Clive Simpkins

Candy goes home

My 18 year-old female Jack Russell, Candy, went to the big kennel in the sky at 10 a.m. on Thursday 21st June. This is a pic of her when I 'inherited' her. She was still vibrant - although already (in human years) twelve. Grand old age saw her blind, deaf, unable to smell, slightly tottery and eventually becoming very anxious as a result. So I had to play God, which I absolutely hate doing, and with the vet's gentle, compassionate and empathic assistance, let her drift off into permanent anaesthetic-assisted sleep.

She was an idiosyncratic little lady. Feisty, with no concept that she was a mere 10% of the weight of my Alpha female Rottweiler. They didn't get on, but lived in a kinda strained truce - basically ignoring each other. A canine 'girl thing' if you will.

We miss you Candy. Thanks for giving us so much time with you. Hamba kahle and give my love to the rest of the pack.

Even Woolies has cows in its sweets!

Yuck! On behalf of all vegetarians, those who keep Kosher and Halaal and anyone else expecting to buy and eat candies free of animal ingredients - I protest! Read the accompanying article. How dare manufacturers masquerade bovine (cattle) gelatin as 'stabiliser'. Are these people daft? The quicker our Nanny State government gets to crack down on more accurate contents labelling, the better. I expect better from Beacon Sweets (owned by Tiger Brands) Cadbury Schweppes (their freakin' website doesn't even work - and they were zapped recently in the UK for Salmonella bacteria in their products),Kraft, Wilson+Rowntree (owned by Nestle) and Woolworths.