fight against cancer and passed away peacefully yesterday, the 8th July, surrounded by her beloved family.

Shelley had been a loyal supporter of IRR for many years, adopting Big Bear Barney and Maisie Moo (who both awaited her at the Bridge) and, more recently, the lovely Stormy”.

She was always a champion against injustices and especially those involving cruelty to animals. Her passing was an enormous loss to many people.

JOINING IRR and BIG BEAR

In Shelley’s own words ……. We first encountered IRR in 2010, having lost our wonderful Golden Retriever, Dudley, almost a year before.

Dudley had been a puppy of 8 weeks old when we got him and he lived for 11 years. Sadly, he had inflammatory bowel disease and I became a wow with a poopie bag! He, then, had a suspected brain tumour and went, first, blind and deaf and then very confused.

He had come into our lives following our lovely Holly going to Rainbow Bridge at 15 years.

Our children were just 7 and 5 years then and we decided on a puppy so they could run with him having, previously, only known our getting old Holly.

Dudley was an amazing Goldie and he died surrounded by us all in the garden with his very pregnant vet coming out for the day to do the deed. We were all heartbroken. That was on June 18th and we said we were never having another!

Christmas came and went and it was strange without dog toys and dog treats and no one trying to sneak any of the food etc. We started thinking and I began to surf the web!!

We adopted Big Bear Barney, a huge 38 kg truly beautiful Goldie boy when he was 5 years old. The wonderful Andy and Val had been fostering him in the West Midlands. He had been handed over as his owners felt they were not looking after him properly and it was the right thing to do.

It was said he was boisterous and an escape artist but we were used to boisterous boys and there was no way he could escape the garden. In fact, Barney turned out to be very gentle and laid back and we soon had him slimmed down to 34kgs.

He was a strutter and ended up in a fight with a local dog but all these things soon passed and he became Mister Faithful. To the end of his life, he always had a bed in the garden. We would coax him in at night and, eventually, he slept in his bed in our bedroom. BUT, still, he always had a bed in one corner of the garden or the other just in case! He could almost blend in with all the plants so the only way you knew he was there was if he looked at you and his eyes would glow.

One day, when he was 8 years old, we went for a long walk in the morning and he came home and was sleeping. It was just a normal day but he refused his dinner at 5pm, that never happens with a Goldie! I simply thought he, maybe, had a funny tum?

At that point, he collapsed to one side and then the other and he couldn’t move. My neighbour and I rolled him on a blanket and put him in the car then we raced to the surgery. He collapsed at 6.15pm and died at 7.45pm. It was his heart that had given way.

Our daughter, a vet, was away in Bristol and I could hear her talking on the speakerphone as Barney was being scanned, shaved and put on fluids and oxygen. It was distressing to say the least and, sometimes, I can’t believe it happened.

Barney was a true gentleman of the breed. He had lived outside with not much attention and always on a lead because he kept escaping!!! For 3 glorious years, he was our beautiful Goldie. With us, he ran with others, ate regular meals, came on holiday with us and he let us love him.

He went to Rainbow Bridge to join Holly and Dudley. We could just imagine them all having a laugh at how the Moo (Maisie) was running circles around me. I missed them all but Moo was keeping me busy”.

STORMY and MAISIE MOO

Storm joined the family on January 31st 2017 and, with Maisie, he enjoyed a wonderful life of good food, lovely walks and loads of cuddles.

The two dogs also went off happily in the motorhome and travelled around Europe with Shelley and Andy. France was a huge favourite with them. Everything seemed to be as good as it possibly could be for them all.

2019 BROUGHT MUCH SADNESS

2019 was going to prove to be a horrible year for so many people and dogs.

On 10th February, an elderly Maisie Moo peacefully crossed Rainbow Bridge. It was, clearly, her time but that didn’t make it any easier for anyone and especially Shelley.

After that, the year just got worse and worse when Shelley became seriously ill and had to spend time in hospital. Then, surrounded by her loving family, she passed away on 8th July.

She will have flown straight up to Heaven to be warmly welcomed by her Golden Angels, Holly, Dudley, Big Bear Barney and Lady Lard Arse, the amazing Maisie Moo.

Shelley will always be remembered fondly by everyone who knew her and especially so by the family who adored her. We think this wonderful picture of them in younger days is a perfect way to remember the lady with the enormous smile and very generous heart.