Veronica counts the pennies.

Last night just before I retired for the evening, I took this photo of snow being whirled around in the high winds. The cats in Kitty Kottage(shed on left of picture) were nowhere to be seen and as you can see there are no heads poking out the stables.It was fierce but also very picturesque. Today is as if it never happened, the sun is shining again though the ground is icy and dangerous underfoot.
Today was the turn of the little sheltie crosses Indie and Jerry to find a loving home A lady came for one dog but Nell was too nervous for her and she fell in love with the boys. They should settle well with her, they had come from a loving home and they are such adaptable outgoing animals they would fit in almost anywhere.I just love to see animals go off so happily,it makes my day brighter.Sometimes when I am doing homechecks and find lovely people, some of whom live in wonderful settings,I feel like putting myself up for adoption. Mind you I would be advertised under the category "special needs" or "difficult to rehome, has some behavioural problems"! I doubt there would be many, if any, takers.
I have just received a short video of our dear Gel the arthritic collie who left us not long ago and is currently residing in Spain.When I saw the video and the accompanying photo of him asleep under the olive tree I felt overwhelmed by his tremendous luck in going from a terribly sad life on a chain to living with people who adore him and who will take him everyhwhere with them.What a change in fortune for dear old Gel.
The kitten in the vets has been diagnosed with gastro entiritis so is in isoltion from the other kittens,he is on antibiotics and we have to hope he will improve rapidly.At least he is not a tiny baby which have little chance of fighting the infection.
Today is Veronica bookeepers day here (pictured counting pennies at her desk)and there are more papers flying about the office than usual,I dont mean she is in a temper and throwing paper about,Veronica is far too sweet and sedate for that sort of behaviour (well thats what she tells me!)rather that there are piles of paperwork covering two desks whilst she attempts to make sense of it all. Poor woman - when she started she thought she was taking on a simple bookkeeping job, instead she does her work but also ends up taking Jade the current office dog out for a wee, mops up the wee when Jade fails to make it to outside, answers the phone, makes tea and acts as a sounding board for me when I am indecisive which is most of the time.Not bad for a part timer. Hope she doesnt ask for a rise in pay!
About Jade, she is the Staffordshire bull terrier brought in with mange.Her owner had neglected to obtain veterinary treatment for her and her condition had been allowed to deteriorate.With treatment she is now looking so much better than when she arrived but it is always a long job and she is not yet at the stage where she is fit enough to be rehomed.For the time being she lives here in an indoor dog kennel and she is happy and content - she was kept outside in her last home so this is luxury for her.
I must finish now as I can hear William barking somewhere. In his old age he does not seem to know what he wants, he barks to go in the car, barks to come out,barks to go in the conservatory, barks to come out. Is this what lies ahead for me? Will I be forever wandering in and out the house and office? Come to think of it I already do that!! No more to be said.

Bertie enjoys his foster home.

Bertie pictured here is a dog craving for home life and a confortable knee to sit upon, his foster person tells me that he sits on her knee with his eyes half closed in apparent ecstacy.Another bonus is that he appears to like children and is very gentle with everyone. That is not a common terrier characteristic but it is a good one and will make him easier to house in a suitable home.
It is definitely a day for wearing thermals and waterproofs. Big Molly hates this weather, she feels the cold and it can be an effort to coax her out for a walk.(I know exactly how she feels,I would rather be snuggled up in bed myself) The Maggie Marthas (the old Yorkshire terriers)go as far as the door,look out and run back into the warmth. The only ones who seem to enjoy their exercise whether it is freezing cold, raining, snowing or blowing a gale are the collies who just love being outdoors racing about. Having said that they all still like to return to warm beds and I will never believe that any dog prefers to live outside in a kennel if it has the choice of living in comfort with the family indoors. Over the years I have successfully rehomed as pets - working sheepdogs, gundogs, stud dogs, ex brood bitches,all of which had been kept on chains or kennelled outside in often dreadful conditions. There has never been one returned because it wanted to live outside!
The old Tractor is refusing to start this week and this has meant individual bales of hay are having to be carried to the top fields, not an easy trek especially in these conditions where we are having to fight against the wind to stay upright. We normally use the tractor which is equipped with a large spike at the front, to lift and move the large bales of haylage into the fields. When there are so many horses and ponies, the small bales do not last long enough and the large ones are more economical too. I am trying to find someone to come and fix it but have had no luck so far.
Another kitten has gone to a home today,I continue to be amazed that people will venture out on days like these (today is wilder than yesterday)but I am pleased that the kittens are being homed. Todays kitten was the last of the litter which had been living in a car so we now have a small pen free for any emergency admittances.
Gail is taking an older kitten to the vet this afternoon,he has the runs - antibiotics and a light diet of scrambled egg have done nothing to allay the problem. I keep worrying that the vet will refuse to see our animals until the bill is paid but I am paying as much as I can every few weeks. This is the first time in the 7 years the shelter in Wales has been open that I have not been able to keep on top of it. I am thinking lots of positive thoughts for a better finacial siutuation in 2010.If anyone would care to join me in this please feel free to do so. The more the better! Mind you if anyone reading this has won the lottery or come into extremely large sums of money, I am not too proud to accept handouts! This course of action might be a little quicker than the positive thoughts but either will do.

