A Wolverhampton lady is glad to be reunited with pets, after being forced to live in a tent and have them taken off her. She is now in a better place and two of the dogs have been returned.
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00:00So we're here in Wolverhampton and a nice happy reunion story. What's your name madam?
00:05Karen Nicholls. Karen Nicholls. And who have we got with you Karen? Who are your babies?
00:09Diesel and Bailey. Diesel and Bailey. Very happy to be back with them mum.
00:16You've been through some tough times haven't you Karen? Which resulted in the dogs being
00:20taken from you for a longer time than you feel was necessary and you've had a bit of
00:27battle to get them back. Oh god yes. Just talk us through, you were living with your mum weren't you?
00:32No it was my house, my mum was living with me. Yeah that was over Bilston wasn't it? Yes it was.
00:38Yep and then you fell, you ended up losing that, you fell foul to the bedroom tax. Just give us a
00:44bit of a brief, what happened with your situation? That ultimately ended up with you sleeping in a
00:50tent didn't it? Yeah it did yeah. Basically it was just that my housing wouldn't rehouse me
00:57in a flat that I could afford, unless it was fret too low for my mum had got no legs and
01:02they'd rehouse me. Yeah. So obviously then my mental health went down and then it resulted in me being
01:10evicted from my house for the bedroom tax because I hadn't got the money to pay for it. Yeah.
01:16So you ended up in a tent on the driveway of the house you were previously inside.
01:22Yeah. You had the dogs there with you. Yes. The RSPCA were called, somebody had made a
01:27made a complaint but the RSPCA come and they were perfectly happy with them.
01:32Yeah. Yes they was happy with the dogs, checked them over, they hadn't got no fleas,
01:37they was quite happy with the dogs. Yeah. Look at them there. He was snogging his face off.
01:44So you were given a temporary accommodation which is where we find you now. Yes. Yeah,
01:51classed as a refuge I guess isn't it, a temporary refuge is that what we call it? Yes it is yes.
01:55Yeah and you thought well I've got my place now, I'll get my dogs back. Not quite as easy. No.
02:03So take us from there then, what happened? Well basically my support workers was ringing
02:10Hannah from P3 to find out like where my, because I didn't even know where my dogs were. Yeah. Where
02:17they'd gone to. Yeah. Didn't even know where the father was. I asked for updates and pictures like
02:23while I was getting myself better. Yeah. Nothing, it went on for five weeks and then my partner
02:31rang me and says have you seen this and I went don't tell me. Yeah. I know. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah
02:38you know it's alright. I know. Yeah. I just not found out. So what, what, what had he seen then?
02:44What had he alerted you to? Basically they said they found three puppies. Yeah. In Bilson Hall,
02:50because I didn't read the full advert because I couldn't look at it. Yeah and where were they,
02:55where were they found at then Karen? They picked them up from my tent. Yeah. The day I moved in
03:00here. Yeah. So they, they'd got the three of them. Yeah. You said I want them back. Yes. And
03:08it's took how many weeks have you been apart? It's been five, five, six weeks. Eight weeks.
03:14Eight weeks. I've been here since the 7th of November and I came back four days ago.
03:20And you just, you can't get your head around why it's took eight weeks, can you?
03:24You know that obviously, what, what do they mean to have you? You know, what does it mean,
03:30sorry, for you to have them with you? You've had eight weeks apart. Oh my God, as you can see. Yeah.
03:36I was beside myself. Yeah. And then when I found out that they reowned them without my permission
03:41and it was only supposed to be temporary fostered. Yeah. I was just, felt like I was grieving. Yeah.
03:49So they'd gone off to another home had they? Like as in. They'd separated them all,
03:53they was all in different homes with police officers and a sergeant. Yeah, no way. So you've
03:58had to, you've had to battle to get them back. Oh God, yeah. Yeah. So I guess at one point you
04:03were thinking, am I going to get them back? Is this going to happen? Yeah. Yes. So you'd like
04:08to see, tell me what you'd like to see different in the system then. You know, for somebody else
04:15who was going through the same thing, how would you have liked to have been, for it to have been
04:18handled differently for you? Well for a start, they should have told the truth from the beginning.
04:23And second of all, they should never have put it in the paper because they didn't find
04:27three puppies. Because Diesel is three, Ocean's three and he's coming out in June. Yeah.
04:38So you do, you can't get your head round. I just can't. You were there, you've got your
04:45new place to live and I guess you were thinking, well I'll just get my dogs back and it'll be
04:48straightforward. Yeah. And they've come back and they've come back with, you know, they're gorgeous,
04:55they're lovely, but they've come back with little skin conditions and stuff, haven't they? Yes,
05:00basically the food that they was feeding them on, it was basically cheap food from Alstom,
05:05which is five pounds a bag. When they picked up my dogs from me, they never even asked me what
05:12food I was feeding them on. And that's the first thing you should do, especially with these breeds
05:19because they suffer with skin condition, infections, ear infections. You've got to
05:25feed them on the right foods. So you've got these two back. There's another one, but obviously,
05:29you know, you are in a temporary refuge and the other one's a bit more of an handful, isn't it?
