When Geoff Hutley from Mulben in the north east of Scotland called his electricity supplier SSEPD during the Jetstream storm in early January to say his power was out, he had more to worry about than just the welfare of himself and his wife.
The day before the storms hit, their German Shepherd dogs – Bertha and King – had become proud parents to nine pups, but within just a few hours four had died. The following morning the couple found themselves with no electricity; in freezing conditions and with a desperate need for heat to keep the surviving pups alive, the situation looked hopeless. Geoff and his wife, Sharon wrapped each of the remaining pups in blankets with a hot water bottle and placed them next to their home’s only source of heat – a wood-burner – but even then it was clear that they needed a more powerful source of heat or face losing the whole litter.
When Geoff called SSEPD’s customer services to report that the power at their rural farm was off, the operator asked if they needed any help while they were waiting for power to be restored. Geoff explained the situation with the newly born puppies and his concern that they couldn’t survive much longer. While additional help can be provided to SSEPD’s vulnerable customers and those listed on the company’s Priority Services Register, the operator was unsure how she could help when it came to day-old German Shepherd dogs, but promised to speak to an engineer to see what could be done.
The mobile phone signal at the Hutleys’ farm was badly affected by the storm and when an engineer called back just a short time later, Geoff wasn’t even sure that he’d got the message across. Luckily, Geoff had spoken to Bill Collie – a linesman from the nearby Elgin depot – and after carrying out checks to ensure that all customers in the area were provided for, he and Site Manager, Keith Hay arrived at the farm with a spare generator.
“I hadn’t even thought about asking for help with the pups when I originally called to report our power off, but when the operator asked if we had any concerns, I mentioned them; not thinking for a moment that SSEPD could do anything to help. We’d already lost four pups from the litter the day before the storms had taken out our electricity and the thought of losing any more was unbearable, but it was the reality we were faced with,” said Geoff.
“When Bill and Keith arrived with the generator and fitted it up for us so we could run a heat lamp, we knew the pups were in with a fighting chance. When the power was restored the next day, they came back to remove the generator and by then we knew the five surviving pups from the litter were out of danger. We have to thank not only Bill and Keith for that, but also the operator who took my call and said she would do all she could to help.”
Sharon has previously shown their dogs at Crufts and a pup from a previous litter had won ‘Best Puppy in Breed’ at the German Shepherd Show. Only six litters of puppies have been bred by the Hutleys in the last two decades – all German Shepherds – and this most recent litter was the second and possibly last for Bertha, so it was all the more distressing when she and Geoff thought nothing could be done to save them.
The couple decided that there was only one way for them to show their gratitude to the two engineers who came to their rescue, as Sharon explains; “We were preparing to register the puppies with the Kennel Club and realised that the best way to say thanks for everything that Bill and Keith had done for us was to name two of the dogs after them. They’re now officially registered under the names Keith Hay and Bill Collie; we did have to smile at the additional dog reference when we found our Bill’s full name.”
The puppies are all due to go to new homes but not before Keith and Bill got to return to the Hutleys’ farm and meet their canine namesakes.
“When I spoke to Geoff, I could hear how hopeless he felt the situation was for the remaining puppies and initially Keith and I weren’t sure how we could help, so when we checked and found we had the additional generator we knew we had to get to the farm before any more of the litter was lost,” said Bill.
The day before the storms hit, their German Shepherd dogs – Bertha and King – had become proud parents to nine pups, but within just a few hours four had died. The following morning the couple found themselves with no electricity; in freezing conditions and with a desperate need for heat to keep the surviving pups alive, the situation looked hopeless. Geoff and his wife, Sharon wrapped each of the remaining pups in blankets with a hot water bottle and placed them next to their home’s only source of heat – a wood-burner – but even then it was clear that they needed a more powerful source of heat or face losing the whole litter.
When Geoff called SSEPD’s customer services to report that the power at their rural farm was off, the operator asked if they needed any help while they were waiting for power to be restored. Geoff explained the situation with the newly born puppies and his concern that they couldn’t survive much longer. While additional help can be provided to SSEPD’s vulnerable customers and those listed on the company’s Priority Services Register, the operator was unsure how she could help when it came to day-old German Shepherd dogs, but promised to speak to an engineer to see what could be done.
The mobile phone signal at the Hutleys’ farm was badly affected by the storm and when an engineer called back just a short time later, Geoff wasn’t even sure that he’d got the message across. Luckily, Geoff had spoken to Bill Collie – a linesman from the nearby Elgin depot – and after carrying out checks to ensure that all customers in the area were provided for, he and Site Manager, Keith Hay arrived at the farm with a spare generator.
“I hadn’t even thought about asking for help with the pups when I originally called to report our power off, but when the operator asked if we had any concerns, I mentioned them; not thinking for a moment that SSEPD could do anything to help. We’d already lost four pups from the litter the day before the storms had taken out our electricity and the thought of losing any more was unbearable, but it was the reality we were faced with,” said Geoff.
“When Bill and Keith arrived with the generator and fitted it up for us so we could run a heat lamp, we knew the pups were in with a fighting chance. When the power was restored the next day, they came back to remove the generator and by then we knew the five surviving pups from the litter were out of danger. We have to thank not only Bill and Keith for that, but also the operator who took my call and said she would do all she could to help.”
Sharon has previously shown their dogs at Crufts and a pup from a previous litter had won ‘Best Puppy in Breed’ at the German Shepherd Show. Only six litters of puppies have been bred by the Hutleys in the last two decades – all German Shepherds – and this most recent litter was the second and possibly last for Bertha, so it was all the more distressing when she and Geoff thought nothing could be done to save them.
The couple decided that there was only one way for them to show their gratitude to the two engineers who came to their rescue, as Sharon explains; “We were preparing to register the puppies with the Kennel Club and realised that the best way to say thanks for everything that Bill and Keith had done for us was to name two of the dogs after them. They’re now officially registered under the names Keith Hay and Bill Collie; we did have to smile at the additional dog reference when we found our Bill’s full name.”
The puppies are all due to go to new homes but not before Keith and Bill got to return to the Hutleys’ farm and meet their canine namesakes.
“When I spoke to Geoff, I could hear how hopeless he felt the situation was for the remaining puppies and initially Keith and I weren’t sure how we could help, so when we checked and found we had the additional generator we knew we had to get to the farm before any more of the litter was lost,” said Bill.
“Our aim at SSPED is to keep the lights on and during the extreme storms we experienced this January, we also aimed to ensure that all of our customers and those in their homes were safe, warm and fed while we worked to get their power back on; in this case, that just happened to include day-old German Shepherd pups.
“We’re genuinely delighted to have these two named after us and it’s great to see them now, fighting fit and ready to go on to their new homes.”
Stuart Hogarth, Director of Distribution for SSEPD, said: “Whilst people are always our top priority, we encourage everyone who works for SSEPD to put our customers first and to go the extra mile where possible which, in this case, just happened to include saving a litter of day-old German Shepherd pups.”
Video footage of the pups and their story can be seen here: