Basil Bunce 2007-2016

Our special boy basil has died I sit here shell shocked and heartbroken, trying to put into words what Basil was like. He came to us one Saturday morning 7 years ago we had arrange to meet Shirley (Evans) & family at Bluewaters carpark as we walked towards her I look up to my husband Kevin and said “ that cannot be him surely?” Wow what a handsome and terrified fella he looked! The reason I thought that was because 11 weeks previously STECS had given us a little girly we called Maddie and she was in a terrible state with large bald patches, anyway we took him home at first in the garden Maddie thought he was great fun soon to turn to “right you can take him home now!” attitude, about a week later he belonged to her!

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They were inseparable ever since she took on his mum role would not allow any dog to hurt him ever however she also told him off when he did his mad “there he goes” zooming around the room bit which wasn’t that often as he was a bit of a lazy chap loved laying in the chair or stretched full out on the sofa watching the telly his favorite was the film Ice Age he would move then and run at the tv every time “Sid” came on the screen and sit looking up to him, also enjoyed you’ve been framed and would come from nowhere when he heard Paul O’Grady’s voice come on with for the love of dogs at Battersea.

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For such a nervous dog he never would allow strangers to touch him if they did he would freeze and turn his head away but he adored other dogs always happy to come across them out on his walks with his little wagger (he had a broken tail when he came to us) would move so fast he didn’t care whether they liked him or not but Maddie knew and would go by his side ready with that tail of hers like a bumper car warning them, for a weeny almost every dog gives her a wide berth.

Yet indoors he would be the one to bark for her if she wanted to go out for weewees or anything that she needed, also I am deaf he soon picked up on that in the early days and would let me know things even to when our son had a seizure in his bedroom it was Basil that alerted us.

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He was so brave at trying new things it didn’t come easy to him he would get himself in a bit of a state barking and spinning in circles but eventually he’d do it then be so proud of himself, his biggest achievement ever was walking down the jetty to get on our boat he had to be carried for awhile but when he did do it oh boy you could see it in his face “that was easy…. Phew!” after that would walk along past the other boats then turn at ours and walk down it with his Scottish swagger pride may not seem a big thing but for a little fella who would not walk past a dustbin, bike, road cone or let alone a person, he felt he had beaten the world.

But on the afternoon on July 11th 2016 could not beat his illness and he went to sleep under Kev’s desk with me and Maddie near him.

It was an honor to have had “Basil bonkers” as we called him in our lives and we thank STECS with all our hearts for placing him with us he was the most loving little guy and we are struggling to come to terms with it and a piece of our hearts have gone with him.

Kevin & Jayne Bunce