The face of neglect

The first admittance of the New Year is an emaciated lurcher suffering from mange. My first sight of him was curled up on the passenger seat of the car he was brought in, he looked desperately sad and as though all the spirit was gone from him. A lump came to my throat when I carried him out of the car (he did not want to walk -his feet are sore from the skin infection) I deliberated whether to send him to a foster home but most foster people have other dogs so I decided the best option was to keep him with me for the time being. Mei and I set up an indoor kennel for him in my back kitchen where he has settled down immediately and gratefully as though in relief at being somewhere comfortable . He was discovered in the grounds of Glynllifon (a huge country estate)by the shepherd who tends their sheep and had been kept in a shed there overnight.This poor emaciated lurcher will need a course of treatment to sort out his skin problem and his weight will have to be built up very slowly so as not to overload his stomach which will have shrunk through lack of food.He is naturally enough willing to eat everything put in front of him but it has to be little and often at the moment. Every time I see an animal like this my blood boils over, why does it happen? It is a question that can never be satisfactorily answered.
The good news today is that Titch is better, he seems to have completely got back to normal after his scary fit the other night and as I write this he is out in the fields grazing with the other ponies. Shetlands are such stoical little ponies , they are not everyones cup of tea but I love their characters and personality.Speaking of ponies, Rocky,Honey and Caspar are being returned on Monday.The snow prevented them arriving before the holiday so unless the snow starts again between now and Monday they will definitely be back with us next week. Its such a shame their carers have lost their field, the smaller ponies have been happy and contented there for some years and Rocky only left us a few months ago. Such a Pity.
More good news concerns Taz, the GSD rescue have found a foster home for her with someone who trains the breed so she will be able to continue the good work done by Dermot and Sue over the last two months and eventually be found a suitable forever home where there are no cats. This outcome is a great relief to me and to them, we all want the best for her and none of us wanted to think of her going back into a kennel situation which may have resulted in the positive improvements in her behaviour being undone.
Out of the five feral cats admitted we decided to only place three of the wilder ones in the feral enclosure, both Rhian and I feel there is hope for the other two to become domesticated and subsequently homed. I'm quite pleased about that. Suitable farm homes for wild cats are not plentiful, well not the ones where the ferals will be fed and housing provided and those are the only ones I will consider.They were very scared at first but all seem now to have settled into a routine and are eating well which is a sure sign they have accepted their new surroundings.

Happy New Year to everyone and heres hoping 2011 will be a good one!