I return to a Good Welcome.

I am back home after my break in Liverpool.Every time I go back I love to reaquaint myself with the everyday humour of the people there. A simple act like buying a train ticket or dropping a shopping bag can result in a humorous two way repartee with a total stranger and can be funnier than watching a comedy show. I dont realise how much I miss it until I return.I popped in to the Liverpool shelter to say hello to people there and as always was taken aback by the number of animals in need of homes. The wildlife unit was packed, there are 52 hedgehogs spending winter there and all the other pens were full with various animals and birds. It has become a very large part of the work done at Liverpool and since my (now deceased ) partner Steve started it 15 years ago, it has increased in both size and the number of inmates both permanent and temporary.Lynn has been the person in charge of that section since the horses were moved here to Wales though I think she sometimes still hankers after them and wishes they were still there. I was glad to know that they are managing to rehome a few dogs and cats even though it is a difficult time of year, as it is with us here in Wales.
Anyhow I came back to snow and a very frozen and potentially lethal track up to the house so had to park the car halfway and walk the rest. The dogs were glad to have me back and Paddy almost knocked me over, he was so excited to see me. Meg too was delirious with joy, the others were happy enough but were more laid back about it. Holly cat spent the whole night in bed with me and never stopped purring, so I think she was quite pleased too.Its nice to have such a welcome.
As you know from Rhians blog some of the staff who live in outlying rural areas are unable to get in to work and there have been the usual problems with frozen pipes and panics over heaters not working etc. This morning 4 volunteers managed to get in for which we were very grateful. Veronica arrived from Anglesey though left to go home early in case the weather deteriorated, she was forced to walk gingerly down the track with the aid of her hiking sticks.That is until Mr Roberts who delivers our hay turned up in his tractor/trailer and offered her a lift down to her vehicle - If only the camera had been handy! There she was perched up in the enormous tractor as though she did it every day of her life.Mind you I bet she was glad she did not have to make the treacherous descent down the track .
Over the past few days 3 dogs have been admitted into our care, 2 unwanted farm dogs and a nice little jack russell whose owner had no time for her.(see above)
Tomorrow I am admitting a middle aged Tibetan terrier female whose owner is very ill and cannot look after her any longer.As all our foster homes are full at the moment I am hoping she will get on with Meg in my kitchen. There is only Timmy collie in there and he gets on with every dog he meets.(I shouldn't have said that, NOW ITS BOUND TO BE A DISASTER!)
The xmas fair in Penygroes is on Thursday and if I was worried before about nobody turning up I am worse now. The weather will surely keep people at home and The Porthmadog one is on Saturday . Why didnt I have them 2 weeks ago?Oh well cant be helped, we will just have to make the most of them and close up early if they are not well attended. I feel sorry for the shopkeepers in those areas which are even worse hit by bad weather conditions .It must be a great worry to them, the rent still has to be paid and staff wages and when there is nothing coming in to pay them, what a nightmare.
It is just three pm and the ponies are already waiting to come in. We were supposed to collect three return horses last week - Rocky , Honey and Caspar.but our horse trailer has a broken wheel and we are having problems finding someone to fix it The people caring for the ponies will have to bring them back.It is only twenty minutes away so it should not be too big a problem though they may think it best to wait a few weeks until the snow clears.
Time to take the dogs out now, so I am signing off with very cold fingers and a nose which appears to have gone numb.The heating in this office is appalling. At least its not Alaska where drips from noses turn into icicles !

More Snow....

Like most of country North Wales is having a hard time with the weather at the moment. To be honest like some other members of staff I haven't been able to get to work as the roads up to my home are impassable with snow and Ice. Mei and Gail have been keeping in contact with me and the situation at Freshfields is pretty difficult. The water is frozen and everywhere is so cold and dangerously slippery underfoot. Therefore it comes as a wonderfully surprise that a Cat, several kittens and Basil the JRT have been re-homed.
Please excuse me whilst I take this opportunity to make a special plea for our black cats. Elmo our lovely black boy needs a home of his own as soon as possible. He really isn't happy living in the cattery and makes a run for the door at ever available occasion. He would love a rural home so he can potter about, but a lovely fire to sleep in front of in the evenings. Another cat desperate for a home in the spirited Wendy. She has been with us for months and sadly does herself no favours. I think she's frustrated in the cattery and would thrive as the only cat in a household. It's such a shame as I'm sure she has a lot of love to give. So anyone considering a cat with spirit and attitude....please give Wendy a thought!
Cheers
Rhian

I am Off for A much Needed Break.

