Luca Is Very Naughty and Suzy gets Cosy

Today is like a winters day and I am reminded that I have a wood burning multi fuel stove which no longer works and the evenings are getting decidedly cooler. Can we afford a new one, even one of the cheaper models? There is oil fired central heating but that has gone up so much in price I only put it on when I am very very cold. The old adage of fat keeping you warm does not seem to work with me. Even with an extra stone of fat wrapped round my body the cold seems to envelop me. Little Suzy the last of my Yorkshire Terrier geriatrics spends much of the day and evening cuddled into a lovely cosy duvet type thing where she can snuggle right down inside it, it was meant for puppies but she loves it, I wish I was small enough to get in there with her.


It is time to start stocking up on winter hay for the horses, the grass we have at the moment will not last long once Big Buster and his two friends return. We will be lucky if it lasts until the end of October.Another bale of hay has been sent up there today for the three holidaymakers but not only is that going to be an extra chore, more importantly the rain and cold is not something Freddy can deal with, his coat is much finer than Buster and Callies and by now most of our horses are rugged up on days like this.With this in mind Mei has rung Gronwey (Man With Horsebox)and he will be able to bring them back tomorrow or the next day. I hope so,otherwise we will have to take his rug up there and try and dry him off to put it on.(Freddie not Gronwey!)


There have been loads of enquiries for Lockie the Labrador but I am struggling at the moment to find homecheckers in the areas in which the people live,Usually there is not a problem but there cannot be many other rescues(who help us out with homechecks in other areas) in Northumberland though the Hertfordshire and Surrey ones may still be a possibility. Maybe people are still away on holiday or too busy to respond to my appeals for help.
Luca German Shepherd has become a problem, he has turned on old Bramble, the last of the old collies to join my canine family. He has not shown any sign of this behaviour before other than his sheer exuberance but this cannot be tolerated so I have had to separate him from my own dogs now.He is a lovely dog but he needs to be the only dog or at least the only male until his neutering op kicks in! Oh how I wish it was compulsory to neuter male dogs. Theyare usually the ones which cause most problems in rescue suituations and so many have to be kennelled alone due to doggy testerone coursing through their bodies . Of course not all male dogs behave in a dominant fashion but a great percentage do and lose homes because of it.Nobody wants a dog humping their legs or cushions and wanting to fight every other male dog in the vicinity!!
I once went to see a great friend of Freshfields, a gentleman called Ron Mcknight who in the early days in Liverpool was one of the few supporters I had. Dear Ron had a terrier dog which spent the whole period of my visit clamped to my leg making movements one could only describe as extremely amorous! Every now and again Ron would try to stop the dog, he was obviously embarassed and so as not to make him feel worse about it , I lied and said"dont worry he isnt bothering me!!!" WHY DID I SAY THAT? I could have asked for him to put the dog outside but on reflection I doubt he would have been able to prise him off.I had to endure this unwanted attention for another hour! Ron still supports and helps this charity ,though the oversexed dog has long since gone , and although retired he will always be thought of as one of the original "Freshfields" people. We have come such a long way since those early days in the 70's. We still have no money but the charity has grown so much I can scarcely believe it myself. Between the two shelters we help over a thousand animals annually and the main policy remains the same, no healthy animal destroyed. Not bad for a charity with its beginnings in a small semi detached house in suburban Merseyside.


On vets advice, the old feral cat is to be given a few more days to see if he gains any weight, I still suspect more underlying problems but I hope I am wrong. We appear to be containing the sneezing in the kitten room, there have been no new outbreaks so its fingers crossed that it will not be long before we can resume homing the kittens, if it takes a long time they will all be full grown adult cats and we really do not want that to happen. Regardless of that possibility it would not be fair to bring others in or to give kittens to people without being as sure as we can be that they are not going to come down with anything once home.

Regarding the dog walk, it seems there will be some attending after all as I have had a few emails from those planning to do the walk and who have started to raise funds for us. A supporter who lives in Liverpool will be attending and although she does not currently own a dog she will be 'borrowing ' one of our dogs here. Elin and Eleri who are Meirwens 11 year old twin nieces will be taking my Patch for the walk and from what I hear are doing well so far with their sponsorship .Then there is a lady called Jacqueline Jones who works for Barclays Bank in Porthmadog who is raising sponsorship and the Bank will match whatever she raises so if anyone wants to sponsor her she has a form in our charity shop on the High Street or call in at Barclays.If you live too far away you could send it to her c/o Freshfields animal rescue charity shop, High Street.Porthmadog, Gwynedd,North Wales. Cheques can be made payable to Freshfields animal rescue.
Even if the walk only raises a few hundred I will be pleased, the cats alone are eating over £200 worth of food a week. It seems to last no time at all at the moment but there are over 100 cats in residence and a few dozen kittens too.Thats a lot of hungry mouths to fill. Needless to say cats will not be fobbed off with the cheap bargain cat food, oh no, only the best will do for our feline friends.(actually some will be enticed by the cheaper brands but only a few are not that discerning I'm afraid)

There seems to be a second wave of mother cats and kittens around and I have had so many calls asking me to take them in lately but we are absolutely full to the brim and with the kittens still in isolation we have lost that space too. I can only hope that we will soon be in a position to give shelter to some of these unwanted pets. In the meantime I will do what I am really good at - WORRYING.