“where do i start, teddy came to me early january a broken down poorly pup, a matter of weeks later he is my stunning young man! i am incredibly proud to say that i am one of teddy's 'carers'. what jill has done for young teddy is nothing short of incredible, i have so much respect for her i admire her believes many an afternoon whilst sitting in with teddy we will swap storys, i consider jill a good friend, she has restored my faith in the human race (as for this phill character have a heart open your eyes and stop being small minded i challenge you to spend an hour with young teddy and not feel some compassion) i'm am immencly proud of my team at foredowne for pulling it together and making teddy a puppy again, and as for my main man teddy you make my day when i see you Jx”

“Don't listen to all these people who are critical of what you have done. there are always people like this ready to have a go and tell you that people are more important.

The fact that you have spent all this money on one wonderful little shining soul is fantastic and what life should be about - inspirational, aspirational and a tribute to the importance of one single little life!

Shame on all you miserable critics!!

From Jean,
SOS for Serbian Animals”

“In response to Phil from Exeter, if you have got nothing positive to say then please keep your disgraceful comments about putting the puppy down to yourself. You need to get a heart. Why don't you start a collection for the jobless fathers and put your hand in your pocket if you are so concerned.These ladies have done what they believe in so why don't you do the same. People giving money to this puppy has nothing to do with jobless fathers. I will definately be giving a donation to Teddy the Albanian puppy to help to pay towards his quarantine fees and I urge anybody who is kind to do the same if they can afford. These two ladies have done a fantastic deed in saving this little puppy and nobody should criticise them for it. They came across this starved, helpless animal and rather than turning a blind eye,(which I bet many who have criticised this act on this comments page would have done) they rescued him. He will now have the good, healthy and happy life that he most certainly deserves. Even those who say he is just one puppy out of millions at least it is one that has been saved from suffering and dying. If everybody was as kind as Jill and Jenny the world would be a better place and there would be less animal suffering. Well done to you both and keep up the good work,
Sarah, Torquay”

“I have known Jill Proffit for many years. and where animals are concerned she will always put the animal first regardless of what sort.
How many people in there situation could ignore the crys of a puppy in distress.
Keep up the good work Jill and Jenny”

“Hi Meg, whilst none of us like the idea of quarantine its better than death. We found Teddy New Years Day (Thursday) most vets were closed untill at least the following Tuesday, fortunately we always carry a medical bag of general animal creams/bathing lotion ect, Teddy's condition was one of open wounds, eye problems, sarcoptic mange, dehydration, worms and starvation, all conditions were treatable until we were able to get him to a vet. Our time was limited Meg, for Teddy's sake we had a 2,000 mile journey back to the UK, and we had to do it in three days. Your suggestion that we should have found a sanctuary in Europe, an excellent idea, and of course that would have been our first option, but in practice where do you start.
Its Bank Holiday, we had to travel through ten countries, we had to find a sanctuary, which could have taken us miles out of our way, because they are few and far between, most sanctuaries are full, their would have been a language problem, even if we manged to find a sanctuary, which would have taken a lot of time, most charity work is done on a shoe string, it was very unlikely that anyone would have taken on a puppy with so many medical problems, the cost would have been high, and how could we have guaranteed that the minute we left him, they would not have had him put down, as a lot of sanctuaries do. Teddy improved within the first eight hours of us caring for him even though he continued to scratch, he was no longer tearing himself to pieces with his acute skin condition, his eyes were clearer and was able to see us.

Most of us have this terrible picture of animals in quarantine, none of us want this for our pets, alone only visited by their owners and the thought of six long months, its heart breaking especially for an animal that has been used to a home and family enviroment. I'm not saying that for some domestic dogs/cats it does not have its problems, but for Teddy he is being cared for by a team of eight dedicated people, for him it is like the Hilton compared to what he came from. He has a selection of toys, comfortable bedding, heating day and night, an outside run where he can sit in the sun if he wants to, he has been litter trained already on paper, and knows how to sit and stay,he is also aware of other dogs around him, most of all he has the kindness and affection of his careres and the constant visits from Jenny and I, already he is a well ajusted puppy.

The majority of dogs have this amazing ability to live for the moment,especially when they are loved and cared for, and have a constant supply of food. We know Meg that when Teddy is released, as professional animal welfare workers, we will have no problem what so ever in socialising Teddy into the outside world. We have rescued many dogs who have been shut up and chained up in appauling conditions for many years, often its been their life, these too need your help and commitment, as Allsa has said we are all responsible to help anything that is innocent suffering or vulnerable.
I do hope that this will put some of your concerns to rest, and to explain to you why we felt our actons were justifiable under the circumstances, as every situation is different.

