lesleys animal shelter

Henry is now Chas

2012-02-01T14:56:00.000Z

Just a note to say that old Henry was adopted and is now living happily with canine pal Dave. They have changed his name to Chas so they now have two dogs called Chas and Dave! He is a lucky old man to find a loving home so soon . Not many people will take on old animals so he has really been fortunate . Good luck Chas.

2012-02-01T14:51:00.000Z

Tuesday:

The snow has cleared(except on the mountains) but it is bitterly cold and the cats are feeling it most of all. I feel like huddling up with them , they look so cosy in the heated conservatory.

The Photo is of snow covered mountain Cwm Dulyn at the back of Freshfields and behind the neighbouring farm. Mount Snowdon is unseen to the left and a little behind Cym Cillyn which lies next the mountain shown. Meis dad was named after the mountain in the photo , and her family had a beautiful image of it put on his gravestone.

Instead of waiting until five pm, I felt compelled to light my coal fire/log burner early this afternoon, Paddy was shivering and the Jack Russells had wrapped themselves up tightly in their blankets. The cottage is too hot in summer and too cold in winter unless all heating is on full and like most people I try to economise. Today,however ,is not a time for being frugal with

heating.

Grandad gives us a fright;

Old Grandad has had another bout of colic and the vet came out to see to him, it is particularly worrying when the ponies are so old but thank heavens today he is back to normal. Colic in horses can be caused by so many things and it is hard to sometimes know why it has happened . He and Noddy look their age (late thirties) nowadays but they are very old ponies and have been remarkably healthy throughout the time they have lived at Freshfields.With so many oldies on site it is inevitable there are going to be health issues to worry over, we expect it but still dread them falling ill. Each time we wonder if one is about to leave us and then next day the ailing one is up and bright as a button. These little shetlands are such hardy creatures. I just love their characters.

Wednesday:
The young ferret we admitted last week is a sweet natured little female, I have booked her in to be spayed tomorrow, along with two dogs Becky and Scooby (collies)and then I hope we can find a nice ferret loving person to adopt her. I have called her Fionnula after a character in an Irish legend.I hope I have the correct spelling though I'm sure there will be someone who will know and rush to correct me! I was told of the legend when I was in Ireland with Sea Shepherd in the seventies and the name stayed in my mind ever since. I seem to remember that it was about a girl who was changed into a swan. (or was it the other way around?)I would love to know if anyone else knows the story.

The other ferret we were waiting to admit never did reappear . I just hope that someone else took him in, its so cold now I can't bear to think of animals being out in this . Do many other people worry about this too? It is one reason I hate the winter, at least when the weather is warm, stray and neglected animals don't have this extra problem to deal with.

I have asked a lady from the British Llama Society to check out the home in Gloucester which has been offered for the Boys. I must say that the Society has proved to be very helpful, both with advice and a donation to help with the expenses we incurred over the Boys. They sent me information on Llama care and have not failed to be pleasant and willing when I have telephoned for advice. I think we all agree that the LLama rescue/welfare situation is likely to become more prevalent now that recession has hit the Uk and that is very worrying indeed. Perhaps some Llama lovers will set up rescues in various parts of the Uk. The only one in existence now is already overloaded with rescue cases and is unable to take more in. If I had the money and the land I would like to do this myself but I would have to win the lottery!

Mei receives the news she has been waiting for.
After three years of pain and waiting for appointments at hospitals, Mei was starting to believe she would never have her wrist problem sorted out, but she has a pre op appointment in three weeks and can scarcely believe it. I am so pleased for her.Of course now she is worrying about taking time off and not being able to walk the dogs etc!

A donation from Wilkinsons in Porthmadog
We were delighted to receive a huge amount of xmas pet treats from our local branch of Wilkinsons, there were so many they filled the back of a small van. Thank you Wilkinsons.

Its's Snowing

2012-01-29T17:49:00.003Z

It's Snowing and everywhere is covered with a thin layer of the white pretty stuff. The Llamas are bemused and as always are intigued with anything that varies from their usual routine. I have never come across animals so inquisitive and it will be hard to part with them when the time comes.

Old Henry was adopted by the Merseyside couple who came to see him.Their own elderly Freshfields dog Dave (love that name) appeared to have no animosity towards Henry and vice versa. I am thrilled to find him somewhere so quickly and hope that the two remain on good terms when they find they have to share their home.

A Very Welcome Visit From Penny.

Last year we rehomed a particularly traumatised farm dog called Rosie(now Penny) Some of you may remember the lovely video which owner Ian took of Penny and pal Bruno having a run alongside a river.It was set to a background of music and was very touching, especially considering the dreadful past this collie had experienced. I have only seen one or two dogs as badly frightened as her since my move to Wales.

Just look at her here on the left on the day she arrived, so scared she would not walk and below is Penny on the day she came to visit us , looking perfectly content and her eyes alert and full of intelligence. Fear Gone. fantastic.

It was wonderful to see her now, a completely different dog with confidence and happiness shining out of her eyes.Her progress was not without set backs and it has taken a lot of patience and understanding , but those qualities are exactly what Ian and his partner possess . They loved her from the start and were determined to do their best by her. They succeeded.

Cat News:

Adoptions have been slow this weekend, just one kitten went and one cat was returned for bullying another cat. Not the best of weekends for our feline friends but this happens from time to time.Next weekend we may home dozens!

We have all been saddened by the demise of one of our long term residents Big Ginge. He had lived here for several years after his animal rescuer owner Enid died , leaving him and 20 companions homeless. Big Ginge and most of his pals had been feral cats which Enid had taken in and they were part domesticated when they arrived here. My memory of their arrival was leaning in to one of the baskets to reassure one of the more nervous cats Flecky, only to have him lunge out and whack me across the mouth leaving me with a permanent scar. I dont blame him, it must have been quite shocking to have my beaming visage looming over him when he was nervous anyway. ! He and Big Ginge were the last surviving members of this elderly group and strangely Flecky has grown to prefer me to the other people he knew at the shelter.Big Ginge, on the other hand was friendly with everyone and was always happy to pose for photos .

We will all miss the old man very much.

This a typical photo of him and the last one I took just a few months ago.Flecky who is also failing in health is the black cat on the right of Ginge.

Our Lovely Ginge had a happy life here, was always dozing in the conservatory and on warm days would potter about outside , having the occasional sunbathe. Not a bad life for a cat.

R.I.P. Big Ginge.

The Newcomers Quickly Arouse Interest

2012-01-27T17:41:00.003Z

The Old And The Young:

Here we have two more unwanted collies- The old chap (Henry)came from the Pound where he had been left unclaimed and the youngster Becky was taken to be destroyed after killing two poultry in the farm where she lived. Henry is the sweetest old dog, he is so gentle and placid ; his tail is always waving gaily and he is appreciative of every bit of attention he receives. His coat is a bit matted and unkempt but he is so docile,it is clear that he has not been the victim of cruelty , just a little neglected. I am sure someone will come forward to offer him a home for the last part of his life.

Little Becky(and she IS little) already has a homecheck being done , she will be a great family pet as long as there are no small animals about for her to assault. I am rehoming her away from rural Wales so there will be no opportunities for her to be in close proximity to poultry and sheep. This is not the area for a dog to be unless it can be trusted 100 percent with livestock but at the age of six months she deserves a second chance.

Transport is sorted for Jane:

Jane the staffordshire bull terrier is leaving us on Tuesday when she will be off to Cardiff to her new life, it is so obvious she is feeling so much better nowadays, not only did the dustpan and brush fall prey to her mischievous ways but she has today emptied the bin all over the floor. Thank you Jane. that is just what I needed!

She is showing signs of boredom and needs the one to one attention she will shortly be receiving- until then Its a case of keeping everything chewable well out of her way.

Charley Turns Into A Bully:

Charley one of the four hard to home cats has 'queered his pitch' as the old Scouse saying goes. He has been aggressive towards the other three and is making their lives a misery. Frances has wisely allowed him the sole use of one of her rooms and she is fostering him until we find someone to take him on who has no other cats. Without their presence he becomes a real Pussycat!

If anyone knows a cat lover without other felines and who would take pity on middle aged but very handsome deaf white Charley please get in touch

Horses:

I was quite excited to receive a call asking for two shetland ponies, there have been very few such calls this past year and we would dearly like to find a nice place for Heather and her son Paddy. Unfortunately all they wanted ponies for was to keep their grass down! It would be much cheaper and less aggravation to hire a person to do this, I doubt they had taken into consideration that ponies are VERY expensive to keep. Farriers ,Dentists and Vets are by no means cheap so they would make very expensive lawnmowers.

Pictured here with my lovely boy Rocky are the mother and son shetlands. Their Time will Come.

We will be having another pony returned this weekend.Axel is one of three Dartmoor ponies we rescued several years ago and he has been living with my next door neighbours for the bulk of that time , not the infamous HH of course! When Axel and his pals were admitted they were almost wild as they had not been long taken off the Moors and were very skittish. The well known round up of wild ponies from the moors is one which many people find abhorrent and quite rightly so. It is a terrifying experience for animals which have never been handled, to suddenly find themselves herded into waiting lorries and taken to the even more frightening environment of the horses sales. Axel was one of the lucky ones purchased by an animal welfare group and his future was immediately secured. Nowadays he is as well behaved as any other domesticated pony but his carer is unable to keep all her equine family and Axel is showing signs of ill health so we have agreed to take him back so we can monitor his health and care for him at the shelter.

Disaster Strikes As I leave |For Liverpool:

Why is it that things always seem to go wrong at the most inopportune time?

The night before I left for the meeting in Liverpool, Mei noticed my car was leaking oil so I had to give up on the idea of driving there and had to beg a lift to Prestatyn where I had arranged previously to pick up my sister. She was not happy at the prospect of driving her car from Prestatyn to Merseyside but there was no choice.Sandra hates driving even more than I do and finds the journey arduous but it was either that or cancel the meeting which neither of us wanted to do.

Then as I was rushing round in the morning , trying to organise myself - I suddenly noticed that one of Paddys front paws was ENORMOUS! I know he has elephant sized feet anyway but one was double the size of the other and it looked sore. Now I had a problem.Not only was I about to leave for two days but there was no vehicle in which to transport him to the Vet ,and he needs a Great Dane approved vehicle in which he can comfortably travel, anything smaller than a transit sized van will simply not do!

The other issue was that only Mei and I can enter the house to remove him, he will not allow anyone else to do this.

"Oh Paddywack" I moaned at him " Why today of all days?"

He just stared uncomprehending at me in typical Dane manner.

I had to leave him in Meis capable hands and told her who to ring for help with transport and by afternoon he had paid his visit to the vet(again) who found that he had a hole in between his toes . This was probably caused by a foreign object which had since worked its way out(I failed to notice this I am ashamed to say) and infection had set in.

As I type this , his foot is back to normal . I hope we can manage to keep him away from the Vets surgery for a while, he seems to have hardly been away from there lately. And did I mention that he disgraced me whilst he was being examined? When the Vet removed the thermometer from his backside, Paddy decided he needed to Poo and proceeded to pass his usual huge cowpat on the surgery floor.Am I glad I was not present! Mei was mortified.

Possible Home for Old Henry.

I have taken a call from a lady who lives near the shelter in Liverpool and who has adopted an elderly dog from them some months ago . This lady is expressing interest in the elderly collie Henry. how lovely ot would be for him if he were to find his forever home so soon.I have promised to ring her back tomorrow as I have to get my dogs out before darkness descends and I will be unable to find them in the surrounding fields - something which will inevitably happen if I do not get a move on!

Its Ferret Week.

2012-01-24T14:18:00.004Z

Sunday Adoptions (and another dog returned)

Out of the three farm dogs which came in from Anglesey, two have been homed but middle aged Ben still languishes in kennels. I will find someone nice for him soon and I told him that very thing when I went to collect the other two. I think he understood - well he wagged his tail and offered me his paw so I took that as an understanding! and I always keep my promises.

Farm dog George was adopted with Scooby, a young collie with whom he got on very well and Pero( from the same farm as George)also left us for his new life.The downside of the day was that Harry the collie/Huntaway was returned less than 24 hours after he drove off happily with his new family. He was returned because the two children(who had met him previously) were terrified of him. Harry was not in any way at fault, his nature is wonderful but although the children were not babies, it reinforces my view that homes with children so often do not work out for one reason or another. I had not picked up on the childrens fear when they first met Harry, they were shy but that is not unusual and I felt he was the right dog for the family.Am I losing my touch?

Several cats were homed and three of the new puppies have been reserved, now there is just one to go.Not bad going at all. If only I could always be sure that animals were going to stay out! There are times when I feel that I want to keep all the animals here and never home them but that would , of course, be an impossibility and in the long term would not be fair on them at all. All our animals have different temperaments and characteristics, as do people but I do believe there is the right match for every pet and every person. I could, however be the exception to this ! Either that or I am going to meet my own match so late in life I will be too old to do anything about it!

Monday: Its the Week Of The Ferrets.

Within a short space of time I received two calls about stray ferrets turning up announced in peoples gardens. Dave has been busy this morning repairing an old double hutch in which to accommodate them
The first (a female)arrived this morning and is a youngster and very friendly and easy to handle. She is not at all like our last ferret Finchley who was a demon and struck terror into the hearts of those delegated to cleaning out his hutch. Me especially!
How we ever found anyone to give him a home still amazes me but last I heard, he had greatly improved through correct handling and kindness.
The second ferret is due in tomorrow with Veronica whose son found him/her in Anglesey. Heres hoping he too is an affable little soul. I find ferrets interesting and often loveable animals and I am pleased so many people nowadays keep them as pets rather than as working animals used to kill other animals. These social little animals are happiest being kept in pairs or groups and are great fun to watch . They will derive immense pleasure from playing with a black binbag, amongst other things. and once neutered their strong smell diminishes.I would strongly recommend them as pets if anyone wants a pet with loads of character and has the space to build them a good sized (and super secure) play area in the garden.

Tuesday News;
Harry has been fortunate to find another home already and will be leaving us tomorrow. I hope with all my heart that this time we have made the right match and Ben has a lady coming to see him on Friday. It would be lovely if she liked him and felt he was the one for her, I can't stop thinking about him in kennels and wishing I had room in my own home to have him. I hate the idea of the older ones being kennelled.

All the pups are now spoken for and this morning another dog arrived from the Pound He is a very old collie, blind and rather deaf but he does a lot of tail wagging and seems content in his limited world. What a great shame that such an old chap has ended up being an unclaimed stray. If a permanent home cannot be found, I may keep him as permanent Office dog. He is so quiet and inoffensive that one almost forgets he is here. The staff have voted to name him Henry.

Veronicas stray ferret has escaped from her home so he is on the loose round Benllech so if anyone in that area spots a slinky cream coloured visitor in their garden please let us know.Veronica hopes he will turn up again as he had been residing in the shed at her sons house for a few days and knows there is a source of food there. Lets hope so.

Naughty Jane, the little staffordshire bull terrier waiting to go to her home in South Wales has demolished the office dustpan and brush! veronica was searching for them and found the dustpan in Janes basket but minus a handle and more than a little frayed round the edges! The brush had suffered the same fate and was also without a handle and had considerably less bristles than it had yesterday! I put it down to here excitement at the prospect of leaving the shelter for a home life so I can't feel too annoyed can I?

I will be away in Liverpool until Friday so have a good week everybody, the blog will be back at the weekend.

Four Needy Cats Meet their New Carer.

2012-01-21T10:08:00.113Z

Jobs at The Shelter Needing Expertise.

Not all jobs round the shelter are with the animals, there are always things requiring the attention of someone with specialised knowledge.
Ex electrician Roy(now the manager of our charity shop in caernarfon) spent a day checking the electrics and installing a few more points for us in the office. He is such a busy person but always finds the time to help out when needed and is one of the few people I can turn to when an animal is in need of urgent rescuing. We are extremely fortunate to have found him. When I first moved to Wales he came to introduce himself and I immediately recognised his name as a long term Liverpool Freshfields supporter. Some of our supporters live many miles away and I seldom get to meet them so it was a pleasant surprise when he turned up to offer his help here. Nine years on and he is still working hard for us. We could do with a few more like him.

Four very lucky cats
accompanied me to Machynlleth where they were handed over to their lovely new carer Frances. There was a scary moment when Felix managed to get out of his basket in the middle of our charity shop but he was soon retrieved and placed back in the carrier. Felix, who has a heart murmer and Grumpy cats Poppy and Tinker along with deaf white cat Charley are all set for a lovely home life. after being passed over here because of their different issues . Poppy and Tinker have been here for over 18 months so are more than ready for their new beginning.Above is temperamental Poppy

Black and white Felix is pictured on the left here and grumpy Tinker in her favourite wicker basket which went with her. Deaf Charley is pictured below.

The Third University

This was the group to whom I gave a talk and not the Womens Guild as I mentioned previously. .Heaven knows where I got that from! It is a worldwide organisation set up to give retired people interesting options to fill their time, they do courses in creative writing, computer studies etc and of course attend talks by nervous people who run animal shelters !

Around 50 people attended and I managed to stumble through without having too many memory blanks. I did keep some notes to hand.

Barry had given me a lift there and he had set up a (last minute) slide show of the shelter which took some of the pressure off me. It made me realise that if I am to give more talks of this kind it would be advantageous to perfect a slide show which would make it less stressful for me having to remember everything I want to say.Well done Barry for putting this together at such short notice.

There was quite a lot of interest in the shelter, I chatted to some very nice people and I even did my first book signing which made me feel Very Important indeed! nine copies were sold.

Whilst talking about Machynlleth, Elinor who has run the shop for a long time has been ill and her son Wyn has stepped into the breach doing a good job of keeping the shop open .Thanks Wyn and fingers crossed that your mum gets well soon.

Saturday Adoptions

Harry the pound collie left his foster home to go to live with his new family, one of the advantages of having the dogs in foster care is that we find out more about their general behaviour in the home.Alison told me that Harry had been very clean and well behaved during the week she has been caring for him so that bodes well for his adaptability to a new environment.

Cats, 3 yrs old Candy and Harvey who are great pals, have been adopted together which is just what we wanted for them, and will hopefully help them to settle more easily. Black cats (YES!!!!!) Jack and Stevie have both been reserved and are leaving us today so a great weekend so far for cats..

New Admissions.

Four scared little farm pups have arrived, they are cross jack russells with a collie mum though are more likely to be collie size judging by the size they are now at eight weeks.(one is hiding behind the others in the photo) I have given a leaflet to the owner so he can get the mother dog spayed on the Dogs Trust Farm dog scheme. I can only hope he puts it to good use. I don't mind helping farmers with their unwanted dogs but they also need to take some responsibility for the unwanted litters their dogs are having. There are two girls and two boys in the litter.Now I have to decide which foster carer will have the pleasure of looking after these dear little dogs. Queue here Please.

Upside Down Photo Advice Needed?

2012-01-19T18:18:00.001Z

Should Vets Insist cats be secured in baskets whilst waiting to be seen?

When I took Harry to be neutered yesterday, a lady standing in front of me was holding her cat in her arms instead of having him secure in a basket; although he/she seemed extremely docile ,I could see that his eyes were unhappy . I thought that if someone came in with a dog they could not control, one leap at the cat and all hell would break loose. I have noticed people doing this before and also with dogs not on leads or on very loose leads. It seems common sense to ensure that your pet is secure when visiting an often packed surgery waiting room - your own pet may be docile but that does not mean others will be.
I shall ask the surgery to put up a notice to this effect.

I also took a cat called Stevie to have a much needed dental and a very handsome Tabby cat to have his skin checked over before he leaves us for his new home.He had been admitted with a flea allergy and had it treated but he has another injection which according to the Vet should clear it up completely. After his operation Harry is going to his foster mum Alison until he is collected by his new family on Saturday.

Collies coming in and Going Out
We are having lots of calls from people wanting sheepdogs at the moment and they are going out as quickly as they come in , long may it last! The mother of the three red and white pups is due in wednesday, along with two other collies from the same farm.They will be boarded at kennels but I am hoping all will be snapped up by those on my waiting list for this breed.

WEDNESDAY:
The collies came in but not the ones I expected.Apparently one they had homed themselves came back to them so he was sent instead of the pups mum Nell. Poor 8 years old Ben is very bewildered by his sudden change in routine and it shows in his eyes.I could barely stand to look at his expression,it was so sad. I will still take Nell(and they have another apparently that they no longer want!) but I want to try and find suitable families for these 3 first. I have had to board all three in kennels as foster people are all busy fostering at present. Here is Ben in yet another upside down photo, how do I rotate them? I just cannot work it out.

We Receive Help From Barclays.
Barclays have donated £500 of materials and sent a group of their staff from different branches to carry out work needed here. For once we had more volunteers than permanent staff! They all got stuck in, mending pens and fences with the supplied materials and it was a real treat having their help. So often we manage to do the basic tasks but do not have the time to do other jobs and this is when volunteers can be so useful.
Thank you Barclays and everyone who volunteered their services for this day. It was much appreciated.

THURSDAY:
Volunteer Brendan and Dave attempted to put halters on the Llamas but they were having none of it, never mind - better luck next time lads. It would be a great help if we could manage to do this, that would make moving them easier.(The llamas, not Brendan and Dave) Still, it is early days yet and I am ever hopeful of eventually having two very placid and amenable loveable llamas who can be easily moved from field to field, will stand to be groomed and even enjoy a little fuss and attention. That would be quite an achievement.

Tomorrow I am off to Machynlleth - ostensibly to give a talk to a Womens Group in the town but I will be using the trip to also deliver four hard To home cats to a very nice couple who have had cats from us before and who like to give the cats nobody else wants , the chance of a home. I am unsure at the moment which lucky cats have been chosen(they left the choice to us) but willl write more about them in my next blog.

PS: Does anyone have an old trailer they no longer use? We need one and would be glad to hear from you.

The End To a Good Weekend

2012-01-15T17:36:00.001Z

Both Puppies went today so there was not one left alone as I had feared. Bonnie, the last to go is pictured here with Sandra, her new owner - Bonnie will have another collie as a companion and the male pup is going to a couple in Wrexham who have had past experience of collies. Lots of luck to all three pups and new families.

Today has been even busier than yesterday. Bud retriever has left us for his third home and hopefully his final one. I could not stress enough to his new people that he cannot cope with any more changes in his life and they are aware of that and his problem of poor recall. They have assured me that he will never leave them and I can only hope that will be the case. Their own elderly rescued greyhound has had the same problem in the past and so they know what they are taking on. I have faith in them and feel it is the right home for Bud. I feel so guilty when I am unsuccesful matching animals with owners but I have to think sensibly and balance this out with the successful rescues which thankfully far outweigh the negative ones. With the best will in the world we cannot always be right and make the correct decision but we try and most times it works out well.
Libby the collie which was returned has also found a new home,As the past owners said she was perfect in the house, other than an inlination to dominate their other dog, she should settle well in a home with no other canine. Certainly she has been not an ounce of trouble here and is much loved by all who come into contact with her.Pictured here about to leave us for her new life in Manchester.

Harry the dog from the Dog Pound has been reserved and after being neutered tomorrow, he will be in a foster home until he is collected next saturday. He remains shy and nervous but has a sweet nature and appeared to really like the children of the family who have put their name down for him.

Two more cats went this morning, one adult black and a black kitten and as we all know, black cats are so hard to place that we are all delighted when they are chosen.

Our dear Noddy is much better today, his normal appetite has returned and although we kept him in today, he appears to be fit again(well , as fit as an old man can be!) Big Sigh Of Relief!

Sorry to keep showing llama pics but I am finding them so fascinating I can't resist photographing them. They like to eat out of your hands but are still nervous of being stroked or patted and saunter away gracefully when overtures are made in this way as though to say 'Look , I don't mind you humans offering me food but keep your hands to yourself'. They are the most inquisitive animals I have ever come across, always watching and observing.
Roy from the Caernarfon shop, and his wife Mavis called in to meet the Boys who stared at them with disdain.They are very good at that!
By the time the last people had left with their newly adopted pet, dusk was starting to fall and it was late for me to take out my dogs.There was a beautiful sunset and it was too beautiful to resist so here is the handsome Paddy on his late amble in the field(actually he did manage a gallop for a few moments) and one of my favourite night time views of the tree next to Kitty Kottage.

I love this time of the day when all the animals are settled , having had their evening meals.The horses and the Llamas are munching away contentedly at their hay(love that sound) the cats are all sleeping next to the heaters in their pens and the conservatory cats (and the ferals too)all cuddled up together for that extra warmth from each others bodies. For Mei and I, the day is about to come to an end, she will toddle off home at about 7.30pm and I will start the much dreaded task of finding something I can cook for myself with the minimum effort!

A good day for Cats and Noddy Has A bout of Colic

2012-01-14T18:38:00.001Z

What a busy day it has been today.Early this morning I had to take Paddy back to the Vet to have his heart checked again, it was much more stable so he is remaining on the heart medication permanently.As always he created somewhat of a stir in the surgery waiting room, he wagged his tail happily (unfortunately it whacked ME causing me to wince in pain ) at a waiting collie who was hiding behind his owners chair and he must be one of the few animals who actually licked the Vets face whilst he was examining him. I am always covered in bruises where Paddys weapon of a tail hits me and where he pushes me over in his exuberance and joy at seeing me when I finish work.
The Vet Surgery appears to hold no fear for him, even though he has spent a fair bit of time in them.I see some dogs trying to drag their owners back out of the waiting room and am very thankful Paddy does not do this or I would be making a very undignified and sharp exit!
Its another bright day but freezing cold and everywhere is covered in frost including the windscreen of my car. The stable yard is already slippy so I have ordered some rock salt (and a snow shovel)which will be handy if this cold spell continues. I live in dread of one of the horses slipping and breaking a leg when the yard freezes over.