The sheeps shelter collapses in the high winds.

The police turned up with the "puppy" which turned out to be a young adult(maybe 18 months)terrier.He is quite obviously a working dog, he has bites all over him, he is very thin and he also has a skin disorder which could be mange.Although I would not trust him around cats, he is a loving affectionate little dog who loves to climb on a knee for a cuddle and he thinks its great here(always an indication that the previous home was lacking in creature comforts!)We have called him Bertie.
Nell is still very scared,it will take some time before she
loses her fear of this new life off a chain, chained dogs receive no socialisation and this must be a very frightening experience for her. Her nature is lovely and eventually she will be a loyal pet for someone, a home with other dogs may help her adapt to home life. I have borrowed a camcorder so she can be seen on our website which now can display short videos - I just need a few days (or few months)to work out how to use it! Once she is homed I can take the other two young dogs from this farm, we really could do with a few more fosterers for such dogs,they need people with time and patience to help them adjust to home life and although it would be hard work, it would make it easier for them to find permanent homes.
In spite of the horrendous weather conditions we have homed 2 cats today.I am amazed anyone ventured out and it is getting worse. There are gale force winds and heavy sleet coming down, thank goodness our cattery roof is now solid and secure, I am worried the office roof felt is going to blow off, it has already ripped in places and been temporarily repaired. I have asked the girls to top up the pigs bedding with more straw and hay, we are in for a cold night tonight. The old shed which is used by the five sheep has blown down so we have had to move them into the adjoining field where there is a more solid shelter, I can only hope this one withstands the high winds. Sam, the oldest of the sheep is losing weight and I am calling the vet out to him this week though I fear it is simply a symptom of his age. He is becoming very frail , poor old chap.He really looks his age especially compared to Joseph and Jacob the young Jacob sheep who are fit and virile looking.(well as virile as they CAN look with no testicles!)

Another frightened farm dog.

