A timid lurcher arrives.

It has been a particularly busy day on the phone with people wanting homes for animals, most oif them have been for dogs and cats but I have had several calls about horses and 2 about pigs and goats.This is when I wish there was more land here, more money, more staff etc. There is only so much to be done with the amount of grazing here but the need for a sanctuary in this part of the Uk becomes more obvious as each day goes by. I feel frustrated and inadequate at the number of animals I am able to help and can only hope that one day in the not too distant future this shelter will have beter facilities and more land.The farmer next door has land to sell but at such a price it is inconceivable at the moment.It would be wonderful to be able to extend Freshfields with that additional acreage, maybe I should set up an appeal?
Like so many others I have been distressed at the case reported in the papers about the neglected horses in Buckinghamshire.I cant help wondering why these animals are allowed to get to the point of death before anyone intervenes though I have heard that neighbours had reported the owner over the past few years,If that truly is the case, someone , somewhere needs to take responsibility for the mishandling of the situation.
It seems there is another wave of kittens around, 2 beautiful litters have arrived along with their 2 pretty tortie mums, Im sure it wont be long before they are all snapped up by potential owners.The cats are moving quite well, I| know you shouldnt have favourites but I think we all do and Sunny a handsome young ginger who has been here a long time has now gone to a home where I hope he will not be too unsettled.I always worry about the timid ones because they are so fearful going somehwre new though I know eventually it is for the best.I really loved Sunny so I will be anxiously waiting to hear how he is.
Lucas, a young black lurcher(photo above) was found shivering in the rain and very distressed, he has now been neutered and is sharing a pen with Sally and Pal our longterm collies.Lurchers can be quite nervous dogs but he seems unduly so, he is desperate to make friends but to scared to allow a cuddle.Hopefully we will soon win him over!

Zorro and Munchkin find a home

I have been away in Liverpool for a few days. Its funny how I am always desperate for a lie in bed(impossible to get here at the shelter)but when I am away I have the opportunity to do so, yet I feel I HAVE to get up!!!I suppose the body clock takes time to adjust to a different routine.I enjoyed the break from routine and the humour and wit of my fellow Scousers, but whilst I have a great loyalty to Liverpool and its people, I am always glad to be back in rural Wales. I have become used to the quieter lifestyle and the wonderful scenery where I now live. I can see the sea on one side and the mountains on another.Beautiful!
Whilst I was away several adult cats including 2 inseparable pairs have been found homes which is great and a possible home may be on the cards for William and Walter, two of our younger shetland ponies.I have had several people contact me with remedies for Williams fear of loud noises and I will be trying all of them starting with the Bach Rescue remedy.its good to know people are concerned and interested enough to get in touch.
Rambam the new sheep is now esconced in the old dog kennels where he will have to remain segregated until his skin condition clears, he seems fine and is now eating well and is a lot brighter than when he first arrived.
Today has been a day to catch up on emails and messages,, it is now turning dark, the trees are shaking with the strong winds and I fear that William may be due for another scary night.Oh Happy Days!

A new sheep.

Meet Rambam (pictured above). This little ram was found lying on the side of a road, he was suffering from a severe skin condition and was very thin and distressed.A visit to the vet confirmed he has Sheep Scab, highly contagious to other sheep but thankfully not to other animals.He will need a course of injections to clear the infection which is covering his entire body his coat is literally hanging off him and undernesth his skin is cracked and covered in open sores.Poor little chap.As soon as he is well enough he needs to be castrated but right now he needs to get better, after that we will either find him a home or he will stay with the 3 pet sheep already here.
Im having trouble with William lurcher who has always been terrified of fireworks and loud bangs but has now developed a fear of high winds and whenever there is a particularly wild night outside he cannot rest, he keeps me awake all night with his trembling and terror.I think he may be needing sedatives for such times though I am averse to using these longterm.I think its time to have another read of my herbal/homeopathic books and try to find a natural remedy.Its upsetting to see a dog so filled with fear, the strange thing is that this has only started occurring recently, mind you the weather here is getting wilder and wilder so perhaps it did not sound so loud and fierce before now.

Not the best weekend ever!

Well what a weekend! talk about manic! You know in this kind of work I meet many lovely people but also many not so nice and some downright odd! I have always considered myself to be rather odd, after all nobody sensible,rational and normal would even consider living this life. Would they?It most definitely is not conducive to maintaining relationships.nevertheless there are times I think I must be normal because others I meet make me appear quite conventional and dull! Without going into it in detail suffice to say that this weekend I have had my patience stretched to the limits by one such person, a person I tried to help but who is now causing me immense grief and aggravation.It is almost always the owners, not their pets who cause the problems at shelters, I speak regularly to other shelter owners and they all say the same, animals are relatively easy and straightforward to deal with in comparison to some of the people with whom we come into contact.So there is the Odd character and the not so nice award this week goes once again to my next door neighbour, the person whose sole reason for living seems to be to make the lives of others HELL.having stopped Freshfields from taking in dogs, his attention is now centred mainly on the people on the other side to him.
On Sunday morning they were in trouble, their elderly horse had fallen into a ditch.They asked our mutual neighbour for help to pull him out with his tractor, in no uncertain terms he told them where to go!!!! Later when the Fire Brigade arrived he was rude to them also. A delightful person with no end of charm!
Meirwen,Alison(our newest staff member) and I ran over and helped keep the terrified animals head above water until help arrived.After an hour which seemed more like 3 hours, another neighbour arrived with a tractor and with the Fire Brigade wrapping straps around his body, the old horse was finally pulled to safety. He was tired and cold after lying the stream for such a long time but otherwise none the worse for his ordeal.The lads from the Fire station were amazing, I have the utmost respect for them and their kindness to the horse was wonderful.So the decent folks outnumbered the others , good conquered evil and some lovely people offered homes to cats and kittens which is always a morale booster.