It is starting to become very cold and icy and wouldn't you know that the insulation in the ferals home "Kitty Kottage"has started to peel away from the sides making it much colder in there, We have been given a heater for there but the insulation is a job which needs sorting out first. Peter from Kingspan, if you are reading this, can you get hold of a few throw out pieces suitable for insulating the shed?
We took in the last of the 17 cats which had been left homeless when their owner died. It has been a long drawn out process because we have had to take a few at a time as and when space became available but they are all now safely esconced in the old kennels which has heated pens.It is mainly used for new cats which are waiting to be neutered but a pen became free so this family are all together.
I am off tomorrow to Liverpool for a four day break so I hope Rhian may write an entry over the next few days to keep everyone in touch with whats going on here. I need to have this time away otherwise I will go completely Gillian McKeith(for anyone who watches I'm a celebrity) and nobody would want that, least of all me.
When I return it will be to make the final arrangements for the 2nd December Christmas Fair in Penygroes. I feel nervous about its success not having held this event locally before.Will anyone come? I worried like this over the Sponsored dog walk earlier in the year and Veronica has just passed me the final figure for it. Altogether, that is with our own and the two being organised simultaneously by friends in Derbyshire and Anglesey, just under £4,000 was raised.Isnt that fantastic. We could do with one every month!
Picture is of Jim collie (recently rehomed) and 10 years old Lucy also recently rehomed(to me! that is unless someone with the patience and understanding of terriers and their idiosyncrasies turns up?)

Titch gets wrapped up against the cold.

Both Smudge(the dog pictured yesterday with Mei and Ben Westie have gone today and a litter of farm feral kittens has been admitted. The farmer who brought them in has a much better attitude than most I am pleased to say and he is trapping mum with our help and will have her spayed.The kittens like so many feral kittens are absolutely beautiful.(see here)They are a bit hissy and spitty but are so young they will,not take long to come round to being handled. A few kittens have been reserved but it has gone rather quiet again this week.
I have managed to contact the farmer who was going to have his dog shot and he is still there so I am arranging to help get him out of harms way. There are now two other collies in the same boat so they will be coming in this week if I can find anyone in the Machynlleth area to collect them. All three are from the same area so I need someone with a van ideally. Anyone out there able to help with transport?
It is a lovely sunny(but cold) day today and whilst we were putting the ponies out, one of Cariads children decided it was too cold for little Titch the shetland so she gave up her hat and scarf for him to keep him warm. Before anyone is up in arms about animal exploitation, it was taken off within seconds by yours truly!

Paddys favourite game "YOU TUG , I STAND STILL"

