Aggravation on the Phone!

Why is this the only country which interferes with time? I always get completely mixed up over clocks being put back or put forward. whatever happens I always get up at the wrong time. Its as though I have a mental block about it and just try telling dogs that they have to wait an extra hour before they can go out. To quote Rhian "its all such a ghastly nightmare"!

I have received a lovely photo of Roxy in her new home.This is the dog who had never known a home life in her 6 years and look at her now(above)How heartwarming is that?Brilliant.Young Nicholas is thrilled to bits with his new friend.

As with most rescues, we have a policy of always taking our own animals back if the home fails to work out satisfactorily and hopefully if one of our animals ends up at another rescue by mistake, I would hope that they would let us know immediately and vice versa. Well, Over the past few days I have had calls about a dog which the man supposedly got from Freshfields but wants to return her.There was no trace of her in our records and nobody remembered this dog from 6 weeks ago. Now I know my memory is not that good but I would have remembered a dog homed that recently.I tried to explain that it was doubtful she was one of our dogs and tried to find out exactly how he obtained her. He became quite verbally aggressive, insisting that he had signed our adoption papers for a gentleman at our "branch" in Porthmadog and where this happened was irrelevant anyway! Once again I tried to explain that we have no men working at our charity shop and the dog was not from our rescue but he would not have it and was very rude.Today he left a message for me saying I was being unprofessional and so he was having the dog put to sleep!! Thankfully in the meantime I found out that the dog had come from another rescue - PAWS and they have now taken the little dog back . Do you think Mr Obnoxious will ring me and apologise? Shall we take bets on it? My bet is that he doesn't!

Over the years people have asked me how to set up a rescue centre for animals and I am sure they have no idea of the abuse we sometimes have to endure from members of the public and if they did would not be half so keen! There have been many times I have felt I could not continue and it has never been because of the animals. I have been in court over a woman who assaulted me because I refused to let her have a dog to keep in a kennel and Dave who was the manager of Liverpool before Helen took over, was punched in the face for the same reason.The protaganist was at the time carrying a baby in his arms. What appalling behaviour, heaven help his children(and wife). Verbal abuse over the telephone, upsetting though it may be , (and it is) is far easier to deal with. believe me.

Maggie is still lame today, one of her legs appears to be swollen so if still the same tomorrow we will call out the vet to have a look at her.

A semi feral mum cat has been admitted with a litter of babies. The lady who found them is going to have the mother cat back when she has weaned the babies and been spayed, which is great news. That is a much better outcome than putting her in the feral enclosure which is already at its maximum residency. We have so many kittens here and with the foster Mums too.Mion is full to the brim, we must begin taking some of her foster family before any more take up the spaces here. If we dont I fear she will become fed up with us and we cannot afford to lose such a committed and dedicated person.

Not much is happening with the dogs at the moment - until some are homed from our foster people, we are unable to admit any new ones.There is a waiting list of course and some are more urgent than others so we have to prioritise when the time comes that there is space. November - December is the worst month for people parting with pets and also the worst one for rehoming them.Most people will wait until after the Christmas holidays to look for new pets , especially dogs which need so much more attention .

Having written that, a couple arrived late afternoon to look at Raven, He had a run in the field with their two collies who were unimpressed by this big boisterous newcomer but there was no aggression, they were just warning him to keep his distance and he = never stopped wagging his tail at the 'girls' who are spayed (though he has not yet worked that fact out!)Anyhow they have taken him on a two week trial.I suggested this because I know that although he is a loveable dog, he is also a handful, has separation anxiety and can be willful around food. All this has been made clear and all I can do is hope that they have enough experience to cope with him.One good thing is that they work from home and their dogs are with them always, even to sleeping in the bedroom. He has as good a chance with this couple as he would do with anyone so I am hopeful.

The dates are set for our Xmas Fairs. 2nd December(thursday) for The Memorial Hall, Penygroes and 4th December(saturday) at The Royal Sportsman Hotel Porthmadog. I am hoping the more than capable Trish from the shop at Port will take over the organisation of that one as I will have my hands full with the Penygroes event. The main prize for the raffles at both events will be Christmas hampers so I am happy to receive donations for this, in fact any unewanted gifts or suitable raffle/tombola prizes will be gratefully accepted.

Its time to walk the dogs so on that note, lets hope there will be no fireworks tonight. There were a few loud bangs last night but nothing that startled the animals too much.Why does it start a week before bonfire night and last a week afterwards? B......y Guy Fawkes has a lot to answer for even if I dont agree with the burning of his effigy.

More photos of Paddy

I lied!!!!!

here are more photos.

Paddy has started to play so could not resist this pic of him having a tug of war with Patch.Did the gentle giant win? No, tenacious Scouse Patch won the tug of war.Its like watching a childs first steps. Today is the day Paddy learned how to play! Tomorrow he may bark his first bark? Maybe I am imagining it but already he seems stronger and less wobbly on his legs. I think the exercise is doing him good.

Dana finally leaves us for a Home and more cats arrive.

Rory rabbit and George guinea pig seem to be hitting it off well so they can be homed together which will be nice for them. Rory had come frome a home where he was placed on a trampoline to amuse the children! I can think of kinder ways to keep children occupied! Rabbits are the forgotten pets, over the years I have seen terrible neglect in the way they are kept and the ones we have admitted both to Liverpool and here in Wales.Too often they are bought for children who lose interest and from then on there is no quality of life for the once fussed over pets. I am ashamed to confess that at one time I was one of those children, however my mother would never allow neglect and with some help from me (not a lot)continued to care for mine and they had a good life.Unfortunately this is seldom the case and bunnies everywhere are left locked up bored and frustrated . If anyone has a neighbour with a rabbit or guinea pig kept like this please intervene and try to explain that this is unfair and even try to persuade them to find another home if they have no time for them.

The dog , a springer spaniel which arrived on Thursday evening was suffering from mange and was extremely underweight, no collar or id either. Rhian took him to the Vet the following day and discovered he was under treatment there!The owner went to collect him from the surgery so hopefully that has

a happy ending though I will be following it through because he should at least have had some identification on him. We are flooded with calls every day now, requesting us to take in cats and dogs and this is the first year it is has been so bad that we do not seem to be even making headway with the waiting list we have. What can we do? there is only so much space, so many foster homes and after those spaces are filled we are powerless to help any more. Every year at this time of year leading up to Christmas, we experience the same increase of calls, the same old stories to get rid of pets. Of course there are genuine ones also ,after years of doing work in animal welfare it is not too difficult to differentiate. There are some people(and animals) we all desperately want to help and we try our best to accommodate.

Maggie shetland is a little lame today so we have decided to keep her in and have put down a warm bed of straw for her. The wet weather may be affecting her joints, many of the older ponies have arthritis.Maggie has not shown any previous signs of it so we will keep her in and observe her for a while. Crystal is much better and is back out with the other horses, her previous owner rang today to request a visiting pass for her.(not seriously! this is hardly a prison for horses, more like a 4 star hotel)Crystals owner is one of the genuine ones, she tried her hardest to care for her in very difficult circumstances and we will be pleased to see her when she comes to visit. I wonder if the pony will recognise her? There has been interest shown in the new horse Morris as a companion to another horse , if it results in a home, no homecheck will be required because they already have three of our ponies which are extremely well cared for. Watch this space!

