Little Chanel Illingworth came to us from a shelter in October 2024 after her person went into a home. She seems to have been loved but had no vet care, her teeth were terrible and she had a large lump on her face oozing pus.  She also came to us with kennel cough and possible giardia. Sadly she was not in good health and we never quite got her well despite everything we could do. It was  up and down but she had periods of happiness and her personality shone through. We put her into our Safe Haven Pets program.

Her carer who was with her for those last months writes for us.

“Chanel was full of life and a very determined lady, so along with this and her small village of humans that were helping her get better, she was able to almost fully recover.

The amazing Chanel came into my home for foster to continue her health care. She quickly developed the nickname of Chenanigans (shenanigans) due to her mischievous behaviour. She made herself and her personality well known and I got to know all her little quirks, like enjoying some toast or Cheerios for treats.

Chanel loved her walks and was an extremely social girl, she wanted to say hello to every human and dog that she met. Chanel had an amazing quality of knowing how to read the dog she was meeting. She was able to interact with many dogs as she was able to calm them with her beautiful energy. Many other dog owners were amazed at how she calmed their very excited dogs and how they were so gentle with her without her really appearing to do anything. Chanel made friends everywhere she went. She had a few of the workers at Bunnings wrapped around her paw, all the dogs in the local area and all the people that she met on her walk. So many people and dogs looked forward to stopping and saying hello to her when they saw her. Going to the vet was even a social event for Chanel, saying hello to everyone she could in the waiting room.

Chanel had a lot of sass and was often vocal when it was time for something and I was not ready, especially meal times and walk times. Despite being significantly vision impaired and deaf, she navigated herself around very well and still played with other dogs, even though at times she could not see where they were.

Chanel was an older lady and as a foster carer of older dogs, you sometimes know that you are not going to be in their lives for to long, but you hope that the time you do have with them is amazing for them. Thank you Chanel for coming into my life, although for a short time it was a wild ride some days. You left some solid impressions here and we will all certainly miss you keeping us on track.

The life of the party, the belle of the ball and the lady who could put anyone under a magic spell, the one and only Chanel.”