Oops!

Oops, wrong shelter in Mumbai was featured in the Passage to India documentary - sorry to mislead.,I did not realise there was another shelter there doing same work as Renus' Freshfields shelter.Still it was an interesting documentary though I feel the lady interviewed was rather misleading in her comments about most dogs belonging to people.From what I hear from Renu, many are regarded as pests and have stones thrown at them to keep them away from humans! Certainly she feeds over 200 street dogs every night. and is not regarded as a saviour to the homeless dogs but more like a nuisance in encouraging them ,to the extent she has to move her feeding stations from place to place to avoid creating confrontations.

I have discovered there are three major animal welfare organisations in Japan which are helping animals in distress and made homeless through the dreadful earthquake which has devastated the area.It is good to know there are people helping, I dont envy them their difficult job but well done to them. I have been feeling very low lately having descended into one of my black phases but the plight of those in the stricken area leaves me feeling ashamed of myself.

The two labradors which have gone to live in Cardiff are doing really well, there are people travelling here from Essex on Sunday for Jenny Lurcher and Tizer Jack Russell is going today.The dogs are going fairly well but the cat side of it seems to have ground to a halt and I cannot afford to pay for newspaper adverts at the moment. I will send some more photos of cats to the catchat website and hope that brings something. Oscar the poor cat which was returned is on their topcat page in the hope that someone will take pity on him.

We are full to the brim with cats and the waiting list is growing every day but yesterday I agreed to admit a cat of 9 years whose owner had died, her only relative lived in the Midlands so it was pretty urgent for the cat to go quickly.Cuddles is used to living indoors and has lived with a dog and another cat(adopted by the relative) so in spite of her shyness she may have qualities which will endear her to a prospective adopter. Todays video shows some of the many resident cats eagerly anticipating their lunch. I am the popular Dinner Lady on duty today!

3 dogs have gone for neutering/spaying today - Jenny the lurcher from the Dog Pound, Lad the Collie from the Cage and Ellie a dear little terrier found a few weeks ago and was admitted here in a very neglected condition, covered in fleas, underweight and with ears that looked as though another dog has had hold of her.Ellie(pictured here) is currently living with the gang in the living room.Jenny lurcher is going on Sunday so I will back to a manageable three!Tizer Jack russell has left us us today for his home in Shropshire, he is going to live in Plumtree Cottage, doesnt that sound wonderful? He will be companion to a very sweet but boss lady Scottish terrier. Its a very strange thing but sometimes we have a week or two of receiving calls about a certain breed as we did with Jack Russells a few weeks ago, now we are back to collies again, every call seems to be about a collie at the moment.When I speak to people at other shelters they have experienced the same, nobody has any idea why this occurrs but it happens all the time. For instance I seldom have requests to take dobermans, in fact in 9 years I have only been asked to admit one and last week I had 3 calls about dobermans within a few days! Weird!

We are struggling with the lack of foster homes and therefore having to "stagger" the dogs we can help and prioritise the most urgent.As always the ones at most risk are the strays in the pound , the neglected or mistreated ones and those whose owners have died, but everyone thinks that their problem is the most urgent and as such a lot of pressure can be put on us to take action, it is quite often the cause of my frequent headaches.

Ken (pictured here)one of our horses out on loan has passed away at his home with his carer Nicola who has done all she can to give him a good quality of life the past 2 years. Nobody could have done more and he has had a wonderful life with her and horsey companions.