Two gorgeous little tabby kittens were found abandoned and admitted yesterday, also admitted were adult cats Sami and Stripey, 7 years and 5 years whose owner has been made homeless.See photos above;Incidentally The ones I write about and show photos of are not ALL the animals we admit but just a selction as I would not have time to write about every single one.There are usually around 3o kittens here and around 70 adult cats waiting for adoption at any one time, sometimes less, sometimes more. Right now there appears to be a second wave of kittens arriving so we are full to the brim. One of our longterm cats has been lucky this weekend.Dana (pictured top above) who has been here for a year and is one of those cats which just seems to be always overlooked

has finally "sold" herself to a visitor to the cattery. I really think things are looking up now, certainly there have been more enquiries for adopting cats recently, fingers crossed it continues. Most people who come for a cat do end up taking one but it is not so easy for the dogs.There is much more of a criteria to be met for these and I think with so many people having to work full time nowadays, a cat is a better option. There is no doubt that homing dogs is far more difficult. A pleasant surprise- the couple who went away a few days ago

without choosing a kitten actually telephoned to reserve one so that was nice, I did wonder why , out of all the kittens we had that they failed to find one they liked. I suppose some like to go away and think about it rather than leaping into it straight away. As I am so impulsive I find that hard to understand though I know it is probably a sensible action to take.Well I never said I was sensible! Impulsiveness has often led me into trouble but think I am too old to change now.Over the years I have become a little less likely to act impulsively but I still have my moments!

A lovely middle aged tabby has just been admitted, her owner has died and tabby has been alone in the flat for some days. A kind friend has borrowed one of our baskets in order to to bring her here. He did not know her name so Sue has named her Tabitha. We try to give priority to cases like this - when people die leaving pets alone in a property, there is nobody to feed and care for them and it of the utmost urgency they are rescued quickly.

5 adult cats have gone to new homes over the past few days and that is a good number for this shelter. Usually we home one or two and even then we are delighted so this has been a very good weekend and it's not over yet.What might tomorrow bring?

Ps: have refrained with difficulty from more Paddy tales and photos today but I may have to make up for this another day.

Rocco and Branwen are returned.

Only one guinea pig arrived, the other having been given away to a home.All I can hope for is that he will have a companion.The one we have admitted is 4 and a half months oldand is called George! He has gone in with the new rabbit which we have named Rory.They appear to be getting on ok so far.They are not yet at the cuddling up stage so had to take seperate photos.

Raven and TaZ went to be spayed today and are recovering well, there is someone coming to see Raven on Sunday.Both dogs need experienced handlers so they are not going to be easy to rehome so I am keeping my fingers crossed for Raven this weekend.It is so sad when dogs have had no training in their homes,it makes it very hard to place them.It is one thing having a two months untrained pup but a 3 yerars old adult is a different matter and much garder to train.The one positive thing is that they are both intelligent dogs and in the right hands should come on in leaps and bounds.Two dogs have been returned - Rocco the collie for being too lively(they were told!) and poor Branwen because the woman in the partnership failed to take to her!!! Both have gone back to their foster mums Rosie and Veronica until we find suitable homes for them. I hate it when this happens, it disturbs the animals so much.Rocco is young enough at 12 months to adapt but Branwen is 6 years old and at that age it will be a little more difficult for her to cope with change.(she is the brown dog, and is what is known as a true Welsh Collie, Rocco is white and speckly)

Paddy is still receiving much attention, everybody wants to meet him and he appears to be enjoying the fuss which is made of him. (see photo) I can hardly believe how quickly he has made himself at home, he now knows the routine and goes out for exercise with all my dogs(except little old Suzy who regards exercise as something she is not prepared to do for anyone) and somehow he succeeds in making my home more of a home.(not as much room though)but definitely more of a home. His presence is a comfort and the loss of Molly and my constant companion William lurcher , now seems more bearable. I am sorry to bore people with Paddy Tales so I promise to only post a few dozen more photos!!!

I have decided to hold a Christmas Fair locally this time so we have booked the Memorial Hall in Penygroes for the morning of the 2nd December. It will be interesting to see how popular it proves to be.Cake makers, get your spatulas ready(or whatever is used to bake cakes?) Your help is needed.

The Police have rung in desperation over a neglected looking stray dog which some holidaymakers have found. As I have mentioned before there is nowhere locally for such animals to go without the finder being prepared to drive quite a distance to the nearest dog pound which is open after hours.I am just waiting for them to arrive, he can stay in the kitchen overnight and if the owner fails to turn up he can go to a foster home. More of him in next blog.

Paddy settles down and Mrs Hedgehog leaves us.

Paddy is beginning to look less worried and is looking happier already. He enjoys his walks and even has a bit of a gallop round the field.Well, I say gallop

but it only lasts a few seconds and then he reverts to lolloping along at his own pace.I have never known such a placid dog.He is still a little anxious when I leave the house to go to the office and he watches the office door anxiously waiting for me to reappear.I would love to have him with me in the office but Lucy occupies prime place there and she would not tolerate another dog in her domain.I am ever hopeful of finding her a home but terriers with attitude are not easy, never mind the fact that her age (10 years)is against her.It is clear that Paddy has a problem with his gait though it does not appear as bad as I had expected.He seems to have some trouble going up steps and his water and feed bowl have to be raised up for him but otherwise he seems to manage quite well.I need to find an acupuncturist locally who will treat him, I have been told this seems to help him feel more comfortable

He has met the cats and some of the horses and he is completely uninterested which is a great bonus,Molly was a fiend with other animals(except dogs)and I was always on edge with her.Apart from being the same colour they are very different in personality and temperament which is a good thing..Much as I loved Molly she was undoubtedly a bit of a handful.Little 16 years old Suzy pictured here with glowing alien eyes, she snarled at Paddy once and he wont even look at her now.Naughty girl. The other photo I think shows how unfit he is, his previous owners gave him little or no exercise and he has no muscle tone at all. That should improve after a while here.

The hedgehog has gone to someone who will release him in the grounds of her home, he will be safe there and he has had lots of food the past few days so he will be ready for hibernation.Pictured here leaving us.

Wasn't it terrible in the news today about that wonderful stag which has been killed for his antlers.Is nothing sacred? After reading about it I read some comments on the forum and was infuriated at some of the negative ones posted by ignorant and unfeeling people.I just had to reply to one calling herself "girly girly". She thought it was a lot of fuss about nothing and what about humans dying of the cold every winter? Of course that is an appalling tragedy but why on earth do such people care about humans but nothing else?Surely compassion should extend to everything in nature! I am afraid her view is a common one, we find it when we are out collecting for animals.There is always one who says something similar.I would like to know what "girly girly" has done to help the aged in this country! Most likely nothing. It appears to be beyond the mental capacity of some to understand that cruelty and violence beget cruelty and violence and that perpetrators of such acts often do not differentiate between animals and humans. Suffering is sad, no matter who or what is on the receiving end and "girly girly" is just an example of how many people care only about one species.