It has been a very busy weekend so far.Rosie the young collie pictured on last blog has been homed and we are receiving lots of calls about our other dogs, there are a few people coming to visit tomorrow. We have to co-ordinate it so our foster people arrive at the same time as those coming to see the dogs. It is a bit of a nuisance not being able to keep the dogs all here but with a neighbour like Horrid Hawksworth we have no choice in the matter. Although far from ideal, the system works reasonably well.
My little Suzy seems better though is still not back to her normal grumpy and endearing self. Its funny, I find myself wishing she would growl at me just to show she is feeling ok. After a day of refusing food she is eating a little so that has to be a good sign.
I have been told of a farm dog in desperate need of rescuing, another one which is no good at working, the farmer has told someone he plans to shoot him.I have left a message for him to say we will have the dog and someone I know is going to go there and confront him/take the dog off him.
Disappointingly Ben Westie has been returned just hours after he went, unfortunately he was quite nasty with the cats of the house (and he lived with two) but we have done another homecheck on someone in Southport (thank you Liverpool for arranging that so quickly)who are coming up to see him tomorrow, heres hoping this will be the right home for him.
Incidentally the people who exasperated me so much the other day, the ones moving and wanting me to take their two cats at the last minute , brought in the 10 years old cat but said the other had become scared of the removal men and the hustle and bustle at the house and had disappeared, The following day they found him, he came back for food and so he was put in a basket and brought to the shelter. We were relieved to see him with the cat, after thinking he may have disappeared for good and then all of a sudden the door of the basket flew open(he hadn't shut it properly) and off ran Tiddles up the mountain! What can one say to such ineptitude?Yes I know accidents can happen but this was just the last straw with them. Of course we will put up posters in local farms but it will be a miracle if he is found. (though miracles have been known to happen)We are all so annoyed with this couple and so worried now for the welfare of the missing cat.
I made an early morning trip to the vet to collect a semi feral cat which had been trapped and taken there for spaying , the plan was to put her in the feral enclosure which is pretty full but this cat has a problem with her eyesight and it was felt she would not survive if released. Having agreed to this, her eyesight is worse than we were been led to believe and we are not sure that she is feral so for now she is in isolation and we will see how she goes. My gut feeling is that she IS feral but because she is almost blind she is feeling vulnerable, many old ferals become friendly when they are old and frail, we will decide about her future when we have assessed her thoroughly.Perhaps we will be able to find her an indoor home somewhere she will feel safe. I think she would become affectionate if given a chance. On the way home from the vet I called in to see the people who are returning three of the ponies and have arranged for them to come back one day this week.I need a driver now, the horse trailer is not easy unless you are used to it and I have enough problems driving a car! I think those who know me will second that.
This afternoon Emma (pictured here) who used to dogwalk for us came to visit with Jimmy the patterdale terrier she adopted several months ago. he looked so well, a lovely glossy coat and an unscarred face! When this little dog was found he had a badly infected and swollen face from some sort of a bite wound, look at him now, he is a different dog.It is so good to see him again.
Mei is pictured here also with Smudge whose owners brought her in this morning, she is hopefully going out to a home tomorrow if she gets on with their other dog. Her owner said nobody has the time to walk her now they have a baby in the house. Poor little unwanted dog, there is something very appealing and sweet about her, I could be tempted myself but I will stay strong, I have enough with those I have already. Speaking of my dogs, here is Paddy enjoying his favourite game of Tug of war with a difference - he lets the other dogs do all the hard work and he simply stands there pitting his weight against theirs.This time Lucy from the office is the one trying to out tug him.

Suzy is unwell and Branwen leaves us to live in Kent.

I have sent in 4 dogs to be neutered this morning. Ben the Westie has been reserved by a lady I met by chance in our Porthmadog shop the other day.I was making a fuss of her lovely little Westie Molly and asked her if she wanted another.She turned up yesterday and the two dogs got on so well that it was a done deal. I must have had 50 people after him once he was advertised on the net and most sounded lovely homes.If only there was as much interest for crossbreeds! Still Ben needed a home also , still on the subject of Ben, both Mei and I received telephone calls from local people who said they knew the dog and wanted him, one said the owner had promised him to her? Both expressed concern that he was being neutered today and one openly admitted the owner had promised to let Ben father puppies with her dog. We were accused of being cruel to him! Where were these people when the situation became desperate? How pleased I am that he came to us and was not given to either of these women. He now has a good life ahead of him and most emphatically will not be fathering any litters of pups to be distributed round the area .
Nobody has claimed the Jack Russell, The family interested in Timmy the pound dog have changed their minds but he is so adorable he will find someone nice soon. Brian, a gentleman from Kent has just arrived for Branwen, (pictured above)the 6 years old Welsh sheepdog Veronica has been fostering. Her name will be Branwen Barge as she has joined the Barge family! It never ceases to amaze me that people will travel so far for one of our dogs and I am forever grateful that they do. Without them we would not be half as successful finding good homes. It seems that there are not so many sheepdogs in rescues in the South Of England so the distance seems to be no problem to most. Keep them coming! Veronica shed more than a few tears after they left, it is hard fostering animals, it is so easy to become attached and even when you know it is the right thing to do for the pet concerned, hearts can still be bruised. On a lighter note(I think) When Veronica took Branwen to the vet this morning to have her anal glands emptied prior to her going to her new home, an elderly lady brought in a cat to be 'microwaved'. I think she meant microchipped! Veronica and the Vet staff tried their best to hide their chuckles. I'm sure the poor lady would have been horrified had she realised what she said .

I have had a tearful call from a lady who has lost her smallholding and is concerned about the future of her two ponies, father and daughter Welsh Section A ponies. It is not immediately urgent for which I am very thankful as I have the returned ponies to sort out first. The problem is that few homes are found during the winter months, most happen in the spring and summer when the weather is better. The best I can do for the returned ones is to bring them back here for the winter and use one of the field shelters for stabling. I will not rehome Rocky again, I was loathe to part with him in the first place and this is the second time he has been returned albeit for an unforeseen change of circumstances at the home he went to. He has been extremely well cared for there along with two other Freshfields ponies but there is a limit to the times it is fair to move them on. Pictured some of the ponies in need of new homes. Left: Heather and her son Paddy,. right Rocky and above Caspar and Honey. By the way Rocky does not have an extra 2 slim legs or one extra thick leg nor is he is being attended by a headless member of staff! Rosie is hiding behind him bcause she was having a bad hair day!

