Dear Brother, I couldn’t help but notice your story on the ESSW website, telling all who would hear the wonderful tale of your new life and how you arrived there. It was with great pleasure that I read about your new family and how blessed you seem to have been since we were parted. Please be assured that I have missed you and Doc greatly in the past few weeks, and that there is not a day that passes that I do not think about you, and pray that you will both remain happy and contented in your new lives. Maybe one day, we shall all meet again. In the meantime, I too found myself in unfamiliar surroundings, in a place the human folk call ‘Devon’. With the beginning of each day I grow more accustomed to this area and these people that call themselves my new family. They welcomed me into their home on New Year’s Eve and have provided me with every Spaniels dream; open fields with an unusually high population of rabbits (some of which have proved to be great sport), ponds and a cozy bed infront of the Aga where I can dry off at the end of the day before joining my master on the sofa to reflect on the days happenings. There is a little boy called Harry here who treats me as if I were a Prince (most of the time), sharing his food and toys with me before showering me with kisses. At night, sometimes I lay beside him on his bed until he falls fast asleep and protect him, although my mistress insists that I cannot stay the entire night for fear of ‘accidents’, I do not quite understand this term yet. I feel that Harry and I will be great friends for a good number of years to come.

Please be assured dear brother, that despite our ‘uncertain’ beginnings, it is certain that my new family love me, and in return I have grown to love them too. If you for any reason find yourself in Devon, perhaps your new masters might bring you to visit me, I’m sure my master and mistress will lay on a hearty spread of rawhide and butchers bones and following that we can run around the fields and reminisce on old times.

Yours Faithfully, Finnigan