Alison Cameron has broken her leg, gone through a number of operations and suffered bereavement in recent years.
And each time her Hungarian Vizsla dog, Bracken, was there to rest his nose on her and “talk her through the process”.
Described as a larger than life character, the nine-year-old pet was “loud” and a “big personality” – almost human-like.
So when Bracken accidentally swallowed a littered bottle cap, it was 47-year-old Aberdonian Alison’s turn to be by his side through the tests and treatment that followed.
He suffered several tears in his bowel, caused by the new “conjoined” style of bottle caps introduced last year.
‘I would have paid the vet fees 10 times over to see Bracken healthy’
Several x-rays, fluid treatments and eventually surgery resulted in a four-figure vet bill – though Alison says she would have “paid it 10 times over” to see her best friend healthy once again.
Sadly, however, the damage was done and Bracken eventually took his last breath by Alison’s side seven days ago.
The loss has left her “devastated”, but it has also sparked her own litter campaign, dubbed Bin it for Bracken.
We took a walk in Duthie Park alongside Alison this afternoon, alongside Bracken’s sister Honey, to get the full story.
She said: “I’ve not long had a broken leg – it was shattered in three different places – and this remarkable dog helped me to walk again.
“In fact I have had several surgeries over my nine years of looking after Bracken, and he has seen me through all of them.
“He was there for every single operation.
“We also lost my mum five years ago, and if you ever were going through something sad like that, he’d be the first one over to you.
“He almost felt human in that way. He was so loud and such a big personality. We loved him and he loved us.”
So just what was wrong with the usually ‘happy, healthy boy’?
Usually a “happy, healthy, strong boy,” Alison suddenly noticed that Bracken was being frequently sick a number of weeks ago.
After an initial visit to the vet, she was assured that there was “nothing to worry about”, but Bracken was still refusing favourite meals such as chicken and cheese.
There were blood tests that proved negative for anything bad and tablets to increase his appetite, but no real change.
It was only after Bracken seemed to be returning to himself, and some fresh rounds of X-Rays, that the culprit was finally discovered – a bottle cap lodged in his digestive system.
Despite its removal, the downturn in his condition was swift.
Alison said: “He sat down quietly beside me last Wednesday, he stretched out his leg and it went limp in a strange way.
“His tongue was out and I could feel his heart still going, but he had stopped breathing.
“We tried everything to keep him with us, like CPR, but his time had come.”
How you could save a life if you ‘Bin it for Bracken’
The sad story has, however, been used as a catalyst for change.
Alison has since founded a campaign to rid litter from Aberdeen in order to save four-legged lives.
And she has called for a return to the “old-style” of plastic bottle caps.
“I just think it is so important to raise awareness about this as I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what we have,” she told us.
“We know what we are signing up for as dog owners – the day when they pass is coming at some point.
“But for it to be so unnecessary, for a happy healthy dog – I just had to do something.”
Alison added: “You could save lives just by putting something in the bin.”
When asked what her message would be to would-be litterers around Aberdeen, she had a simple reply.
“Bin it for Bracken,” Alison said.
“It might just be a bottle, even if it’s just that then the cap could still come off it.
“It could kill a dog. It’s not me being dramatic. It literally happened to my dog.
“How much of an inconvenience is it just to stick it in the bin?
“You could save so much pain and suffering.”
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