The first of the sheepdog pups went today, the largest male Buddy was adopted and there are people interested in the other two. I was starting to worry that nobody was showing interest in them and then all of a sudden I began to receive enquiries about them.It would be nice if there is not one left alone at the end of the weekend, that is always a shame, we try to have them go out to homes on the same day but it is not always possible.

Around 5 pm Mei called me to have a look at Noddy who was definitely not himself, we looked at each other and said'Colic'. Our little old man was clearly very uncomfortable and was trying to lie down all the time,When he showed no interest in his food I knew he was poorly, he is like me, nothing keeps him away from his food. Mei called the Vet and he arrived quickly and gave him a couple of injections which should do the trick. Noddy is such a hardy little pony, in the 30 years(he is 38 years old now) he has been in the care of Freshfields, he has rarely been ill. In spite of his malformed legs he has probably been the healthiest pony we have ever cared for but he has been a little tinker in the past, as readers of my book will know. By the way thanks to everyone who has bought a copy and took the time to let me know that they enjoyed it. I appreciated that very much.

We had several visitors today and three cats have gone to homes with another three reserved. Katy the all white cat left us today, as did 6 months old Annabelle and a biggish kitten(not yet named) There have been a few enquiries for kittens but most people want very young ones and all ours from the last batch of unwanted litters are now 16 -20 weeks old. At this age they are that much more difficult to rehome but they will all go eventually,it just takes time.One of the reasons I began rescuing animals in Liverpool was because the only animal shelter in that area in the 1970's had a seven day policy.If an animal failed to find a home in that time,it was destroyed. I used to think how almost impossible it was to find suitable homes given that time frame and now I KNOW that it can take much,much longer than that. Time is something we at Freshfields have plenty of and we can be lucky and pets can be adopted very quickly after admittance but others will linger but for most animals there is the right home and the right owner, its just a matter of finding them and matching them up.

John left his xmas ' Bah Humbug ' hat behind the other day when he went home and somebody kindly but misguidedly put it in the office where current office dog Jane thoroughly enjoyed ripping the pompom to pieces. John, if you read this you now have a pompomless hat!

Ps: Neglected Jane is going from strength to strength, this dear little staffie is losing her drab, dull coat and it is becoming shiner by the day, she is also putting on weight though she was so thin it will take a lot longer for her to gain enough to be a normal weight. She is such a loveable dog and is as good as gold here, quiet and clean(wish all dogs were like that)This time you will notice that the eyes are green not red, What AM I doing wrong? Award winning photographer I will never be.

I see a Rare Bird Visitor.(A Kumlein's Gull)

2012-01-13T15:59:00.001Z

The day started badly and I have a heavy heart because the old pigs have gone today. Cant write about at the moment .It is a beautiful bright sunny crisp day and It is too nice to dwell on sadness.

I had a call from friend Barry to say there was a lot of bird activity down on Pontlyffni Beach so I grabbed my binoculars and headed down there. There were a few flocks of ducks (Teal and Widgeon)including one very large brown bird which I wasnt sure of its identity so I rang Alan Davies from the 'Biggest Twitch' and he told me it was probably an eider duck (female) but he then said that a rare gull had been sighted further along Pontllyfni beach so off we shot to see and there he was, the first time ever an Iceland Gull has been sighted in Wales(so I am led to believe). A helpful birdwatcher already there ,let me look through his telescope for a better view and I can now proudly say that I saw the First Iceland gull spotted in this country., By rights he should have been in Canada so is way off his normal route, perhaps the recent high winds have forced him in this direction.

I have definitely become a twitcher! On first hearing the news of the rare arrival , I did not even stop for a cup of tea! It was on with the binocs and off down the beach at a fast pace. Whoever would have thought it!

PS: I stand corrected, it was a Kumlein's Gull(sub species of the Iceland) Local Twitchers I apologise profusely for this unforgiveable error!

We Say Goodbye to Blitzen

2012-01-12T15:31:00.001Z

Having made the difficult decision to let poorly llama go, he went very peacefully and without undue stress. The staff , both permanent and volunteers, were marvellous and I was let off the task of aiding the vet for which I am very grateful .Blitzen had begun to develop sores from not moving and I think we all now believe that the right decision has been made. RIP Blitzen.
The remaining two, Rudy and Santa seem unconcerned and have continued mooching about the field Llama style . I am very relieved that they have been unaffected by the loss of their companion, animals seem to cope with it far better than we humans do.
It has been a very trying time and perhaps now we can move ahead with the rehoming of the Boys, there have been a couple of enquiries so it is time to check these homes out for their suitability. We are all becoming very fond of our Llama friends so we want the best for them

Three kittencats have been admitted , their owner was worried that the family dogs which were trying to get at them, were going to eventually kill them. We have named the three youngsters Tomas, Ted and Toby. They are in good condition and friendly, we just need some cat lovers to visit and offer homes!

An old sofa has been placed in the feral cat enclosure and the cats are loving it though every time I try to quietly open the door to take a photo of them all enjoying a peaceful snooze, they scatter everywhere.This time just three remained in position and kindly posed for a photo session. The other 4 jumped off and remained at a distance glaring at me with total hatred. I deserved it of course, after all I had disturbed their afternoon nap!

Tomas.Ted and Toby

Another two dogs came in from the Dog Pound, the little one Sunny has been taken by Veronica to his foster home in Anglesey. Stefan fostered Jacky the abused border terrier and is looking forward to meeting his second foster dog.
The second (now named Harry) is another fairly young dog, maybe 18 months old, he looks like he is a collie crossed with a Huntaway(new Zealand sheepdog)Huntaways are becoming very popular dogs to be used on local farms as working dogs and we have seen many crosses of this breed recently. Harry has been boarded in local kennels and has taken the place of Twm collie who was adopted today by a couple from Wrexham who had the youngest looking 18 years old collie I have ever seen. Whatever she has been on, I want some!

Incidentally Meg cross collie did not come back to us, the owners have decided to keep her and work through the problems with their other dog.I hope they do persevere because any changes in a dogs behaviour take time to change and is never an overnight miracle.

The three rabbits I mentioned in the last blog are all now safe. Giant Bun has been adopted by Sandra and Tom in Anglesey and the other two are safe here at Freshfields. Veronica bookeeper has named them Truffles and Cinammon which I think are lovely names. One has an undescended testicle but both males will be visiting the vet next week for neutering so he can be checked out then. Truffles is the one on the left with that awful red eye problem which keeps occurring in my photos.Anybody know how to prevent this?

A few people have asked me about Paddy.Well he is doing ok and has to return to the vet tomorrow for another check on his heart.In the meantime he seems back to his old self, even to the point of enjoying his usual halfhearted gallop across the field with numerous jack russells in tow!

Well Done to ' Dogs Today'

2012-01-10T19:30:00.000Z

ANOTHER dog is being returned, this time it is Molly(now Meg) the 6 months old collie cross whippet whose companion Sam is showing signs of jealousy when Meg is receiving the attention. I cannot believe the bad luck we are having lately with the dogs. With so many others waiting for places the returns mean we are unable to help them and some are urgent too!

Today I was asked to take three rabbits (including a Giant Bunny)which are being attacked by rats in their current home. As it was obviously an urgent matter, I asked friend Sandra in Anglesey if she could help until we could organise something more permanent for them and I am waiting to hear news from her, so more of this rescue tomorrow.
Phoebe and Warren the last two rabbits to be admitted have now been homed, luckily they were only here a week which is fantastic when most small pets are here for long stays.
We only have facilities to keep two rabbits or two pairs but one run gets waterlogged and needs a new floor and raising off the ground .Until that is done it restricts our ability to admit any more bunnies. We will be trying to sort this problem out over the next few days.

The Llamas have settled very well now but the jury is still out on the fate of the injured one and I feel less and less optimistic as each day goes by.I think it is time I made a decision one way or another Not an easy thing to do, especially as they all now seem so content(even the poorly one)but he is now making no effort at all to get up and walk. This cant go on.It is simply not fair.

Is there any good news to report? Well I had a lovely letter from the new owners of middle aged collies Livi and Tavi with beautiful photos of them which show clearly how happy they are in their new environment and jane the Pound Staffie is looking better already.It just shows what a difference worming and good food can make to the general appearance of a neglected pet. Even her coat is getting a gloss on it now.
Speaking of staffs, this months Dogs Today magazine has done itself proud. It has featured the terrible and evergrowing problem with the over breeding of dogs in general but particularly staffordshire bull terriers.There are articles on rescue shelters and the problems we are all experiencing at the moment , and good on them, they have forgone their usual pedigree pups section to feature instead dogs languishing in rescue centers. The first photo is of our own Dodger and Nancy who have fortunately now been adopted so I hope some of the others featured will also find loving homes.
The Editor is a woman after my own heart, she writes that she wishes that there was a tax on the breeding of all dogs and with her comments, she risks putting herself at the mercy of some dog breeders who will undoubtedly take umbrage at this idea. Pesonally I am all for it. Something has to be done and soon because we have become a nation of Too many Dogs and when thousands of them are being destroyed annually due to lack of homes, the situation cannot go on being ignored. The number of unwanted dogs in rescue shelters is rising beyond belief, and many of these discarded pets are pedigrees. More and more calls I receive are asking me to take pedigree dogs, years ago this would have been unusual,now it is the norm.
Sorry to have a rant but it truly is an issue which bothers me a grteat deal and it should bother anybody who cares about the future of Britains dogs and subsequently its overcrowded animal shelters.

Paddy is Rushed to The Vet Again.

2012-01-08T16:38:00.001Z

Thank you all for suggesting names for the Pups, I like Buddy, Amber and Bonnie though often the new owners do change their names when they get them home .This is, however, what they will be called whilst they are here. Thanks again, we all get a little jaded thinking up names all the time so new ideas are always helpful. Buddy the boy at the front of the photo is already reserved but the other two are still waiting.
Today has been a disappointing day with two dogs being returned. Sam who went less than 24 hours ago, was brought back because she was too much of a handful(she is a 12 months old lab cross) and Bud the Golden Retriever who went to a home 4 months ago has also been returned. We are particularly upset about Bud as so many people answered the advertisement for him and he could have been well settled in a permanent home by now had the right decision been made. I do hate this happening, I feel so guilty that I have not done right by this lovely animal.The reason for his return - a relative living away from home has an allergy to him. Poor Bud and poor Sam.

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!

Sunday:

Last night Paddy was rushed to the Vet again, He was panting heavily and could not get comfortable. I thought he was having another bout of gastric torsion but the Emergency duty Vet Geraint said his heart was very erratic and he has kept him in overnight.

I failed to get much sleep worrying about whether he would still be alive today so feel more relieved than I can say to find out he could come home! He has a variety of medications to take and has to go back next Friday to have his heart checked again.Poor boy was so pleased to see me, he nearly knocked me over just by leaning on me in sheer delight. Geraint said he looked like he could have arrived in a horse box, he was so huge! I am so used to seeing him all the time, he doesn't even appear that big to me, its only when we are out and see other peoples reactions that I realise he is so enormous.

Yesterday we homed blue merle collie Libby and I can scarcely believe it, but today she too has been returned . though this time it is completely understandable as Libby had dominated their labrador so completely he was terrified of her. Such a shame, she had been fine here with the other dogs but perhaps they are all more dominant than her and when she has someone less confident she takes over. She has lost herself a lovely home but at least now we know she is best to be the only dog. This has been the worst month ever with returns but we have had a marvellous success rate previously so the law of average says that this had to happen sooner or later. I need to remember the hundreds of animals annually for which we find permanent homes and whose owners regularly email me with photographs of their beloved pets.

We have had a severe bout of sneezing in the main cattery so we are stopping rehoming and admitting until it completely clears. This does happen periodically when taking in stray cats but it is a bind when we have to turn prospective owners away at a time when we are really desperate for good homes(is there any other time?) We will still take reservations and hope that people will wait that little bit longer before they are able to take their new pet(s) home.

New neighbours Sian and Iwan from the village turned up with 6 bales of hay for our rescued horses (and Llamas). At the moment we are getting through loads of hay and this donation was very well received. Its good to know that the two new families who have moved in are happy to help us and are supportive.

Phoebe and Warren rabbits who only were admitted earlier this week have already been offered a new home so they should be leaving our care tomorrow.I am very pleased indeed as I uaually find them hard to home and bunnies can be here for anything up to a year. That reminds me. I went for a meal to a local pub a few weeks ago but did not stay as there was a neglected rabbit in a filthy hutch outside in the Beer Garden.I reported this to the RSPCA so hope something has been done by now. Bun had matted fur and was living in filth and at 1pm he had no food or water. Disgraceful.

Finally just look at the beautiful sky outside, it is twenty to five and this is stunning(the view not the photo_

More Llama Tales.

2012-01-06T14:34:00.001Z

It has been a bit of a crazy few days, we had planned to move the Llamas on two occasions and the bad weather prevented both moves, eventually the lady fostering became so aggravated with us, we felt we had no option but to try and get it done, bad weather nothwith standing. We rounded up the staff who were all about to go home, rang Barry to ask if he would use his vehicle to pull out horse trailer and off they all went.It was still very windy but it had to be done. I have been unwell for the past week with a heavy cold which developed into a chest infection so I was not able to volunteer for the physical demands of this particular rescue.

Poorly Llama Blitzen had seen the Vet the day before and the prognosis was not great as he was making little ffort to stand on his back legs. Nevertheless it was decided that we could not leave them where they were , and any decision made about Blitzen would have to be taken once they were all in our care. Had we decided to have him put to sleep we would then have had the dilemma of what to do with him afterwards so we reluctantly agreed he had to be moved to the shelter. The round up and subsequent relocation went fairly well so I am led to believe , though it is shame there was nobody videoing it! I hear John ended up face down in a mud patch and there were a lot of weary (and filthy)faces when they all arrived back.

The three boys settled in well though it was clear Blitzen was in some distress. In my heart I felt that I was very soon going to have to make that dreadful call to the Vet;. Without an xray I had no idea whether his injury was going to be permanent but there was no way I intended to allow him to suffer so I went to bed with a heavy heart.
Friday morning and unbelievably Blitzen was out of the field shelter and happily snoozing in the field.How he manged to get this far I have no idea. He is pictured here with Dave who was checking to see if he had eaten his food(with the pain killers)
Some time later whilst I was typing this blog I suddenly saw Blitzen raise himself almost fully on his back legs only to let himself fall down to the floor again. The point was that for the first time he had managed to do this and stay in that position for half a minute, surely that has to be regarded as optimistic! Or am I being overly so? I need to speak to the vet again(tried but he was out on emergency calls)

The horses are currently spooked out by the presence of these strange creatures with a strange smell and habit of humming loudly! They dont know what to make of them at all but I am sure they will soon get used to their presence. Above is Rudolph and Blitzen on the right.Santa has more white on him than the others and is a little more reserved.

Callie and Freddie stood in this position for ages, just staring at the Llamas. I wonder what they are making of them?
They must seem very weird to these two old timers.

PS: Sam the cross labrador went to a new home today, fingers crossed Libby will find her home tomorrow when we have visitors from Shropshire who are coming to seeher.Having lost their own blue merle collie, she is hopefully the dog they are looking for to fill the empty space in their home.

High Winds Prevent The Llama Move.

2012-01-03T14:14:00.000Z

Both Tammy and Gel left us today for their new homes. Tammys paw is still swollen so we will be paying for any future treatment and hope that it gets better soon, she is not bothered by it though pulls off the bandage as soon as it is put on which makes it hard to keep the wound clean, she will have a better chance of that in a home. As usual I will be waiting to hear that all is well before I breathe the sigh of relief that comes from knowing the right animal has gone to the right home. We have a very good success rate with the dogs and cats and very few are returned but the cats cause me less worry. For some reason cats seem to be regarded as less of a problem(even when are not perfectly behaved) or could it be that cat owners have more patience? I really do not know the answer to this but it is the dogs which worry me most when they leave the care of Freshfields.

Unfortunately the moving of the Llamas to the shelter has had to be posponed due to the bad weather conditions. The person driving the horse box is understandably unhappy driving in high winds. Last night we had 90mph gales here and were lucky that the only damage was to our sign at the entrance to the property.Having stood there steadfastly for 8 years, overnight the wooden frame was broken in two and now lies forlornly in the field. We need to get that sorted soon, in this rural location people find it hard to find us anyway, without the sign they will all be driving round in circles!
The Llama relocation is now set for Thursday,Tomorrow is out as we don't have enough staff on hand to facilitate the move(several will be needed to herd them into the box) The future of Blitzen is still up in the air but if we fail to TRY to save his life we would be going against all we stand for.At this stage we do not know for sure whether the damage to his legs is irrevocable, it is something we will most likely be able to ascertain over the next week or so, once he is under our care.

I'm not sure whether |I mentioned that the Anglesey Xmas coffee morning went extremely well with lots of people attending and the grand sum of £442 was raised for the animals at Freshfields. Organisers Julia, Ann and Betty did a wonderful job , as did a lady called Petra who played the keyboard and led Carol Singing which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Due to the succes of this venture we will be holding another next December. Another Anglesey fundraiser planned for March or April (date to be yet decided upon) will be an evening with Alan from 'The Biggest Twitch' when he will be talking and showing slides of his wordwide birdwatching which provided the subject for his book.Refreshments will be available, watch out for more details of this.

Tiger Comes Down The Chimney/

2012-01-01T13:42:00.000Z

Remember Tiger, the cat which was adopted and then disappeared up the chimney? Well he remained in his hiding place until Christmas Day when he finally decided to make his debut! Since then a very relieved family have seen him exploring the house and actually deigning to stay around in sight of all. It just proves that eventually, even the most nervous cat WILL come round given time . I am grateful to the family who adopted Tiger for giving him that chance to assess his situation,albeit slowly, and now he has made his appearance things should improve daily. That is very good news to start the New Year.
Still on the subject of cats I could not resist the opportunity to take this photo of Tangy, one of our younger feral cats showing off in "Im The King Of The Castle" mode!

Sunday:

Well, 2012 is here, I hope that it will be a good one for all of our supporters and that financially Freshfields will not suffer further due to the current economic recession.

The constant rain is flooding our fields but it is comparatively warm - in fact the wild birds have abandoned their frenzied eating from the feeders and are clearly finding plentiful natural food at the moment which is wonderful ; the handsome but greedy starlings still prefer to have their meals prepared and ready and waiting for them so I continue to put out food for them. I was shocked to see some of my spring flowers bursting into life again. This changeable weather is so very strange isn't it?

Two of our cats have been adopted today.Mimi and Missy (pictured below)who were fostered by Mion, along with their babies, have finally left us, they have been here the best part of a year so we are all thrilled for them. January has got off to a good start.

Tomorrow should be also a nice day for the animals, both Tammy and Gel collies have people coming to see them and hopefully adopt them. I have Tammy with me in the office today(I collected her from the kennels) and I am collecting Gel tomorow. Tammy is such a lovely natured animal, the more I see of her. the less I understand why she ended up on Death row at a dog pound. Anyone would love her to bits.She is everything I personally would want in a dog - well behaved, a good car traveller and full of affection without being overbearing. I begin to think that many people simply have no hearts.

Thank goodness for the lovely people I come across in this work, without them I would be truly disheartened.

Happy New Year to Everyone.

We Need More Cat Homes.

2011-12-31T14:14:00.002Z

Many of our cats have been at the shelter for a year, this is a very long time for an animal to be incarcerated, even at a shelter where they receive lots of love and everything a cat could wish for it is not an ideal situation. They - need freedom and a home to call their own. If anybody can help distribute posters requesting homes, it is available as a download on our website.I would appreciate people spreading the word as much as possible/
I am focusing on four such cats who are in desperate need of homes and will be promoting them as much as I can. The local papers do occasionally feature our animals but we seldom have a response from the articles so we need to think of another way to promote ourselves to the media and encourage more people to offer homes. All suggestions welcome. What often worked at the Liverpool shelter fails to work in this area unfortunately but please get in touch with ideas. I will also be putting them on the catchat website under the Top Cats section.
Pictured are the four cats I have opted to promote this month. Harry the white and tabby is four years old ( his owners moved overseas )and we admitted Harry and several of his pals(some also still here) Then there are Bobo and Annie, sweet natured middle aged cats who must stay together and timid Poppet the grey and white who fails to attract attention from visitors as she is shy and holds back when strangers come into the cattery. All have been here over a year now and we need to work together to try and place them in suitable homes. Please spread the word about our many lovely cats.

We have had some success today , two of our older kittens have been adopted, and Molly the lurcher too. Her foster mum Alison has done a great job with her, she has greatly improved from the trembling little dog we first saw and I have heard from the family who took her brother Iolo and he too is coming along well. When they are so young it takes a very short time for them to lose their fear so I am pleased they were admitted before their nervousness became a long term problem. Pictured here is Molly and her new family and canine friend(Molly is on right) The two dogs hit it off well and don 't they look similar?

We have had 5 ex farm dogs on our waiting list for several weeks and today we admitted three pups from one of the females. Thanks to the new Dogs Trust Scheme of offering free neutering to farmers for their working dogs, we were able to suggest this to the owner and he has booked all of the adult dogs in for spaying/neutering which will be a great help to us when they arrive here. Sometimes we have to wait two weeks for an appointment and if they are already neutered, they can be rehomed that much quicker. The pups are in good condition and are red and white like their mum. A lot of people like this colour ((more like the original Welsh Sheepdogs)so they should find loving homes pretty soon.
Suggestions for names will be welcome, there are two boys and a girl.The girl is the one on the right at the back.

Like so many people who keep in touch with Freshfields via facebook, I was so angry about the pregnant lurcher thrown over their fence. Yes ,the owner at least abandoned his dog where she would be taken care of but to hurl a pregnant bitch from the boot of his car over the fence is cruel to say the least. I am pleased she already has been offered a home and that the pups she is carrying appear to be unharmed.

A few days ago I received an impassioned pleas from a lady called Claire who had lost one of her elderly ponies. The surviving pony was becoming very depressed without his longtime companion and she wanted to know if we had a suitable pony she could have. After a chat with Rosie and Mei, it was decided that Caspar the little grey whose own companion Honey had died a few months ago, might fit the bill.
The home was checked for suitability and passed, and yesterday Caspar went off to his new home in Anglesey. I rang to see how he was doing and he has made friends already with his new pal; the two are already following each other around the paddock and Claire is delighted to see her old pony brighten up again
22 years old Caspar pictured (pn left) is seen here with his old companion Honey and Rocky the coloured horse.This was taken a year ago at the shelter .I think Caspar will be happier with a special companion of his own, he is a sweet natured little pony and will have plenty of attention where he is now.

One Happy Staffie.

2011-12-30T14:39:00.000Z

First I must tell you all that little Jacky the border terrier returned after 24 hours went immediately to another home where she is adored and they cannot believe that the first people had any good reason to bring her back.She is perfect they tell me, so happily she will now be able to settle into a new and better life. Of the two young lurchers who came from the same home Iolo the boy has been adopted and there is just Molly now to rehome.Her foster family say she is doing really well so her turn will come soon , of that I am sure. All three are very nervous and trembly but are improving daily.
Jack the staff has left us today and I am so delighted to find a home for him though there is another on Death Row in the Pound so he may soon be replaced by the next abandoned Staffordshire bull terrier. I had decided not to take another but this one is apparently a very thin female which has clearly had lots of litters of pups and I felt I could not let her down. Where are all the pups now? One wonders how many of them will end up in shelters or pounds? I will try to find a place for her by next Monday.
Jacks new family have sent this photo and how happy he looks, this is exactly what Jack loves, being in the centre of things, he is a lucky boy.

A lovely young collie was taken to be put to sleep and is now in local boarding kennels , we need to rehome him away from sheep country as he attacked a sheep locally and that is unacceptable especially in an area such as this. Gel is a very friendly animal and will make someone a nice family pet. He has very strange ears, one is very large and pricked, the other is down but that just makes him more loveable in my eyes so hopefully others will fall in love with him too. By the way if anyone knows why some of my pics are coming out upside down do let me know! They look the right way when I post them.

We had a visit from a young couple who live in Machynlleth, they had three FIV positive cats from us a couple of years ago and they cared for them until the last one died a few months ago. Now they want to take not three but four more cats with problems . I just love it when people are willing to take on animals which others will overlook. Anyhow they are going to take deaf Charley who is 7 years old, Poppy who has been here 2 years and is a very temperamental cat (which does not endear her to visitors) and two more ( not yet decided upon) but likely to be longterm residents .They are unable to take them until the end of January but none of these cats are likely to find homes easily so the wait will be worth it. What a morale boost this is to all of us who so desperately want ALL the cats to find caring homes, no matter how grumpy or ill natured they are. Frances and partner - we love you.

