Augustine monks sought homes for hospice St. Bernards

[moonlitcroatia]

Monks seek homes for St Bernards


 
Stories of the dogs rescuing travellers are now legend

Wanted: Home for 64kg-worth of shaggy, doe-eyed dog, used to long walks in the Swiss Alps, brandy keg optional.

Monks at the St Bernard's Hospice in the Swiss Alps are planning to sell the world-famous rescue dogs to devote more time to needy people.

The skills of the 18 dogs, renowned for saving avalanche victims from snowy graves, have long been overtaken by helicopters and heat-seeking equipment.

But the new owners must promise to bring the dogs back each year.

The hospice, run by Augustine monks, stands at 2,438 metres (8,000 ft) - the highest point of the pass where the Swiss Entremont and the Italian Buthier valleys meet.

The monastery was founded in 1050 by Saint Bernard of Montjou. The first record of dogs being used there dates back to 1703, with stories of dogs being involved in rescues from then on.

The famous barrel of brandy attached to the collar of a St Bernard is said to be a legend invented by storytellers.

Energetic

The huge, shaggy dogs are said to have saved the lives of about 2,500 travellers over the past few hundred years - but they have not performed that role for the last 50 years.

Instead, the legendary dogs remain a symbol of the hospice and are popular among tourists visiting in the summer months.

 
But Brother Frederic, from the hospice, said the dogs required a lot of time and energy.

"There are only four of us monks now," he told Reuters news agency. "Maybe we need to spend more time with people who ask for it."

The dogs, which can weigh up to 64kg, no longer spend the winter on the mountain and are looked after in a nearby town by an employee of the monks.

The Swiss St Bernard Association says the sale of the dogs will only mean ownership of them changes.

One of the conditions set by the monks is that the dogs' new owners bring them back in summertime.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3726670.stm

[moonlitcroatia]

Swiss Monks Sell Last of St. Bernard Dogs
October 31 2004 at 6:36 PM   roger  (Premier Login dipper)
Forum Owner
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THE GREAT ST. BERNARD PASS, Switzerland - The only dog right now at the 950-year-old hospice of St. Bernard is a very nice golden retriever named Justy.
It's those other dogs - the famously huge and heroic ones, that toted brandy barrels in legend, that lived here for centuries and sniffed scores of stranded travelers out of the snow - that people care about.
Last month, it became public knowledge that the monks at St. Bernard were looking for a buyer for the 18 St. Bernards that still belong to the hospice. The St. Augustine monks say the dogs are distracting them from their work of ministering to actual people.
The hospice, founded by St. Bernard himself in 1050, predates the dogs. Their earliest mention at the hospice was in 1695.
While they were once unparalleled in helping people through the pass - some 200,000 soldiers reportedly crossed without a single one lost during the Napoleonic wars between 1790 and 1810 - the big dogs have not actively worked in rescues for at least 50 years.
Still, the news of the sale struck the European press as if Switzerland itself were disowning chocolate or secret bank accounts.
Dog lovers worried that the descendants of the dogs who gave the breed its name, and this nation a symbol, might be put down or not find proper homes.
According to the plan, the monks and dogs will go on as they have for decades, with the dogs still spending summers up here - still on view for thousands of tourists. They will still spend winters, as they have for decades, away from the bitter cold and snow that was such a killer for pilgrims to Rome, and soldiers and merchants passing over the Alps.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/10063896.htm

[moonlitcroatia]

Swiss foundation rescues Alpine monks' St Bernard dogs
ENI-05-0004

Geneva, 4 January (ENI)--A Swiss foundation is to take over the
stock of St Bernard mountain dogs which Roman Catholic monks put
up for sale because they did not have the resources to look after
the creatures famed for rescuing travellers in the Alps.

The foundation is being set up in January to look after the dogs,
and a former Geneva private banker is to donate 4 million Swiss
francs (US$3.47 million) to build a museum for them in Martigny,
a town of 14 000 inhabitants in the Rhone Valley.

"This dog is a symbol that is part of our history and it is our
duty to keep the legend alive," said the banker, Bernard de
Watteville, quoted in Switzerland's Le Temps daily newspaper.

The dogs are kept by the monks in the St Bernard Hospice, located
almost 2500 metres above sea-level on a pass that leads to Italy.
The creatures are reputed to have rescued more than 2000 people
over the past 200 years.

Still, in recent decades helicopters rather than the dogs have
been used to find stranded travellers.

The number of monks at the hospice has been declining in recent
years and they announced last October they intended to auction
the St Bernard dogs. They said the animals represented a major
expense in time and money.

Still, they said dogs would not disappear from the mountain as
the new owners would be asked to bring their charges back to the
hospice for the tourist season.

The new foundation which is to breed the dogs in future is called
"Barry" after a rescue dog born in 1800 that saved 41 lives.

It will work closely with another foundation named after Bernard
and Caroline de Watteville, who are supporting the construction
of the museum, the Swissinfo service of the Swiss Broadcasting
Corporation reported.

Monks began training mountain dogs in the late 17th century to
come to the aid of travellers on the pass, which suffers from
wind and snow for about 245 days each year.

The high-stamina, disease-resistant dog became noted for its keen
senses, and could find tracks and smell-out buried avalanche
victims.