Oh dear I've been off on the old soapbox again!

Tonight ALL the horses are inside their stables,It is the first night they have all been brought in and as Mei said to me earlier, its lovely knowing they are all warm and cosy. Sometimes it has been a warmish day and then during the night it starts to rain heavily and I know both she and I will then lie awake(in separate houses I hasten to add) wishing they had been brought in(they do have fieldshelters) Often the next day one of the horse staff will say she too was concerned.I think sometimes we worry too much but better that than not care at all.Admittedly most horses prefer the freedom of the fields but this is the first day they have all come in willingly(some usually stay up in the top fields and refuse to come down when they are called) so clearly they are starting to feel the change in the weather

The pigs too have been given a thick warm bed and have snuggled down into the deep straw.

I have had rather a lot of calls the past few days asking me to take in small animals, There are two guinea pigs coming in this weekend, there was an enquiry about parting with three chinchillas(I gave them the chinchilla rescue no) and we are expecting an unwanted rabbit in too

Yesterday I bumped into someone locally who was looking for a companion to their middle aged spayed staffordshire bull terrier female and I am so pleased that they have taken on one of the staffs which had been preying on my mind since the owner threatened to have him destroyed.He was only a pup aged 9 months so I am overjoyed he has found a home now.

A couple more kittens have been reserved today.Strange how when it is cold and pouring with rain, it is often the day we have most visitors.Never been able to work out why this is! One couple came but left without reserving one,that is always disappointing but it does happen, not very often thankfully.

Another day is almost over, the animals are all settled in their respective places and I am looking forward to spending the evening with my new man . I will be enjoying the warmth of the log fire whilst listening to the sound of the falling rain on the windows.I love that sound almost as much as horses munching their hay. There is Holby City later on the TV, choccies to eat and best of all I have a good book to read. Bliss. An evening of contentment lies ahead of me.

Meet The New Man in My LIfe

Sunday:

Over the weekend we admitted a hedgehog which had been found on the side of a road by Gails daughter Hannah.He seems to be uninjured but we will feed him up for a few days and find a safe release area for him.The erratic weather can lull hibernating animals into thinking it is spring time time and then all of a sudden it is icy cold and of course if they are not a good bodyweight(600grams) they will not make it through the winter hibernation.It is very confusing for wild animals (and us humans too)_Our weighing scales have broken so will have to purchase some tomorrow.Electronic scales are vital to check the weight of kittens and hedgehogs. We seldom have hedgehogs brought to us here unlike the Liverpool shelter who have around 50 poorly or underweight hogs in their wildlife unit. I had to ring Lynn who runs the wildlife unit there for advice, as it is years since I cared for hedgehogs and I have forgotten so much.

Roxy has now left my home for her new one and I believe she went off happily.I say 'believe' because I deliberately stayed indoors so as not to see her leave. It always bothers me when my foster dogs leave me and I cannot wait to hear that all is well, the journey home was uneventful and the dog is happy in his/her new environment. Mei said Roxy recognised them from yesterdays walks and titbits (always does the trick) and jumped in the car with no hesitation which made me feel a lot better and less anxious.

Monday:

I received an email from the Roxys new 'mum' telling me that she was settling in already and that after just one day she has stolen their hearts. What a lovely thing to say and how much better I felt after reading that. I immediately telephoned the lady who rescued her from her terrible life and she too was delighted. I am sure we will both sleep better tonight knowing Roxy is ok.

Horrid Hawksworth was spotted hiding in the bushes on his property and clearly spying on us so he was probably recording the dogs barking!They do bark when they are excited about being taken out and when their food is being prepared but I have reason to believe HH has purchased his own noisometer(or whatever they are called)because last year I received a letter from a company thanking me for purchasing one?I rather think they made a mistake with the address! It really is no way to live, I live constantly on my nerves, my poor dogs are "shushed" all the time when they are just being dogs.What always astonishes me is that when I moved here there was already a block of five kennels as the previous owners had obtained council planning permission for them with the view to taking in strays.As a neighbour he must have been contacted and either raised no objection then or the council over ruled him in the belief that it was a suitable place to have kennels.Its such a shame we are unable to use them .Nowadays we use them to house cats waiting to be neutered.

Oh no, have just heard the first fireworks going off.The nightmare November 5th is looming close.I am glad my lovely lurcher William is no longer here to be terrified once more.Each year he became a nervous wreck and was so very distressed.So many have the same problems at this time of year dont they? Its about time it became illegal to have fireworks anywhere but at organised and monitored displays and don't even start me on the subject of burning an effigy on a bonfire.How barbaric is that? This is 2010 and as such we should be moving forward and not continuing such archaic practices.And what about the poor hedgehogs which may have found shelter under the woodpiles? The whole business of Nov 5th fires me up(pardon the pun)

Well, Paddy has arrived from Great Dane rescue in South Wales and he is adorable.I love him already.He has met the other dogs and they have all accepted him.Patch ran out barking, took one look at him and backed off when he came up to him.It was clear he thought he was no match for this enormous dog.Talk about Little and Large!Paddy is an incredibly gentle dog, quite a bit larger than poor old Molly and Molls bed is too small for him. It will have to be a duvet with the new bed(s) I purchased on top for extra padding.LIz and Gordon from the Rescue told me that they had grave doubts about ever finding him a home, lovely he may be and that is indisputable but he does need special care and his life span could be limited which is not what most people are looking for in a rescue dog.I am pleased that he will be joining my canine family for however long he has and I hope it will for some years to come. I need him as much as he needs me, I miss Williams company so much, neither Patch nor Suzy are affectionate animals and although Meg and Ben are loving, neither are good with cats so sadly I cannot have them in the living room with me.

Paddy is still a little apprehensive about his new home, to persuade him to relax I lay down with him on his bed and this seemed to do the trick. I need to introduce the cats to him next.That should be fun!

Junior and Roxy are the Chosen Ones Today.

Crystal is much the same, she still looks a bit depressed but that could be due to her having to stay indoors.At least she is eating normally now .Pneumonia takes time to recover from and it is still early days.

More kittens have been reserved today and Junior the cat with auto immune problems (pictured here)has gone to an indoor home where his condition should be much improved.He is such a loving and affectionate cat and will be a great companion for the elderly gentleman with whom he has gone to live.

We were helped today by Ann, a lady who lives in Altrincham and has a holiday home locally; she often pops up to help with the cats. Her favourite job is in the kitten room and apart from cleaning the litter trays in the afternoon, she spends invaluable time with the nervous kittens talking to them and cuddling them(those which allow such contact) 2 other volunteers turned up as well - Joanna a young girl for whom this is the second time volunteering at Freshfields and Bianca lookeylikey Claire who is fostering the litter of kittens for us.She tells me they are all doing very well, how lucky it was that both she and they arrived on the same day!Had she not taken them home we would have struggled to find time to hand rear them ourselves. When there are two hourly feeds all through the night, it is almost impossible to put in a full day at work the following day.

