Disappointing news, the home for Gel has fallen through.Oh well clearly it was not meant to be, how easy is it going to be to find him a home now we know that he will be on painkillers indefinitely?He is such a nice dog too, I feel very disappointed.There is a lot of interest in the two wirecoated jack russell including someone from Scotland!It would be nice if they could go together, they seem to like each other rather a lot, when Millie went in to be spayed Timmy was very despondent without her.
The pigs have been out in the sun all day, they lie inert for hours on end and sometimes I have to go and inspect them, they are so still I think they might have died in their sleep but no, as I get near they half open their eyes and with a bit of a snuffle and grunt go back to sleep again.Having reassured myself they are alive and well I can get on with my work knowing they will live to eat another day.They are pretty old for pigs and each winter I wonder if they will make it but they keep surprising me.Dear old pigwigs.
Today there have been loads of calls from people wanting to get rid of animals, both dogs and cats, no horses thank goodness. Some of the calls are from people who purchased their pets from other shelters and although they signed an adoption form stating that in the event they were unable to keep the said animal it must be returned to the charity concerned, when they try to do so they are told there is no room.This concerns me greatly, some people will do the decent thing and wait for a space but many will find a way to rid themselves of an unwanted pet and if the shelter will not help, they will go elsewhere or even abandon it.Remember the story of Carlos just a few weeks ago?In my view it is the first responsibility of the charity concerned to take that animal back and hold off taking in new animals.If there is genuinely no space, and I am not saying that is not the case as most shelters are full at this time of year, then attempts should be made to put the pet into a foster situation or a boarding kennels or cattery.,At the end of the day each shelter should take responsibility for their own animals.Homing them is wonderful but pointless if there is no back up offered when things go wrong in the future. I have lost count of how many pets I have taken in which have been homed from other shelters and invariably when I contact them I receive the same answer "we have no room".
I stopped giving that answer years ago after a dog I rehomed just a week before was destroyed because I told the owner who wanted to return it, that I would not have room for at least another week.The same day the 7 months old pup was put down by an obliging vet in Southport.It took me a long time to get over that becasue I blamed myself for being too trusting. Nowadays I take no chances and will find a place no matter what, it can be hard but I will spend hours on the phone until I find somewhere temporary until there is room here.
I admitted a pregnant cat from LLandudno, it seemed urgent as it was reputedly about to give birth - Rhian took one look at the cat and discovered it to be a neutered male!!! At least there will be no kittens to worry about.
We have three very matted cats in at the moment so all will have to be anaesthetised at the vets and be dematted. These longhaired cats are beautiful to look at but need so much care and attention.They are not everyones cup of tea but why get one if you are not prepared to groom and care for it? The poor things are so uncomfortable and it can be painful too, not to mention the cause of skin infections .
We have been allocated a stall at the 3 day show at Builth welles in Powys on 23rd July, the weekend before our Open Day. Its an expensive stall but a good way to spread the word about our work and to distribute fundraising appeal leaflets. Freshfields is not well known yet in Wales and we need to promote ourselves wherever and whenever possible.
If the weather stays good over the weekend(its beautiful today) Mion and Elspeth from Porthmadog are holding a stall for us at the Criccieth Fair on Bank Holiday Monday.Fingers crossed.
Pictured here is Zoe one of our permanent residents caught napping in one of the stables, You can just about spot her peeking out the hay.Our cats find the most unusual places to catnap, we have snapped them in buckets, on tractors, in wheelbarrows, in filing trays and all sorts of weird and wonderful places. Hay and straw is a big favourite with the feral cats on the property.They look so comfy I could almost curl up there with them.
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