LLama news - Blitzen seems stronger on his back legs today and for the first time since the accident happened, I feel more hopeful. He is still unable to use them properly but he is trying and managing to raise himself about a foot off the ground. The Vet says he has not lost his feeling in them so there has to be hope.We have made a decision to bring him to the shelter so we can nurse him back to health , and of course Rudolph and Santa will be coming too. We have the move planned for Tuesday and have booked the Vet to give him another pain killer before he travels. John and Dave are sorting out a field shelter for them so Blitzen will stay inside but the other two boys will be able to have access to it also - Rudolph in particular. likes his warm bed so we need to make a small barrier that they can step over. We will,have to move a group of ponies which is not ideal but until they are all used to seeeing one another we need to keep them apart. I imagine there will be a lot of curiosity amongst the horses when they arrive and I admit to feeling a little apprehensive myself!

Phone and internet problems.

2011-12-28T12:19:00.003Z

John in Festive Mood on Xmas Eve!

The LLamas appeared to settle well the first night in their new home but the following morning I received an

urgent call from Angie saying one had broken out and was running up amd down the road near her property.The other three were calling him and had become very agitated. Rosie, Dave,Teg and I jumped in our cars and rushed to the rescue but thankfully by the time we arrived Naughty Llama had returned to the fold and equilibrium had been restored . The Alpacas in the next field were thoroughly enjoying the disturbance , clearly regarding it as the entertainment of the day and were all peering over the fence watching the New Boys behaving badly!

New Volunteer here at the shelter Brendan loves LLamas (also Donkeys and Goats)and today he offered to take food down to the Boys so he could meet them in person. It saved me a trip and gave him the opportunity to take stock of our new animal friends.
Hopefully over Christmas they will have become more settled, Angie has told me one of them appears to be bullying the others but Brendan who has had some experience caring for LLamas believes this is just because they are still in the process of settling into a new home.I hope this is the case as it would present me with a further problem if they had to be separated.

Little Jacky the border terrier went to her new home AND WAS RETURNED THE NEXT DAY! The reason given was that she smelled badly(she had been bathed before she went!) and they believed she had an infection. We sent her to the vet, guess what - there was nothing wrong with her at all. I was very angry and disappointed.This little dog is such a dear sweet natured animal but I am sure there is the right person out there for her, in fact someone else is going to see her today. Fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Interest has been shown in a couple of the collies but we are so close to Christmas now that nothing much will happen before the New Year.The best news of all for me and for the two middle aged Jack Russells Dodger and Nancy is that they have been adopted at long last .I am planning to ring later to see how they are getting on. I was starting to believe that I would have them forever and although I loved them dearly(they are such characters) they so needed to be in a home of their own. The fact they are out of shelter life has made my Christmas a better one already.

Three adult cats have also been adopted and that has meant three more have been admitted from the huge waiting.There are so many cats waiting for places here and it seems an age since we were able to make any inroads into that list. I am banking on loads of visitors in the New Year, all clamouring for cats!!

Photo of staff on xmas day.
from left to right Gail, Kim,Rhian and Sue
Due to popular demand all staff will be wearing bright pink onesies next Xmas (and that includes the men!)

Also pictured is Paddy (in another upside down photo)after his Christmas Lunch . He is doing really well now after his life saving operation. Mei took the photo of me with the three Jack Russells on my knee. Champ , Lucy and Sally the (temporary) resident. You may remember that 11 years old Lucy and 4 years old Champ were originally our Office dogs but when I realised they were never going to be adopted, (due to their temperamental ways with strangers) I decided to adopt them myself. Black and white Sally is the deaf terrier I took in a month ago and I am still hoping for a home to turn up for her as she would be happier as an only dog.

11 years old ex Scouser Patch, as always is aloof and lurking near the tree, keeping well away from the other dogs. It is not that he does not like them, he loathes them! He is non aggressive fortunately but he despises them and likes to sleep as far away from them (and me)as possible.

December 28th

We have had no telephone or internet all over the holiday and even now it is coming and going so I am posting this blog with the hope that another will follow soon!

The Llama saga carried on with the situation deteriorating badly, on Christmas Eve Naughty LLama was bullying the others so badly he had to be separated and this caused great agitation in him but he had driven one into the ditch and we were worried he was going to kill him. Whilst we struggled to find a solution another accident happened and Blitzen, one of the friendlier ones was badly injured and as I write this we are hoping against hope that he will pull through, His back legs are at the moment not working and it is touch and go though he is fine in himself and eating well.We found a home for the Bully and with great difficulty a number of us managed to catch and load him in the horse box and move him to his new place. He is not settling very well but it is early days and we have not given up on him just yet. It has been incredibly stressful and I feel so sorry for the lady fostering them who has been caused so much aggravation . We are unable to move the others until we know what is going to happen to Blitzen as he cannot be left alone without his companions. At the moment nothing can be done until we know whether he is going to survive.

It has not been all bad news over Christmas. All the pups have been reserved and have now gone to new homes and a few cats too.
I will try to get up to date with happenings in next blog.

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday and I would like to thank everyone for their messages and goodwill.

LLama Rescue Goes Well

2011-12-18T15:30:00.001Z

At 10am this morning Phoebe and her horsebox set off to collect the four unwanted LLamas which were in danger of losing their lives. Usually we telephone Phoebe when we need horses and ponies transporting but this was a first for her . Never having dealt with this species before, she was well out of her comfort zone but the animals were safely boxed and just after 11 am they arrived at their temporary home just a few minutes from the shelter.
Mei and I were waiting for their arrival with feelings of trepidation, we had received a call from Phoebe saying that the llamas were totally wild and unused to being handled. This filled me with a great deal of apprehension. Angie had been good enough to offer a safe haven for the animals but if they were wild, what had I landed them with and more to the point, was I ever going to be able to find them a permanent home? These questions were whirling round my mind when the horse box pulled up and then all of a sudden there they were - four very bewildered LLamas huddling together for comfort. My heart went out to them.
They needed only a little encouragement to leave the trailer and make their way on to the field. You can see on one of the photos, Mei peering nervously round the side of the trailer, I too did not know what to expect but positioned myself close to them so I could take photos of their arrival. I had no idea whether they would spit at me(LLamas do that when scared) so I did not stand too close, however the four came out quietly and slowly walked across the field looking around them all the time as though working out what sort of a place they had been brought to. They seemed to approve and made their way across the field to the stream.

As soon as they reached it,they started to drink ...and drink ....and drink.They were so very thirsty. I noticed that their coats were dirty and quite matted, they did not seem to have been clipped for several years and one has a deformed foot and a cut on his leg. After slaking their thirst they started to potter round the field and by the time I left seemed to be settling down nicely. Fosterer Angie and her husband have 7 pet Alpacas so are used to camelids(collective term for these animals)
These boys have now been named Noel, Santa, Blitzen and Elf ( as it is so close to Christmas in case nobdy grasped that fact!)

A Very Thirsty Blitzen who is also the one with the deformed front foot.

It cost Freshfields £95 in transportation fees to rescue these boys, worth every penny but we have to supply them with Hay and Coarse Mix for the forthcoming winter months so if anyone locally can donate a few bales of hay, it will be gratefully accepted. We also have to figure out how to worm them so Angie will be giving them small feeds to entice them to come to her and hopefully she will be able to mix in the wormer with the feed though if they are anything like horses they will immediately recognise that there is something unpleasant in the food and spit it out! Its worth a try.At this stage |I have no idea how long it will take to win their trust but at least they are in the hands of peoiple with some experise in this type opf exotic animal.
Then of course I have to find them a permanent home but for now they need to settle down and we neeed to get them in better condition.

These poor boys were being offered free to anyone who would take them via the freecycle online site , and the attitude of the owner was quite appalling. There was no interest in where they might end up , whether they were likely to be slaughtered for their meat, no interest whatsoever. I am sure when they first arrived as babies, they were made a great fuss of, but now at age 10 years they are surplus to requirements. It makes me so angry. Initially I was unsure all 4 would be able to fit in the horse trailer and I asked the owner of we could take 2 and return Tuesday for the other two but NO, he was adamant that if any were there on Monday they would be shot. It has been a worrying few days but I can sleep easy tonight knowing they are safe from harm

The LLama rescue in South Wales, although they were unable to take them (they have 20 plus there) have been very helpful with information I might need for the day to day the care of them and they will be looking out for a home for them also. I am so pleased to have placed them in a knowledgeable home(albeit short term) and feel confident that Angie and her family will be able to cope.

On a more mundane but no less important note Bess collie has gone to a home today, her new people from St Asaph were delighted with her and they all went off very happily together. Felix the 12 years old cat has also left us for a lovely home.

All in all a very busy and fulfilling day for animals and humans.

PS: Forgot to mention earlier that Phoebes brother is Jeremy from Monkey World in Dorset. Anybody who is a fan of this series will know Jeremy as the keeper with a great bond with the orangutans. Phoebe says that they are his life, I did think he might make a suitable partner for me as I adore orangs but seems he has married someone else. Oh well, missed out again!

A Good Result.

2011-12-17T15:05:00.001Z

Saturday:
Have had a call from the owner of the LLamas telling me that the man from LLandudno is no longer taking them and the animals will be shot on Monday if I dont take them. No pressure there then! I have spent all morning ringing people who may have the space and shelter for them, so far to no avail though I remain hopeful.We simply do not have a spare paddock and shelter adequate for four large animals and in spite of placing a national appeal online, there have been no offers of homes. I am waiting for a response from a call I made earlier and hoping, just hoping for a miracle!

Dear Ellie Whippet cross has left me for her new home in Dorset, it will be a long journey for her and I felt awful watching her go(I never enjoy this) though she will have two other rescue lurchers to play with so she should settle pretty well. Jackson will no doubt miss her company for a while, he enjoyed their 'chase me 'games though part of the game seemed to be 'Lets have a laugh and knock Lesley over' when they would both cannon into me knocking me off my feet. Great Fun!

The owner of the three dogs who wanted rid of them brought in the two remaining dogs, he opened the back of his truck and the dogs shot to the back immediately cowering and would come nowhere near him! When asked to fill in the disclaimer form for them he was heard muttering his annoyance and he left without a word of thanks. Only what I expected!
New foster mum Alison came to collect them and very grateful I was too, her daughter looked as though her xmas had come early and they drove away with their new charges snuggled up on her lap. They are clearly about to have the time of their lives with lots of cuddles and attention which is exactly what they need at the moment.
Jacky the sweet little border terrier has been great in her foster home and she actually is going to a new and permanent home tomorrow.I am really pleased for her and hope she soon brightens up in a caring loving environment.
The youngsters which I have called Molly and Iolo (after the naturalist Iolo Williams )are very attractive cross collie/whippets and should find homes in the New Year.(if I can prise them away from Alison and her daughter)
Tiger and Tabby cats have been reserved today so we are able to soon take in three adult cats from Mionwhich have been waiting to come in for months.They had been admitted with babies which have since been adopted,now it is the mums turn for rehoming and Mion willl have space again for any emergency liters which we may hear of.

PM:
YES!!!!!!!! A foster home locally has been offered for the four Llamas so I have arranged for them to be collected tomorrow. More of this saga then. It's has been stressful to say the least, being given a time limit does no good for the nerves but it has been a good result in the end. I may be a quivering wreck but the Llamas will be safe temporarily.

An Anonymous Letter causes me Grief.

2011-12-16T08:58:00.000Z

Thursday:
Another manic day. My first call of the day was to ask me to take three dogs, a middle aged Border terrier and two cross collie lurcher types which had been bred deliberately for sale and had not been sold. I asked why the owner wanted rid of them and was told " I have too many Dogs!" When I asked why this was, he got nasty and in my most obseqious way I managed to alter the tone of the conversation and managed to get the details - address etc before it all went t...s Up!!! It can be so hard remaining pleasant when dealing with calls like this but the animals are the most important issue and one has to try at all times to remember that fact. NOT always easy!
Anyway Border terier Jackie(pictured here) has gone into a foster home in Anglesey, Stefan is a new foster person and this will be his first dog to care for, I hope he copes ok.She is a little sweetie and very shy and gentle(surprising for a border terrier) and before border owners castigate me for this comment I must stress that most I admit are like this one from a working environment so it is unusual for such a dog to be so gentle. The other two youngsters are also going to a new foster person Alison in Pwllheli.Its fantastic to have these fosterers at this crucial time of year.They could not come at a better time.

Two minutes after I replaced the telephone receiver from this caller, I had another request - to take FIVE dogs! I asked what was the reason
and guess what I was told again "I have Too Many Dogs"
This time it was from a farmer and thankfully he is willing to hang on to them until the New Year.The five are unwanted sheepdogs, 4 red and white collies and a black and white one aged between 1 year and 2 years with just one middle aged male for whom we just may have a home waiting if all goes well. I told the Farmer that there is a scheme set up by the Dogs Trust to have Farm dogs neutered free of charge and asked if he would consider taking them to the Vet for this. I was delighted that he agreed with some alacrity, this will take the pressure off Freshfields and means they will be ready sooner for adoption.

I have been upset over a visit from the owner of William the horse with major back problems,It appears someone has sent her an anonymous letter which she believes is from me! In it I apparently have told her to come and get him!(I dont think so) as I am unable to ride him! What rubbish. I take in horses BECAUSE they cannot be ridden. She has now sent me a letter in which she states that I was delighted(!!!) to have William free of charge inferring that she was ever so generous handing him over to me. What planet is she on? My heart sinks every time I know of an unwanted horse and I took this boy in only because he had nowhere to go according to the owner(who now has acquired another horse) We all love William dearly but I would rather owners keep their animals for life whether they can be ridden or not.(dream on ) Whomever sent the anonymous letter has caused the shelter more problems and had no right to do so though I expect he/she meant well. Oh well just another day of nonsense! Here is the Boy himself, the handsome but permanently infirm William.

One of our older cats went to a home today, the gentleman came to see Poppy but I'm afraid she behaved rather badly and was very grumpy thus doing herself out of a good home. Instead he took Bella who is also 10 years old and has been here a while so at least one cat will spend Christmas in a nice home environment. Lucky Cat but naughty Poppy. What she needs is someone with no other cats who wants a pretty tortoishell and white cat with attitude! Please form an orderly queue.

A Very Busy Week

2011-12-14T16:53:00.000Z

What a manic week it has been. There is no doubt that Christmas is close, even if I had not known that , I would have been able to tell from the sheer numbers of calls requesting the charity to take unwanted pets! Every year I think it will not be as bad and every year it IS.

2 pups are now reserved, mum Gill is a treasure and whoever gets her will have a lovely dog, she is so at home already here and no trouble at all.I think however, that she is losing interest in her babies and am glad that they are eating well and fairly independent for their age. If they have natures like Gill they will make great little pets, they do not seem to have the tenacious terrier attitude for which I am deeply grateful as they will be more homeable taking after their lovely collie mum.
It looks like we will be using boarding kennels a lot this winter - we have had to admit two more collies, one was booked in to the Vet to be put to sleep and the other also due for destruction from the Pound. Both are females with fantastic temperaments and neither deserved to lose their life(not that any do!) when they are so young. Bess is 18 months old and Tammy around 3 years. I have no worries about their homeability factor. They are so appealing.

Bess is on the left and Tammy on right. Which dog do you think came from a home and which (most likely)from a farm? Just look at the expressions on their faces and you will have the answer.

Last night we received two kittencats from a home locally where there had been a police presence for the past few days due to the murder of a local woman. The family did not want the cats and left them outside in the freezing cold. One of them in particular (Asha on the right)is extremely headshy and nervous but they are young and resilient and should find a home before too long. Not knowing their real names I have named them Asha and Ava. They are booked in for spaying tomorrow as it is a possibility one may already be pregnant and with the holidays approaching I do not want to put off the ops .

A few people have booked in to view cats so that is something to look forward to, both people are coming to see older cats, one lady is coming on Sunday to see 12 years old Felix and a gentleman tomorrow to see 6 years old Poppy. Both have been here for some time so it would be very heartening if they were both to go. I have fingers AND toes crossed for them.

It has been a bit of a struggle with staffing numbers this week, Vanessa is off after having an operation on her knee, Rhian is on holiday and Ken is off sick. Thankfully today Nurse Heather one of our stalwart volunteers turned up and has promised to come in next week to help also, and another Xmas helper(she came last year at this time)Lucy arrived and was an invaluable help to the cattery staff. Rhian had booked the time off to see George Michael in concert and was devastated to discover he was cancelling his tour dates due to ill health but decided to stick to her time off anyway. I think she was hoping he would recover and the concert would still take place but it was not to be unfortunately. Some of us here are very keen on our music and have our own 'obsessions'. Rhians is George, Cariads is the late Freddie Mercury, Rosie loves Status Quo, as does Teg (who has been to see them 41 times!!) and mine is 'The Boss' Bruce Springsteen! The non music enthusiasts probably think we are a bit mad but hey, it makes us happy and it gives some respite from the everyday problems we all have .

Anyhow thanks to Lucy and Heather we manged to cope pretty well today , it is great when volunteers turn up at a time when staff numbers are low.I expect they wonder why they are greeted with more enthusiasm than normal!

Speaking of staff Mei STILL has not had a date for her wrist operation, it is almost 2 and a half years now since she first went to the Dr about it. Disgraceful isn't it, and she is so often in appalling pain too.

Finally Rogue(Honey )Rabbit has settled in well and we are assessing him, he does not seem as bad as I had expected but that may be because he is not completely relaxed yet. We will see. George and Rory the bun and guinea pig pals have finally been adopted after almost a year at the shelter and Honey has taken over their enclosure. I look forward to hearing how they are and receiving some photos from new owner Justine.

A Happy Reunion.

2011-12-11T12:32:00.000Z

saturday:

The LLamas have been homed by the owner through the internet! The owner has not asked where they are going or what the people want them for! How can anybody give animals away without first finding out what sort of home it is It was probably one of those free websites. I despair.

We have traced the owner of the pups who wants to part with the mother dog also.,he says he did not abandon the pups at all (thought at 5 weeks they should still be nursing )and we have been given the wrong story altogether! I am trying to get to the bottom of it but the important thing here is that the pups are in our care and tomorrow they will be reunited with their mum(who IS a blue merle collie as thought) who is being admitted in the morning.

We are taking in emergencies only at the moment. All our foster homes are full and any others will now have to be boarded in kennels which is a huge expense. One such emergency occurred today -He is a very nervous and thin collie type who was nearly killed dodging traffic in Caernarfon. He is a youngster and absolutely terrified of everything and everyone.I feel so sorry for dogs like this and wish I could communicate with them and tell them that they are safe.Mind you, in my own way I (and the others here)probably do transmit that to them, just a kind tone of voice , a bowl of food and a gentle stroke or cuddle goes a long way to showing an animal that there is nothing to fear. Some take a long time to understand this, some never do trust again but I have a good feeling about this boy and am sure in a short time he will begin to show a bit more confidence . He will stay here with my own dogs until he is ready to be adopted. Meg and Jackson have accepted his presence in the house.They are good dogs with most other canines. It is cats I dont trust them with which is why my cats and dogs live in separate parts of the house.

Another rabbit has joined the inmates here and could be one which will be very hard, if not impossible to rehome. Inappropriately named black bun 'Honey' is aggressive with his owner and has fought with every rabbit he has been paired with,He is now having to live without the company of his own species which is a great shame. He has been neutered too, which often calms them down .

unable to assess the reason for this. Time will tell. And no he doesn't do a turn standing on his head, for some reason I cannot place the photo the right way!

Ps: I have found out that the LLamas are going to be safe and have spoken to the man who is taking them. He has space and will take them until I find them new homes as he does not really want to keep them permanently, he felt he was just doing the advertiser a favour. He works at a farm and has llamas already so knows how to care for them.That sounds like a satisfactory arrangement all round.I feel relieved and will continue to search for a good permanent home for them.

The collies Livvy and Tavvy will definitely be going to their new home by next weekend so in spite of the time of year adoptions are not doing as badly as I had expected.

This afternoon we had a visitor by the name of George who we homed some months ago. George was a stray in the Pound and was barely six months old when he came in looking despondent and scared. Now he looks so happy and well cared for, what a treat to see that in one of our rescued animals. Mei was particularly thrilled to see him again and once again it proves that just because a dog ends up unclaimed in a Pound it does not mean that there is a problem with it(its usually the owners who are the problem!) I am often asked the question "Why is the dog with you or why is the dog on death row in the Pound"? There is often no reason at all other than the owners apathy and disinterest.

Sunday:
The people from Stoke came today for the two collies, they could not wait another week to have their new pets.Livvy and Tavvy looked a bit bewildered but I know that they will soon settle and they have a nice rural home to enjoy .It will be home from home for them.
The stray springer spaniel was not claimed and I collected him from the kennels today .By the time I returned , his new family were already here waiting for him.He is a handsome dog and like all springers will enjoy having an active life with his new people. We have had so many of these lately they have overtaken the collies with the frequency of their arrivals.At least they are easy to find homes for and I now have a waiting list of those who lost out on this one and are anxious for us to find another for them.

The mother of the pups has been happily reunited with her babies and they are even more pleased to see her again so a happy day for this little family. Mum Gill is a sweetheart and is going to be a very loyal friend to someone when she is ready to leave her little ones.Already she is overcoming her shyness and giving us all kisses , I am falling in love with her myself, she looks so like a younger version of old Granny our resident collie who died a few years ago. Rhian had already commented on the blue merle pup reminding her of Granny so she is in for a surprise when she meets Gill who will bring back memories!
The kittens are still coming in and the homes seem to be drying up.Just look at this gorgeous little chap, he is so beautiful, we just need to get people here to see him and the others.It is a difficult time admittedly, people are so busy at this time of year and acquiring pets are the last thing on their mind. never mind, we may still find a few decent homes before xmas. Sometimes people lost their beloved pets at this time and find they are unable to face a christmas without them so there is always the chance that someone really nice will come forward to offer homes.

Paddy Comes Home

2011-12-09T14:35:00.004Z

Paddy came home last night and was very happy to be in familiar surroundings though he is understandably very quiet and lethargic.He has been through quite an ordeal and I really thought I was going to lose him. Today there is this great sense of relief that he is back home and having his huge body back reclining on his bed at the side of my chair. Having lost Molly last year with the same problem, I knew it was touch and go whether he would survive and I can scarcely believe he is back with me. Poor old Paddy. He needs to have six meals daily of a liquid diet so he will not be too happy with that as he is a greedy boy but his stomach will be very tender for a while. Pictured here this morning with his poor old tum bandaged up gaily in Christmas colours. H e does look miserable doesn't he but he is a very lucky boy even if he fails to realise it!

This morning five puppies were admitted.Cariad (who works with our horses)and her friend were walking their dogs last night past a derelict building and they heard whimpering. Inside the Roofless building was a binbag with these tiny pups inside. They must be no more than five weeks and by rights should still be nursing with their mother. How callous to abandon these helpless little creatures in a place where it was sheer luck that their cries were heard and the poor mother dog must be distressed also. The pups appear to be cross staffordshire bull terriers and their markings indicate that they may also be part collie. I can't help but wonder how easy they will be to rehome? Jack the staff I have at the moment looks like he could become a long termer. Nobody seems to want this breed, I have mentioned it before several times - my heart sinks when yet another call comes through about an unwanted staffie. I do not know what the answer is other than making it illegal to own an unspayed,unneutered staff and that would probably cause outrage amongst those who regard themselves as good owners. Even the policing of that would be near impossible so there has to be another solution. Any ideas? Whatever we came up with would be just a wild dream unless the government decided to take action and what would be the likelihood of that?
This has been a week of unusual requests. First there was a Mule needing a home, today I had a call about four sheep and just now a gentleman rang asking me to help with 4 Llamas! I will have to spend some time making enquiries about suitable places for these to go, we do not have the room here for any more farm animals, the horses need all the grazing they can get but I always try to help as much as I am able. Where there's a will there's a way!
The girls say it is possible that the Mule 'Tiger Lily' could be introduced to one of the groups of ponies which are stabled in the agri building so we are all going to have a discussion to see if we can cope with another addition this winter. As it happens the owner of Tiger Lily has LLamas and may be prepared to take on the 4 unwanted Llamas needing a new home. We will see. It is easy for me to agree but it is the girls who will have the extra body to care for so their opinion is important.

A gentleman turned up this afternoon who was looking for an older cat for his mother .He has chosen Bushka a 7 years female cat whose owner died a few months ago, I'm sure she will be delighted to be out of the shelter and back in a home of her own. The stray cats settle in so well, after all for many it is the first time in ages that they have had a warm bed and plenty of food.It must seem like a four star Hotel to them. On the other hand, the cats whose lives have been so disrupted by the loss of their owner and comfortable homelife,it is a far cry from what they have been used to and can be very distressing initially. I am very happy for Bushka and hope that she will have many happy years to come in her new home.

Pictured here on the day she arrived looking very annoyed and who can blame her for that. Nobody asked her opinion about where she was going to stay and an animal shelter would definitely not have been her first(or even last choice)My apologies to Bushka, I am sorry it took so long to find you more superior alternate accommodation and can only hope that you approve of this new arrangement!

PS: Ellie whippet has found a new home in Dorset, she will be living with two other rescued lurchers and having lots of lovely rural walks. This is an ideal situation for her, she loves to play and chase other dogs.It is so funny watching her with Jackson the cross staff who valiantly tries to catch up, she waits till he is close then torments him by racing off again with him huffing and puffing in hot pursuit. She is a Minx!

Paddy Is Rushed To Vet for Emergency Op.