When Claire went to clean out one of the horse field shelters, she was shocked to find the body of a young badger curled up in the corner on a pile of straw. He had an open wound on his leg but he was very thin and poor looking so I suspect he had crawled there to die.Poor little thing. I have not seen a live badger round here since the week I moved in at which time I saw an albino badger crossing the road one evening. My sister had a family of them in her garden which came to eat the goodies she left out each night but they have not been seen since last winter.Yesterday she rang me to say that one had returned and had been wolfing down the peanut butter sandwhiches she left outso is hopeful there will be more round the dinner table before long.

The family for Roxy arrived around two pm after a long journey from their home in Surrey.Everyone seemed to get on well together though Roxy was a little apprehensive, she had become so settled here and already was regarding it as her home. They took her for a walk to get to know her and the temptation of a few biscuits jollied her along. By the time they left Roxy was on the verge of falling in love with them - the way to her heart is undoubtedly food. They will be staying at a local hotel for the night and returning in the morning to collect her and make their way back home. I could not be more pleased for this dog who has known neither love nor comfort during the 6 years of her life. Now like others before her which have passed through our doors, she has a happy future ahead of her. It makes my day.

We have had torrential rain on and off since last night and judging by the dark clouds overhead we are due even more. The water butts are overflowing and the lower fields are starting to become waterlogged. Its the same every year. Although we have improved the drainage and dug ditches, these fields always suffer the most. The farmer is arriving now with our first big bales of haylage of the year. With 26 horses and ponies on site the small bales of hay do not last long and it is more economical for us to buy the large ones. The only problem with these is that we need the tractor to move them and if he (Trevor)fails to

start, as he often does then we have to call on someone to move them for us.When that big lottery cheque arrives!we will buy a brand new shiny tractor which never lets us down.When I pass one on the roads I gaze enviously at the shiny newness of it and momentarily consider mugging the driver and making off with it but then I remember I cannot drive a tractor and anyway Im too much of a pacifist to mug anyone.A lottery win it will have to be.

I return to find A New Male in The House!

Whilst I was in Liverpool I kept in touch with Mei so I could be updated on Crystals progress and I am pleased to say she is getting better though she has to be kept indoors for a while and is not completely out the woods yet. It is probably nothing but coincidence but when the last couple of horses passed away, it was when I was at meetings in Liverpool and Mei was left to cope with it.Not that she is unable to do so but it is a very traumatic and emotional experience when we lose an animal and perhaps more so when it is a horse as it seems so much more distressing due to the size and the subsequent burial.

I was chatting on the phone yesterday to a friend who lives in California .Katy is the daughter of Wendy who is one one of the trustees of Freshfields - Katy emigrated to the US from Merseyside many years ago and has brought up a family there(who share her love of animals) and helps at her local horse rescue - Pregnant Mare Rescue and as their name indicates they have a very difficult job on their hands rescuing mares from farms.For those who have no idea what goes on to provide women with the anti menopausal drugs Premarin , let me tell you that these horses are kept permanently in stalls, put into foal and have their urine "milked" as a so called vital ingredient for these drugs. It is a horrendous life but fortunately many such farms are closing down and when they do so Animal Welfare Organisations step in and try to purchase the horses to prevent them being sold for meat. Katy herself adopted a foal from one such farm.The reason I am mentioning this is because I hope that none of the Freshfields supporters who read this , are on this particular drug and if you are, please, please ask your doctor to change to a more ethically acceptable product(of which there are many). I myself changed doctors after she quite categorically said that Premarin (and I think the other product is called Prempak)THE only drug she recommends to women and had no intention of changing! Needless to say I walked out and found myself a doctor who had compassion.Well at least she refused to prescribe this drug for ethical reasons but having said that, she had no qualms offloading her childrens old riding pony to me without so much as a £10 donation and ignored a request to purchase a winter rug for him! There is no understanding some people is there?

Whilst I was away a dog was abandoned and I returned to an extra dog in the house.He appears to be mainly German Shepherd though his black and white colouring indicates he most likely has collie in him also. I doubt he will be claimed as he has chewed away most of the door frame in the kitchen! This is probably why he was thrown out. I have named him Raven - he is excellent with the other dogs, a very friendly dog but he seems to panic when he is left without human company so he needs a new home with someone who can deal with this. Indoor kennels can be an answer to this problem. My worry is only that people will use them too much but for leaving a destructive dog in for just a few hours can mean the difference between a dog living successfully in a home environment or spending his life in a shelter. I know which I would choose if I were a dog!

Today I saw two yellowhammers on the fence at the bottom of the track and a pair of goldfinches on the bird tree. I had a wonderful view of the goldfinches but did I have my camera on me? Of course not! David Bailey I will never be. I bet HE never left his camera at home. I put loads of bird seed on the bird table in the garden and just 10 minutes later it was all gone,it seemed too quick even

with greedy starlings about but then I let the Kitchen dogs out and Meg lurcher went straight to the bird table and jumped up to see what was left there. How do I stop her doing that? The dogs have already broken two bird tables and demolished another. I need one set in concrete with a barbed wire cage around the feeding tray!!!

It has been exceptionally quiet today, no visitors except one lady who comes regularly to walk one of the dogs. It has been wet and windy and the older ponies did not want to stay out for long, they were waiting huddled by the gates of their respective fields.Vanessa was due to come in this afternoon to see to them but they looked so pitiful I abandoned office work to bring them into their stables for which they were clearly grateful. There is nothing like bedding a horse down in a comfy stable and hearing them contentedly munching away at their hay. I just love it. Its one of the nicest sounds in the world.

There is someone coming tomorrow to give a home to an older cat and they have expressed interest in 14 years old Tiddles.I would love him to go to a home even though he is happy enough here, at his age I would like him to have a real homelife for his remaining years. There are other middle aged cats in the cattery which may have a shot at being the chosen one for this gentleman but whichever one it is , I am pleased to know that an older cat has a chance this weekend.

MUst go to do my bit of the Christmas newsletter which we will share with Liverpool, it needs to be printed and sent out ready for the festive season of goodwill! Speaking of goodwill, this recession has most definitely affected donations to the charity. When people are struggling themselves making ends meet, charitable donations are the first to go.I wonder what this coming year will hold for us? I keep thinking there must be a novel and effective way to bring funds gushing in but so far it has managed to evade me! If any of our supporters are the latest massive lottery winners. please remember to send us

a cheque!

I had an email form Tess the staff who went recently, seems she has learned to use a computer since she left us. Amazing what dogs are capable of isnt it? There was a lovely photo of her asleep on an armchair so it appears she is taking her place in the household already.Fingers crossed it all works out for her.It is so hard to find good homes for staffordshires and already I know of three more in need.Its a nightmare so I am particularly anxious Tess does not disgrace herself in this home, it would not be nice for her if she has to return to kennels.Please behave Tess,its for your own sake.

