Dancing with William.

The news is hopeful for the little pup abandoned outside the vets surgery in Pwllhelli- he is getting stronger and he DOES NOT have Parvo thankfully,he was riddled with worms and weak.See Photo here of him in his box. It may not be long before we can take him over and there is already the possibility of a home for him.
On Sunday Mei and I attended the fundraising event organised by the Anglesey Dog Club- "Dancing with dogs",.They raised £180 for the shelter which was great and it was also an entertaining afternoon.It certainly made a change watching dogs behaving themselves and thoroughly enjoying the activities set out for them. You could see the excitement and pleasure in their faces, dogs just love to "play" with their owners. Well I just had to try it for myself soI brought William in and had a go. It didnt go quite as I had planned, William being only interested in the treat I held in my hand but it wasnt a bad effort for us as a team though nobody has yet rushed to sign us up for Britains Got Talent.For those who may not recognise me I am the one with the vanishing leg! Williams tail is also doing a disappearing act.
Iam trying to find a home for two horses whose owner has died, one is 15.2hh , 20 years old and fit and able but he has to go with his 30 years old pony companion and thats what is making it so hard. Nobody wants to take him on also and they have been together for many years. I have to phone someone else back who has left a message about another equine in need.I must do that today, I have been putting it off because I really cannot cope with more here at this moment in time and my heartstrings get pulled when I hear the details of these homeless unwanted animals. Buster and Rocky who were returned this winter may not go out again on loan due to health problems so I have to consider that factor when I am making decisions about admitting new horses.
Freddie(Kruger)pictured here. has learned to open his stabledoor and has been creating havoc in the night, he has been pulling out hay from the horse box where we keep some of our bales and in the morning there is a real mess in the yard. After all these years with us he is still quite a nervous animal though one hundred percent better than he was when he first arrived from Jersey where he was due to be shot.We heard about him from a friend involved in animal welfare over there,Freddie had been passed from home to home and because he was not good in traffic he had been used as a companion horse but he did not want to stay in the field on his own and would jump gates and fences to follow other horses. Unfortunately he had more than one altercation with passing cars and as a result he was deemed too dangerous to live and was scheduled to be put down. He was 15 years old when he arrived nearly eight years ago and was a nervous wreck not trusting anybody but now he is much calmer and of course he never has to be in a field on his own. Freddie is great friends with old Callie and the pair are always seen together.We no longer use the "Kruger" part of his name because it no longer suits him.He is just plain Freddie nowadays.
Yesterday Barry and I went to visit our charity shops in Barmouth, Lampeter and Machynlleth and also to see a new premises in Lampeter which could be better than the one we are currently renting. The recession has hit our shops in a drastic way and we have to look at ways to improve sales.Moving our premises in Caernarfon has definitely done the trick so perhaps theLampeter move will prove to be a good one also. It is always good to see the people who give so much of their time in the shops to help the shelter.As the Porthmadog sshop is closer to the shelter I see quite a bit of Trish and her staff but I dont always see as much of the others as I should, especially Sue in Barmouth , Elinor and Gareth from Machynlleth and Audrey in Lampeter.They have been such reliable helpers and without our shops and the staff in them,we would not be able to continue our work and If we waited for donations to arrive in the post, we would go under. Elinors husband Gareth has been very ill and it was uplifting to see him with such a positive attitude , my heart went out to both of them for all they have been through.That nothwithstanding they still continue to help Freshfields, a real inspiration. It makes me feel very humble.
There is more interest now in our cats and and today the lovely ginger brothers LLew and Miri have gone to a home together and on sunday I delivered two more older cats to a home in Anglesey. As always, when some leave us others arrive and we have admitted two lovely cats (I brought them back from Machynlleth) mother and daughter whose owner died 18 months ago and whom have been homeless ever since. Then today a very handsome tabby stray was brought in making the cattery almost full,there is still space for just one or two more and I feel pretty sure those spaces will be filled by the end of the week.
As I finish this I have had to call out the Vet again to Connie the old shetland pony , she does not seem right today according to Barbara and Mei and in light of her recent "choke" problem I am not willing to wait and see how she is tomorrow. Connie is in her thirties and Mei and I have just agreed she may not have long to go.If her quality of life is deteriorating ,that awful but necessary decision may have to be made very soon. Selfish as it is I hope its not today though I will abide by the advice given by our Vet. I like to prepare mentally for the loss of animals which have been with us for years. Fingers crossed!