A most difficult dog.

Well this is the start of the 6th year Freshfields has been in North Wales.looking back there have been many times I have seriously wondered if I had done the right thing by trying to set up an animal shelter in such a predominantly farming area.So many farmers display such a callous attitude towards animals and finding support in suchg a community has proved very hard.Nevertheless - support we have found, the past year has brought us more supporters,. nmore volunteers and also more charity shops.The shops are our only regular income and are also a good way to raise the profile of the shelter.We now have 3 in Powys plus the two local to the shelter, in Caernarfon and Porthmadog.We have also received a grant from a charitable trust which has enabled me to purchase a couple more mobile stables for the horses.The weather is so very cold now and its such a relief to know that our horses are all going to be warm and dry this winter. In order to extend the stabling facilities I have had a hard standing and small yard built round two of the field shelters and also a turn out paddock which will be used in the spring for those ponies which need to have restricted grazing(those with laminitis).Once we have replaced the old stable which had to be pulled down due to structural problem, the horses facilities will be almost complete and then I need to turn my attention to the cattery which badly needs refurbishing.So lots to plan for this coming year.
It has been a quiet Christmas though the weeks leading up to it were hectic, it seemed as though everyone in Gwynedd (and other areas)wanted to part with their pets! We managed to take in all the cats we were asked to home and also to find homes for several of the dogs though there are still several needing homes.Although we were prepared to take in the 4 horses from the family in Cheshire and had aranged transport, nothing mnore has been heard from them! This happens a lot, we receive desperate calls, rush round organising everything and then No response from the people who instigated it. Often several weeks or months later another call will come through from the same people with the same problem and sometimes then we do not have the room, it can be very frustrating.
The dreadful hurricane type winds a few nights ago caused me a sleepless night worrying about the possible damage to the animal buildings but fortunately we survived, however friends in the village lost several of their animal houses though thankfully no animals were hurt.Its so exposed here high winds are a constant concern.
Honey the foxhound is still with me and I am struggling to deal with her behavioural problems. she is possibly the most difficult dog I have ever known! I feel a failure becasue with all my years of experience I am unable to make headway with her.Another shelter has offered to take her and I may have to accept the offer though I hate to give up on any animal and I also dont like to pass on a problem to someone else.The most worrying habit she has is that of chasing sheep and I am surrounded here by sheep so that is a major problem, she does not want to harm them but farmers will ask no questions, they will shoot first ask questions later.I wonder what her past history is. no animal is born difficult,Honey is no doubt a product of her background, |I believe she may have been originally from a hunting pack and has had to fight for food, hounds are not fed individually and the strongest nmore dominant ones will get to the food first.Her greed is amazing and she will thieve and fight to get even a small morsel of food. I am in a quandary about what to do with her though my common sense tells me one thing, my heart tells me another.

Would you like to drink from this?

Im finally starting to come out of the blackness caused by Lucys death.I should by now be used to these type of traumas but somehow even after all these years it takes it out of me.The fact I am overdue for my B12 injection has not helped, I wish I was not so cowardly, however I WILL go for it this week!I had better telephone first to warn the medical staff of my impending arrival, that will give them time to put in for time off!Once again it will take ALL HANDS ON DECK TO SUBDUE ME! hAPPY DAYS!
Well its been a very hectic time, hundreds of calls coming through to take unwanted pets and several calls reporting neglected horses.At this time of year I often receive calls from the public concerned at the conditions some horses are kept in.Sometimes it is not as bad as it sounds, other times the concern is completely justifiable. mei and I found 3 ponies in the worst field I have seen in a while, it was a bog, we have had so much rainfall all fields are in poor condition at the moment but this was dreadful.There was nothing for them to do, no grass or hay to eat and the only water was in a filthy bath(see photo)I traced the owner who told me where to go in no uncertain terms and whose daughter when I asked if she would like to drink out of such filth said "Im not an animal am I?" Seems she thought it fine that her animals had no clean water. I have passed the case on to the International League for Protection of Horses.
Another call was from someone who is about to lose her home, she has 6 horses, some goats, chickens and several dogs.I am trying to arrange transport here for the horses but the other animals are a real problem, I have to hope another shelter will step forward to offer them a home.
Today we rehomed 3 kittens and Ben the collie. I received a letter from the prisoners solicitor requesting he be found another home so he will be going next week to a new family.
Did I mention Jack the jack Russell has gone to a home? He wentabout a week ago and yesterday he came back to see me, with his new Mum of course. He was overjoyed to see me again b ut then was happy to leave with his new owner, they both seem well suited and happy together.I am so relieved he has found somneone nice to give him all the attention he needs. Have a happy life Jack.

Lucy

Had a very sad weekend, Little lucy, one of my elderly yorkshire terriers fell off the back of the sofa and broke her leg.Lucy is 14 and not long ago had an operation for pyrometra whcih she recovered from.She need a pin put in her leg to join it together and I worried all day, she is so tiny and frail. Lucy had her operation on Friday, recovered but died in my arms yesterday. I have no heart to write more at this moment.