Crystal has Pneumonia and Roxy empties the Fruit Bowl.

It was like Victoria Station here today with all the extra people - vet, dentist, farrier and assistant, TV lady and of course the staff who had done as I asked and presented themselves well .True to my word I also behaved myself and refrained from unseemly coarse language and any potentially violent skirmishes with Horrid Hawksworth! (only joking of course, I find the best way to deal with such a person is by ignoring him)No Brawling today then! It remains to be seen whether anything will come of todays assessment with Gwenna the researcher but if it does it may be for a series not just a one off documentary which would be great publicity for the shelter.

Whilst all the activity was going on, Crystal horse was in her stable being anxiously watched over by various members of staff, including myself.We were waiting for the vet to show up anyway but the surgery was rung and told that we had a emergency..Cariad had found Crystal collapsed in the field and she and Rosie just about managed to get her to her feet and make it the few yards to her stable. When Ken the Vet arrived he diagnosed pneumonia (change of weather maybe?),poor Crystal was shivering -even with her outdoor rug on she was cold so we removed this and replaced it with a warmer stable rug and gave her a nice thick bed of straw on which to lie.As I write this she has started to eat and stopped shivering, it is just a matter of waiting now to ensure she passes faecal matter.Her motions have to be daily monitored due to her melanomas.The first sign that she is unable to do this without pain is the time we have to make the dreaded decision. I will never allow an animal to suffer needlessly, it is so easy to keep an animal alive when there is no longer any quality of life left, none of us want to part with 0ur beloved pets but quality of life is all important and sometimes we have to do what is best for the animal regardless of our own feelings of loss and grief. The Vet is hopeful that Crystal will pull through so it is a waiting game now.

Little Titch duly had his bad tooth extracted and was up and walking about a few hours later. Maggie also had to be anaesthetised for her teeth to be checked, not because she needed teeth out but rather that without sedation this quiet little old Shetland becomes a rearing excitable and potentially dangerous stallion.We have to have her sedated whenever the farrier or dentist need to work on her. Naughty Maggie!

The best news of the day is that the gentleman who visited Tess Staffie some weeks ago and who was disappointed by his wifes refusal to take her, came to adopt her today! His wife was not against having her, after all; they had lost a staff from old age which she loved dearly but she was rightfully worried about Tess not being good with visiting grandchildren.It is hard to be sure of this when there are not many children about here but she seems to love everybody she meets which is fairly indicative of an even temperament.She has gone on a two weeks trial so it is all fingers and legs crossed that she does settle in well and for her own sake will not be returned.

A family from Surrey are coming on Saturday to see Roxie a 6 years old dog I have in the house(Im not sure if I mentioned her, sometimes so much happens and I THINK I have written about things and really have forgotten to do so)Anyhow Roxie is another farm dog, (pictured here)tied up and ignored and she is thoroughly enjoying life with me and she is so loving and affectionate I find it hard to think of how lonely her life has been.Her only bad habit is that when I leave her for more than a few hours I go in the house to find she has removed all the oranges from the fruit bowl and they are all scattered round the room.Not eaten or chewed , just moved? At least four times a day I have to search for the missing fruit and replace back into the bowl only for the same to happen as soon as my back is turned! Maybe she just has a fruit fetish? Could be worse.As ex farm dogs go she is pretty well behaved.

I am away for a few days, leaving Mei to look after my dogs and Pooty and Holly no ears of course, I am going to Liverpool for a trustee meeting and on the way back will be stopping off at Abergele to collect some second hand donated horse rugs.If I have time I will pop in to our LLandudno shop and take a few bags of goods that have been brought to the shelter for resale. I may be back Thursday late or Friday morning so no blog until I return.

Paddy should be arriving either Monday or Tuesday, I am getting excited now.

Dentist Day.

Monday

Andre our lovely Equine Dentist has been today and Morris was his firstclient of the morning.Amazingly he had little wrong with his teeth that a little filing would not help so clearly that is not at the root of his weight problem.Blood tests may be the next step . Morris behaved very well, he really is a gentle creature.(pictured here with Andre and the bottom half of Rosie!)) Also pictured is Big Buster in the "Dentists Waiting Room" looking incredibly bored and unimpressed by the whole business of waiting about. I can imagine him thinking"there is nothing for a horse to do here is there? At least you humans are given magazines to read"

There were no major problems in those Andre checked today, he commented on old Noddys continued good health and thought new horse Sorrell had the most beautiful eyes.We have just been watching Sorrell in the field trotting up and down in that inimitable Arab fashion with her head and tail held high.Stunning to watch, I will endeavour to get a photo of her doing this, I was too late today, by the time I found the camera she had her head down and was busy with the serious business of grazing.Andre has just one pony left to do but Titch Shetland needs a tooth extraction so this will require a Vet in attendance so this is scheduled for tomorrow.

Walking the dogs this morning I have found ragwort flowering - this is very unusual at this time of year.Is there no end to the stuff? It must be down to the occasional warm spells we have been having, the seasons are all out of kilter. I have heard birds singing away in the treetops as though it is a spring morning and even the summer flowering plants which did not do well this summer in my tubs, have finally burst into flower! It is a great shame as they are unlikely to last long with the icy nip in the air.Poor Flowers.

The first starling migrant arrived a week ago and this single bird was joined this morning by several more, by next week there will be dozens more arriving to descend on my bird feeders/tables and I will be buying bird seed like it's going out of fashion.It is one of my biggest expenses during Winter but never, ever begrudged.I know starlings are not popular birds and they are very greedy but they need sustenance as much as the sparrows and finches and other small birds.I just put out more feeders which the larger birds cannot access, that way they are all kept happy and well fed.

Homes have become temporarily thin on the ground for the dogs, there are homes available but for the ideal family pet and not all of our collies are suitable for homes with young children.Taz the GSD also needs an adult home, there have been some enquiries for her but nobody has yet followed up my calls .Nervous Jim is still very shy and he needs a home with another dog from which he will gain confidence,Gel is outgoing and a happy lively collie but he has been returned once so we have to be extra sure that the next home is the right one. That reminds me - the other Jim who was returned for being unpredictable with strangers has gone out to another home with Nell, all reports back from their new owners are indicating that he is fine and they are having no problems with him other than the expected teething problems with a new dog.They are delighted with them both. Sometimes there really is a problem, other times it is simply a case of the wrong people having the dog and dogs behave differently with different people. Strongminded intelligent dogs need someone who can deal with problems and nip them in the bud quickly before they escalate. Not everyone has this ability and many panic and feel the dog is beyond their control.I made a mistake homing Jim, the previous people had been collie owners for years but that can be very different from having a rescued farm dog.My mistake. I had thought wrongly that their years of experience would make for the ideal home. It appears that this time I have made the right choice.

I desperately need a foster home for a young lurcher in the Dog Pound, I had a call today to tell me that he has been joined by another lurcher(a female this time) and a staff.Oh Dear. Its an impossible situation in this area where there is no proper Dog Shelter. It would be wonderful if the Dogs Trust opened one in Gwynedd but they have no plans for such a project I am told.What a shame. I shall keep trying for places for these unfortunate animals.Very often something or somebody turns up just when I am becoming truly desperate.