2011-12-08T13:51:00.000Z

Sam the shetland pony with the abscess is a lot better already and unlike some ponies on enforced stabling, seems quite happy to be inside and receiving more attention. All the horses and ponies are clamouring to come in at nights now, the evenings are very cold and I wonder if we have snow on the way? Mount Snowdon is covered in snow and has been for the past week.
I bought two new bird feeders yesterday so the smaller birds can feed away from the ravenous starlings.When the big birds descend on the table, they scare the sparrows etc away so hopefully these new feeders will do the trick.I went out in the dark last night to replenish them all so they could have a feast early morning and so I would not be under pressure to hurry my dog walking in order to do it. I am definitely turning into my mother whose day was fitted round the feeding times of her garden birds which she so loved.Even my Aunt Audrey when she worked in the offices of John Moores, used to take a bag of corn with her to work so she could feed the pigeons around Liverpool City Centre. Nobody ever complained like they do nowadays!

Thursday:
Had a terrible evening, Paddy took ill and I had to rush him to the Vet with suspected Torsion(twisted Gut) As this was the same which killed my last Dane Molly, I was terrified for him. He had to undergo an emergency operation and at 11pm I received a call from the surgery to say he had survived the op. Molly too had come through the op but died of a heart attack less than an hour later so I had no sleep waiting for the call to come saying he had not made it through the night.Thankfully he did and this morning I went in to see him, his pulse was still weak so he has not yet been allowed home but he did at least stand to greet me, albeit lethargically.
Sorry blog so short, more tomorrow.

Five Traumatised Cats.

2011-12-05T14:25:00.000Z

The (Famous) Five Cats are still quite traumatised from their ordeal. First they lost their owner and the home they were used to, and then they suffered the stress and indignity of being brought to the shelter crammed into a small basket together. They appear to be siblings around the age of six months (not spayed either) and are extremely attractive little cats. Once they are spayed and neutered then they can be placed for adoption. These five will cost the charity the best part of £200 for the op alone! They are worth every penny spent but when we have multi pet households to deal with , it does stretch our limited resources considerably. I need to sell more of my book! Please spread the word about 'The Dog With No Name' and if you know of a shop which would display/sell it please let me know.

The little brown kelpie is making herself at home with Barry and he is strongly tempted to keep her as she gets on so well with his blind Freshfields Collie Ben. I have asked him to think carefully as he is away a great deal and friends are generally not as keen to help look after two dogs. At least we know she is no trouble in a house environment and that could help find her a suitable home.
This morning a young whippet cross Ellie was admitted and she will be leaving us for Rhonas home .Stanley the lurcher has been adopted by a family inAnglesey so she is free to take on another homeless canine . Already Rhona has fostered three dogs successfully and has proved an invaluable help at this busy time with so many pets being abandoned. The Springer in kennels has not been claimed and has a home ready and waiting so things are not as bad as they could be, at least some lucky pets are being adopted out to new homes.

One of the laminitic ponies is not doing so well today and we are waiting for the Vet to arrive. Sam is a young shetland pony who was admitted 4 years ago with three other horses and ponies. We have not homed Sam due to the necessity of having to place him on a special diet and monitor his food intake/grazing etc. It would be unfair to expect a new carer to take on this problem so he will stay with us in retirement .

Here is Sam pictured below soon after his arrival in 2007

So many of our ponies arrive with this health problem and although some may develop laminitis for no apparent reason, in many cases it could have been avoided with correct diet and exercise. It is such a painful thing to have and if it fails to respond to treatment, the only answer is euthanasia. It is just one reason that I wish that everyone who buys a pony for a child would first learn more about Equine Care.There is more to keeping a horse or pony than feeding it and mucking out a stable. Before I bought my pony Charity(aptly named) I attended evening classes for stable management and also spent time at a local riding stables learning all I could about caring for a horse. Only then did I feel experienced enough to have my own to look after.

We were asked to take on a mule! This is a first for us but unfortunately we have no space unless any of our ponies go out on loan which is highly unlikely before Christmas. I have only ever seen a mule once and strangely enough that was only two weeks ago! Mrs Mule will have to go on our waiting list for the moment.

pm:
The Vet has been and Sam has an abscess in his foot so he is on antibiotics and will be spending the next week in his stable. Although it will undoubtedly be painful for him, I am relieved it is not a severe bout of laminitis which may have led to the need for a decision to be made about his future.

The first of the cross Jack Russell pups has been adopted by a Formby(merseyside) couple who told me that 30 years ago they found a dog they were unable to keep and took him to me for rehoming. Needless to say, I could not remember the incident - I just about remember what happened last week! 30 years ago would be an impossibility!
Their 3 hour journey to Wales proved worthwhile as they fell in love with the little female pup immediately.It would be nice if she lived with them for as long as their last rescue dog who was 14 years old when she died. The remaining two are going together to an English couple who have recently made their home in the next village and will be collected next week.
People often ask me if I get upset when I say goodbye to animals when they are rehomed,.The answer is NO. I am thrilled to find good homes,it cheers me up and once \I know for sure everything is ok and I receive acknowledgement of this and perhaps a photo or two, I relax and feel happy for the animal concerned. If I could have a wish granted, I would want a life free from pain and abuse for every animal on earth but I will settle(reluctantly) for finding good homes for those which come the way of this charity.

An Eventful Sunday.

2011-12-04T17:15:00.000Z

I have been to Liverpool to see The Queen.
Only joking, though the Queen WAS there at the same time though our paths did not,of course, cross.The headline in The Liverpool Echo that night alluded to the colour of her coat 'Lady in Red' and as I too was wearing a red coat, for one brief heady moment I thought I had finally hit the headlines! Queenie was there to open the New Museum and unknowingly I had planned to visit at the same time but was frustrated to learn that it was closed all day due to the visit(The Queens not Mine!) Apparently there is a Sports section featuring well known Liverpool sportsmen and women and my father has a write up but I will have to try and see it next time I visit the city.

Whilst I was away some interest has been shown in the two middle aged collies and also Dodger and Nancy Jack Russells, they are both being visited next week by prospective new families.Fingers crossed at least one pair will be adopted.All three pups are now reserved but nobody has been for cats or kittens which is always disappointing.I long to return from a break to hear news of dozens of animals being adopted but it is so slow nowadays, that if just one has found a home it is good news.
Mei had to arrange for a stray dog to be placed in boarding kennels and we are waiting to see if the owner turns up.Unbelievably he is another Springer Spaniel.Where are they all coming from?We have seen more of this breed in the last six months than any other.

Veronica had a stall at a flyball show and raised an amazing £206, these little financial boosts make all the difference and I am very grateful to everyone who fundraises for us. I am sure when Veronica took on the job of Bookkeeper to Freshfields Wales that she had no idea that she would also become a
fundraiser, office cleaner, dog walker and fosterer ! She is an absolute treasure.

Mt garden has been flooded from the torrential downpours we have had recently and my little terriers are up to their armpits in it, so new ditches are to be dug out at the back of the property .This will also help the fields at the side of the house from being so badly waterlogged.This is always a problem when we have so much rain, the water races down the hillside and forms a stream through the fields. It was done a few years ago,but it desperately needs doing again. We have a man working here temporarily who is experienced in such work so we may be able to start sometime next week. The sooner the better if we are not to be flooded out again.

The afternoon saw me driving off to Bangor to collect a dog which had been found in a field of sheep. She had not done any damage but her very presence would cause distress to them and there is always a high chance of a farmer shooting at a dog seen near sheep so it was somewhat of an emergency. The owner of the land had put her on a chain in a shed and she turned out to be a young kelpie , rather ribby and well into season.Friend Barry is fostering her for the time being,I would be very surprised if she is claimed, I don't think a bitch in season has ever been claimed. The prospect of an unwanted litter of pups seems to deter owners from coming forward.
When I returned from this trip I was greeted by the news that someone had turned up with FIVE cats in ONE basket. The owner had died and a relative had just given these cats to a friend to bring in - no phone call to ask if we had space, no warning, no donation either. Of course Mei felt she had to take them but a lot of moving animals about had to take place in order to free a pen and we had other urgent cases to deal with this week. Oh well, there's nothing can be done, these emergencies do happen. Also we agreed today to take a kitten and when it arrived, it was a full grown adult(for which we had no room either)so that one has had to join the new cats until another pen comes free.
I will try to take some photos of the newcomers tomorrow.

A dog we rehomed in Bournemouth(another Kelpie) was returned today due to not being good with their other dog ,but as luck would have it, he has not had to go into kennels as planned. Someone who liked Kelpies saw him and Max has found another home. What a relief that is!

All in all it was quite an eventful day.

New Neighbours come To Visit.

2011-11-27T14:17:00.000Z

Saturday:
What a cold day it has been, for the first time this year I felt I need to wear gloves, my hands were freezing after walking the dogs. There is no doubt that having a dog makes you exercise even if you don't feel like it , and I really didnt feel like being outside today.

This week, I met a local hairdresser called Dawn who apart from her day job,amazingly does a similar job to Jan in Liverpool (Ghost walks) and she is willing to do one for Freshfields.This is so SPOOKY when Jan had only recently mentioned to me that it would be good to do a ghost walk in this area . I had replied that it would be good but we struggle to get volunteers to fundraise, never mind doing a ghosty event. I hope this comes to fruition as I would like to have a few events organised for 2012 which do not involve coffee mornings.
Also ,Alan from the Birding company 'The Biggest Twitch' has offered to give one of his popular talks /slide shows on his world travels birdwatching. maybe we will make that into a cheese and wine evening? We hope to have that organised in a venue in Anglesey sometime in the Spring. So keep an eye open for these advertised on website/blog nearer the time.
Two felines were adopted today, 18 months old Thomas and a black(yes black!) kitten.They are moving, very slowly but at least some are finding homes. Although we have no space at the moment,we arranged to take in a heavily pregnant cat which we were told was ready to give birth. Foster mum Mion who is also inundated with Freshfields mums and babies(I hasten to add of the feline kind)offered to squeeze her in as it was obviously an emergency ,however the cat turned out to be a male - with all his attributes clearly on display! At least he has now secured himself a place at Freshfields.

Sunday:

One of our cats was returned after being in his home for 4 years.what a shame, the owner has now developed an allergy! Poor Charley(seen on the left here) is pure white and is stone deaf, we now have a deaf cat AND a deaf dog looking for homes. Charley is not too happy at the moment, no doubt he is wondering why he has had to leave his home.So bewildering for him, I can only hope he will take someones eye soon and will not be here too long.

We have so many half grown kittencats here at the moment, they need to be in homes soon otherwise we will have a terrific bill neutering them all when the time comes.Some of them shown below.These are all aged between 5 months and 8 months.

The house at the corner of our road, has been up for sale for some time and we have been hoping whoever purchases the property will look kindly upon the close proximity of the shelter Today the new owners who are from the Manchester area, came up to introduce themselves and brought up some blankets for the animals and also expressed interest in doing voluntary work here. They have a cocker spaniel dog, Kevin keeps bees and Tracey has fostered for the Springer spaniel rescue so I am delighted to know animal lovers are moving in there and look forward to popping round for a coffee and getting to know them better.

The pups being fostered have come in today. They are so adorable. They are now 5 weeks old and Mei is going to foster them until they are old enough to be adopted. Both jack russell and collie can be seen in them although they are very small ,so I think they will not be much bigger than spaniels when fully grown.
The baby rats were admited and they have gone off to the Liverpool shelter with Dawn and Elaine who visited today. Only 4 months old they should make nice little pets for someone who has the time to spend with them.

The Porthmadog Fair is a success.

2011-11-25T17:19:00.001Z

We received not one call about animals from the article in The Daily Post. That has NEVER happened before and is very disheartening indeed. However we did find a couple of homes from our website.Cassie collie and Leti the cross rottweiller have both been adopted over the past few days so their success has prevented me from going into a deep state of negativity. I am so happy for them. A friend has just bought me a plaque which says NEVER, never never, never give up! I shall look at that every day and take heed.

Thanks to everyone who has ordered a copy of 'The Dog With No name' and for the congrats though wait to read before you become too effusive ! I am expecting copies early next week so they should be in our Charity shops and shelters by mid -end of next week.

Stanley the ex farm springer spaniel has left foster care today and will soon be esconced in his Formby home.As this was my old stomping ground I know there are lots of lovely places to take dogs for walks, my own favourite was across the sand dunes and through Formby Pinewoods.I had many happy walks there with my own dogs. Good Luck Stanley and I hope that look of fear will soon be gone forever from your beautiful eyes.

Two lovely little cats were adopted this week, Luther a 5 months old kittencat and Ruby ginger who is around 2 years. I love it when two go together,.I always feel that most cats(not all) are happier when they have companionship of their own kind. Mind you, that goes for most species doesn't it? Even we humans are not programmed to live isolated from our own species.

I rushed to get my camera when I saw the starlings (which are visiting my bird table daily).all lined up on the telegraph wire.Were they waiting for their afternoon tea? As soon as I fill the feeders they empty within half an hour so they are limited to morning and afternoon top ups otherwise I will be filing for bankruptcy.

Rhian snapped Ken in the middle of his cattery duties and a shiftier looking character have I yet to see , not to mention the Manchester United Hat! What are the Freshfields staff coming to nowadays?

I have just received a visit from an RSPCA Inspector who has had an ANONYMOUS complaint that we are keeping stray dogs in a ROOM and leaving them without veterinary attention!!!!! Ludicrous, I would like to know where this room is located and why our Vet bills are so high? A very malicious person has made up this farcical allegation .I wonder who it could be? Mmm m that is a difficult one and of course it would have nothing to do with my decision to call in the police this week ,over an issue of harassment would it???

I do not feel upset, even the Inspector was clearly uncomfortable being here ,as we all knew that it was a clear case of malice (We have been working together recently over a starving spaniel case(, not Stanley, another one) and anybody who knows Freshfields or has visited either shelter knows that we are never away from the Vets surgery with one or another animal needing treatment. Therefore, I put this absurd business to the back of my mind where it will remain.

I suppose in life one will always come across people who spend their time complaining and causing grief to others Certainly I know of many nice individuals who suffer at the hands of such characters. I don't know where they get the inclination or the time.My life is far too busy and meaningful to spend valuable time making others lives a misery!

On a more cheery note, the Porthmadog Xmas Fair was a great success and £850 was taken, the best so far. Well done to Trish for organising it so well and to everyone who helped make it a success. A special thank you to Louis ,the owner of The Sportsman Hotel who allows us the rooms free of charge and supplies us with tea and coffee.

We have A Feature In The Daily Post Today

2011-11-23T16:53:00.000Z

It has been a busy week, we have had the Daily Post here taking photos of dogs and cats in need of homes.It was a bit chaotic, trying to organise the various animals in foster homes to arrive at the same time but we managed and today they have appeared in a feature in the Welsh edition of the Daily Post,So far there have been no telephone calls but I am ever hopeful!

A lady adopted a lurcher (pictured here)from the Dog Pound, kept him one day and brought him here, saying she could not cope with him.He has gone on a weeks trial to foster mum Rona who is hoping to find a suitable companion for her spaniel and thinks he may just be the one.He is very young and friendly but could be a bit of a handful but it would be great of it worked out. having said that it will mean the loss of another foster home but the possibility of a permanent home cannot be ignored.
A few more kittens have been adopted and Tiger the cat up the chimney in his new home is still residing there ,but is spending a little more time out each time and is wolfing down the food left out for him.They are wondering if another cat would draw him out of his shell(and the chimney) so are pondering on taking that step next. He did originally live with another cat so it might help him settle in his new home.It can't be that comfortable staying up the chimney all day! Tiger is pictured here at the shelter not long before he was adopted.

I have just spoken to a lady at the Dogs Trust with whom we work to prevent as many dogs in Wales as possible from having unwanted litters.They are campaigning to have more farm dogs neutered so if anybody knows of any farmers who would like to have their dogs neutered/spayed free of charge please let them know or contact me for details.Likewise if you could display a poster about this campaign let me know.I knw there will be many who will stick to the old(bad)ways but there are some more enlightened ones and we just need to identify them and offer this help.

Does anyone know of a rat lover? (domestic not wild) We have two baby 4 months old female ratties coming in on saturday and if I cannot find a home locally they will go to the LIverpool shelter on Sunday(someone from that shelter is coming over here to visit)
Also a foster mum is need for three 5 weeks old motherless pups.You may remember they were brought to us when their mother(Jack russell) was unable to feed them, and we have had them in foster care until now.That lady can no longer care for them so we need a temporary home until they are old enough to place for adoption at 7 weeks. I will take them for the time being but a new foster mum would be very welcome.

There are going to be pups galore by the time xmas comes and that worries me, how many will be given as xmas presents? I already know of three litters looking for homes and I see the Liverpool shelter has quite a few there. It could not be a worse time could it?

Ps: did anyone see the you tube video everyone is raving about? The one of the man calling his dog Benton which has chased a herd of deer.Am I the only one who fails to find it amusing? All I could think about was whether it harmed any of the herd and having been party to a dog escaping me and feeling that sense of terror and panic, I can only sympathise with the owner who is clearly upset.

The Dog With No Name

2011-11-21T16:13:00.001Z

The Book is finally in print and will be ready at the end of this week. To order online just click on the link below which will take you to the publishers order page. There will be copies available in the next 2 weeks in some of our charity shops and both shelters. Which shops I will let you know later this week .
All Proceeds will be going to the charity.

http://www.ypdbooks.com/biography/530-the-dog-with-no-name-how-one-dog-inspired-me-to-set-up-an-animal-rescue-charity-YPD00496.html

My soul has now been laid bare!

Homes for dogs but not for Cats

2011-11-20T14:01:00.001Z

The kittens which Mion has been fostering are adorable.Pictured here are the four youngsters.Unfortunately the black one was not keen on having a photograph taken so showed us his rear end! He is actually a very pretty kitten, heres hoping he will get over his anti social behaviour before the next visitors arrive! That is IF we have any visitors. We have not homed any cats or kittens at all today though we have had a reservation placed on Leti the cross rottweiller.

I had been starting to feel nobody would show interest in her but it looks as though she will be leaving our care very soon and moving to Anglesey where she will be enjoying three mile walks a couple of times daily. Just what she needs. When I look at her it horrifies me that she was on Death Row at a Pound (near Blackpool)and so close to losing her life. I can find no reason for her being unclaimed, she is such a nice dog and appears to have no problems at all.

We have been forced to place some dogs in boarding kennels due to our shortage of foster homes and it being a very busy time with so many dogs needing shelter. Currently there is a cross staffordshire bull terrier in situ at the local kennels,We have named him Oscar and he is another unclaimed stray but he is a very lucky boy because friend Sue has fallen in love with him and will be collecting him tomorrow.

Also in kennels, though this time due to a bereavement are Tavvy and Livvy, 6 years old collies and they too have a person interested in them. They are delightful animals though need a good grooming session . Sometimes when owners are elderly and ill, their pets become neglected through no deliberate act of cruelty and these two have clearly been dearly loved by their owner. I am glad they have a possible home as they are very anxious to be back in a home environment(I know because they told me - well not really but I could tell from their expressions how they are feeling and I promised them I would do my best to sort a nice home out for them). The dog adoptions are definitely improving, even Stanley the old(ish) Springer spaniel has a home - pending a homecheck he will be going to live in Formby, Merseyside where I once lived. There is a nice beach, woods and sandhills for dogs to enjoy so Stanley should be quite pleased at my choice.

There is a home also offered to George and Rory our rabbit and guinea pig pals.They have been here rather a long time so I am delighted that they have finally found a suitable home. I will never allow small pets to go where they are to be kept in small hutches(prisons) with no exercise run and one of the criteria is that they have permanent access to a run - something not all people think of when they purchase living accommodation for small pets like rabbits .

I always tell people that a hutch should be regarded as a sleeping space only and that a alarge exercise area is needed and permannent access to it. So many are left all day languishing in boring hutches until a child comes home from school and even then many are never allowed any freedom.Heartbreaking.

Incidentally, remember Caspar the pony who lost his pal Honey, well he had started to follow Noddy around and we had high hopes that they would bond. He had begun to happily share a stable with Noddy and Maggie and last night Mei caught Noddy and Caspar grooming each other. Neither Mei nor I have ever seen Noddy doing this even when he was with previous companions to whom he was very attached. It looks like Caspars sadness is now a thing of the past. Good old Noddy.

Ps: Late in the day someone arrived to view the kittens and the litle tortoishell kitten pictured above has been adopted so today was not a hopeless day for felines after all.

Bryn models a Freshfields T Shirt.

2011-11-19T14:53:00.001Z

I am really tired today after being at the LLandudno xmas fair all day.I don't know why but I find this more exhausting than working all day with the animals here? It was very quiet, not a great deal of support I'm afraid, in fact I had to resort to kidnapping people off the street and coercing them to come in to the fair! Everyone seemed to take it in good spirits and nobody called the Police to cart me off so it was worthwhile in the end. At one point volunteer Ivan joined me with his German Shepherd Bryn (who was looking very fetching wearing a Freshfields T Shirt ) We worked then as a team.The dog caused people to stop and then I moved in to presssgang them into supporting us. It comes to something when we have to resort to this!

A big thank you goes to staff Veronica, Rosie who stoically manned stalls all day and to volunteers who turned up to help.Thanks to Dilys, Ivan and Janet(from Derbyshire)Joyce and Margaret and to the church helpers who looked after the catering side so ably.

It continues to be quiet on the pet rehoming front though June collie has been rehomed locally and there has been interest expressed in Stanley the Springer spaniel . It is incredibly quiet for adoptions but it is leading up to the Christmas Holidays so that could be the reason why so many are wanting to get rid of pets but not many looking to adopt.

Tiger the vanishing cat has reappeared several times so is clearly gaining more confidence daily. Some shy cats do take a lot longer to settle and the best way to deal with it, is not to panic and just allow the cat to come out in his own good time which he will do when he/she feels more secure.

We lost our dear Jimmy Ginge a few days ago, in a tragic accident and it has taken me until now to be able to write about him.We were all devastated, he was a bad tempered old fellow but was such a great character and he was dearly loved by all the staff. RIP Jimmy . Losing animals is a real downside of this work but it has to be faced, difficult though it is, and we must remember that there are many positive incidents to keep us smiling.

Champ(pictured ) the unpredictable Jack Russell I adopted, along with Lucy the office dog, often brings a smile to my face with his antics. He loves watching television, especially Animal Cops and when he sees cats on the screen he tries to catch them and cannot understand where they vanish to. The Eastenders theme music really wakes him up. He can be fast asleep on my knee but when that music starts he leaps up and rushes over to the TV. He is such a dear little dog, it is just a shame that because he is not keen on new people , we were unable to find him a suitable home. Am I the only anti social person who has no visitors and an unfailing patience with problem pets? If there were loads of other solitary and animal loving beings like me, lots more dogs would be adopted but as it is, most people have family /visitors who make having such a dog hard to deal with. Admittedly they can be hard work but they can be great fun also.

Two more litters of kittens have been brought in by foster mum Mion who has cared for them so well since they were tiny abandoned babies.What would we do without her?

As I finish this blog, two kittens have been adopted so I end on some nice news. perhaps tomorrow will bring some more good homes for our animals.Fingers crossed.

A Poor Old Farm Dog Needs some TLC

2011-11-17T19:43:00.000Z

I have not had much time to blog this past week as have had to organise two fundraising events. We had a stall at an open day at Electric Mountain in LLanberis yesterday and tomorow is our first fundraiser in LLandudno , a Christmas Fair at the Holy Trinity Church hall.(opp M&S)Heres hoping it will be successful.I will be leaving (though not on a jet plane!) early in the morning to be there early enough to organise everybody! That is a laugh, I can barely organise myself! When did my desire to care for animals turn into office work and event organising?

The Springer Spaniel rescued from the dog pound and being fostered by Rona is losing his shyness to an extent, we cannot have him neutered until he gains some weight and the Vet thinks he has some loss of sight also. He has been named Stanley and I am pretty sure he is from a farm as he has the demeanour and appearance of one such animal!

Pictured here is Stanley in the stable just before Rona arrived to take him home - I wouldn't want anyone to think Rona lives in a house with sawdust shavings on the floor!

Stanley has some loss of sight and could be as old as 10 years, his teeeth are not very good though his face looks quite young with no grey on his muzzle. Perhaps he has just had a hard life and a poor diet!

Hallelujah! two kittens have been reserved, now there are only a hundred to go - well not really , it just seems that there are that many sometimes when all the pens are full. The real number is more like 35 at the moment. That is a lot of homes to find but two being adopted is better than none. Tiger the adult cat rehomed a few days ago has been residing in the chimney and has been the cause of much concern with his new family.He is, however, emerging from his hideaway during the night and scoffing his food so he may choose to stay down when he feels a little more secure. It can be a very scary time for a cat who has been institutionalised for so long, if only we could communicate with them and let them know they have nothing to fear. I hope next time I write about Tiger it will be with better news.

My book will be published the first week in December and by next week people will be able to order it online as we will be putting a link on the website to the publishing company.They will be dealing with orders so it will save us the job of packaging etc. It will also be available at both shelters and some of our shops(details of which shops at a later date) So if you want to help the animals(all proceeds will be going to Freshfields) please consider purchasing a copy. How mortifying it will be if nobody buys it, I may have to buy them all to prevent loss of face!

Where are all the Black cat lovers?