We would also like to add, we really appreciate the donations from extremely kind and generous people, we thankyou so much for that, but we have always excepted that Teddies quarantine fee's are down to us, although it would have taken us so much longer to raise that amount, but no matter what the cost we will most definately honour that.

Thankyou all.
Jill and Jenny”

“I appreciate what you say Jill, and indeed it's better to do something than do nothing. And I applaud all the work you have done for animal welfare, which is obviously something you are very passionate about.

My only gripe is that in this instance, I dont think £3,200 to bring one puppy back to the UK is money well spent - I feel it could have been more effectively used in other ways.

Still, that aside - keep up the good work!”

“Whilst I am a supporter of anyone saving an animal's life I cant help but feel this was thought out with the heart rather than head. There must be many animal rescue charities in the countries that Teddy was driven through on his way back to the UK. Many animal rescue charities that even a fraction of the amount it has taken to put him through quarantine would help many many other animals.

Now Teddy sits in quarantine at a crucial age, no socialising or experience of the outside world and I'm left wondering what sort of life he will have because of that. Unsocialised dogs at that age usually display many behavioural difficulties through their adult life and I feel really sad for him sat in a kennel on his own for months.

I have a young puppy myself and enjoy watching him soaking up his environment, other dogs, people and the world around him. They need that stimulation to thrive and become well adjusted adult dogs. If he had been placed with an animal charity in Europe he may well even be in a new home by now enjoying all the things he should be at that age.

A well meant rescue no doubt but in hindsight I wonder what life will hold for Teddy now his puppyhood has been taken from him.”

“My name is Jill, I am one of the ladies who rescued Teddy the Albanian puppy, I would like to reply to some of the comments made. I have been doing animal rescue for 44yrs in this country,during that time I have saved and homed thousands of animals, I hope to continue many more years to come. Teddy of course is just one of many thousands of animals subjected to terrible abuse and neglect not all is down to povety, not all is down to countries such as Albania, no matter what your personal circumstances are, there is no excuse for cruelty. I do of course agree with J.S the lack of education is apparent in many countries like Albania, 30/40 years ago the same applied to countries such as Spain Greece Turkey ect, even though there has been a massive improvement, we are still hearing of animal cruelty, our own country included. We have a no destruction policy Phil, so no animal is ever put down unless on the advice of a veterinary surgeon. The reason why Teddy was singled out J.S was because Teddy was wedged between two pieces of splinted wood, with barbed wire around him, he was screaming, and dying. The photo of Teddy clearly shows an extremely poorly puppy, we failed to see the cuteness in him, just a very distressed and dying puppy.
There are many people who feel extremely passionate about their beliefs, and are brave enough to stand by what they believe in, these are the people who have made a difference. Education does not happen over night least of all in countries such as Albania, but to do something is better than doing nothing. Since our visit to Albania we have set up blogs and a web site to encourage readers to tell us of similar experience, we have written to the Albanian Goverment, as john has indicated Albanians do not look at animals the same way we do, but to join the E.U, countries such as Albania will have to comply to certain rules regulations, and standards, the majority of people take animal welfare very seriously those of us who feel that way do not want to be subjected to such horrors when visiting countries that have no welfare standards. We feel education is a must, and therefore will be approaching the media within the country. we now have two contacts in Albania which is more than what we had before our visit. Ideally our aim is to find people who live in the country to set up sanctuaries, a small step we know. At present there is nothing. Montenegro, Greece and Turkey have all managed to do this. We all have choices as to the charities we like to support, we should respect that in each other, I do hope that Phil will give to a father who has been made redundant , in an ideal world wouldn't we all like to do that.
The larger charities such as the R.S.P.C.A and the Blue x are given almost daily donations from the public, and are left many legacies. Some veterinary treatments especially horses Rosy, can easily amount to £3000 just for one horse, does a horse count more than a dog. For Jenny and I we felt we did the right thing, and if confronted with the same problem again we most certainly would do it all again. Teddy will never experience such cruelty ever again, we thank you for your comments, and your kind donations towards the Teddy fund Thankyou Jill”

“I think that these people did a very good job bringing the puppy back from Albania but that dog is just one of thousands that are in that country and the world in the same situation. Over there people do not treat their pets the same way that you do in this country I should know I am Albanian. There are people all over the world struggling to get food how do you know that the owners of that pet wasn't in that situation. Anyway well done for what you done but that is just a drop in the ocean. Good luck and I hope that you get the money and the Teddy brings you much love and happiness. All the best.”

“How irresponsible! If so many animals are badly treated over there, why was this one puppy singled out to be brought home? Because of it's 'cuteness'?

Supporting animal welfare is great, but surely they'd have a greater impact spending time and money educting people in Albania or setting up or supporting animal rescue facilities out there (or over here for that matter).”