Tomorrow a lady from a local Tv company is to visit us with the view to assessing whether we are suitable to have a documentary made about the shelter. We must be on our best behaviour! We dont want to become celebrities like those who feature in those dreadful fly on the wall documentaries.I have told the girls to leave their basques and suspenders at home and the men to turn up sober for a change and I have promised that I will try not to be drawn into any unseemly behaviour such as unladylike brawling in the yard. It will be difficult but it is only for a few hours and then we can revert to type once she leaves!

Its Just Another Manic Sunday

No, Bianca has not popped in from the Eastenders set to help us at the shelter, its new volunteer Claire(more of her later)

Well, the morning started with trouble.Gail has no car at the moment and has to be picked up to come into work.Sue went to collect her and on the way in they came across a traffic accident; a young girl had overturned her car and was injured so they called an ambulance for her. Visibly shocked they arrived at work hoping for a quiet day.No such luck! Within an hour we had admitted a young stray cat whose finder has kindly had him neutered and a litter of tiny kittens whose mothers body had been found nearby. They urgently needed warming up, their little bodies were cold.A heat pad was warmed up and kitten milk made up for them, Gail patiently fed them all and a new volunter Claire who had come to help for the first time, offered to foster them for us. This is where foster homes become so important, kittens this young need constant care and without the antibodies from the mothers milk they are extremely prone to infection. Apparently Claires partner told her not to come back with any more animals to add to their household so he will no doubt be pleased she is returning with 6! Fortunately he is as much of an animal lover as her and he is all talk(according to Claire) Claire pictured here handfeeding one of the babies.Its a good start to her first day, she has really been thrown in the deep end.Hope it doesn't put her off helping us again.

Another kitten has been found at the side of a busy road and is coming in to be fostered by Mei.This one has runny eyes and is about 6 weeks old so we cannot risk putting him/her into the kitten room until we are sure he/she is healthy enough.

My lovely(not) neighbour Horrid Hawksworth was giving himself an apoplexy yesterday, shouting "shut Up" at the dogs from over his fence. I walked over to where he had been standing and yes I could hear a couple of our dogs barking but it was not loud enough to bother anyone normal.What I also could hear is his geese screeching loudly and the equally loud noise of an agricultural vehicle he was using. He is lucky neither I nor the neighbours on his other side are like him.UNLIKE him we have more important things to stress about and we all accept we live in a rural location with animal and tractor sounds all around us on a daily basis.

Laddies new owners have emailed me to say he settled in well overnight.Pictured here is Laddie looking more than a little camera shy with his new people. Since being rescued from his previous home where he had been living in a shed and tied up all day with no exercise, it is no wonder he has become such a happy dog. He is now full of joy and I am sure he will give his new owners much fun and companionship.

Shani the potbellied pig which I had planned to take in, I had thought was going to a home but it failed to materialise so I am just waiting for the owner to organise a date for bringing her in. I am a bit concerned and apprehensive in case the two oldies here do not take to her but the Liverpool shelter did have a space there so there is a back up if there is a major problem. Today is cold (where did the warm spell go?)with an icy nip to the air and this is when I start to think about the pigs who feel the cold and need extra bedding to keep them warm. Each winter their wellbeing is a worry. I do wish animals like these were not bred in the Uk, they are poorly equipped physically to combat our poor weather conditions. That notwithstanding ,these two have managed to reach old age without succumbing though each year I wonder will it be their last. Dear old Pigwigs. (pictured here last month)My last comment brought to mind when I said something similar to a pig we had in Liverpool - we had taken in a stray young pig which we named Sid and going into his pen to feed him, I bent down and murmered "There you are Dear little Pig". He then promptly bit me! From then on he was known as Sid Vicious. In all fairness to Sid, he was probably scared and he was not to know I meant him no harm.He continued to live at Freshfields for many years.

I have received an email from the Great Dane Rescue who are delivering Paddy to me the week after next.They have given me the number of a Vet who can tell me more about dealing with his health problem.Not sure If I already mentioned it but the reason nobody wants him is because he has something called Wobblers Syndrome.It is a malformation of the vertebrae, the correct name for it is Spondololithesis and one of the the symptoms is an uncoordinated gait(or wobble)It is more common in large breeds like Danes and although some dogs can continue to lead a reasonably normal life for years after diagnosis, in some the condition will deteriorate. Therefore I do not know if Paddy will be with me for long, I hope so but with this condition one has to expect this may not be the case. If I can give him a home life for the time he has left(which MAY be a few years)then that makes him happy and the gap left by Molly will be filled by a very needy dog.

Is Grandad Still Grieving?

Two scared little feral kittens were admitted this morning after they were rescued by someone worried that the mum cat was not around.In fact Mum was probably hiding nearby but the babies are around eight weeks of age and if they didn't come in to us now they would end up as adult ferals so really it is the best thing that could have happened to themWe just have to convince THEM of that now! They are hissing spitting little ginger firecrackers!(see photo of them in repose mode)They should soon come round to being handled at this young age and gingers are so popular that it is doubtful they will spend too much time here. The lady who brought them in, already has two of our cats and although she and her family love cats, she had felt the kittens could be easily homed so she offered a home to an older cat nobody wanted. She was introduced to 12 years old Bertie and the 'deal' was clinched - Berties owner had died and its no life for an oldie in a cattery, they miss their home comforts so much. Speaking of old cats, a 14 years old cat called Tiddleswho also lost his owner was admitted a few months ago and because he is so content being around other cats, it was decided he could have the freedom of the shelter. He immediately made himself at home in the conservatory and is usually to be found lyting on the top of one of the chairs(see photo). He is still up for adoptionbut at least until then he is happier in this environment.

A litter of 6 kittens have been found in a shopping bag - I will post a photo

of them on Sunday. The question I would like answered is why, with all the help there is available to have cats neutered and spayed, are there so many kittens being born? Answers on a postcard please.Actually I believe I already know the answer - some people are simply too apathetic to sort it out, it is far too much of an effort to book an appointment at the vet and the money could be put to better use, like beer and cigarettes!

Laddie has left us and 10 years old Lucy terrier is missing him but she is having lots of cuddles from me; as I type, she is sitting behind me on the office chair and is nodding off in contentment.All I need is someone who understands terriers and has a quietish home, maybe with another terrier for her to play with and she will make someone a lovely companion. Her problem is that she takes a little time to bond with people and when she first meets strangers there is a tendency to jump and nip, not a great quality I'm afraid but she is such a loving animal and has so much affection to give the right person. I wish there was a website where one could find these lovely 'right people'. I know they are out there in that wonderful place called 'Somewhere' but I have never been able to find that either!