2011-11-13T14:38:00.003Z

Saturday:

I took the Jack russells to their prospective new home near Llanberis but it was a no no. As soon as they were off the lead in the garden, they were racing round looking for a way out and find it they immediately did. They clambered on top of a shed roof and jumped down in to the adjoining field! Then followed a very stressful half hour as Sue and I tried to get the little tinkers back into her garden and back to safety.Unfortunately the garden is an unusual one , in that it has several levels and is an awkward shape to completely fence it in. I feel it would be fine for a potterer of a dog but not livewire terriers like these two.Not to worry, there is a middle aged staffie in the local Dog Pound and if he is nice and docile, I will take him for a try out. Sue likes this breed and as they are so hard to rehome, it could be his only chance.

The 4 motherless puppies who are now being fostered are doing well and their foster mum is hoping to keep one so we will have just three to place for adoption when they are old enough . Pups tend to be snapped up fairly quickly, surprisingly there have been far less around than usual at this time of year. MInd you every time I say something like this, the phone will start ringing with requests to take whatever it is I have been mentioning! I sincerely hope there are not loads of litters of pups about to need our help.We will definitely need more foster homes if that happens.

There has been a response from the newspaper article about unwanted cats though not as great a response as I would have hoped for. No more than 8 calls were received, I just hope that the telephone being down for an entire day did not put people off trying again though if that was the case perhaps they would not have been serious enquiries. Still there are three people coming tomorrow for kittens and cats and all want a pair, so all being well, 6 lucky felines should be reserved tomorrow.

Pictures are of Paddy carrying the terriers leads, he loves doing this even though he is never on one himself here.It clearly makes him feel clever and he is very proud of his lead carrying prowess, he holds himself higher and almost struts in pride. The problem arises when I want to put the Jack Russells back on their leads before they re enter the yard(they are not good with cats and as you know we have cats everywhere). Sometimes Paddy will not release the leads to me and I have to clip them on to the collars of the dogs hoping he will finally let them go. This is a photo of him refusing to relinquish the lead and so having to tolerate Champ at the end of it!

"Who is taking who for a walk?'

Sunday:

I feel very disappointed, only one of the people mentioned turned up to choose a kitten but would not take any because the ones they liked were female!! Usually it is the other way round, most prospective adopters seem to prefer females but as any cat owners know , once cats are neutered there is no difference.Some people say females are more home loving and affectionate but I have had several male cats which would have put the females to shame with their wonderful natures and love of domesticity. Why anyone would be so adamanant about having only male kittens seems unfairly biased to say the least. It is the personalities , not the gender which make an animal a wanderer or a homelover but what can I do.If someone has a fixed idea of what he/she wants there is little I can do to make them change their mind? All in all the newspaper article has been a total waste of time. What a shame!

We did, however have one cat adopted, 4 years old Tiger has been here almost a year so it is a wonderful day for him. I will have to get my thinking cap on again and try to find another way to publicise the rest of the shelters many cats and kittens.

There is always something which happens to counter balance the not so great occurrences at the shelter. Visitors today turned up with a donation of cat food and a lovely cheque which was extremely welcome.The same people had two black cats from us 6 years ago, called Brian and Keith(I named them after members of the Rolling Stones )and if I remember correctly that was also a time we advertised for homes for the black beauties at the shelter. We were so pleased that Brian and Keth found a home together so I know there ARE those who actually like cats which are not unusually marked but where are they all?

Black cat lovers, come visit us!

A Bad week for Pigs.

2011-11-11T16:46:00.003Z

The Liverpool shelter has lost one of their old pigs,Fred was found dead this morning, I know the staff will all be upset.Most Pigs do not get much appreciation unless they are being devoured off a plate but at both Freshfields shelters we are very fond of our piggy residents.What most people fail to realise is that they are intelligent and sensitive creatures, so sensitive in fact that even a change to their sleeping quarters can cause immense stress and trying to relocate them can be almost as stressful to the staff caring for them, than the pigs themselves.They simply hate any change to their routine(pigs not staff!)

We too are faced with losing our two pigs, both are extremely arthritic and old. Pink Pig,especially has too many bad days where she cannot get up and walk and I feel it is time for them to leave us though I have been putting off the dreaded moment for the past few weeks. I wish they could go in their sleep like dear old Fred , Anyhow the Liverpool shelter are taking in two more needy piggies after hearing of the plight of a group of pigs being neglected by their owner who had stopped looking after them. I gather the band of ten Kune Kunes include elderly females and pregnant ones too!
One of my readers has a pig sanctuary in Canada and I love reading her blog, it is such a treat to know of someone who sees the intelligence and the personalities of these animals. I always thought I would make a good partner for the lovely George Clooney whose girlfriends never seemed to appreciate his pet potbellied pig. If only I had mixed in the same circles, I'm sure we would have got on brilliantly and that he would have fallen madly in love with me! Mind you , I thought the same about Richard Gere who is a Buddhist and another one with whom I had something in common.One can but dream!

Now back to reality, we have had torrential rain here all; day and no electricity since nine this morning.Workmen have been replacing telegraph wires in the back field so there has been a great upheaval all day and it has caused some stress to some of the animals , especially Callie and Freddy who would not come in for their evening meal and that is so very unlike these two who really love their food. Poor Mei was calling them from the field for at least half an hour and was getting thoroughly soaked to the skin in the process. I think the vehicles, the noise and the strange men(they were actually very pleasant) all added to their nervousness. Horses are so easily spooked by anything new and it is not uncommon for a horse to refuse to walk past the tractor if it has been left in a different place than usual. Even an old jumper left hanging over the fence can give a fright. Anyhow they are all in their warm stables now and the scary events of the day forgotten as they munch away happily at their hay.(I love that sound) Above pic is of one of the scaredy cats(or rather equines) Freddie.His name was originally Freddie Kruger after the scary character in the horror film.When Freddie first arived from Jersey, he was extremely nervous and rather wild.Nowadays he remains shy and will not enjoy attention like some of the others but nobody is scared of him as some of the girls were who worked here at the time.
Many animals are nervous when they arrive, some have been through a great deal in their lives and understandably have little or no trust in humans but nearly all will eventually respond to kindness .A secure home goes a long way to achieve this.

Tomorrow I am taking Dodger and Nancy (left), the two middle aged Jack Russells who are living in the house with me, to a friends house to see if they would be likely to settle there. Sue lived in the same road as me when we were children and has recently moved to this area and she can't wait to have a dog.Whether these two are the right ones for her remains to be seen. More of this in next blog entry.

2011-11-10T16:21:00.000Z

And still the calls are coming in for abandoned or unwanted cats and kittens, its unbelievable, if only there was another cat shelter round here to help with the sheer numbers. Every caller believes his/her situation is the most urgent, most are accepting of the fact that when we have no space, that is all there is to it but some can be very difficult and put a great deal of pressure on whomever answers the telephone. It is like the Triage system at any casualty department of a hospital.We have to prioritise the most urgent cases - not an easy task when the very fact that we have received a call to admit an animal means there is a little (or large)creature about to become homeless.

The article about our unwanted cats has been published in the local newspaper so fingers crossed that it will result in some homes being found.

Two more dogs are in our care - Leti is a young, handsome and loveable cross Rottweiller/German Shepherd female who is like a big teddy bear.She was due to be destroyed as an unclaimed stray in a dog Pound.That would have been criminal! She is such an amiable natured animal.The other is June, a 6 months old collie pup whose owner could not cope with her liveliness (she has somebody interested in her already) Kim is fostering both of these - I dont think she will be keeping another foster dog, she has enough already though I know she has a soft spot for German Shepherd type dogs.
Bud, the Cocker Spaniel has gone to his new home In the Isle of Wight. John kindly offered to meet the lady in Birmingham, as she had such a long journey to collect her new friend. As with all the animals who leave us, I will be waiting anxiously to hear how he has settled down .Bud will be living in a home which has had a cocker spaniel in residence for many years and it is to be hoped that Buds presence will alleviate some of the grief felt after the loss of the old dog.

We had a lovely delivery of petfood today from the Liverpool shelter who sent a van with goodies for their poorer relatives here in Wales! It was exciting also to receive some of our new sales goods, the attractive pawprint bracelets which will make good stocking fillers(available from our shops, shelters and online) and the pawprint keyrings.. Helen (Liverpool manager) and I are always trying to think of new and reasonably priced goods to sell at our fundraisers and I think these are great new additions.
You will be pleased to know that is the end of my Sales Speech!!

Whilst I was putting out the bird food in my garden this morning , a little robin hopped on to the branch just inches away from me and sat there until I had finished filling the feeders. I am sure he waits for me because he appears each time ,seemingly from nowhere and is so bold and brave. It was a wonderful experience having him so close. I experienced one of my few and fleeting moments of happiness. The next one will be when I sit down to eat!!

We Won the Voting.Yippee!

2011-11-06T12:22:00.000Z

There is good news to start the day.Freshfields won the voting and we will soon be £5,000 richer.We will divide it between the two shelters and a very big thank you to everyone who voted and rounded up so many friends and family to do the same.It was a very stressful time for us all, sometimes we were ahead and then we were falling behind.nerves were shredded! I only wish that Shropshire cat Rescue could have won the same, they did so well, I felt quite guilty at taking the prize away from them, at least they will receive the second prize of £2,500.

The sad news is that we lost the little abandoned grey kitten. He had been reserved but 2 days after he arrived, Rhian came in to find him virtually comatose and despite everything we did to bring him round, he passed away within the hour. My gut feeling is that he died of pneumonia, he was only about 8 weeks old and being out in the cold and wet probably was too much for his little body to deal with. Fortunately the others admitted round the same time are all doing well but we don't like to lose even one.It was very upsetting for us all.

I wonder how those of you with pets got on with the fireworks last night? (and the preceding days!) For once I was glad that my lovely William lurcher was no longer with me, he was always terrified out of his mind when he heard the bangs and nothing I bought to allay his fears worked for him. He would shake and tremble with fear and his eyes would almost appear to be on stalks. No amount of ignoring or cajoling would help him, believe me I tried everything but he would spend the evening hiding. It is a very upsetting thing to witness and it made me feel so helpless . None of my current canine family suffer the same so that was a great relief. I believe the awful motorway crash yesterday has been attributed to smoke from a nearby firework display. It is time the Government banned the whole business, there is something incredibly barbaric and uncivilised about burning an effigy of a human being and I know of nobody who is not completely fed up with the weeks of bangs and flashes in the sky above them.I cant help but wonder how it affects the birds?

It is a lovely warm and bright day today but there have been no visitors at all so no adoptions today I'm afraid.

More Abandoned Kittens are Admitted.

2011-11-04T14:16:00.000Z

What is going on? more abandoned kittens have arrived. Dont tell me it is the Pre Christmas animal clear out already? Time goes so quickly and now we are at that time of year again when it seems that so many people are parting with their pets.Each year I forget how bad it gets from November onwards. It will worsen until Christmas finally arrives, then there is a bit of a lull until the Spring and it all starts over again.At that point many kittens and pups given as Xmas presents are at the naughty mischievous stage so once again there is an influx of abandoned and unwanted pets.Will people ever learn the art of responsible pet owning? It is just as well I meet some delightful people in my work because otherwise I would have no faith at all in human beings. The bad and the indifferent ,do at times seem to outweigh the good people but I live in hope that I am wrong and that it is just my work bringing me more into contact with the extremes of human nature.

Pictured here are the two very scared kittens abandoned in the middle of woods in Anglesey(definitely not feral, they love a fuss but were nervous of the camera Im afraid, the surviving tortie baby whose sibling was killed on the road , the grey found in a local park(he has a home already)two black and white youngsters abandoned at the side of a busy road and these are just the ones which have been admitted over the past couple of days. Disgraceful isn't it?

We had a bit of a scare yesterday. Caspar the grey pony who lost his companion Honey , a few weeks ago, developed a case of colic and the Vet had to be called out. He is fine today but we are keeping a close watch on him. He has joined Noddy and Maggie in their stable and seems to be much happier generally since he became friends with the little old shetland ponies. I love this little group. Mind you Noddy (seen here on left)has been with me so many years now that he is part of the furniture and I just love every part of him, from his big Horsey head to his little legs and peculiarly long body.He is The Best and when some people say to me that he is a strange looking animal, I feel quite affronted as thought they are criticising a member of my family. Well, he is ,of course, a member of my animal family and as such I think he is beautiful. So remember if you visit to only make nice comments about this special little pony! As many will know, he is now thirty eight years old and I suddenly realised that some of the other ponies are not far off him in years.

Tangy the chestnut pony was admitted nearly eight years ago so that makes him the same age as Noddy. Callie and grey ponies Ross and William are also coming up to their thirty eighth year. Pictured here are The Pensioners (and I dont want any comments from anyone saying "Well where is your photo then?") Be Warned! So we have a fair number of very old ponies though some years ago Freshfields lost two horses which were 42 years and 45 years! They were ex riding school horses and they enjoyed several years of retirement with us before their demise.

Just before I finish this I must thank everyone who has voted for us in the Animal Friends competition on facebook, we are still neck and neck with another charity so may still not win the coveted £5,000 but it will not be for want of trying. I made a mistake on the end of voting date.It is actually Nov 5th Midnight. Thanks everyone and if you have any friends or family left who have not yet voted dont forget to ask them. The link is on the last blog entry.

More Kittens Arrive.

2011-11-02T11:29:00.001Z

The pups have gone to their foster home and are so far doing well.The foster mum hope to be able to keep one of them if they all make it and they are such bonny pups they have a very good chance.

4 unwanted kittens (pictured)were admitted from Machynlleth (their owner having gone into our charity shop there to ask for help)and today a young black and white kitten was brought in after being abandoned with his sibling, sadly one was killed on the road before they could both be rescued. We will ensure that the remaining kitten finds a loving home but I do feel angry with the irresponsible and callous people who abandon animals in this way, not least because there are frightening noises to be heard with all the fireworks going off at the moment.What a terrible time for a pet to be outside , alone and scared. At least the people from Mac did the right thing by requesting our assistance. As I type this, we have received a call about another abandoned (or feral?)kitten, a grey one this time has been found in the grounds of the local Glynllifon Estate. As we no longer have any room in the kitten room, a couple of pens are being put up in the staff canteen. In an emergency, it's a case of any space available put to good use.

All the horses and ponies are coming in now at night,it isn far too cold for the oldies to stay out and we have just changed over our bedding routine.Previously we have used straw bedding which in my opinion does not soak up the urine well so is not as easy to keep clean but this winter they will be on sawdust shavings.This will provide a nice thick bed for the old ponies , will be easier on the feet of those with tender feet and is ideal for any with breathing problems as it is dust free.Unfortunately there has almost been a mutiny amongst the staff as they are not keen on the change over but this is with most new routines and I am sure will soon get used to it, especially when they see how warm and comfortable the horses will be. I wonder what other horse owners think about straw versus shavings? .Which do you prefer?
Also many of their winter rugs were worn and ripped so I had to purchase over 20 new ones,What an expense! It was absolutely necessary but they are not cheap and it makes quite a dent in our funds . We do get rugs given to us but they are not always the right size for the horses and ponies in our care.This winter we were short of smaller ones that would fit the Welsh Section A types.

The starlings have truly descended upon my garden now, the birds are all in a feeding frenzy at the moment and this morning I had my first visit from a shy little coal tit. There are already Blue tits and Great tits regularly on the feeders but this was a first, I hope he returns so I can see more of him than the fleeting view this morning.

I went birding to Aberdaron yesterday on my day off and there were literally thousands of starlings about, having arrived after their long flight from Scandinavia . An amazing sight. The migration of birds fascinates me, I can't even find my way to Caernarfon if there is a diversion! I once went on a 20 minute trip to where I kept my horses near St Helens.Merseyside and a diversion completely threw me and somehow(dont ask how) I found myself on the way to Blackpool!!! I managed to find my way home five hours later!! Unbelievable but I am ashamed to say completely true.

I made a mistake about the voting competition on facebook.It did not end on 31st as I thought, it ends on the fifth of November and the other charity is carching up to us so we may still lose the race to win £5,000.
If you have not yet voted for Freshfields and you are a facebook member PLEASE PLEASE do so today and send the link to anyone you know who could also vote for us. A £5,000 donation would be lovely especially at this time of year when our expenditure is sky high. Please go to https://www.facebook.com/FeelGoodPark?sk=app_112173728871661 then go over to the left hand side and click on "Vote for a charity". Once on the page you will be asked to allow access to your details, but this is just so they know you aren't voting more than once - your info won't be used for any other purpose. If the app isn't showing properly use the tab button to move it across. If you get a blue box showing that says "Go to Facebook" click on that and it will take you to the app. Once there just click the little circle in the bottom of the box that says Freshfields and then click submit. Please help us to help the animals! It would also be great if you could share this on your own page. Many thanks for your support. :-)

An Armful of Puppies.

2011-10-31T19:18:00.000Z

Just a quickie to show everyone the delightful but motherless pups we admitted today. Gail and Sue had just fed them when this was taken, Gail has found a foster home for them so they have left us already. It is sad though, that the mum Jack Russell was so ill having them, Hope she isn't missing them too much though if she is unwell she is probably glad to be released from the pressure of feeding her babies.

Hello, Who's the New Girl ?

2011-10-30T15:35:00.001Z

Another successful day. Holiday makers(and readers of my blog)Sara and Dave from Northumberland fell in love with Ben, the labrador cross found abandoned near Caernarfon. After taking him for a long walk they felt they could not return home without him. Unfortunately Bud the cocker spaniel is still with us as his home fell through at the last minute and the others who were desperate to give him a home, were contacted but they have all now adopted dogs from other shelters. very disappointing and sad for Bud who is losing weight with stress and needs to be settled in a home pretty soon.

Another little dog has been admitted, Sally a deaf jack russell/whippet was unwanted and to be frank when the owners wife approached her, the dog cowered to the ground so I am more than happy to take her over . She is in the house with mine and will stay there until the right suitable home turns up for her. Here is Paddy and gang taking stock of the new arrival. As usual they were very accepting and after having a few sniffs , soon lost interest. Sally is so excited to be with company, I cannot think that she had much of that. I would like to home her with someone who has had experience of a deaf dog previously.The last deaf dog we had was a Jack Russell and he went very quickly, as did the deaf dalmation Dotty. It would be nice if this girl was adopted quickly too.

I am looking for a foster home for 4 puppies, born just one week ago.Their Jack Russell mum is unwell after giving birth and is unable to care for them and if we dont take them, there will be an untimely end for them.That is not an option so I will care for them myself until someone with more time on their hands offers to take them on. It is hard for me to keep it up because I work every day and I have little enough sleep as it is. Apparently Dad is a neighbours Sheepdog! If only spaying/neutering was compulsory!

No cats have been adopted today, it has not been brilliant for the cats this weekend but I am still hoping for a good response from the newspaper article(if it gets published)

If you haven't voted yet for Freshfields please do so before or time runs out(end of the day) we may still lose as we are neck and neck with another charity.Dont forget the link is on one of the blog entries a few days ago. Please ask everyone you know to vote whilst there is still time

Happy Dogs and Cats.

2011-10-29T15:50:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely email from the lady who adopted Charley and he is winning everyone over with his charm and personality.Isn't that great news?What a happy little man he will be now.

I have also heard from a couple of other people over the past few days. who adopted pets from us. These are emails I love opening, they cheer me up for the day. On the left here is collie Ryan(now called Owain) with new pal Daisy. Ryan was another Pound dog doomed until he came to Freshfields.

Angie who has Jess and lives in Milton keynes writes to tell me that Jess the cross labrador she adopted from us a year ago, is doing very well and her behaviour is improving all the time. I hope that is not clean washing she is sitting on! Jess, it has to be said was not an easy dog and this news is very heartening and the fact that they love her so much in spite of her personality dysfunctions makes me realise that there are people out there who do not expect wonders from their rescued pets and are, in fact, willing to work with them.

Sonny the cross chihuahua/jack russell is also a happy little man now he has a loving home.From being tossed out of a car, abandoned and then spending a week in a cold kennel in a dog pound, he is now being cared for as he should have been all along and he has a canine pal too. I think you will all agree that these photos show very happy dogs.

The cats pictured all live with members of the same family.Katherine has adopted three cats from us and her parents recently gave a home to teenagers Henry and Leo seen here surveying the layout of their new home.Here are the Williams cats in their full glory., left is Hedges who was adopted in 2007 enjoying a stretch on the bed. Below is Rusty adopted earlier this year and being cuddled by Katherines daughter and finally Jazz who has only just left the shelter but has clearly made herself very much at home already as she is sharing her sleeping space quite happily with Hedges.I wonder if are there any more cat lovers in the family? maybe we could persuade THEM to adopt a few more.

I am unsure if the article on black cats went in the newspaper this week because there have been no telephone calls about it,perhaps it will be in next week?I do hope so as we really need to home some of the bigger kittens and definitely more adults, so we can make room for and admit some more needy cases.

Sparky the Jack Russell has left us today for his new home in Canterbury and I have no doubts at all that he has now fallen on his feet. Also adopted is Sam the cross labrador and |Misty the collie Spaniel fostered by Rosie . We are now waiting for the people to collect Bud the cocker spaniel and that will be the last adoption of the day. For a horrid, wet, cold day it has proved to be a good one for the animals.

The starlings have well and truly arrived, Veronica counted over 90 sitting on the telephone wires on Thursday and they have started to come down on the bird tables which means my bird food bill is about to be trebled! I had almost forgotten how many times I had to refill the containers last year when they arrived en masse but the memory rapidly came back as I am refilling them three times daily at the moment! I dont know why people dislike them, the markings on them are brilliant, almost iridescent and they can't be blamed for being hungry, they have flown thousands of miles to get here, who wouldn't be peckish?

Mei has just popped home to change her wet clothes and I am just about to do the same though at least I only have to walk a couple of yards. Somehow I doubt my dogs will want to go walkies in this, they are all rather nesh and not at all fond of the bad weather we are having right now.Meg the lurcher just takes one look outside, sees the rain and rushes back to her comfy bed. Only Jackson the staffie is interested in walks in all weathers but if he does not have another dog to play with, he rapidly loses interest in exercise. I do wish I could have found him a home, I have just had another call about an unwanted staffie locally and it is so very hard to find people willing to take them on. Poor dogs, they didn't ask to be brought into the world.

Thats it for today folks, I am off to have a change of clothes , refill the bird feeders for their last meal of the day and then try to persuade some of my dogs to venture outside. I will not be trying TOO hard to persuade them today!

Glad To Be Home!

2011-10-26T17:15:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we decided that we would send Heather and Paddy shetlands back to their summer grazing fields for a month as there is so much grass to be had there and little left here. The fields are only in walking distance and opposite where Mei lives so she keeps an eye on the ponies in those fields.As they are both hardy little ponies we felt there was enough natural shelter for them and they would be content there. However ,this morning we were shocked to be met by two little shetland ponies determinedly making their way up the track to their old field by the house.Clearly they had decided they preferred to be here, broken out of their field and trotted back Home! What a pair of tinkers. Although not at all happy about them being out on the road between the two properties, we had to chuckle at their determination and intelligence. None of our ponies have ever escaped from those fields before, so at the moment we have no idea how they have managed their Big Break Out. Mei is going to check everywhere today but for the time being we will keep the michievous pair here. I do not want to risk the same happening again.

What a glum day it has been here, if I had the opportunity I would emigrate to Australia tomorrow,if only to bask in the sunshine and if one more person says I would soon get fed up of the sun I will personally decapitate him/her! Just give me the chance, I say.(to bask in sun, not to decapitate anyone) Still, looking on the bright side the animals are finding homes and that is what it is all about.Of course I could emigrate and rescue Kangaroos! Mmm now theres a thought.

I had an email from Liz at the Great Dane rescue (Great Dane Care) and she tells me that they have had 45 dogs in, that is a lot of huge dogs to find homes for. If I had not had Paddy I think I would have offered a home to the two who have been in the news lately, the Blind one and her pal. I do hope they find someone nice to care for them and that Liz manages to find some suitable homes for her bunch of giants. I remember once turning someone down for a yorkshire terrier because they had a Great Dane, I felt that the big dog could unintentionally harm the little one.Now I know more about the breed and have kept both of mine with little dogs very satisfactorily,I realise that I probably made an error of judgement at the time. My dogs were both exceedingly gentle and careful around the toy dogs they came in contact with.

The kitten situation is not lessening at all, there is a whole new batch of kittens waiting now to be admitted, the second wave of kittens to be born are starting to arrive and we have not even homed all of the last lot! Please, please let the newspaper article this week bring some more homes amd especially for the older kittens who are rapoidly losing their appeal. nFew will choose these when there are younger ones to choose from. maybe I should hide the littlies?

A Plea for Our Many Black Kittens and Cats.

2011-10-24T16:48:00.000+01:00

We admitted the two cats mentioned in last blog and I am pleased to say that they are very homeable. Mum Suzy is a ginger and her daughter Becky a lovely dark tortoishell. (pictured below)It would be nice for them to be adopted as a pair and I think they will appeal to visitors unlike the poor black ones.

In fact, we have so many half grown black kittens now that I have contacted the local newspaper this morning to feature them in an article about unwanted cats. We had high jinks trying to gather an armful of black youngsters for the photo shoot and in the end only two remained in Sues arms! 5 months old Misha and Sophie have been here since they were 8 weeks old and have been overlooked every time. I am confident though, that the newspaper feature will result in a good home for them .

