Lad is Adopted Today

I cant believe it but have just been told the ultra popular cancer charity fundraiser     "Race for Life" is on the same day as our Sponsored Walk". I am now in a quandary.Do I change the date and if I do will it make any difference?Nobody is going to want to sponsor 2 events around the same time and in every office/works place there is bound to be someone doing the Race For Life. I really dont know what to do but  I need to make a decision fast!
Mei and I went to check out a home for Billy Jack Russell today, unfortunately the huge garden/paddock needs some more fencing to make it safe for dogs, however we have managed to secure more free grazing for our ponies.There is enough land for us to put at least 4 ponies there for the summer so this year we should have more ponies out than ever before. What a difference this will make.It gives our own fields a chance to be rested  and the staff will have more time to do the jobs which have been put on a back burner throught the busy winter months when there is so much mucking out to do.
We had people here today who are looking for a companion pony for their own and they have expressed interest in our beloved youngster Merlin and also little Sam shetland. The next step is a homecheck to ensure the home is suitable  - only the best for our  equines.
Today an extremely nice  young  couple turned up from Wrexham with two beautiful rabbits whose student owner was planning to abandon them because he found them too much to look after! I would have thought someone intelligent enough to be enrolled in College or University would have the common sense not to take on pets if they have no time to care for them .Clearly this assumption was totally wrong and Intelligence and common sense do not always go hand in hand  .How fortunate I am that I possess both!!!!!! No comments on this please.

As my lighthearted comment shows, my black mood is beginning to lift and my sense of humour is slowly but surely returning.  Praise the lord for that small mercy! The staff will no doubt be relieved too; when I lived at the LIverpool shelter I was hated by many of the staff (probably still am) who found my mood swings hard to deal with and of course I was not diagnosed as being Bipolar in those days so they just saw me as a bad tempered old hag! Nowadays I am hardly sweetness and light but my meds keep me (almost) on an even keel emotionally and my staff here in Wales profess to be quite fond of me(at least thats what they say to my face!)

The best news ever today has been that Lad the poor collie incarcerated in that rusty cage, has been adopted by a lovely couple from Anglesey, he made such a great fuss of them I think they were bowled over by him straight away. The  people who originally reported his plight to me have just telephoned to see how he is getting on and they are as thrilled as I am about his adoption. I will never stop feeling that sense of joy when we watch an animal like Lad leaving us to start a new and better life,it is just great.Pictured here is dear old Lad making himself at home and ready for the drive to his new home.He is a lucky boy and has every reason to be thankful that people not only passed by him in his horrible home but that they cared enough to do something about it. Over the years I have spoken to many who are upset about the treatment  or living conditions of neglected pets but refuse to do anything about it for fear of recrimination. I know this happens with child abuse cases also and I  feel very strongly that if people know abuse is going on whether it be a child or an animal, they have a duty to do their best to help - even a telephone call  can help but to ignore and hope the situation goes away is tantamount to being an accessory to it.   One case springs to mind and it is so distressing that I will not  write about it but suffice to say that the person who told me was one of our charity shop helpers and when I said I would help , she refused to give me the persons name and address.I felt so helpless, knowing something bad was going on and not being able to do anything. The guilty party was not even a close neighbour so there would have been no come back on her at all  so why did she bother to tell me in the first place ? I spent months thinking about it  , the same woman calls herself an animal lover- I dont think so!   I dont know how she lives with herself by standing by and taking no action.   She is no longer working in our shop.
I heard yesterday that little Teddy the disabled German Shepherd pup has been to a specialist in Surrey but in spite of  everything he has had to have his leg amputated .Poor little chap has been through a lot  but the vets have said they think he will cope well with his loss and he is young enough to adjust.The owner who abandoned him had a lot to answer to but still I hear nothing more from the RSPCA about their investigation. I wish I had done my own! I will be going to see Teddy  when he has recovered and hope to take some photos of him which I will post on blog. Sharon, the receptionist at the local Vet will be coming with me as she has been following his progress avidly and being a great dog lover herself has a very special place in her heart for him.

Well its time to take my mottley crew out on the fields, Paddy seems a lot brighter at the moment and enjoys a gallop around with the other more agile dogs(he never manages to catch up with them)I may  try to take a video of their antics tomorrow.Third time lucky.