52 Your Dog March 2020When widower Pam Mansfi eld slipped into
a life-threatening diabetic coma, there was
only her German Shepherd around to save
her, writes Joanne Bednall.
Me and my dog
Gypsy with her canine
playmate, Labrador Layla.W
herever Pam Mansi eld goes, her
dog Gypsy is never far from her
side — which is just as well seeing
as the 69-year-old animal lover is adamant
her constant canine companion saved her
life early one morning last November.
“Gypsy is the most loving dog in the
world,” explained Pam, whose German
Shepherd regularly rubs shoulders with
more than 250 unwanted rare and
unusual pets, including monkeys, silver
foxes, meerkats, a lynx, and even an
alligator called George, where she lives
at the Exotic Pet Refuge in Deeping
St James, Lincolnshire.
“I live on my own and Gypsy is with me
100 per cent of the time — I can’t even
go to the toilet without her following
me there!”
But if it hadn’t been for the six-year-old
dog’s total devotion to her owner, Pam
probably wouldn’t be here today to tell
the tale.
“I’d felt i ne and gone to bed around
11pm, with Gypsy sleeping at the foot of
my bed as usual,” remembered Pam, who
suf ers from angina and asthma and was
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 25 years
ago prior to an operation.
Pam, whose interest in exotic pets was
sparked by owning a python more than 40
years ago, recalls being in a deep sleep and
suddenly becoming aware of Gypsy trying
to rouse her sometime around 4am.
“I heard a strange whining noise and felt
Gypsy licking my face,” said Pam, who was
unable to have a dog of her own as a child
because her father had chronic asthma,
but has since made up for it in the ensuing
years by owning a Manchester Terrier,
German Shepherds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks,
cross-breeds, Labradors, a Poodle, and
a Dobermann.ANGEL
My guardian
Images: Graham Warren.Gypsy is exceptionally
intelligent and perceptive.52-53 YD Me and My Dog Mar20 CS(SW)ok.indd 52 27/01/2020 16:37