One of Meis relatives was forced to part with her Golden Retriever Max due to health issues and I have rarely known so many people to be clambering after him. I was kept very busy fielding calls from hopeful people desperate to adopt Max.The truth is that within an hour of advertising him, a suitable home was found. Some very good homes were offered but it is a great shame that a mixed breed dog does not attract the same attention.
Mind you, there seem to be just as many pedigree dogs needing homes nowadays, I am sure that was not the case when I first started in animal welfare.Having said that, in those early days I saw far more badly neglected animals , dogs in particular ,than I do now so SOME things have improved slightly.The worst cases of neglect I have seen have been with pedigree dogs and the ones which spring to my mind immediately are a Poodle, an Afghan Hound, an Old English Sheepdog and a Doberman, all of which were extreme cases and will stay in my mind forever.
I think that the introduction of Council Dog Wardens made a huge difference to the situation and of course more animal rescue organisations similar to Freshfields were set up in and around cities in the Eighties so there was less reason for a person to simply leave an animal to deteriorate.; there were suddenly more places these dogs could be taken when no longer wanted.
That doesn't mean that there will not be any more heartrending neglect cases , I'm afraid that there will always be people who will behave irresponsibly and cruelly ,but at least now there are more options available which must have some effect on statistics.

Just had a call from a man who wants to board his 4 pet hens for 4 -5 days. I dont feel I can have them here, it would not be safe for poultry.Am trying to think of someone who has a safe enclosure.Does anybody know anyone who could help?

Have you Voted Yet? We are losing the Voting race.

2011-10-23T15:27:00.002+01:00

Its a wet and windy Sunday, I have donned my waterproofs in the attempt to keep dry, so many waterproofs do not live up to their name so I am hoping these new ones will do so. It is so essential here. Being on the side of a hill we are very exposed to the elements as vistors who have been here will know. Bit by bit we are getting ready, the field shelters still have to be reinforced and the water bowser which is being donated (and which will be invaluable when we have a Big Freeze)has yet to be collected from Lampeter but we are getting there slowly but surely.There are always so many things to do at a shelter, there never seem to be enough hours in the day.

Little Charley went off yesterday to live in Southampton with new Mum Ellie and a new pal, Miniature Shnauzer Chloe, On meeting Chloe, the little tinker immediately transferred his attention from my leg to her nether regions! Im sure she will show him who's boss before very long and that his recent neutering will soon put an end to his amorous overtures!

The police arrived last night at 9.30, with a young labrador cross found tied up on Caernarfon, Mei was still here finishing off her work and looking after my dogs whilst I went out to Llandudno theatre with a friend to see Bill Wyman in his new band. Not exactly the Rolling Stones but still good.
Mei has taken the lab home to foster(hope her chihuahua copes with him?) We rarely see the police now as that was another thing the Council did, contacted the police to tell them not to bring dogs here but to send them to the Dog Pound!
One of my house dogs Max has also gone to a home, I was planning to (reluctantly) keep him because of his problem of not allowing people out of the house.Once they are in, they can't get out again! He has gone to very nice and experienced dog owners but I am still thinking he may be returned. I hope not , not only for his own sake but for mine.He made it difficult for me to get away even for a day because nobody could get into the house to let my dogs out(well they could get in but not out again!)

Three cats went out today, a gentleman adopted two youngsters and his daughter came along and decided to give a home to a lovely tabby cat called Narla who had been here for a year .Having already got one of our cats we knew she would offer a great home to Narla and we are so happy for this little cat. I am currently trying to prioritise which cat to bring in next, there are so many urgent cases but I think I will opt for the two cats belonging to an elderly person as she is forgetting to feed her pets and although there is no deliberate neglect on her part, this is an untenable situation in which to leave an animal.

The cats are not enjoying this weather at all and I have seldom seen so many cats curled up together on the conservatory sofas. One of the outside sheds used for living quarters for feral cats, is falling apart and they desperately need a new one before it gets any wetter and colder. Kitty Kottage has proved to be very popular with the wildies but it is not big enough for all of them to happily bed down in. Looks like I will be paying the Shed Shop a visit tomorrow. Then, of course it will have to be insulated and shelves put up.Anybody out there fancy a voluntary job doing this?

The publication for my book will be December, no date yet but am hoping it will be the very first week to allow for the thousands of readers desperate for a copy to read/give as a xmas present!!!! Well I can hope can't I?

Finally we are losing the voting for the Animal Friends Donation so if you have not yet voted for Freshfields and you are a facebook member PLEASE PLEASE do so today and send the link to anyone you know who could also vote for us. A £5,000 donation would be lovely especially at this time of year when our expenditure is sky high. Please go to https://www.facebook.com/FeelGoodPark?sk=app_112173728871661 then go over to the left hand side and click on "Vote for a charity". Once on the page you will be asked to allow access to your details, but this is just so they know you aren't voting more than once - your info won't be used for any other purpose. If the app isn't showing properly use the tab button to move it across. If you get a blue box showing that says "Go to Facebook" click on that and it will take you to the app. Once there just click the little circle in the bottom of the box that says Freshfields and then click submit. Please help us to help the animals! It would also be great if you could share this on your own page. Many thanks for your support. :-)

Bright and Breezy Charley.

2011-10-20T21:10:00.000+01:00

Here he is, beautifully clipped, neutered and ready for adoption.What a change! I cannot even begin to imagine how good he feels now and he has a home already, lucky little dog. His life really starts now he does not have the pain and discomfort of that dreadfully matted thick coat. It has taken years off him and he is just like a puppy now. Its just as well he has a home waiting or I would be tempted to keep him. On second thoughts ,perhaps not, he has not quite got over the leg humping yet and moving round the office with a dog clasped tightly to ones leg is not terribly comfortable! We have changed his name to Charley in celebration of his new life. Isn't he gorgeous?

There have been lots of comments on our facebook page about the unsuitability of keeping rabbits with guinea pigs, this started because we have a bunny and guinea pig which we are trying to rehome together.They have been together a year and love each other but there are people outraged at this.Their reasoning is that Guineas should NEVER be kept with another species because injuries can occur and even fatalities . This is perfectly true and is not something to be recommended but when a pair DO get on, why part them? I know of many such pairings which are successful, the problem is that if people buy one of each,, there could be problems and therefore it is obviously not wise to even attempt it. A general rule should be to keep rabbits together and guinea pigs together but when a couple are living happily together and have done for some time, is it right to take them away from one another? I think not . There are worse issues concerning small animals which bother me more than an individual (and successful)case of Rabbit/guinea pairing. That is not to say it is something I recommend , I certainly dont but lets not get it out of perspective!

The first starling of the year has arrived, I wonder when the rest of the gang will appear? I had best get stocked up on their favourite fatty treats or they will be devouring all the food out out for the small birds. have you noticed how hungry they all are now the weather is becoming decidedly chilly? Speaking of which, Im feeling a bit peckish myself - I could blame it on the coldness of the day but then I am just the same in the spring, and summer and the autumn! lets face it, Im just greedy!

An influx of Cats and a Happy Shi-tzu

2011-10-19T13:50:00.000+01:00

The shi-tzu is now clipped entirely except round his eyes which he refused to allow. As it was , Rosie and Vanessa struggled with him; poor little chap was clearly in great discomfort and when they got to his ears, they were red and felt very hot to the touch. The weight he was carrying on his ears alone must have been painful for such a little dog. Now we can actually feel his body, he is also somewhat underweight. What a miserable time he has had during his life, however he has now livened up considerably and is pictured here happily humping the duvet! He has gone to be neutered today and the scruffy bit round his eyes will be taken off whilst he is under the anaesthetic. I hope too, that his humping habit will soon disappear!

lately my arms and legs seem to have been the unwelcome recipient of such behaviour!

Several cats have been admitted from the waiting list though it is taking quite a time to make any inroads into it. This morning I had a lady being very rude to me because I said I had no room and she was not the first I'm afraid.. Everybody thinks their particular situation warrants immediate action and some do not want to hear that we are full, they just want their problem solved. I do understand this but if there is no space, then there is no space! When we have a space, it is give to one of the most needy on the current waiting list,

I wish those who are so nasty would come and work here for a day and see for themselves that we are full to capacity , do not have much money or indeed facilities to take unlimited numbers of pets. Perhaps then they would understand our situation.

So , new to the shelter is Lucy (below) a young white and black cat whose owner was not allowed to keep her in his flat, two tortoishells which had been abandoned (Pictured above) and now called Venetia and Geneva.

a black longhaired cat which was abandoned by holiday makers (no photo or name yet) and a 7 years old cat called Bushka whose owner has died.

Bushka has been well loved and cared for during her life and is one of the few cats admitted from a home with an up to date vaccination certificate.

Yesterday we admitted two gorgeous guinea pigs, longhaired boys Bob and Ted who are actually handleable for a change. Most that are admitted are nervous but these have been well cared for and handled regularly. the owner has reluctantly given up her pets due to a change in personal circumstances.

Winter is not a good time to rehome small pets, perhaps the idea of cleaning out hutches in snow and rain has little appeal?

Nevertheless I am hopeful that these two will be adopted before next spring. if anyone knows any guinea pig lovers please let them know about Bob and Ted.

I am looking for volunteers to help at the LLandudno Fair on Nov 18th.If anyone can help or bake a cake or two please let me know asap. Thanks. It will be our first fundraiser in that area so it could go either way though it would be nice to make a success of it and then we could have more regular events in Llandudno. I'm sure there must be animal lovers around there who would be happy to help?

Long Term Cats leave us for new Homes.

2011-10-16T17:52:00.000+01:00

I just love the morning walks with the dogs, the dew is glistening prettily on the grass and this morning there is a feeling of crispness in the air; it is so energising and gives me a boost for the day ahead. The scenery here is beautiful and I love just standing looking around me ,especially across the valley towards the Irish Sea. If ever I feel low(and I often do) the beauty of the surrounding countryside will take those feelings away for a short while.

After the meeting with the environmental health people I sank into a dark place but this morning I am determined the comments made will not get me down any longer. The shelter is going from strength to strength and there have been so many improvements to the property and this will continue until it is exactly how I want it. There is a great need for an animal sanctuary in this area and once the old cattery is replaced, it will have all the facilities needed for the animals which need us so much. We will be going all out to apply for grants to do this work, it may take years but we WILL get there in the end. NOBODY SAID IT WOULD EASY!

We have had two adult cats adopted today and both have been here the best part of a year, how wonderful is that. The day has got even better! Diamond (on left) was one of a number of cats admitted because their owner was going to live abroad, they have all been so slow going to new homes but I am hopeful now for the remaining ones, perhaps it is their turn next to be noticed. She is so lovely, I am amazed that she has not been snapped up but she is a little shy and the shy ones do fade into the background when we have visitors. The other cat Jeremy is a lovely tabby and white but for some reason I am unable to find his photo, maybe the new owners will send one of him in his new home and then I can post that instead.

Pictured here is Tangy one of our feral cats sitting on a fence surveying the scene around him(and not I hope waiting for hapless birds who stray into his path!)
Tangy was a youngster we were unable to domesticate so we neutered him and released him, he is seldom very far away from his little all black pal Peta but I have never been able to photograph them together as the other is so timid still and always runs like hell when she spots the camera. As you can see Tangy is not overly impressed either. I have a lot of camera shy animals here, not to mention the staff who all seem to disappear as soon as I start walking about David Bailey style.

I received an email today from a US based charity who rescue Mares and Foals from those dreadful Premarin farms. I do hope those readers who are on hormone replacement are not on either Premarin or Prempak, if you are, ask your doctor to change over to a more ethical HRT. I asked mine and she refused so if that happens to you, do as I did and change doctors! I wont go into it here but if you want to know why I am so against it please look it up on the net. This charity has saved thousands from these hell holes, thankfully many such farms are now closing down but everyone needs to be aware what goes on if they are on HRT.

Ps: saw a Rock Pipit and a Shag (Cormorant like bird to the uninitiated) today on the beach.

A badly Neglected Shi-Tzu.

2011-10-15T15:45:00.000+01:00

Rosie had on her Dog Groomer Head today and spent a couple of hours clipping two matted dogs, Gemma the cocker and Celt a shi -tzu I collected from a home yesterday. Celts owner had died and his new owner was unable to care for him. His coat is so terribly matted and had obviously been this way for quite some time.He must be very uncomfortable. Gemma has been reserved already so we hope she will be leaving Rosies care this weekend sometime. What a dear little dog, everyone who meets her falls in love with her, it is hard to understand why she has not been claimed but as her coat is in a bad condition it may be a similar scenario to that of Celt. We may never know her background but at least now she is going to be well cared for.

Celt has had to be done in stages, he becomes very stressed whilst being groomed and there is so much work to be done on him, he looks a little odd at the moment because the hair round his neck and head is still intact until the next session! Even so, he is so much happier and livelier which is hardly surprising.We will be weighing the hair that has been removed which should prove interesting. The photo on the right is of a lump of hair taken off his back!
He still has his head and neck to be done so will show that when Rosie comes in Monday and finishes him off (I mean that in the best possible way of course)
In the meantime Vanessa is caring for him along with her own menagerie.

An unpleasant Visit from the Council

2011-10-14T16:47:00.001+01:00

The pony is not coming in, not because the owner has claimed him but rather that he has been found a home, which is great for us. I spoke to the World Horse Welfare Inspector who went to see the pony to check for a possible micrichip implant, of course there wasn't one. He told me that many ponies are being abandoned at the moment, usually young males who will need to be gelded so maybe the owners do not want the expense of this? It all boils down to the fact that far too many people are breeding equines and there are simply not the homes for them all.Tragic! What is this obsession with breeding all about? In the spring, every field containing horses has at least one mare with a foal at foot and the horses sales are full of unwanted youngsters who will never have the chance of a full life. can't horse and pony owners understand this? What is the justification for bringing more and more equines into a world where so many end up as petfood,it breaks my heart.

Amazingly The Staffordshire bull terrier was claimed, five days after we admitted him! Suffice it to say I was not particularly pleased that she had not even noticed his ears were bald and he had ear mites or the fact that she had not bothered to inform the microchip company of her change of address and telephone number, never mind ring her local shelter(us) to see if we knew anything about his whereabouts. Oh well, such is life, nothing I can do about it except maybe pop round in a wek or so and see how he is getting on.Yes I think that's what I will do to set my mind at rest.

A dear little middle aged Cocker Spaniel (pictured here)is being currently fostered by Rosie, initially I had to place her in local Boarding kennels because Rosie was away but she is now esconced in the Parry household and Rosie tells me she is a sweet little dog. Being a professional dog groomer , Rosie will be grooming her and getting rid of those matted ears (the mats not the ears!) I dont think she has lived in a home with other animals as she seems very nervous of them so I am looking for a nice quiet(ish) home for her .My grammar leaves a lot to be desired, have just read this back and it sounds as though Rosie is nervous of dogs. Trust me she IS NOT!

I had a lovely day off yesterday, I went birding with bird tour company 'The Biggest Twitch'. We only went round Pwllheli and Porthmadog harbours but it was very relaxing and I am learning more about birds each time I go. The only problem is that by the time I go again I have forgotten all I have learned! I rather like the idea of going on a four - five day holiday to Scotland with them, anybody fancy that too? It would be good to have three or four like minded people joining me.

Back to work issues.
Work is going on repairing the field shelters ready for the winter months ahead and I need to buy another shed for the feral cats here, one of theirs is falling apart and will not make it through another winter. I thought we were pretty organised for the next Big Freeze but all of a sudden there seem to be a million jobs to do!

Regarding the planning application I put in during the year 2008 which has been held back due to the future change in cattery regulations - I had an appointment here with one of the people from the Environmental Health dept to discuss some of the possible changes and I must say it was extremely upsetting. Not only was I told that I may have to reduce the number of cats to something like 30! but that if I was not happy with these changes that I could always move somewhere bigger! Also I am not allowed to give shelter to a dog in my own House!It seems that not only am I not allowed to use the kennels here but I cannot even have a rescued dog in my own Home!!! Not content with forcing me to foster my dogs out if I want to continue helping the many unwanted dogs in this region, I cannot so much as take a chihuahua in myself?
Oh, and if I wanted more space for the cats I could always use the stables and get rid of the horses! Finally she told me (out of the blue) that she disagreed with my views on Aids cats! Where did that come from? Clearly she has been either reading my blog or the website but what has that got to do with the Council? I felt she was being very personal rather than just doing her job and I have decided that enough is enough.
I will be seeing my MP to attempt to garner some support for the charity. WHat really makes me upset is that we are providing a fantastic service to this community and yet I feel that the Council would only be happy if I closed down. Well, Hell will freeze over before that happens.
There has certainly not been any support from them since day one. We have provided jobs for local people, provide work placements for youngsters and have disadvantaged and disabled people working here with their carers.Not only that we help not only individuals with their animal problems but work with the police, social services and other institutions. Clearly this all amounts to nothing in the eyes of Gwynedd Council.
Dont forget to vote for Freshfields on the link on my last blog. wqe still need more votes to win the money.Please send the link to all your animal loving facebook friends.

A friend who has a nice mobile home on a nearby beach is willing to rent to people with pets and we will receive the deposit as a donation so if any of you are interested in a caravan holiday in Wales , let me know and I will put you in touch. 01286 880808

Two Unclaimed dogs and a Stray Pony.

2011-10-11T19:39:00.000+01:00

Well I must say that this staffordshire bull terrier is winning me over.I hardly know he is here, he is so quiet and well behaved.He is to be neutered on Thursday so that should take care of the one problem he seems to have!
The black cocker spaniel still has not been claimed which has surprised me though why I am ever surprised is beyond me - I should be used to unclaimed pets by now. The Dog wardens came today to see if she had a microchip in but as I told them we had already checked for that and the dog was in boarding kennels anyway.They thought she might have been a dog they had reported as missing but it turned out theirs was a Cavalier spaniel so not the same dog at all.
I told them about the staffie Fraggle and how he was microchipped but the registered owner had denied all knowledge and it seems this is occurring all the time, especially with staffies who tend to be passed from home to home without the chip details being changed. They had quite a few cases similar and were unable to trace the real owners.

Now on to strays of another type. A young pony has turned up roaming around Lampeter and has been given temporary shelter until Friday ; I have been told if I don't collect him by that day , the meatman will be called in!"
No Pressure then!
I have arranged to collect him (it is costing |£200) so I am half hoping the owner WILL turn up before this. It could happen, the pony was found on Saturday and some people do not check their ponies every day, (the irresponsible ones)perhaps the owner does not yet know his animal is missing?
I had been hoping there would be no emergencies this winter as we have just about sorted out enough stabling for our own equines.It looks as though we may have to use at least one or two of our field shelters if any more turn up unexpectedly.
Much as I would love to take on every unwanted horse I have to think of issues such as whether there is enough grazing for another, whether taking on another would be to the detriment of those already in residence and of course the great expense. They require so much care and attention to keep them in tiptop condition and these factors have to be considered when making a decision to admit another. It would be so easy to agree to take on more, some of the stories really pull at the heartstrings but what would be the point of doing that if it meant that those we have would suffer. It is impossible to care for a large number of horses without the staff and the facilities ,and the money for veterinary ,farrier and dental treatment which they all need. So reluctantly and often with great sadness I have to be sensible. We have 36 horses and ponies here this winter and many are very old , requiring extra care and attention and already the staff have their work cut out, our horses need the best care we can give them.They rely on us and we cannot let them down.

Andre, the equine dentist has been here today and he was just amazed about old Noddy (see left)and the wonderful condition of his teeth. He said that the old pony has All his teeth and for a 30 yrs old that would be pretty amazing but for an old chap of 38, it was incredibly unusual. Dear old Nod Nod. He'll outlive us all!
Caspar. the bereaved pony has palled up with Noddy and Maggie so this winter he will be able to share their stable.Although many people keep their horses and ponies stabled individually I have always kept most of mine in groups and I find they are much happier stabled this way(as long as the stable is large enough)

So watch this space to see if the stray pony will be claimed!

Oh Dear , Another Staffie!

2011-10-09T15:09:00.000+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I went to collect a dog which had been scavenging in bins near the town centre of Caernarfon. He is a 6 years old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a little underweight and with ear mites which seem to be bothering him quite a lot. At first I thought he will never be claimed and 'Oh No what am I going to do with such a difficult to rehome dog. Then we discovered he was microchipped to someone in Caernarfon, but who ever answered their telephone denies all knowledge of the dog!!! So it looks very much as though he will be up for adoption and I am very worried that we will not find anyone for him even though he has a lovely nature. He even came face to face with the formidable Jimmy Ginger and simply backed away so it appears he must have been in contact with cats before. That has to be a bonus. Later we will see what he is like around other dogs and if he is good with them, that may make him more adoptable. Poor dog, he was very hungry when he was found and it does look as though he has been without a few meals lately. As I have mentioned before this breed has such a raw deal, so many fall into the wrong hands. We have two Staffs which regularly return (with their owners of course!) to see us. Both Billy and Tess have such wonderful homes now, and Che the Pound dog which my Niece Vanessa adopted is also greatly loved - if only all Staffies could find such happiness. Fortunately 'Hassle' who has now been renamed ' Fraggle' (how horrid to call a dog Hassle) is a quiet well behaved dog (apart from being oversexed - my leg is the major recipient of his attentions!) so he can be kept temporarily in the office until we are sure he won't be claimed.

It continues to be a good weekend for adoptions; the returned grey and white kittens are going together to a home, as are the two black kittens which were abandoned. Young (black) adult cats Tom and Jerry have been reserved also which is just amazing. Even young black cats are hard to home and we have done really well with them this weekend which is a great morale boost for the cattery staff.

Another Caernarfon stray, cross breed (not sure which breeds he is crossed with) 'Oscar ' is also off to his new home so things are indeed looking up!

Foster mum Gail has another dog to care for in the shape of 6 months old Springer Spaniel Beauty whose elderly owner could no longer care for her. Gail has a special liking for this breed, she has one herself and has been tempted more than once to keep one of her temporary residents. I know she is trying to let her head rule her heart so hopefully this little dog will find someone nice quickly.

It is definitely the week for spaniels, |I am currently trying to find a place for two Cocker spaniels (one is a stray) and also a pregnant labrador due to give birth to a litter fathered by one of the Cocker spaniels. We need more Foster Homes and QUICKLY!

P.S. Had to place the stray Cocker spaniel in local kennels as run out of foster homes at the moment. She is a middle aged black Cocker, very fat but matted ears and undercoat. I think she may belong to someone older who has been unable to groom her, I hope the owner has not died and the dog been turfed out. With a bit of luck she will be claimed soon.

As I come to the end of this days entry another car pulled into the yard and another kitten has been reserved by these late visitors. Result!

Please remember to head across to Facebook and vote for us in the Animal Friends competition. Whoever gets the most votes will win £5000 and as always we are desperately in need of funds to help see us through this coming winter. This is the link: Animal Friends Competition All you need to do is to go to the left hand side of the screen and click on the "Vote for a charity" link. Once there an app will appear asking for permission to access your details. The reason they need this is to ensure that you don't vote more than once but the info will not be used for any other reason. Click agree and then cast your vote by clicking on the little circle in the corner of the Freshfields square and then click on submit. Many thanks for your support. :-)

It has been a very busy and hectic day but at the same time it has been a very satisfying one.

Champ enjoys an evening of Television.

2011-10-08T13:38:00.002+01:00

Having moved office dog Lucy into the house, I then began to feel sorry for Champ left alone so I have moved him in too! He has settled very well though is livelier than Lucy being only 5 years old. What I have discovered about him now he is in a home environment is his entertainment factor! It appears I now have a canine television addict!

Last night I was watching a programme on Sky and to my amazement Champ ran over to the TV and starting staring at the images flashing across the screen, he then jumped up to get a better view and stayed there for about 10 minutes, just quietly watching. Here he is enjoying 'Animal Cops'.

Somehow I think he is enjoying life in the old homestead!

Possible titles for the photos;-

' Wots he doing in this funny box, and why doesnt he smell like me?

The ASPCA Inspector says
'If you dont behave ,Champ, I'll be coming for you next!'

Its been a good day for cats, two half grown kittens (teenagers) have been adopted and adult cat Tabby who has been here for a year is going to be leaving us very soon.Wonderful, and to make the day even better I have just had a call froma lady called Victoria who adopted two cats Luther and Marley a month ago and she tells me that they are settling really well. Luther is 7 years old and had been here a long time and Marley the young one is very timid so this is particularly nice to hear. Quite rightly she told me that she felt it had taken a good month before she saw any great difference in their behaviour.At first they were both nervous in their new environment but they are now truly settled and content. It is true that some animal adapt better than others to chanmges in their lives but like these two, most may experience signs of stress initially and it is important that new owners understand this and give the pet enough time to become settled. In the past we have had pets returned after twenty four hours because ' he wont settle!' Do we humans settle that quickly when we first move into a new home? Very rarely I suspect

Finally a friend of mine recently returned from a holiday in Crete, her holiday was ruined by the plight of many neglected dogs there who live terrible lives chained to barrells. I have seen this for myself in Cyprus so know how she feels. Anyhow a local organisation is trying to help these dogs and there is a petition to try and prevent this abuse.Please, please take a minute to sign. Click on the link below.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/barrell-dogs-the-disgrace-of.crete.html

Also can everybody vote for Freshfields Animal Rescue on the link on our facebook page. If we receive the most votes we are eligible to receive a decent sum of money. PLEASE VOTE.

