The story of a curious little Cocker Spaniel named Scarlet …

(and an extremely loose adaptation of A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle)

Part 1: When Eileen met Scarlet

“The blundering fool,” Eileen said, chief of the Friends of the Animals Wales, “Just to think of someone having such an incomparable bit of good luck as to know a little dog like Scarlet, and not appreciating it.”

“I am rather in the dark still. It is true that the description of her early puppy mill life tallies with my idea of the kind of person who could be responsible for this mystery, this neglect. But why should anyone do this, to any dog? This is not the way of compassionate people.”

“The money, the money: that was what they did this for. If we have no other way of stopping this, we can always stop the money if people stop buying dogs from dealers and pet shops and puppy farms. And then we shall have them. People see cute puppies and the cruelty behind the scenes might not get noticed but for little dogs like Scarlet, the mum. Where is mum? A study in Scarlet, eh? Our duty is to tell her story.”

Leaning back, Eileen the amateur bloodhound thought about the terrible failings of the profiteers, the troubling naivety of the market, and the wonderful compassion of the volunteers. But most of all, she thought about the incredible strength of a curious little Cocker Spaniel named Scarlet.