A Pair of Calamity Janes.

I am writing this with one eye half closed and my face a delightful mix of colours ranging from red, and purple to dark blue and black; No I have not had my face painted nor have I gone five rounds with Mike Tyson but What I have done is to headbutt my tanklike 4x4 Toyota truck -not a sensible move you might think and you would be right. Of course it was not deliberate though on reflection it was a pretty stupid accident. I normally leave my car parked in the same place every day but yesterday I moved it close to the cattery in order to unload the catfood I had bought and I forgot to move it. On Sunday we were expecting the people to come for the collie pup and I sat down on the ground(at the back of the car) to make a fuss of Millie.Just then Tasha (an unpredictable canine resident here) came racing into the yard and I thought she might attack the puppy or worse so I grabbed hold of her collar, turned to get up , forgot the car was right behind me and headbutted the fender or something equally as hard! I was lucky that the damage was done just underneath my right eye but its a pretty gruesome sight.As if I dont have enough dents in the car already! Picture taken a day later and with some make up to cover worst of bruising! Thanks to the staff who helped me to my feet and administered first aid and sympathy I was soon back to work.

Mei also has had an accident, this time with the quad bike which overturned on her and she very narrowly missed being squashed though she is badly bruised .She had thought she heard someone calling her and in that split second she lost concentration and that is when the accident occurred The pair of us sat for hours waiting to be seen today in the casualty unit at Bangor Hospital and A right pair of bruisers we looked too.Fortunately Meis injuries are not life threatening and I hopefully will not be scarred for life so we may look horrendous but we will both live to rescue (animals)another day.

On to more important animal issues now, there are so many horrid animal abuse stories in the media at the moment and so many poor inadequate sentences being meted out to the perpetrators I can only wonder when this Government is going to take a stance against the evil minded thugs in our society and when they will realise that animal abusers have no respect for other human beings either and they are just one step away from mugging an elderly person, abusing children and women and even murder and maybe they have already begun to move on to people?

The pathetic sentences these scum receive is not even halfway to being a deterrent.What does it take for the Powers that be to stand up and come down heavily on those who do not deserve to walk the streets in freedom. I believe we are at a point in our society where if things do not change soon for the better, the lawless amongst us will become stronger and have even less respect for their environment and the animals and people with whom they share the planet. Something drastic has to be done - and SOON. There is a lot to be said for the Buddhist way of revering all life forms, if only the evil and the bad could somehow be indoctrinated into that mindset.What a nice world we would live in then.

2 more lovely cats came in today, they were abandoned by their owner who moved house about a year ago and neighbours have been feeding them ever since.Now with winter not too far away they have become concerned for the welfare of the cats. Judging by the sheer size of them, they have been doing the rounds of the neighbours and eating a hearty meal in each home.They are ENORMOUS. A litter of kittens has been taken into our Porthmadog shop and fosterer Dorothy is caring for them until we have space. Trish who runs this shop often asks her husband Bob to help out with transport and it was he who delivered the whippet pup and collected the pregnant tabby to take to Fosterer Mion.

Whippet pup Scooby is filled with joy at having so much exercise here, he is not in the best condition, we have had to deflea and worm him, he has fleabites on his head and is suffering with ear mites too but in a few weeks his coat should begin to look better and with the treatment he has had today the fleas and earmites should vanish. I do love whippets and lurchers, oh and

greyhounds too. They may be ardent hunters but they are so loving and affectionate and not all are bad with other animals. My William was a perfect example of that, he was wonderful with all other creatures and I know many people who own greyhounds which live happily with pet cats. This little man should prove very desirable once his details go on the website.

Big Black Labrador Loughlin went today, he was a little nervous when he first met his new people but soon grew to like them.I think this dog has had so little socialisation in his last home

that he is simply unused to meeting new people and is understandeable apprehensive when he first meets them. He had grown to love life here although he had been with us such a short time,He enjoyed the regular walks and the attention from the staff and as with many dogs who have not been in the most suitable of homes, he would have been happy to live here permanently. I know some think that life in a shelter is No life for a dog and I agree to a certain extent, I for one love to see them going out to homes of their own but it has to be remembered that some dogs are happier than they have ever been and although we know they will be better off somewhere else, they do not have that foresight so are scared when they leave us for the unknown.

I am off to Llandudno tomorrow to be a shop assistant for the day, hope I dont scare off the customers!