Phone and internet problems.

  John in Festive Mood on Xmas Eve!

The LLamas appeared to settle well the first night in their new home but the following morning I received an

urgent call from Angie saying one had broken out and was running up amd down the road near her property.The other three were calling him and had become very agitated.  Rosie, Dave,Teg and I jumped in our cars and rushed to the rescue but thankfully by the time we arrived Naughty Llama had returned to the fold and equilibrium had been restored . The Alpacas in the next field were thoroughly enjoying the disturbance , clearly regarding it as the entertainment of the day and were all peering over the fence watching the New Boys behaving badly!

New Volunteer here at the shelter Brendan loves LLamas (also  Donkeys and Goats)and today he offered to take food down to the Boys so he could meet them in person. It saved me a trip and gave him the opportunity to take stock of our new animal friends.
Hopefully over Christmas they will have become more settled, Angie has told me one of them appears to be bullying the others but Brendan who has had some experience caring for LLamas believes this is just because they are still in the process of settling into a new home.I hope this is the case as it would present me with a further problem if they had to be separated.

Little Jacky the border terrier went to her new home AND WAS RETURNED THE NEXT DAY! The reason given was that she smelled badly(she had been bathed before she went!) and they believed she had an infection. We sent her to the vet, guess what - there was nothing wrong with her at all. I was very angry and disappointed.This little dog is such a dear sweet natured animal but I am sure there is the right person out there for her, in fact someone else is going to see her today. Fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Interest has been shown in a couple of the collies but we are so close to Christmas now that  nothing much will happen before the New Year.The best news of all  for me and for  the two middle aged Jack Russells Dodger and Nancy  is that they have been adopted at long last .I am planning to ring later to see how they are getting on. I was starting to believe that I would have them forever and although I loved them dearly(they are such characters) they so  needed to be in a home of their own. The fact they are out of shelter life has made my Christmas a better one already.

Three adult cats have also been adopted and that has meant three more have been admitted from the huge waiting.There are so many cats waiting for places here and it seems an age since we were able to make any inroads into that list. I am banking on loads of visitors in the New Year, all clamouring for cats!!

Photo of staff on xmas day.
from left to right Gail, Kim,Rhian and Sue
 Due to popular demand all staff will be wearing bright pink onesies next Xmas (and that includes the men!)

Also pictured is Paddy (in  another upside  down photo)after his Christmas Lunch . He is doing really well now after his life saving operation.  Mei took the  photo of me  with the three Jack Russells  on my knee. Champ , Lucy and Sally the (temporary) resident. You may remember that 11 years old Lucy and 4 years old Champ were originally our Office dogs but when I realised they were never going to be adopted, (due to their temperamental ways with strangers) I decided to adopt them myself. Black and white Sally is the deaf terrier I took in a month ago and I am still hoping for a home to turn up for her as she would be happier as an only dog.


11 years old  ex Scouser Patch, as always is aloof and lurking near the tree, keeping well away from the other dogs. It is not that he does not like them, he loathes them! He is non aggressive fortunately but he despises them and likes to sleep as far away from them (and me)as possible.

December 28th

We have had no telephone or internet all over the holiday and even now it is coming and going so I am posting this blog with the hope that another will follow soon!

The Llama saga carried on with the situation deteriorating badly, on Christmas Eve Naughty LLama was bullying the others so badly he had to be separated and this caused great agitation in him but he had driven one into the ditch and we were worried he was going to kill him. Whilst we struggled to find a solution another accident happened and Blitzen, one of the friendlier ones was badly injured and as I write this we are hoping against hope that he will pull through, His back legs are at the moment not working and it is touch and go though he is fine in himself and eating well.We found a home for the Bully and  with great difficulty a number of us  managed to catch  and load him in the horse box and move him to his new place. He is not settling very well but it is early days and we have not given up on him just yet. It has been incredibly stressful and I feel so sorry for the lady fostering them who has been caused so much aggravation . We are unable to move the others until we know what is going to happen to   Blitzen as he cannot be left alone without his companions. At the moment nothing can be done until we know whether he is going to survive.

It has not been all bad news over Christmas. All the pups have been reserved and have now gone to new homes and  a few cats too.
I will try to get up to date with happenings in next blog.

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday and  I would like to thank everyone for their messages and goodwill.