Well the holiday is over now and it has been the quietest ChristmasI can remember as regards animal admittances.I think most people got rid of their unwanted pets in the weeks leading up to it.We did not even have a call from the local police about strays which is most unusual, anyhow it made a nice change but today I have received several calls from people wanting to get rid of dogs. I knew the peace would not last for long! We have admitted one stray kittencat which turned up on someones doorstep on Christmas Eve, a three legged feral cat and a nervous collie.(pictured here and more of her later)
A man turned up yesterday with an unwanted lurcher but unfortunately we had no room so he is my immediate priority to advertise and rehome.Then one of the 15 collies arrived whilst I was out.On return I went in to see her and she is absolutely terrified of her own shadow.Such a pretty dog, a longhaired red and white collie, but oh so very scared.When she arrived she went for Barbara who thought we might have an aggressive dog on our hands.Clearly my dog whispering technique was called for and so I slowly backed into her, then slid down to talk to her facing away from her. within a minute she allowed me to caress her and slip off the piece of string attached to her collar. It worked again. The first time I used this technique(long before anyone had heard of Cesar Milan) was with a collie called Snowy who was found in Liverpool, he had to be sedated to be caught and brought to the shelter in Ince Blundell. He also was terrified but he would actually leap at you and attack which was very very frightening and the staff were quite rightly unsure of him and scared to approach him. I went into his pen backwards preventing a full head on attack and I sat looking away and talking to him.This was a hard one to crack and it took a few days of this before he would allow me to touch him. After that he was putty in my hands though I must say that he was eventually adopted by Alan a member of kennel staff and to this day he cannot be trusted implicitly with strangers. If only animals could talk, what tales they would tell though some would not have pretty stories of their past homes.What makes a dog so scared and aggressive, there is only one answer - human beings and the worst sort.
I wonder did anyone read Liz Jones article in the Mail? The one where she wrote about being lonely at Christmas- well I did identify to some degree though unlike her I did have invitations from friends and family . Unfortunately they did not pan out due to being let down by one person and later when I planned to visit family I was unable to go due to the fact that world war three had broken out there! The Waltons we are definitely NOT. Much as I love my sister and her girls, all the women in our family are strong minded and volatile which is ok until all meet under the same roof. When that happens it would be safer to swim in shark infested waters! As I am not a good swimmer I decided to stay at home with the animals. Under the circumstances I feel this was the best decision I could have made but I did feel for my sister having to deal with the fall out. Not an easy time for her.
Finally I had a wonderful surprise, a lady who used to foster kittens for Freshfields in Liverpool many years ago, the eighties I think, wrote me a letter and enclosed a copy of the Paul Gallico book "Jenny" I had written about recently.I was thrilled to bits and overwhelmed by how thoughtful some people are. I also received a lovely book of poems from a fellow animal lover in Tennessee, United States! Gestures like these really boost the morale.
I hope everybody had a good holiday and if there are any "Waltons" type families out there, can I live with you?
ps: I spoke too soon, the police have just rung with a stray puppy, why didnt I keep my big mouth shut? Wonder if poor little thing is an unwanted xmas present? More tomorrow.

They made it in but one got stuck!

I dont know how they did it but all staff turned in today, including two regular volunteers. This was in spite of the icy conditions underfooot though they had no idea how bad it was going to be when they reached the shelter.The yard and the track leading up to it are like an ice rink and Rhian was over optimistic thinking her van would make it.Unfortunately it skidded half way up and ended up stuck on the side of the road. See photos.Half the morning was spent trying to extricate the van form its precarious position, Mei went on the quad bike to get some grit from up the road (thank goodness we have this vehicle , it is invaluable)and we covered the worst ice on the yard.Working outdoors has its pleasures but it is very hard going for the staff working in these conditions and they remain cheerful most of the time. Which brings me to the kindness of people who have donated gifts including a very welcome food hamper for the staff to enjoy. We are so glad of gifts of petfood but it is nice when appreciation is shown to the staff as well.
Unbelievably someone turned up to collect a reserved kitten but she had quite a trek having left her car on the road.We made an exception to rehome this one but generally at this time of year we only allow animals to be reserved and collected after New Year. Nothing is black and white though and we have always made exceptions depending on the circumstances of the prospective adoptees.
Poor Molly was unable to go out this morning,dogs are having to be walked on leads because of the ice and the danger to both staff falling and dogs slipping and damaging their cruciate ligaments is of great concern. The big dogs are more likely to pull us over, especially Molly who has never been the best trained dog in the world.My fault of course but she is eight years old now and its a little late to teach an old dog new tricks!Hopefully later today, the ice will melt and she and her companions Ben and Meg can have a good run in the fields.
A labrador was meant to come in today, his owner has died and he is in a house on his own but it has been postponed until Saturday, also one of the collies mentioned yesterday is coming in.We have foster homes for both.
There will be no blog until Boxing day or the day after, depending on where I am at the time and as that depends on the weather I cant say for sure.I hope everybody has a good Christmas and eats lots of mince pies and chocolates so I can console myself that I am not the only one over indulging! Merry Christmas and fingers crossed that we dont hear of too many pets abandoned.