The Equine Dentist has been booked for this Monday, I hope that we will find out the reason for the poor weight of Morris(pictured here snoozing with Buster whilst they wait for their evening meal) Mei has brought to my attention that since Connie died poor old Grandad has not seemed the same and he certainly does look quite despondent. Horses do miss and grieve for their companions which is why I always feel sad for those who are sold over and over again and each time enduring the forced parting from their friends.Some sceptics may say that they will find other friends wherever they go next but not always. When Noddy shetland who is now in his late thirties outlived three of his stable companions it was as though he had given up on close friendships.

It took three years before he eventually allowed himself to become close again to another pony. We are considering moving Grandad into Noddys group and seeing how that works out for him.Grandad pictured being cuddled by Mei.

The Eagerly Awaited Christmas Puddings Arrive.

Today was the day of the Coffee Morning which I had mistakenly advertised as the 22nd! As expected it was not well attended, however we raised just over £400 so it was worth it . I will be keeping well away from Portmadog next Friday when people turn up for it and find nothing is going on!! I really do need someone to organise these events.I am finding I have less and less time to do my own work(admin) and it is all building up. This weekend the Pets at Home adoption week begins and we have a stall in their Bangor store. The Christmas Puddings have arrived and already we have sold more than half - they are proving to be very popular. I need to order more so it looks as thought they are going to be a good seller. Thats always a relief, when we try a new item to raise funds we are always a little apprehensive, some things are a success and others do not seem to take off at all. This years successes have been the cotton shopping bags with animal prints and now the puds.It all brings in much needed funds for the animals. I had someone send me a messaage via the blog saying that these puds are fantastic, she had bought one from another charity last year. At least we now know they are exceptionally nice and can recommend them.
I brought back to the shelter the two beautiful cats which have been temporarily residing in the rooom above the charity shop in Porthmadog, they are such nice cats they should be chosen fairly quickly. Two little cats went out yesterday leaving space for the these two but there are so many more waiting for spaces here.This weekend I hope to get up to date putting the cats on the catchat website, that usually brings in some homes.
The Dentist is coming here on Monday to check Morris and some of the other Equines and the Farrier on Tuesday so we have a busy week ahead of us. Minnie and Georgie Girl have begun life in their new home locally and now it is time to put straw beds down in the stables ready for the first cold night when the older ponies will come in and the winter routine begins. I had a call today about some neglected animals which has greatly concerned me but I was not given an address, how am I supposed to do anything without an address?I am hoping the caller will ring back and tell me the exact location so I can do an assessment and decide whether it is a job I can deal with satisfactorily or whether it is a job for another organisation.As there is a horse involved that may entail calling in the World Horse Welfare inspector.
Laddie is leaving us tomorrow and little Tess will miss his company but maybe she will fall lucky as well, lets hope. Taz GSD is doing so well now, each day she develops more confidence and she is good with me now after days of being very wary of me and screaming when I tried to stroke her. She will be fine if we can find an experienced and sensible dog owner to take her on, after all, at the age of nine months she is still very much a pup and if she has shown so much improvement in this short time, there should be no problem with her if this socialisation continues.
A couple of nice young men turned up today and have shown interest in Junior the cat with the auto immune problem.I love it when people take to animals like him, it shows true compassion and a real love of cats.Anyway they are returning on Monday morning when Rhian or Gail are in( it was late when they arrived and I was in the middle of walking my dogs)
Finally my new Great Dane Paddy will be arriving from the Rescue in South Wales the week after next, pending my homecheck of course.How embarassing if I fail it!!! I donot want to replace Molly(I cant do that of course) and I asked for an older Dane with problems which nobody else would want.I did not want a young dog which could be homed with someone with more time and
6 years old Paddy is being passed over all the time. I have seen a photo and he is the same colour as Molly but a neutered male, I believe he gets on with dogs, cats and horses which is so necessary here. I do have a feeling of guilt not taking on a Freshfields dog(Molly was from my Liverpool shelter) but I miss Mollys presence in the house and although she was a lousy guard dog, I felt safer with her around.Even her bark made me feel safer,it was so loud and gave the impression of a ferocious beast not to be messed with.Of course the reality was that she would run a mile if a stranger even looked at her! This is the first time in my life I have acquired a dog from anywhere but Freshfields and the first time I have deliberately sought out a pedigree so I hope I am not condemned for life by the ethics police!

Patch and Kitchen Jim

Oops, forgot to post the picture of Jim and Patch.

Hallelujah I am back blogging.

Hallelujah! After more than a week of problems with both the internet and the telephone during which time I was ready to tear my hair out in frustration, an extremely efficient and pleasant young man called Trefor sorted the whole lot out in just half an hour!Trefor I love you. Apologies to anyone who was similarly frustrated at trying in vain to contact the shelter and thanks to Rhian for keeping the blog going for me.

Well, where do I start?

Morris the new horse, after almost breaking Meis toes has become friends with Big Buster and they are often seen grooming each other(I failed to get a photo because to add to my other problems I lost my camera though found it again today so will take some more pics tomorrow) At first we tried him with new horse Sorrell and her companions which include little Bobby the shetland but as you can see on the photo Morris was determined not to leave the safety of his compound and eventually it became clear he was not going to fit into that particular group. Then we tried him with the main herd and Buster immediately started to follow him about and was always standing close to him so we decided to leave him in that group of horses.He is as I mentioned when he first arrived, very thin but he has some dental problems and we all hope that when he has the appropriate treatment he may gain some weight. He is an extremely gentle and friendly horse, his previous owner said he prefers human company to others of his own kind, well he did spend the first few days staring longingly at everyone from the gate to the field but now he has joined the main herd and only comes down with them when they want a drink from the containers.

All the horses and ponies are doing well at the moment and are enjoying this very unexpected spell of warm sunny weather.All the rugs have had to be taken off this week, seems like winter is not quite here yet after all. Suits me, I would happily live in a hot climate. Actually when I was married(about 100 years ago or so it seems) we were planning to emigrate to South Africa where my fathers brother lived in Cape Town. All the paperwork was completed and then my mother became ill so I backed out of the move.In retrospect although I would have loved the sun and outdoor way of life, I would not have dealt well with apartheid so maybe things happen for a reason.

As Rhian said, we have lots of cats and kittens but are homing them albeit very slowly. Out of the dogs, Kitchen Jim has left us for a home along with Nell the young wall eyed collie(odd coloured eyes)/We have heard they have both settled in well and I have to admit I was very worried about them leaving me.Jim had a tendency to walk over the tops of units knocking things down constantly and Nell was so timid, I was afraid she would bolt the first chance she had. Having said that they have gone to a couple who have plenty of experience with rescue dogs and fingers crossed this lucky pair opf ex farm dogs will continue to do well in their new life. Jim is pictured here playing in the field with Patch my Scouser "Drives me round the bend" Jack Russell. At the same tiome I took a photo of dear old Ben who must be 14 years old now.I took him in two years ago on a temporary basis whilst his owner who had become homeless searched for somewhere to live. He never did find a suitable place where he was able to have Ben with him and so Ben stayed. At the time I did not want another dog but when his owner came to visit and Ben ran back into the house as fast as he could, I knew he was happier with me and so it was agreed he would remain at the shelter for the rest of his life. He really is a dear gentle natured collie, he is still very active and chases the other dogs round the field but he is becoming frail and elderly nowadays and his back legs are not as strong as they were.