05:34So you've been sensible, you've been sensible. That's my fault because I've mommied up and I
05:38spelt her. So you've been sensible and said, kind of, look, let me have the two for now. Let's just,
05:44you know, see how we go. Yeah. So would you, are you, what would you, what's your hopes for the
05:50future then? Are you hoping to, you know, get your, obviously, a permanent address, isn't it,
05:55really? That's the first thing. Everybody has, like, started listening. Yeah. And now the doors
06:00are finally starting to open. Yeah. And this is only because of Amy Heritage. Yeah. My
06:06probation officer slash support worker. Yeah. The things that I got put on my proper meds from
06:14the doctors. I'm starting to look a lot better. Yeah. Feel healthier. I look healthier. And my
06:22next step is when I get my flats and it's all done. Yeah. Then it's my children. Yeah. Well,
06:29yeah, because you've got... Because I can't be like the way I was and then to have my children
06:36back because then I'm just going back to square one. I need to be the mummy that they had. Yeah.
06:44Instead of the ill mummy. Yeah. So that, yeah, there's, is it four, four kids? I've got six
06:50children. Six children. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, not talking fur babies. We, we, you know, this is
06:56your children, isn't it? Yeah. So it's fair to say you've had a lot up against you in life. Oh,
07:02God, I have, yes. Yeah. You know, we, we, anyone with a dog loves a dog and a pet is part of the
07:08family, but when you've been through what you've been through, I guess even more so those dogs are
07:14so precious, aren't they? I've already been, I've already gone through enough and if my children
07:17over and lost my house, lost all my furniture in the house because I put it all on the drive and
07:22let people take it for free because I've got nowhere to put it. Yeah. Yeah. So now I've got
07:26to start from scratch again. This is what the system has done to me. Yeah. Councils, social
07:32services, then you could, then my aunt, do you know what I mean? And then the police, that was
07:39just like the final straw. Yeah. I just. So would you, is the hope that you end up with all the
07:46kids and get the dog number three back as well? No, I've handed Ocean over and I've rehomed her because
07:53because she's gone to an officer and he's really looking after her. Yeah. Yeah. And the children
07:58have got attached to her and they're young children. Ah, okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I said I don't want to
08:02uproot her and upset the children. Yeah. Yeah. So I said I've handed her over and I've rehomed her
08:10to a good family. Yeah. Yeah. That know what they're talking about because
08:17when they brought her yesterday for me to see her, they put her on the food. Yeah. What she was
08:24already on, which was Ava, which is vet approved. Yeah. So it's, Karen, it's fair to say you, you know,
08:32we've touched upon it a bit. You've had so much going on in your life really, which has included
08:38a number of abusive partners. Yes. And you've, you've looked for a way out and that's turned to
08:45drugs and drink and so on. So that's all started about four years ago, really. It started really
08:52going rock bottom. Yeah. And it was after my house fire. They stuck me back in the house after they
08:58done it after my house fire. That's when it all started doing downhill. Yeah. Because my mum was
09:03in the house at the time when the house was on fire. Yeah. Did she, did your mum survive the fire?
09:07Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. But the fire chief turned around and said, if my children had been in bed,
09:13they'd have all been dead. Yeah. How did the fire start then? Did they work it out? My little bun,
09:17the, uh, it was electric. Yeah. Obviously I've got washing on the worktop that took 45 minutes
09:26for me house to go up. It's bad, isn't it? How quick. Yeah. It's a lesson to all of us.
09:31So you've had four years of hell, haven't you really? Four years of hell. So you, you've really,
09:40what you've, you've, via your own input, you've turned your life around, haven't you now? Yeah.
09:46Because I had Amy Heritage to thank for that. Yeah. She opened all the doors for me. Yeah. And I
09:52said to her, I said, don't leave out my life. So every now and then she'll ring me and we'll have
09:59a chat and things like that. Yeah. Stay as friends. Yeah. And that's my promotion office
10:03slash support work. Well, I'm, I'm so glad you've got them dogs back. Yeah. I mean, that's just like
10:09another, another weight off my shoulders. Yeah. Yeah. They're back with you. I've just got two
10:15more things to battle for and that's my flat and my children. Yeah. Have you got any news on, um,
10:22on the flat at all or how long it'll be or anything like that? I'm still bidding on properties. Yeah.
10:27It's just taking time. Yeah. But that was another thing as well, when they said I was re-housed by
10:32Wolverhampton Homes. Yeah. I wasn't, I was there. Yeah. It's not good, is it? No. Well, we wish you
10:41all the best. I'm so glad to see you back with those little dogs, those little fur babies. I
10:46mean, look how content they are, eh? Yeah. They're loving it, ain't they? It took them two days to
10:53Yeah.
10:57Yeah. Yeah. Basically. Yeah. But like. Strange environments and that, isn't it?
11:08Yeah.
11:11Yeah.
11:13Yeah.
11:17Yeah.
11:18Is he, have you seen him set? Well, I said, have you seen him set? He looks pretty. Yeah. Yeah.
11:26What type of dogs are they? Is that a pug? Yeah. He's a French Bulldog. Oh, okay. Yeah. Of course
11:32he is. Of course he is. He works hard for the money to buy these. Yeah. I can believe it. Well,
11:39we wish you all the best and I was so glad, so glad to see you kind of, you know, turning your
11:44life back around, Karen. And a lot of people have like, oh Karen, you look so healthy. Yeah. And
11:53better. Yeah. And they'll miss me from where I lived on the estate. Yeah. Do you know what I
11:58mean? I go to see my mum and dad and they're like, oh, go, go, go. Yeah. I spend most of the day
12:04talking to everybody, catching up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Well, we wish you all the best,
12:09Karen. Thank you. And hopefully one day we'll be doing another follow-up piece with, you know,
12:15with the bigger family extended reunited. Yes. So yeah, all the best to you, Karen. Thank you, love.
12:21You're welcome.