My little old Yorkshire terrier Suzy has been unwell today and a visit to the Vet confirmed that she has a collapsed trachea so has been given tablets to aid this condition, her heart is not bad at all which is good. At 16 years of age she is a feisty little dog and loves her food so when she failed to coerce me into sharing my breakfast with her this morning it was certain that something was wrong with her. I use the same criteria to judge my own state of health! Hopefully the tablets for Suzy will do the trick. I couldn't face losing yet another dog at the moment, its always hard to do so but there has just been a little too much for me to deal with emotionally over the past few months.

I have arranged for 6 feral? cats to be trapped(courtesy of Billy Meade from Holyhead Cat Action Trust)The owner of the property where they are living has died and there is nobody to feed them. I have no room at all but once again Ann Cragg(wildlife lady) has offered emergency help by giving them a space there for a few weeks.I will just have to hope against hope that by then we will have some room. It would be best if they turn out to be domestic because there is little likelihood of any ferals from our enclosure finding farm homes so quickly and it is full there already. A litter of 7 babies(kittens not humans) is coming in from a farm on Sunday and as yet we have nowhere to put them.All our foster homes are full.With a bit of juggling around and some kittens going to homes over the weekend I am sure we will find space one way or another. Better that than them growing into adult feral cats and then we would have a far worse problem to contend with in the near future.

Must go now, have to collect the dogs from the Vet and it gets dark so early - I cannot drive in the dark so must set off now. I think it is also time to bore you all with more photos of Paddy so prepare for them in the next few days!

Where are they all coming from?

was speaking to Mary from Colwyn Bay Cats Protection League and we were both saying that we have never know a year like this one for stray and abandoned cats. Every animal shelter I klnow is full to the brim and this year the kittens have been arrivinbg non stop. Years ago winter was the time when there were no kittens around and it gave us the opportunity to rehome the adult cats.Not so nowadays and the sheer numbers of cats and kittens is completely overwhelming.People are turning up daily with them and we simply have no more space. It is so very hard to turn them away but what can one do? If there is no space that is it. I always give advice and try to make them wait for a space here and most will do that, if I really think a cat is at risk I would take it but it would have to come in the house and I already have too many pets .

Anyhow on to the dog situation. it looks like Carlo , Jim and Branwen will be going on Friday. Little Timmy the collie from the Dog Pound may be going but I will advertise him until I am sure of that home turning up trumps. Someone brought in a young collie female, rather nervous(as they mostly seem to be!) and a Jack russell was found on the beach near Pwllheli - we have called him Basil because he has a rough coat like Basil Brush! He is a sweet dog about 12 months of age, he cowers quite a bit if you bend down to stroke him which is unusual for this breed which are generally quite outgoing dogs. Ben the Westie has had dozens of offers of homes so I am sifting through them to find the best one. I wish other dogs would have the same response. Poor Gel collie has been searching for a home(well we have been looking for him) for 4 months has had not one offer and he is a lovely dog, not the prettiest collie but loveable all the same. At 2 years he is the oldest collie we have and the younger ones are always snapped up first. I'm sure he will find someone nice soon.
Pictured from top Basil, Rosie(left) and Timmy(right)

I went to pick up a second hand washing machine today so we can start washing the animal bedding again now. It was great to see one of our rescued dogs at the house where we collected it. Hadley, now called Harvey was one of the winners of our dog show last year.He is a lovely grey lurcher and it was good to see him in such a nice home. That is such a boost,its one of my favourite things, to see dogs rescued from a dog pound or bad homes ,so close to a death sentence and then there they are happy and contented in lovely homes where they are cossetted and adored. Its worth every other negative thing that happens when living and working at an animal shelter.

I have just had a call about two cats booked in to a vet to be destroyed. Yes its about the woman who called here yesterday! I could shake her. I dont know what to do, we have no space at all.The only thing I can think of is to place another pen on top of an existing pen in the staff tearoom(caravan)hardly ideal for the cats or the staff who have little enough room in there to enjoy their tea break anyway but I dont know what else to do.I feel very angry with the owner who has had weeks to let me know that she was moving and chose to call the day before! Why do they do it? I am very fed up!