Kittens Returned

2011-10-07T12:18:00.000+01:00

Wednesday:
No sooner do I write about an animal then something bad seems to happen. having shown a photo on last blog of Shane and Bobby, Shanes health has deteriorated , as has that of little Maggie, Noddys pal! I can't believe that Noddy may soon lose yet another companion but the fact is that her arthritis and tendon problems have worsened over the last week, and Shane who has the same health issues is also not doing brilliantly. Of course we all knew that Shane would probably not have a great lifespan due to his neglect at the hands of his former owner, all we could do is give him the best quality of life possible until his bad days far outnumbered his good ones. I fear that time is edging nearer and nearer. The Vet is coming out tomorrow to look at the two of them and also to see Crystal the mare with melanomas under her tail. We had Crystal on treatment which successfully stopped them growing but it cannot be used permanently and so during the break from this, it appears they have grown. Maggie is the one causing me the most concern at the moment so I am anxious to hear the opinion of the Vet.

Thursday:
The Vet has been,Maggie has arthritis in her knees and he does not think she is at the stage yet where she needs to go. Same with Shane and Crystal has an infection which is being treated so all in all it was not the bad news I expected.Thank goodness!

A black labrador cross was admitted and reserved within hours! Everyone seems to want this type of dog, whenever we have one in, there are always loads of people after him/her. I took a call this morning for another labrador but she is not ready yet for adoption as she is about to give birth . We are trying to get a foster home for her.The father of the pups is the familys cocker spaniel which is also in need of a home due to relocation!

Two kittens adopted three weeks ago have been returned because they were not using the litter tray though they had not been confined to the area where the litter tray was kept so poor little things were all over the house. They are foir months old and absolutely beautiful though as you can see were not overly keen on having their photos taken.
No matter how much the staff talk to new owners about caring for their new pets, so many do not listen to the advice given and then weeks later ring to complain. Oh well, that is the way it will always be. There will always be those who choose not to listen.These stunning grey and white kittens will not be here for long and next time it will hopefully be a permanent home.

Marco, the Dogue de Bordeaux who was returned will be going to live in Scotland next week with a lady who has recently lost her old Dogue, she is very excited about him and is making plans to collect him next week. Joe the blind Springer Spaniel should also be going soon, pending a successful homecheck in Derbyshire. Looking at the success stories we have of our dogs in NorthWales , I realised that there are actually very few crossbreeds! Most are pedigrees. When I first started rescuing animals, pedigrees being admitted to the rescue were few and far between so what has changed? Quite clearly there are too many people breeding dogs and the Uk is being flooded with them. I must contact a few other shelters out of curiosity and see if they are seeing the same statistics in other parts of the country. Certainly the Liverpool shelter has many pedigrees through its doors nowadays,it will be interesting to find out about other areas.

PS: Very annoyed - the people who reserved Sam have changed their minds and I have already cancelled the adverts online and emailed others who wanted him saying he is not available!! I emailed one person but they adopted a pup from another shelter this morning! I know there will be others wanting him but I do wish people would think everything through before they go searching for a pet in a rescue centre. It wastes a lot of time for everybody and it is so unfair on Sam who has now possibly lost out on homes. I will email the others now to see if they are still interested.

Lucy Joins the Clan.

2011-10-02T17:06:00.001+01:00

What a fantastic change to the weather. I was not happy spending a full day indoors at the Trustee Meeting in Liverpool but needs must I'm afraid. We spent some of the time discussing future fundraising plans and ways to evoke more public interest in the work of the Charity.We came up with a few new ideas but like all new projects they take a while to organise and get off the ground. I am still bemoaning the fact that I have been unable to get together a group of people willing to fundraise for the Welsh shelter but I do live in hope that one day this will happen.
I did contemplate matching the Liverpool shelters efforts at Halloween where they have a sort of mini Open Day and organise all sorts of interesting Ghosty things but do not have the confidence or knowledge of those sort of events in order to make that a success. I did think Handyman John would make a good Ghost of Christmas Past but he might scare the children a little too MUCH!

Would you believe, we have admitted two more black kittens, this time these poor little things were found in a binbag at the side of a road! Disgraceful.I wish I could have caught the culprits but of course if I had, it would no doubt have been me who would end up in court on an asault charge and they would get off! Thats British Justice for you. There are a couple of people coming to see kittens this weekend so that is something to look forward to, mind you every time we have an empty pen, the girls (or Ken, mustn't forget Ken who does a sterling job ) just about have time to clean and replace with new bedding etc when new arrivals take up residence in it.(that is ' in it' not Innit!)

We had a visit today from a representative of the Kennel Club to whom we have applied for a grant to pay for a dog behaviourist. We did explain that most of our dogs are in foster homes but he seemed more interested in taking a look at the entire shelter and the way we operate overall.I can only hope he will back our application.Time will tell.

Sunday:
So much for the great weather, its been pouring with rain all day and is decidedly chilly; back on with the thermals then! The shelter is an amazing place to live when its warm and sunny but the winters here are harsh, everyone who visits comments on the fact that even the next village along experiences slightly warmer temperatures.

Caspar has got over his grief losing his pal Honey and has joined a little group of ponies but has not bonded with any particular one as we first thought. Just after Honey died, he did seem to be sticking close to Honey lookalike Bobby but now he seems indifferent. It is early days and it would be nice if he did pair up with a pal but he seems content enough at the moment.

Speaking of pals being seperated by bereavement, Little Noddy has lost several companions and when he outlived his third friend, he appeared to withdraw from the others, as though he did not want to become close again to another pony.It was about 2 years before he bonded with Maggie, another black shetland like himself. Previously his companions were much larger ponies so it was a surprise when he chose Maggie to be his next Best Friend. We even took in Grandad for Noddys sake but he was unimpressed, like people they want to choose their own friends so if it happens with Caspar it will be his own choice and not our idea of which would suit him best. I tried to take a photo of him with Bobby and Shane(above) but he did not feel in the mood for a photo session and as soon as he spotted me with the camera he moved away quickly(I seem to have that effect with a lot of people too!)so I was left with a photo of the others!

In spite of the rain, we have had a few visitors today and two adult cats have been adopted - Stripey and Billy (both tabby and whites) Another called Emily has been reserved by someone who came here yesterday. A stray dog was admitted and already he has been reserved pending a homecheck. He will have to be neutered as soon as possible though lately it has been hard making appointments to get our animals neutered at the Vets ; sometimes we have to book weeks ahead which is not ideal when the animals are waiting to go to homes.

When the Little Old Girl died, I decided to have Office dog Lucy (pictured here in the living room) in the house with me .Lucy a 12 years old cross Jack Russell/Cavalier has been with us for two years and has proved impossible to home due to her instant dislikes to some people and her tendency to have a nip if she was not enamoured of the person . After this long period of office living and joining me on the computer chair (or should I say pushing me off the chair!)whilst I was working I felt it time to adopt her formally.She has settled so well, it is as though she has always lived there with me and the other dogs. Paddy and Patch barely even noticed her arrival.Paddy sleeps on a duvet/single mattress on the floor, Patch is anti social and sleeps on his own on one of the sofas or in a dogbed and Lucy has appropriated my sofa for her sleeping area! Wherever I sit, she sits with me which is nice as the last dog to do this was my lovely William.. Like William before her, Lucy is more of a 'people' dog and although she is fine with other canines it is clear where her true preferences are.
Poor Lucy has had a skin rash for a few months since she had contact with some fibreglass after the old caravan was demolished, in spite of several courses of treatment her skin is still not back to normal and in fact I think it is worse.She has had a couple of biopsies done and I am waiting for the results.

Our Christmas puddings have arrived and will be on sale at the shelter and the shops soon.This time I ordered some sponge puddings for those who dislike Xmas puds(me included) so there is yummy sounding Strawberry and Clotted Cream , and Honey, Citrus and Almond. they are as good as the traditional Puddings which everyone rave about, they should be very tasty indeed. Diets to be postponed for another week!

Jimmy goes Tree Climbing

2011-09-27T17:35:00.000+01:00

I have had a few comments about the Zumba Class, it seems not everybody knows what this is.Well ,it is an exercise class incorporating dance moves and music from South America. A bit of salsa, hiphop,merengue etc. Great fun and very energetic so it is a good way to keep fit.

Jimmy Ginge rather liked his mention on the last Blog so he set up an ideal photo opportunity for me this morning. Here he is relaxing in the branches of one of the few trees we have at the shelter. This is the first time I have seen him do anything as energetic as climbing a tree, for a very ancient cat he is doing pretty well.
I do miss not having many trees around, we have some lovely mature ones at the Liverpool shelter but here is much more exposed on the side of a hill so few trees survive. I have tried planting hedgerows but have been unsuccessful so far. If I planted trees there would have to be a fortress built around the young saplings otherwise the horses would destroy them. Still . I may have another try .

Sadly the Guillemot did not make it, I arranged a Vet appointment but I think the bird was suffering from shock and he passed away before he could be taken to the surgery.

It is always nice to meet like minded animal loving people and today I had a visit from friends whom I have not seen for almost 10 years. When I first moved here they wanted to live here and work with the animals but were unable to sell their house in Norfolk. They still rescue animals themselves and have 5 beautiful dogs, including two ex racing greyhounds.
I love to know that all over the UK(the world, in fact) there are individuals helping animals in distress and thanks largely to the internet are able to contact each other . It is quite an amazing network of animal rescuers.

Mei is very proud of herself today, she has managed to win over the affections of Max, a collie I have been caring for in the house. He has shown some aggression towards her,which is very unusual as all dogs appear to love Mei. It also made me feel that he was not homeable, now I feel that there is hope for him. She was determined that he would not get the better of her even though she admitted to being scared of him, and with a great deal of courage and me close by to rush to her rescue if needed, she made friends with him with just a little help from a handful of Spillers Shapes!
He is a very good looking dog and the wonderful thing about him is that he is excellent with other dogs, especially laid back males . He can be a bit focused and bothersome with females(even spayed ones) I think his main problem is that he is nervous when he meets new people and even more difficult to handle is that he hates raised voices . This makes him very nervous indeed and he will growl - I wonder why? Once he makes friends he is your friend for life so he needs someone experienced with nervous aggressive dogs. Please form an orderly queue!
Pictured here is Mad Max himself with my Meg lurcher and enjoying his first cuddle with a very relieved Mei.
As I will be off to Liverpool for a trustee meeting it is a great relief to me too,I was panicking about leaving the dogs; it is Mei who cares for them when I am away and if she had not been able to befriend Max there could have been major problems.

PS: Little Old Girl(seen here on left) the elderly terrier rescued about 6 months ago from the Pound developed doggy dementia and sadly I had to let her go today.She no longer had any quality of life - I think she was probably well into her teens; I did my best for her whilst she was with me and I know she enjoyed the meals here! She even appreciated MY cooking! She was a funny little dog who seldom showed affection, just occasionally she would give me a lick or two and when she wasn't eating ,most of the time she slept . I like to think she was fairly contented living with me, albeit for a short time.
RIP :Little Old Girl

A Blind Spaniel is admitted.

2011-09-25T14:03:00.001+01:00

It hasn't been a bad weekend for adoptions. Four adult cats have gone, including Dotty and Elmo who have been here almost a year AND one is black, the other black and white so clearly there are at least some people who arent colourist(is there such a word for people who only like certain colours in pets?) If not there is one now!

Pictured here are the two lucky cats mentioned whose lives are now going to change for the better. It has made my day seeing them go.people often ask if I feel upset when the animals go. Well I am overjoyed actually.This is what it is about.I never wanted to accumulate pets; the purpose of Freshfields has always been to get homeless animals into loving homes and it is just great when this happens.I do admit that I become very attached to some but I am still happy to see them go. I can almost picture them curling up in front of a warm fire or enjoying being in a family home once again and that makes me feel good for them. I feel guilty keeping them incarcerated here even though that has to be done for their own safety and for the purpose of allowing visitors to see them. None of the staff like to see animals here for any great length of time and we all try our best to bring those overlooked ones to the attention of prospective adopters.Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but we keep on trying. As my old Grandmother used to be fond of saying ' god loves a tryer!' If that is the case we will all have reservations in 'Heaven'!! As long as I have access to a Bruce Springsteen CD, internet,(I hope they have broadband up there!) plentiful vegetarian food and a never ending supply of books that would suit me just fine.

Yesterday we had a dog returned; Marco a big gentle bear of a dog whose official breed is a Dogue de Bordeaux (French mastiff) has come back after 18 months , because of his owner s ill health. He is the loveliest natured and quietest dog you could ever meet,good with other dogs, cats and he adores children too.He is coming up to 6 years now so I hope we can find him a permanent place very soon. I have yet to 'meet' one of this breed which didn;'t have a superb nature. My own Dogue 'Muffin' was just a teddy bear of a dog who loved everybody and everything she came into contact with and when she died of Torsion aged 9 years, just a year after I took her in I was devastated. Torsion is so common with large breed dogs, Molly Dane also had this although it was her heart which gave out after the operation. It has made me so aware now of the possibility of a big dog developing this potentially fatal illness. Knowing what to look for is half the battle and of course there are precautions which can be taken like not feeding straight after or before exercise but the advice I would give people who may be worried about this is to know your own dog. If he/she looks a bit 'off' one day and has a badly swollen belly don't take chances, rush him/her to the Vet. Torsion kills so quickly.

I am also looking for a special home for Joe, a 10 years old blind Springer spaniel. He is still a lively dog in spite of his disability, some years ago I used to care for him whilst his owner was away on holiday though it is several years since I have seen him,.I was shocked to see how him now, a mere shadow of his former self. He is the opposite of Marco who is overweight; Joe is very underweight ,we will see how he gets on after he has been wormed.

I have just had a call about an injured Guillemot, poor bird is unable to fly, it does not sound very good but the finder is taking him into our local Vet surgery where Geraint is going to check him over.If he survives I will arrange to move him where he can be rehabilitated.
Speaking of birds, 4 Macaws were being advertised on that nuisance Freecycle site. I just hope that they did not end up with dealers who were out to make a quick buck. Out of all the people on this site I have contacted to offer our help , only two have ever taken me up on the offer. Heaven knows where most of the animals/birds end up!

I have started running again today. It is almost 2 years since I last did this and it is not easy to restart when you have had such a long spell of having little exercise. I have been feeling so sluggish and unfit that I suddenly decided I was going to put an end to this apathetic behaviour and so off I went. It was a struggle for the first fifteen minutes and I was glad nobody was around to witness me redfaced and huffing and puffing along road. Paula Radcliffe need not worry too much at this stage of my training; nevertheless I did manage an hour with a few stops to catch my breath so I was fairly pleased. I just have to keep up the momentum now. I am off to a Zumba class tomorrow evening , if anything will inspire me to exercise that will. One of the important aspects of exercise , as we all know, is that it positively affects mental attitude and god knows I need some of that!

Jimmy Ginger attends a Staff Meeting.

2011-09-23T14:27:00.003+01:00

Two all black kittens were taken to the Vet to be destroyed! I dont know why, maybe the owners just didn't want them anymore or maybe they were the last two from an unwanted litter. They are bright happy little cats, around 16 weeks old, that is the age where they become less appealing to most people looking to adopt kittens and of course black is not a colour which is popular. I receive so many telephone calls from prospective owners who state immdiately that they do not want black or black and white kittens. That is why we have a kitten room full of adorable youngsters in those colours. Such a Great Shame. I think it is time I contacted the local newspaper again and tried a publicity drive to home these getting bigger by the minute kittens , or they will grow into adults and still be homeless.

Little Sonny the cross chihuahua/jack russell has just left for Warwickshire with his new owner and I could hardly bear to see him go, he was another one I was tempted to keep but common sense prevailed. He will receive far more attention with new 'mum' Chris than I could ever give him as I am so busy so much of the time.

Paddy is going through a bad spell at the moment, his 'Wobblers' Syndrome is really kicking in and he struggles to get up from his bed in the morning. Quite often I have to clean up after him because he cannot get up to go to the door when he wants to do his toilet and cleaning up after a Great Dane is no joy believe me! Poor old Paddywhack. He is on treatment to alleviate the symptoms and some afternoons he really perks up, and has a short gallop across the field. He paddles with his front legs when he is bad, he feels pins and needles in them and so he lifts up his legs continuously; his back legs drag a bit and his gait is very unsteady.This is the worst he has been since I had him, I hope the meds take effect soon. The wet weather does not seem to help either.(picture of him on a good day with pal Jackson)

We held a staff meeting this morning and 17 years old Jimmy Ginger decided he would join us to put forward some issues he has been having with the dogs. He sat quietly next to Handyman John and Cariad and waited his turn to speak(pic left) .
After other issues were discussed Rhian turned to the old cat and asked him what was bothering him.

(pic bottom left)
"Well ,you all know how I hate those four legged things you call dogs" Jimmy complained " It is beyond a joke when I start my patrol of the property only to find that big white thing you humans call Bonny foxhound , has been left out and is ripping all the binbags apart" . "I am really fed up with it and I have to give her a good talking to with my claws and then when she yelps you all come running to her defence! I have a job to do here and I can't do it when there are those horrid creatures about. If you dont keep them away from me I will have to hand in my notice!"
Jimmys comments were duly noted and recorded in the minutes of the meeting and it was agreed that he should be allowed his patrol times without the extra worry of a scavenging foxhound. This seemed to appease him and put him in a more amiable mood.

Another Cat Problem - Five adult cats have been abandoned by their owner who has moved house and left them behind to fend for themselves! One kind neighbour has taken in 2, Mion has been down there checking out the situation and she has managed to find two though there is one still missing. We have managed to find out her new address so there will be a visit from us on the cards! It is so wrong to do this, I know the escuse will be that she could not get anyone to take them and I hold my hand up to say I would have given her a negative answer too but she should not have left it to the last mionute.If we have notice we manage to get most cats in.people generally do not move within 24 hours unless there are extenuating circumstances and even then they are aware what may happen long before the actual date of leaving.

Thank goodness most of us would never contemplate such an action, I have to keep telling myself that those who do such things are in the minority even though sometimes it does not always seem that way.

Today I have been a bit of a Calamity Jane(yet again) and somehow managed to climb over a gate and knock myself out! I am hoping that I haven't broken my nose but it feels very sore at the moment so can't touch it. I saw stars (and very pretty they were too) and then I must have passed out briefly.Vanessa came rushing up to the field to see if all was ok as Rhian (who was walking dogs at the bottom of the property)had rung her on the mobile to say that she could see me lying down in the field. Panic Alert! Thank goodness I have colleagues around most of the time.

RIP Honey.

2011-09-21T14:29:00.000+01:00

Photos of our Honey taken over the years and the very best one with her sporting a very fetching Punk Hair Do.

It has been a very sad day today.

Little Honey deteriorated and we made the Big Decision to let her go , her friend Caspar was allowed to see her and he stood by her for a few hours grieving and then moved away to resume grazing. Equines have tremendous dignity and resilience but we hope now that he will find another friend amongst the ponies at the shelter. One shetland who has always stood alone since he lost his companion, is Sam so we will try these two together and see how it goes.

Honey came in to us 6 years ago at the age of five years, to think she was just 11 when her health failed is very sad indeed. We thought she would last as long as all our other shetland ponies but it was not to be.The bottom photo was taken the day she was admitted with Caspar. At just five years, she was already blind in one eye and her second eye damaged from a kick by another horse in her previous home. Her nature was wonderful and she will be greatly missed.

Cat adoptions Improve

2011-09-18T13:49:00.001+01:00

Saturday:
Pictured here are two 4 months old kittens who have been lucky enough to catch the eye of visitors from Felinheli. The kittens are not looking too happy about posing for a photograph; if they only knew their lives were about to change and that they were not going to see the inside of one of our cat pens again! Maureen has had a Freshfields cat for nine years so I know these kittens are going to the best of homes. Mei and I are were so thrilled they chose two older kittens as they often are overlooked in favour of the very young ones. Naturally we are delighted when any of them find homes but the older ones so quickly lose their appeal so it is an anxious time for us, wondering if the kittens will end up growing into adults and still be homeless. Well we don't have to worry about these youngsters any longer.

Their place was rapidly filled by three of their siblings (2 shown here on left)which had been fostered by Nicky; although the same age, these two are so much smaller than their brothers who were rescued several weeks previously. A month or so of good food and care makes such a difference to the growth of kittens, the markings on the tabby are fantastic, almost like a Bengal cat.Marmaduke, the tiny ginger abandoned on a rubbish tip last week has also been adopted by people who already have two of our cats - another tried and tested home. I love it when they come back for another... and another....!

The terriers have arrived and are sweet little dogs. One (on the left) is almost certainly a Jack Russell crossed with a chihuahua, he is a tiny little chap and the other is the spitting image of Monty who was homed a few days ago.Somebody in that area must be breeding Patterdales crossed with Jack Russells.They are almost identical ! Monty is out on a 7 day trial so I am hoping that he will have settled in to his new routine and will not be returned. This one is not quite as calm as Monty but then again, he has been in a kennels for a week, with no exercise ,so he is bound to be a bit lively.
They are both going to be cared for by new foster mum Alison who is on her way to collect them this afternoon.

I am just waiting for a couple to arrive from the Midlands, they are interested in a young collie we have called Cassie,I think they must have got lost as they were expected around lunchtime and it is now almost three pm!
The past few days has seen me slogging away at the animal database on the computer , trying to get up to date with all admittances. It is one of those jobs which if not done on a daily basis, the paperwork all of a sudden seems to take over the desk! So onward and forward!

Sunday;
The couple did not turn up to see Cassie which was disappointing but better they decided against her now than later. She is so nice, she will be snapped up soon anyway.

Honey the shetland pony with breathing problems has been poorly again and we had to call out the Vet. Even though she is not an old pony, she is supposed to be 11 years of age (we have always believed her to be much older) Honey has been diagnosed with heart failure .She looked completely out of it and was shaky on her little legs. To be honest we thought this would be the day we would have to make the final decision but Vet Roger has given her a steroid injection and a pain killer; he thinks she has arthritis in her spine but is not at the stage where she needs to be PTS. My feeling is that when she has the next bad 'do' I will make the decision because if these relapses are becoming more frequent,it is not fair to her and clearly her health IS deteriorating. It is not nice at all watching a pony struggling with health problems and if she has a poor longterm prognosis then I do not want to wait until she is in a state of collapse.It is a hard decision to make but it is the last act of kindness we can show to those in our care.

We have had torrential rain here for days but in spite of that we have homed a few more cats. Lola a timid black cat which has been here for a very long time(almost 2 years) has gone to a home with another adult cat called Lucy. Its wonderful for them both but especially poor old Lola who must have been really fed up with her incarceration here. You know how much I love it when the longtermers are adopted,its so much of a morale boost for us all and of course it makes room for another needy animal.It just brightens up the whole day.(as I type this the rain has miraculously stopped and the sun has come out.)Yippee.

Ps: Just been to check on Honey and I wish I could have some of whatever the Vet gave her! She has perked up amazingly and is happily munching away at her hay. Sadly though, this will only be a temporary respite from her problems but at least today will not be a day of sadness.

Sorry no Photos.

2011-09-16T17:36:00.001+01:00

A couple of cats have been adopted this week and 3 dogs, plus one collie reserved.Not bad at all. There are three more Dog Pound dogs to be admitted so I am just trying to sort out which foster people are free to help out with these.Its more difficult when the dogs are not good with other animals as all the fosterers have other pets so I'm keeping my fingers crossed these will be socialised!

I think I mentioned that friend Nicky has been trying to deal with a case where a woman is allowing her cats to breed and even though another welfare organisation was involved at one time, she continues to pretend she has had most neutered(this is not the case ) We have already had several of the cats neutered and taken in some of the kittens but this week Mion fostered a mum and 2 weeks old babies; a few days after she took them in, mum fell ill and has very sadly passed away today in the Vet surgery, leaving the kittens without a mum.The Vet thought the cat had incurred some sort of trauma to her liver and she was bleeding internally. My first thought was that she had been hit by a car but I learned today that the woman particularly disliked this poor cat so now I wonder - what did happen to her to result in this sort of internal injury? We will probably never know, Mion will be handrearing the youngsters, they are so young to be without their mother but I have every faith in Mions ability to pull them through successfully.

We will be holding three Winter/xmas Fairs this year. I need to try to bring in some extra funds to see us through that difficult financial time so with that in mind we will be holding the usual one in The Royal Sportsman on 25th November but also at The Holy Trinity Church Hall on the high street in LLandudno which will be on the 18th November.Finally there will be a Xmas fair in Bentlech,Anglesey in December .Helpers for any of these events will be very welcome, please let me know as soon as possible if you can assist. Before we know it they will be upon us and volunteers are urgently needed for all three.I will put the posters on our official Freshfields facebook site nearer the time and if they can be downloaded and distributed that would be a great help.

Due to the horses which have been returned from their loan homes, we are having to convert a food store into a temporary stable and we needed some extra metal sheets to reinforce the sides.having ordered them, I completely forgot about them and yesterday I had a call from man saying he was delivering the sheep today!!! I went into a flat spin thinking another member of staff had agreed to take on some more sheep and I must have sounded very 'off' with the poor man , telling him I had no knowledge of this arrangement until I realised it was sheets he was delivering and not sheep! I need to have a hearing test I think!