Another litter of kittens arrive.

In contrast seemingly to the rest of the country, the sun is shining here! We had some snow during the night but it has almost cleared now and the birds in the trees are once again singing as though it is the start of Spring.Poor birds, they must be so confused.
There have been a few donations of cat and dog food yesterday and again today for which I am very grateful- I went out yesterday to buy cat food as we were so low on it and of course we are overflowing with cats and kittens still. A farmer brought in a litter of kittens about 8 weeks of age , they were too old to drown he told a member of staff.I suppose we should be grateful that he brought them in but advice on neutering the adult farm cats fell on deaf ears! It is far from easy trying to educate those who have lived by these actions all their lives but we will be sending someone diplomatic(not me !)round to his farm to try again. With so much help nowadays from National charities like the Cats Protection League, there is simply no excuse for this barbaric method of disposing of unwanted litters.
I have had the details of the 15 collies, their ages range from 18 months to 12 years, they seem to be a mixture of short and long coated dogs but some have a suspicious temperament - what does this mean? Anyhow Kirsty who used to work at the Liverpool Freshfields is going to go and assess them and take photographs.Kirsty has taken one of the older ones and she tells me she has a lovely nature but until she sees the others I cant make plans for them.Of course if we were allowed to use our kennels and I did not have a miserable grumpy neighbour, then we could just remove them all at one go.As it is some will go into foster homes and we will have to conduct the rescue over a period of weeks.
Naughty Bonnie Foxhound has done a vanishing trick whilst out walking in the fields with the other dogs,she will be within shouting distance but she has selective hearing! Somewhere she will have found an old bone or she could be in next doors bins so I will have to walk down the track to look for her, the track is quite icy still and I am not confident driving the car. I am just about to sign off and I can see her trotting into the yard looking very pleased with herself and licking her lips- what has she been up to and what has she pinched this time?

An unusually marked cat is admitted.

The Vet came out to see Ken and the injury is due to being kicked by another horse, we think maybe the bully is the old horse Callie but we will be keeping an eye on her and Ken will be moved if this happens again, the problem is by moving him to another group he will have to leave Buster to whom he has become attached.(Buster on rightofphoto)Anyhow he is a lot better today and able to walk on his bad leg. Dafydd the vet who came out is very kind with the horses and is very popular with the staff here though I tend to think that could be more to do with the fact that he is good looking rather than his veterinary expertise!
There is not much snow here at the moment though Rhian struggled to get in yesterday, as did Cariad today, they both live in outlying villages and they had thick snow on the tracks leading to their cottages.We seem to have escaped the worst so far but it is icy cold and the sky is very dark so maybe we are heading for some more? The pigs peered out of their house this morning and almost immediately disappeared back under a mound of hay and straw. There was no way they were venturing out today and I dont blame them.Its no weather for pigs never mind the rest of us.
We had a home offered today to one of the young ponies Merlin and she may also take one of the young shetland ponies Bobby to keep him company.It is not going to happen until the New Year as she has to have a stable built and of course we have to do a homecheck but it will be good if it all works out,it is far from easy to rehome young, unschooled ponies.Merlin is a real character, his twisted foot has not improved so he may always have an awkward,clumsy gait but he is full of personality and if he goes we will all miss him.We have so few ponies suitable for homing now that if the youngsters could go that would be marvellous and make room for any emergencies we hear about.
I have received a call about 15 collies needing homes.The farmer has died and an ex employee of Freshfields has taken one of the older ones but is in need of help with the others.I am waiting for a call with more details about them.
There has been an unusually marked stray cat brought in, he is an unneutered male and is black with almost silver grey markings(see photo) I have only ever seen a cat like this twice before in all the time I have been involved in animal welfare. I wonder what colour his mum and dad are? He will surely be snapped up in the New Year though not before he has his manly attributes removed.Iam sure male readers will wince at this but over the years I have noticed that some men vehemently oppose the neutering of male dogs or cats but seem unfazed by the idea of females being spayed even though that is a bigger surgical procedure. Strange but true.