The other collie up for adoption is Jim - the timid longhaired collie who is improving every day, he gains confidence from other dogs and is a sweet little dog who so desperately wants to have the confidence to come up and make a fuss. One day Jim! Gel was unfortunately returned after only a few weeks in his home. We were told he had a tendency to lunge at strangers and children, which is odd as he loved the child at the farm. Anyhow we have been assessing him and apart from when he first was admitted when he was very bewildered we have seen no sign of this behaviour. We will continue to monitor him.

There have been so many requests for help with both cats and dogs that it is truly overwhelming and being without means of advertising them on the net has made a huge difference so for the next few days I will be busy trying to update everything and hope it brings in some more homes.

It's All A Ghastly Nightmare!!!

Gel still "Waiting" for the right home

"Freedom" for Taz

Well with the Internet still down communication was a little difficult at Freshfields, but just to make matters worse the phone is now down as well. This is enough of a problem in any business, or even a house hold, but for us it's a disaster. Homes probably lost and animals lives put at risk. BT have been a nightmare, and reporting the fault in it's self was a chore, let alone the fact that they still haven't done anything about it!
Still, after saying that we had a pretty successful week-end with cats, kittens and dogs re-homed. To be honest Saturday was pretty manic, all worth it to see the animals off to their permanent homes though.
Taz is doing well, she's responsive and very easy to train. The improvement in her is obvious to all. She loves to run in the fields, an experience she'd never had before as she had always been on the lead. In my opinion with an experienced owner she could soon make a wonderful and very loyal pet.
Laddie has now been reserved and will be leaving us at the week-end, he is full of fun and I'm sure will benefit from his future owner's active life style.
Hopefully Lesley will be able to get back on line shortly to keep you updated with all that's going on at Freshfields.

Oii You....Yes You

My name is Bertie and I'm a 12 year old handsome pale ginger cool dude.(Even if I do say so myself!) Sadly, due to ill health my owner can no longer care for me. It's Ok here at Freshfields, but I'm looking for a nice warm house with a coal fire and a large sofa to stretch out on. Id like a garden so I can have a toddle out occasionally, but only if it's sunny and warm! I like lots of attention and love my food.

So how about it? Can I come and live with you?

The Strangest Thing

Hi
Sadly the internet is down at the sanctuary again, so I'm just writing a few words from home. Having been off for a couple of days you'd be surprised how much I've miss. But this morning I met Morris, the horse who came in over the last couple of days, he has already left his mark on Mei, literally. He stood on her foot and broke her little toe. No Comment!!! I'm sure Lesley will post a picture of him shortly.
Today a lady came in with a 9 month old German Shepherd bitch for assessment. Taz was totally out of their control and lunging at everyone and everything. It's all just nervous aggression/anxiety with her. I just don't understand it, how can they have let it get to this? Just some early training and socialising and all this could have been avoided. I just hope that we can put the work in to get her right and help with her re-homing.
The kitten room is still full to bursting, but at least we have two reserved who will be going out shortly. Sadly a lot of the kittens are now 4-5 months old and are being passed by in favour of the cute younger ones. I think at this time of year, every year I start to panic, but I really feel this year that we have more youngsters than we have had in previous years. One teenager that I have grown very fond of is the feral red tabby. He's now very tame, though it's all slightly on his terms. I could easily bring him home....but Hubby says NO!!! (Damn!)

Anyway hopefully Lesley will back online in the next few days, if not maybe I'll speak to you later in the week.
Rhian

A Few Short Steps to Freedom.

I had a wonderful email today from the lovely people who gave a home to the old cats Precious and Magic,it made me smile so much I tried to copy and paste it onto here but it didn't work so I will just have to copy a little of it and publish the wonderful photos of the three cats taking their first steps outdoors in their new home.After 3 weeks being kept in they are clearly apprehensive but curious.

Precious is the 14 years old white cat, Magic is Black fluffy and Flossie the shortcoated black and white, all of which had been at the shelter for a very long time before being adopted.

Here is an extract from the email:

Today is the Day!

Magic has taken to sitting by the front door for the last week or so,sandwhiches packed and ready for the off. We showed her the contract which said she could not be let out for three weeks but she quite rightly pointed out that SHE had signed nothing and that anyway cats were not subject to UK law

But this morning the time had come.We knew this because she removed the calendar from the wall and whacked Sue over the head with it, an angry paw stabbing the entry for today which reads "Cats Open Day"!

Above are photos of the cats experiencing their first taste of freedom.

Sean the lurcher had been tentatively reserved but the person interested could not visit for another 2 weeks and in the meantime someone else showed up who had been waiting for a suitable dog to be admitted.Anyhow they fell in love with Sean and off he went with them.Hopefully the others will still be in the market for a similar dog when they are ready to take one on.

Scooby whippet pup has also left us or rather left his foster mum Veronica who was becoming rather too fond of him,like me she has a soft spot for this type of dog so it is as well he has gone today otherwise it would have been too hard for her to part with him. As it is she has barely enough time for her own canine family(and human family) as we work her so hard here! Tomorrow Jack the abused Jack Russell will be coming to meet his prospective owners so fingers crossed he and their own dog make friends.

In the last entry I wrote about being pleased that Tommy had found a home, well Tommy was in the same pen as Morris another middle aged cat and he was another I was starting to think would be here forever.Well unbelievably today he was reserved! How great is that, two longtermies going in one weekend.Thats what its all about! The next one I would like to see go is Dana who has been here nearly a year so maybe we will have a hat-trick?Who knows, with this run of luck anything is possible.One kitten has also gone and another two reserved so it has been a good start to the weekend.

Still the calls are coming in to get rid of dogs, I was upset to receive a call about a 14 years old Rough Collie(not a breed we see much of in this area)He sounds a lovely dog, great with children , cats and other dogs etc, so why is he in need of a home? Good Question and one to which there is no good answer I'm afraid. When a dog is no longer wanted the best thing to do is accept what the owner says and just get on with trying to find a suitable home. As he is not neutered it will not be easy to place him but I will try, I rang a few rough collie rescues and he is now on their list too so between us perhaps we will be successful. I did have plans to take on another Rescued Great Dane and had one in mind from a Dane Rescue in South Wales but if this old fellow fails to find a home , how can I justify doing that now? I suppose it should be a case of which is most in need. I did want another large dog for my own security or at least to have a feeling of that, in truth Molly was a hopeless guard dog.The one I have in mind is 5 years old and has been passed over because he has a physical problem which puts people off adopting him and which could reduce his lifespan. It has put me in a quandary but hey whats new about that? I'm sure I will come to the right decision sooner or later.

We are having a Freshfields night out Sunday,we are off to the theatre in LLandudno, well Mei, John and I are, so there will be no Blog until Tuesday and No that is not because I will have a hangover but because I will be out most of Monday and Tuesday on Freshfields business so will not have time to write it.Honestly!