The animals traditionally worked in pairs on rescue operations,
with one dog going to raise the alarm, while the other sat atop
stranded hikers, licking them to keep them warm.

http://www.bc.united-church.ca/discus/messages/289/297.html?1104868237

[Nicole]

Hey, thanks Moony. I read awhile back that they were going to sell them, and I"ve been wondering what became of them. So, I'm glad that you gave us the info! 

[moonlitcroatia]

World News
 
December 29, 2004
Original St Bernard kennels rescued by 33 Alpine villages
From Martin Penner in Rome

KENNELS at the Alpine monastery that bred the first St Bernard dogs have been saved from closure after mountain villages raised enough money to cover the running costs.

Monks of the Hospice of the Great St Bernard, in the mountains on the Swiss-Italian border, announced in September that they lacked the funds to continue breeding and caring for the huge dogs. They said that their 15 St Bernards would have to be sold.

Now 33 local villages — 22 in Switzerland and 11 in Italy — are setting up a foundation to shoulder the financial burden of the kennels. They are joined by St Bernard breeders’ associations in both countries.

Under the new arrangements, experts from the Italian and Swiss St Bernard clubs will take over the technical side of the breeding.

“These dogs represent the history of the breed,” Giovanni Morsiani, president of the Italian St Bernard Club, said. “If they were no longer there, it would be like having Naples without any pizzas or England without roast beef. We are determined that the tradition should continue.”

Each of the dogs at the snowy hospice where the breed was created four centuries ago costs ?200 (£141) a day to keep. These costs will now be divided among the 35 members of the foundation, which is to be formally constituted next month. Benoit Vouilloz, the abbot of the hospice, said that he was relieved that a solution had been found. The monks, who these days have no real use for the dogs, have reportedly come to see them as an unsustainable burden on their finances.

The monastery was founded in 1050 by St Bernard of Monthen on Mont Jovis, above the St Bernard Pass, as a refuge for medieval pilgrims and travellers seeking shelter from avalanches and robbers.

Its monks were the first to use the dogs to rescue people lost in the Alpine snow, relying on their sense of direction, their instinct for sensing bad weather and their outstanding sense of smell.

The big, shaggy dogs, renowned for their loyalty and good nature, soon became famous the world over and a source of pride for local people.

Carlo Cerise, head of the local Friends of St Bernard Dogs committee, said: “This is a wonderful Christmas present. Thanks to the collaboration of all these mountain villages, we have been able to guarantee a secure future for these dogs that have always been the emblem of our valleys and our pass.”

The news also delighted the local tourist business, which would lose an important attraction if the St Bernards no longer lived in their traditional home. “Mountain lovers always ask about the St Bernards when they are in the area,” one Alpine guide said. “Lots of them make a detour to visit the kennels.”

The dogs, often referred to affectionately as “saints”, are believed to have rescued 2,500 people over the years. The most famous St Bernard was a dog called Barry, who is said to have saved about 40 lives in the early 19th century. One of the dogs at the kennels is always named Barry in his honour and the new foundation bears his name

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1418111,00.html

[moonlitcroatia]

St Bernard dogs can bark again
 

swissinfo  
   
December 23, 2004 6:27 PM
      

 
He should have something to smile about (Keystone)   
The future of St Bernard rescue dogs in the southwest of Switzerland has been secured.
 
A new foundation is to look after them and a former Geneva private banker is donating SFr4 million ($3.49 million) to build a museum for them in the town of Martigny.

 
RELATED ITEMS

 
St Bernard rescue dogs seek new homes

 
 
Two months ago, Swiss monks announced that they would be selling their dogs because they did not have the resources to look after them.
The dogs have long been a fixture at the St Bernard Hospice, which is located at an altitude of almost 2,500 metres on a pass that leads to Italy.
It is estimated that they have rescued more than 2,000 travellers and avalanche victims over the years.
Since the announcement of the sale, several sponsors have come forward to secure the future of the descendants of Barry – the renowned rescue dog born in 1800 who saved 41 lives.
 
“Barry” foundation
 
In future, a new foundation called “Barry” will breed the dogs. The president of the Swiss St Bernard club, Rudolf Thomann, will run the foundation, which will be created on January 1 thanks to a contribution from a Basel artist.
It will work closely with another foundation to be named after Bernard and Caroline de Wattewille, who are investing up to SFr5 million to build the museum.
They are also willing to cover any operating losses for the first ten years.
The “Barry” foundation intends to show six St Bernard dogs outside the museum every day.
Inside, the museum will provide families and children with an interactive and didactic look at the life of St Bernard dogs. Located in the former arsenal of Martigny, the museum is expected to open its doors in the spring of 2006.
A former private banker in Geneva, de Watteville told a news conference in Martigny on Thursday that he wanted to “preserve and bring to life” the history of the St Bernard dog.
The town of Martigny is also participating in the project, putting buildings at the disposal of the foundations and building access roads and a car park.
swissinfo with agencies

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=5425785

[poofynewfy]

That is awesome! I saw the story on Dateline or something a few months back.  I wish I could buy a famous puppy from them but couldn't do the required travel every summer. Oh well, I am sure that wonderful people will buy those terrific dogs and make them happy in their new environment.