Merlin is returned.

I have just had a call from someone who has taken an ex farm dog (nOT FROM ME) which is so terrified of strangers he curls up in a corner and urinates whenever someone visits the house.Poor poor dog.When the person leaves he springs into action, runs at them and nips then hides again.Clearly he has not been socialised at all though he is house trained.If I can home Billy the staff this dog could go in with Bonny the foxhound and we could try to work with him.I dont think a foster home would be able to cope with his problems.
One of my blog readers wanted to stress to me that not all farmers are cruel, she is from a farming family herself and I did tell her that my own farming neighbours are good to their dogs so I am aware that not all mistreat them.Nevertheless it is a fact that very few of the ex farm dogs I see display normal behaviour patterns, alomost all of them are terrifed of their own shadow, are neglected in appearance and are cowed and miserable I would love to be part of an education programme to instill different thought processes into the heads of those who keep their working sheepdogs in a state of permanent terror.(well I can dream)This type of owner give the others a bad name.
A cat we just rehomed, Merlin is being returned.(picturted here)What a shame, however he will find a home soon, apart from little Martha with the one eye, he is the youngest cat here.
4 cats have gone to be neutered today, one of them, Bramble" already has a home waiting.The other 3 are part of the "hard to home" gang.The pretty ginger youngsters are semi feral and need a very special home and the dark tortie is very shy and needs someone with no other cats and a quiet environment.There is someone out there for most animals, its just not always easy finding them!
The date for the Open Day has been decided.The grand event will take place on July 25th, Now is the hard part - organising it all, though thankfully most will be done by George who is the official fundraiser for Freshfields. We hope to have a dog agility/flyball display so I am trying to finalise that arrangement this week.
Teg is doing well with his training for the Snowdon race, he tells me he made it three quarters of the way up last week. He is amazing.
Watched the documentary last night "the lion cub from harrods" I had already seen the moving video clip on youtube but the documentary too was very touching but upsetting in parts.Thank goodness Harrods no longer sell animals in this way, there was a clip showing a woman walking an exotic cat(was it a cheetah?) along the Kings Road!!! Sheer exhibitionism at the expense of a creature which should be living a life of freedom.I couldnt help but wonder at the fate of the sibling lion cub.What happened to her? Best not to think.The conditions in Harrods were pretty grim too.
Bens homecheck in Dorset has passed , we have a new homechecker Wendy who is the lady who gave a home to Christy collie(now called Ben).If the new Bens home turns out to be as good as Wendys he will be a very lucky animal.
Just as I was about to finish this, a call came through from the owner of the stray pony!!! We are now on speaking terms and I hope this situation will be resolved for once and for all.He is reluctant to pay for the ponys keep but will ring me later after he has spoken to his father about it.