A friend from Liverpool has just moved into the area, a fellow animal and bird lover I am pleased to say, anyhow she has discovered that the previous owner of her new home has put down loads of broken glass in the garden to prevent cats going in it and poor Sue has been down on her hands and knees laboriously picking it all out.She wants to adopt some animals from here and until all the glass is removed she cannot even consider it.It reminds me of how cat haters in Liverpool used to use the same method of keeping cats away by embedding broken glass into concrete on the top of their walls. I always thought it was an awful thing to do, and putting it all over garden paths is even worse. What happened to Live and Let Live?
Mind you, over the years I have had people ringing me for advice on how to get rid of all sorts of wild animals which enter their gardens.I would love to have foxes or badgers, even wild rabbits in my garden but to some, they are the enemy and to be got rid of at all costs. They deserve to live in a concrete jungle, maybe that would please them, no birds singing to wake them in the morning , no wildlife in which to take pleasure and just a soulless environment. Nature is such a wonderful thing and brings so much pleasure to so many people,its hard to understand those who see no beauty in it.

The wolf mentioned in the last blog, as expected turned out to be a Northern Inuit ( bred to look like wolves) this one has had a few serious seizures so the prognosis is not good. I rang the breeder but he refuses to take responsibility for it, saying that as he had sold the pup to someone who then sold him on again to the current owner it was not his responsibility to take him back. Well I'm sorry but any responsible breeder or shelter should take on a commitment to its animals so I was pretty mad. These husky type breeds are not easy animals and shelters are receiving more and more of them as they are being sold to people who have no idea what they are taking on. It is easy to breed dogs but any genuine dog lover would not wash his/her hands once the sale has been made. Having said that I was unsurprised at his attitude . It was EXACTLY what I was expecting.

Sorry no photos, will make up for it over the weekend.

A Wolf ? In Need of A Home

2011-09-12T18:59:00.000+01:00

I've had a migraine for two days so not functioning on all cylinders I'm afraid. I hate taking tablets but was forced to do so today or could see me being out of action for the rest of the week.Anyhow they worked and am feeling more human now.

I have just heard of two little Jack Russells which were seen being thrown out of a car and which are now in the local Dog Pound. Isn't that a horrible thing toi do to an animal.Such a frightening experience for them.Now I wonder which one of my foster people would like to take on those two?
I hope they are younger than Nancy and Dodger who are 7 years old and still with me .Nobody has expressed interest in them and they really are great little characters though not cat friendly which limits their chances of being adopted.,So many people have cats in the home nowdays,I remember reading that they are the most popular pet in the UK. Probably with so many families out at work all day, a cat is more suitable than a lively and often noisy dog.

As you may know, I have two cats residing with me but last night as I lay in bed I noticed that they appeared to have increased in number! Then I noticed the bedroom window was ajar. Three more cats had sneaked in and made themselves comfortable at the foot of my bed. Old Sam the black cat who has been here for several years was fast asleep on my feet, Tiny Timwho is an enormous black cat who was originally a feral, lay next to him and yet another black cat(as yet unidentified!) was asleep on the rug next to the radiator! It was pouring with rain outside and the wind was so strong I could hear doors rattling outside; I just did not have the heart to evict them so I waited until the morning when they happily returned to sleeping in the conservatory.
The photo is of Sam who is always the one to investigate new machinery or places to sleep.He is often seen on the roof of parked cars and is the one who will jump in to visitors vehicles and has been known to steal food from people who foolishly leave packed lunches in open cars. Naughty Sam!

I had a call today from someone wanting to rehome a wolf!

It seems there is a breeder in Anglesey. My feeling is that it is a hybrid (a wolf crossed with a dog) so I checked with a well known authority on wolves who told me that it was extremely unlikely it would be a wolf as they cannot be kept without a Wild Animal licence and that they most certainly cannot be kept as pets, many breeders call these animals wolves but in fact they rarely have more than 15 percent wolf in them.

Why would anyone want one anyway? Like the Husky breeds, a wolf hybrid will not be the best family pet, they have a highly developed prey instinct which means they may chase and attack smaller animals. This one is only seven months old and as such will not have developed its dominant streak. I will do my best to find this animal a suitable home (without bringing it to the shelter)but I hope that this will not be the first of many to come to my attention.

Tilly is Adopted

2011-09-10T13:55:00.001+01:00

Friday:
Great news.Tilly the cross staff/collie has been reserved. What a boost that is,it gives me faith Tess and Jackson may eventually be adopted too.

Our young ponies came back for the winter today.It is always good to see them back. They are becoming so feisty I will have to bring in someone experienced to work with them or they will never find longterm homes. This winter we will be just able to provide stabling for them all, including the returned ones.This year we have not done as well as usual rehoming our ponies so we will be operating at full capacity this coming winter. We have sorted out shelter for all but if another is unexpectedly returned we may have to resort temporarily to livery stabling(at high cost) please,please dont let one be returned this winter.

Did anyone see the photos of the lab chimps liberated after 30 years in isolation and darkness? Wonderful to see their joy but outrageous that we continue to use these animals, our closest relatives, in research. To be honest even the thought of it makes me want to weep. In this day and age I fail to understand why more money is not being put into alternative forms of research. I am filled with admiration for those who campaigned for 14 long years to get these animals released. Well done to them and shame on those who refused to hand them over 14 years ago. It is one of those times I hope that there is such a thing as karma!

A tiny Papillon was brought to me today having been found wandering with no ID on him. His owner has just telephoned. I will ensure he is microchipped before he leaves here tomorrow.

Saturday:
The Owner of the Papillon turned up. I Felt very sad as little dog did not show any pleasure at seeing them and looked bewildered when placed in their car. Nobody seemed to be overjoyed at having him back safely, the child just picked him up and took him to the car and mum just put him straight on the back seat.I could not bear to look at the expression on the dogs face. He had settled so well with me and was constantly giving me kisses ,I just hope that the people cared for him more than they showed when they were here.Perhaps I will give them a ring to see how he is.

Bud the Retriever has left today for his new home on Merseyside. Gail was clearly upset at parting with him, we get so fond of our foster pets! I did have a home for him in Suffolk but was unable to find anyone to do the homecheck, these people already have a Freshfields dog (from the LIverpool shelter)and have been homechecked. WE all hope that this time he stays out for good, he is such a good dog and he needs to settle somewhere permanently.Apparently they had their first dog from me 22 years ago, it is good to know that they still come to Freshfields when they want another pet.

The old cat we called Isabella(the one crawling with maggots)has moved into the conservatory. I hasten to say that she is now completely maggot free! We decided that she was not likely to find a home at this stage of her life so she might as well enjoy the same comforts as the other oldies. When I look at her, I see what she must have looked like as a kitten, her markings are so pretty and even though she is a very old girl, it is easy to imagine her as a headturning youngster.What is her story, why did she end up in such a bad condition, had she lived on the streets for a long time? So many questions for her and for all the other strays we admit. If only they could speak and tell us their tales! How interesting that would be.

A friend of mine has just told me that he saw a squirrel with a black and white tail yesterday? I am sure it could not have been a squirrel but he insists that it had the same gait and was roughly the same size but it disappeared into bushes before he could take a closer look. I wondered if someone had a pet skunk that had escaped? Has anyone else seen anything like this in North Wales?

I am Caught Napping!

2011-09-06T18:27:00.001+01:00

Monday:
We called the Vet out again to Honey, she has had another steroid injection and is starting on her new treatment in the morning.She seems slightly more comfortable now so we hope tomorrow she will be better again. I dont want to think of the alternative just yet. Her companion Caspar was hovering uncertainly around the stable whilst the Vet was examining her, he knows something is not right and does not want to leave her side.

Kelpie Max set off to sunny Bournemouth(well it surely must be better than here?) with his new carer who has really taken him to her heart.I don't blame her. everyone fell in love with his sweet nature. I cannot wait to hear from them and to see the photos of him I have been promised. Foster mum Rosie has replaced him with another dog - Tilly is just 10 months old and is a collie crossed with a staff(Oh Dear) She is a nice animal but puppy Tess is still looking for a home a month after being admitted and she is the same cross. People just do not want anything with staff in, no matter how nice natured they are. I still have Jackson and there has not been an iota of interest in him after 2 months .It looks like he will be staying and I really did not want to keep another on a permanent basis. He adores Paddy but I have to keep him on a lead due to the cats here and I feel that is not the best life for such a young dog.
What is the answer?

Tuesday.

I was looking forward to a trip to the hairdressers today but it turned out the appointment is for tomorrow.Just as well I rang first! So instead I will stay in the office catching up on paperwork.Not quite the same level of enjoyment is it? I am pretty tired today so maybe I would have fallen asleep under the dryer sooner than with the cats in the conservatory! I had sat down to make a fuss of the conservatory cats and the sofa looked so comfy I thought I would just try it out for a minute - I was there an hour!
Nicky is not to be trusted with a camera, she is always looking for an unusual photo.Hope you are satisfied with this one Nicky?

Look at this gorgeous little baby brought in today,having been found in a council office yard. We have named him Marmaduke and he has a fantastic personality for one so young. He is just adorable.Could be tempted if I did not have so many pets myself. It is a relief to have a ginger brought in because they are so easy to home, they are incredibly popular. Even if he was not ginger Marmadukes' great little character will appeal to everyone I'm sure.

Another new arrival is stray katy, an all white cat which has been living as a stray for some months. She is very loving and does not seem to be deaf though will get it checked out this week. So many pure white cats do have this problem, especially if their eyes are the same colour,odd eyed white cats usually are found to have hearing. White cats are also popular so with some luck and some more visitors, I am very hopeful that these two will be adopted pretty soon.

Fosterer Mion has just arrived with her cat loving niece.They have brought in three mother cats she has been caring for, their kittens have already been admitted, mums are now spayed and ready to be placed for adoption. They are all young, they were probably caught the first time they had a season. She is taking back a mother cat and newborn kittens to foster. thank heavens for people like her and the other fosterers, without them the job would be so much harder and fewer animals would be rescued.

Mion and friend Elspeth will be having a stall for Freshfields at a Fun Day being held near Dolgellau on Sunday September 18th If you live near please support us and keep your fingers crossed for a decent day weather wise.

For more info ring Jan at Dolgellau Vets on 01341 4222212. The address is Abergwynant Farm and is open 11am - 5 pm with lots of interesting activities to see. They have had a very poor fundraising year with so many days being cancelled due to bad weather and they have felt very disappointed so it would be great for them, and for us if this one is a success.

ps: Honey is improving a great deal on her new treatment.

Cat adoptions are Picking Up.

2011-09-04T19:32:00.001+01:00

It just MIGHT be picking up with the cat adoptions. A very nice couple came to visit and chose TWO cats. One was the ginger and white kitten of yesterdays blog (I didn't think he would be here for long)and the other was Luther, an eight years old cat .Tabby Luther had been admitted earlier in the year after being found scavenging in a local village.Not only that , we homed another kitten! Three in one day is something to celebrate at the moment.

Bud the golden Retriever adopted just 10 weeks ago , has been returned for escaping from his garden. We did a homecheck,of course but we were not told they were moving to another house and presumably that one did not have a secure garden.It is very disappointing, especially as so many people responded to the advert for him and I turned them all down! Gail is once again fostering him, she would love to keep him but already has two boisterous dogs at home. He is such a great dog, it is unlikely he will be with us for long. Also returned is Monty the little white terrier who is a real sweetheart of a dog, he has come into the house with me until he is adopted out again. His problem is that he tries to go for other dogs whilst he is on the lead, inside his home he is wonderful with other dogs, it is just an outside issue.
Cesar Milan, where are you when I need you?
A lady from Bournemouth has reserved the kelpie(shown on flickr) so he will be off to his new home on Monday. One out, two in!

Poor Honey is breathing badly again today so the Vet has been out to give her a steroid injection and tomorrow I will go and collect some powder from the surgery, which will help to open up her airways. We will monitor her condition and see how she gets on with the new treatment. I have had a pony with this same health problem and I remember her struggling to breathe, its like watching a person have an asthmatic attack, not an easy thing to watch.

Still unable to upload book cover .

Kittens Left in A Box.

2011-09-03T18:32:00.003+01:00

I arrived home from York late last night, what a welcome I received from dogs and cats. I was exhausted and couldn't wait to get into bed. Old Pwty the tortoishell cat WITh ears(as opposed to Holly, the one with No ears)sat on my chest purring all night long.That is not her usual behaviour, she is quite standoffish as a rule.I think it safe to say that she was glad to see me back.Holly. for once in her life had to take a back seat.

Anyhow it was a productive couple of days .Duncan and Cathie ,the people at the York Publishing offices were very helpful, very down to earth - how lovely that one can be rude(in a funny way not a nasty way) to someone so soon after meeting , and vice versa. Seriously they were great ,very nice people who were very professional and instilled me with confidence that they will do a good job for me, or rather the charity. The book should be ready for sale end of November(all being well, and if there are no problems on the way to the production line.Knowing my luck the machinery will all break down the day before mine is due to be printed!!.No . I must not think negative thoughts.It WILL be ready on time, it WILL be ready on time. The draft copy of the book which is called 'The Dog With No Name' has been sent to Paul O Grady and I hope he likes it, especially the photo of Trixie the Jack Russell which he sponsored during his Lily Savage era.

In spite of torrential rain here, it did not prevent visitors turning up and I am so thrilled that the lovely black and white cat ,Eva has been adopted today, just as I had hoped before I went away.
Oh No, there are new kittens on the block!

A box with three beautiful kittens (seen here)was left in the car park outside the Vets Surgery in Pwllheli yesterday, they had all escaped from their cardboard prison and when the staff arrived to work, the three escapees were miraculously still outside the surgery.Considering it is next to a very busy road, it was amazing they were still in one piece.There was a note with the kittens saying the owner could not cope with them.Well I have a message for her, abandonment is NOT the answer and it was a miracle these three did not come to a tragic end. The answer would have been to have the mother cat neutered but hey, that takes all of one telephone call to get a free neutering voucher and an effort to be made to get the cat to the vet. Pretty difficult!

We are full to capacity, maybe she rang here and I told her that was our situation , who knows, but I have ended up with them anyway now , and we are struggling to cope ourselves. It is so easy to pass on lifes little problems to others isn't it?

This may be an animal shelter but we are not miracle workers, we do not have unlimited resources and a large number of staff. We struggle also a great deal of the time, with lack of money, lack of space,personal problems (usually mine!) but at the end of the day we all need to face up to whatever is troubling us and find a way to deal with it. Life isn't easy for many people, thats a fact, it should not make us abandon pets, children , our old people. Of course that is just a personal opinion and I may well be castigated for it but sorry - being a self opinionated little madam, I am sticking to it!

I know I do sound a little harsh, but it is very worrying when more and more cats are being abandoned and we truly are completely lacking in room for anymore. I hate turning people away but I have to be realistic.We have around 160 cats here at the moment, a huge amount to feed and care for, vets bills are enormous and I would feel happier with at least two more full time members of staff .If Only ! That just is not going to happen unfortunately so in the meantime I tend to panic quite a bit when our resources are stretched to the limit. .

Little chestnut shetland pony Honey (on left with pals Caspar and Rocky) who is blind in one eye has developed serious breathing problems and whilst I was away, Mei felt compelled to call out the Vet who diagnosed her(the pony not Mei) to be having an asthma type attack and gave her an injection to aid her breathing.Today she seems a little better but she does sound bad. On monday I will buy some dust free bedding shavings for her stable . The girls are soaking her hay but it is awful to see her struggling so I hope the treatment given by the Vet will help her.

A couple turned up this afternoon who had almost run over a dog on a busy road not too far from the shelter. They said that he was running in the middle of the road, looking in all the cars as they sped by. First of all my reaction was of gratitude that they stopped to help him, the second thought was of sadness that they were the only ones who cared enough to do so. I am hoping Vanessa will take him home tomorrow, he is a nice quiet collie, middle aged by the look of his teeth , a little nervous but very sweet and affectionate. He does smell quite badly so he is either a farm dog or has been kept outside for a long time.
Finally, I tried to upload the front cover of the book but failed to do so, I will sort it out and publish it on blog tomorrow.I am now going to make a dash for the house and hope I don't get too soaked doing so.It is definitely a night for lighting the fire and cuddling up in front of it(with the dogs of course) A good book , a cup of tea and some nibbles will make it all perfect.

How little it takes to please me nowadays!

The Book is a little nearer to being published.

2011-08-31T18:15:00.000+01:00

Just a very short blog today as getting ready to go away for two days.I have an appointment with publishing company re publishing book. It may be remembered that I decided to self publish because of being asked to lose the real story of the charity. I did not want to write a fluffy book of cute animal tales.It has to be real or I dont want to do it at all. All is ready now, just collating the photos, I am so sad that so many photos have been lost over the years,I have so few of 'the old days' at Freshfields. It just MAY be out by Christmas, heres hoping it will be ready in time.

Max has been reserved today and will be going Friday. Then Rosie can foster another!
Wonder of wonders, there has been an enquiry about an adult cat, the lady sounded very nice. She wants Eva a 3 yrs old cat.I would love to come back to find she has been adopted. That would be really great.

I will be back blogging on saturday.

A New Home for Wally.

2011-08-29T16:15:00.000+01:00

It has been decided to bring Freddie and Callie (horses)back to the shelter earlier than usual this year. The problem with Freddies teeth means he has to have several small meals daily as he cannot graze the grass any longer.Cariad is backwards and forwards all day feeding him and it is taking up too much time. It will be easier to sort out his dietary requirements here. They are due to return on wednesday and the three colts Merlin, Celt and Shamrock which are at another property are going to take over Freddies summer holiday home.They have eaten up most of the grass where they are and so they need to be moved on to lusher pasture.

Little Old Wally met his new family today (see photo above)and he seemed brighter than he had been since he was admitted. He appeared to like mum and daughters more than he liked me so I felt glad for him when they decided they wanted to take him home. I hope he didn't find the temporary stay here too unsettling, at 13 years of age it was a big ordeal for him to leave the family he had known since he was a puppy. It is so heartening when a family are willing to take on an elderly dog and the girls seemed as happy with Wally as with a pup.That IS unusual,but lovely to see.

Trish from our Porthmadog shop rang this morning, an injured kitten had been taken in to the shop, she thought maybe he had been hit by a car. I rang the vet to make an emergency appointment and Trish shut the shop to take him to the surgery. Sadly the news came back later that the poor cat had been put to sleep. That was not a not a good start to her day. I wonder if an owner will turn up looking for him?

News of the day is that I drove our tractor this morning - TWICE! The first time I drove down the track to the road and could see John coming towards me in his car.He took one look at me in the driving seat and reversed so fast he could have been driving a get away car at a Bank Robbery! Cheeky Sod.
Anyhow I managed very well and even took it for a second trip (Its very handy for taking the binbags down to the bins which are situated on the road.) It is a pretty ancient machine but very useful for taking bales of hay to the horses and it is also used for when the staff are mucking out stables. We bought a tip up box for the back of the tractor and they load the muck on to this and when it is full drive up the fields to the midden(muck heap to the uninitiated!) and dump it out of sight of visitors (whose sensibilities may be affected by the appearance and smell!).

The afternoon was quiet and we only had one volunteer today - Nurse Heather on one of her precious days off from working at Ysbyty Gwynedd. Most of our volunteers come here to work during the week, they must have fantastic weekend social lives or maybe they just have family things to do ? I always thought there would be more people volunteering saturday or sunday but in fact we are always short of help those days. Mind you I have had an online vol. application form from someone who actually WANTS to work weekends so I have telephoned in the hope he/she will come next weekend to help. The only thing that makes Saturday and Sunday different from any other day here is that there are fewer people around the shelter. Otherwise I would have no idea what day it really is ! I Need to Get A Life!!! Oops I forgot - This IS my life.

Mei is in terrible pain with her wrist, she is fed up waiting for the operation and I dont blame her,it is now nearly two and a half years since she first sought medical help.Volunteer Kim is also waiting for the same op. I cannot imagine how it must feel having so much pain every single day. This morning Mei was unable to even get the lead on her chihuahua Benjy(who is missing his pal very much) and she will need help giving the horses their hay tonight.

Time for my own dog walking now so here endeth the Bank Holiday Weekend report in favour of romps round the fields with Meg, Jackson, Paddy , Patch and Little Old Lady(never did find a name to suit her)

A good day for Dogs.

2011-08-28T20:48:00.000+01:00

Sunday was a great day for dogs,pups Dolly and Daisy were adopted together and little Alfie too has found a home.Patches people arent coming to see him until Tuesday but that is looking hopeful.He is so gorgeous I can't imagine anyone saying they don't want him.
Sadly nobody came for cats although one person did ring to collect a reserved kitten but was so obstreperous I was quite glad he failed to turn up.Some people expect us to fit in with their routine, rather than the other way round and do not seem to care whether we work 12 hour days as long as it means that they can come here when it suits. I always say to the staff, remember that no shop, office or rspca centre would open especially for someone who could perfectly well call beteen opening hours. Every day here is a working day and sometimes it is more difficult attending to visitors eg: if we have staff off sick or on holiday but we try our best .That does not mean we allow ourselves to be bullied into seeing people out of hours when we are impossibly busy or are in the middle of a crisis. We are open 7 days a week with 2 hours in the morning set aside for visitors/prospective adopters and we allow people to make afternoon appointments IF there are enough staff on duty and it is not often we have to refuse. To my mind that is a pretty good service we offer but I'm afraid you can't please everybody all of the time. There will always those who want to visit at unreasonable times - I often have people turning up here after 6 pm.Where is open at this time? Why come here at that time? Well thats my rant for the month over!

I finally did the cat poster so it should be available for download from our website within the next few days so I am hoping all readers in this area will download it and place in shops,offices etc. Anywhere you can think of where people may read it and take note .There has to be a way to find homes for all these cats,Please help in this way of you can. I would really appreciate it.

Photo is of our lovely foxhound Bonny who is constantly disappearing into the undergrowth, usually with a stolen sachet of cat food! She is a real character and it seems impossible that she was once a very thin working hound, she is so scared of men and most strangers.That life must have been a miserable one for a dog like her.Even now, 3 years on, she still acts as though she will never see food again.Dear old Bonny.She is so gentle natured and a great favourite with me.
I cant believe it but someone is coming tomorrow to see Wally the old Yorkshire terrier, he is a funny old dog, very nervous and wary of strangers so I just hope that he will 'sell' himself tomorrow. I feel he would be better off in a home where he will have more attention. It would be so nice for him to go now instead of getting used to being here with me and them being moved, he is too old to be passed about which means I would probably end up keeping him.(I dont really want to keep another at this moment)

Must go, I need to let the conservatory cats out for the night, Its the other way round in cities.I always got the cats IN and I continue to advise people to endure their pets are in by dusk.So many are run over at that time.The shelter cats are lucky , they are so much safer living here with no traffic and lots of fields for them to wander in.

William Meets the Pups Dolly and Daisy.

2011-08-26T16:45:00.000+01:00

Friend Nicky was over to take a photo suitable for the cover of impending book. It MIGHT be out before Christmas if we are lucky, I am hoping so but struggling a bit for a title. Any ideas? I have narrowed it down to two posible ones but still think could do better. I cant believe how hard it is to find the right words. Anyhow This was one photo she took ,which did not quite turn out , largely due to the interference of William who just had to come and investigate the intruders in his field, he was so curious about the pups who were not altogether impressed with having his huge head so close to them. She did manage to get a good one later though so all as not lost.

The lovely collie Tyler with the cleft palate has been found home. I had a call from someone who said she didnt want a pedigree dog, just a crossbreed would be fine and she was not keen on collies. I told her that this one was really well behaved and sweet natured but there was not a spark of interest until I told her that he had a deformed face. That did it. Immediately she said she wanted him. A woman after my own heart! Today she and her husband came to see him and they fell in love with him straight away. When they were introduced , there were smiles from them and a wagging tail from a very happy dog who was just loving all the attention they were giving him. A Happy ending for Tyler. It proves that not everyone wants a pretty chocolate box pet, that some look beyond the outer appearance. It restores my faith in human nature.

A stray terrier (See left)was taken into our Machynlleth shop and although Elinor, the manager was told he had been wandering about for several days, he has the look of someones pet so he may yet be claimed. He is a sweetheart of a dog, very cuddly and gentle, not as old as he looks , I estimate his age to be around 4 years. I wonder if he has been tied up becaus e as you can see from the photo there are remains of a lead attched to his collar. Maybe he is from a farm after all, time will tell.
Another collie has been admitted due to her owner moving to a pensioners bungalow where they are not allowed pets. The collie although a pet has lived in a shed and been left for long hours so I think we can do better for her. After not having any collies for a few weeks , all of a sudden we are receiving lots of calls asking us for help with them. Usually if we have a good response via the internet for one collie, we end up rehoming all those we have so I hope that will be the case again.

Our pink pig is not doing so well, she is so old now and arthritic and she can barely walk, I am dreading the day she goes, her companion will be very distressed and they keep each other warm throught he cold winter days.(which appear to be soon on the way!) I have to make a decsion very soon , this is the worst part of this job. I was so glad when the craze for Potbellied pigs faded but now there is a similar craze for micro pigs(which arent micro at all!) The Liverpool shelter has had its first unwanted Micro pig admitted and I was fortunate to meet little Hooper last time I visited. Unlike our anti social pair Hooper likes his tum tickled and rolls over for you to scratch his tum. He is still a youngster but he is hardly tiny as people expect them to be.Its such a con and apart from that , pigs are pigs and as such like to do piggy things like rolling in mud and enjoying rooting around in the soil.

Sean the sheep will not be joining our own rescued sheep, he has apparently been found another home.I hope its a good one!