Mary, Aimee and Sparky.

The photo is of 3 cats which are part of the group of 12 which came in when their owner died. They are all such sweet natured animals, Id love them to go in pairs if possible but at the moment it is so quiet for cats, I dont hold out much hope for that , perhaps after Christmas things will improve on the rehoming front.
The 2 horses which are going to a foster home will be arriving on Saturday so I look forward to seeing them next weekend.Their fosterer Mary is a person with years of expertise with horses, her late husband wrote many books on equine care including "The Anatomy of the Horse" so we are very lucky to find her.
Nothing came of the homeless Boa Constrictor so perhaps they found him a home, I did manage to speak to Gary of the North Wales Reptile rescue, an organisation which does its best for unwanted and neglected snakes, lizards etc. He told me that it is very hard to place a Boa as they often carry a disease which if undetected can wipe out someones entire collection.People are wary of taking them on and most of the rescues are so under pressure they cannot find room for such a big reptile.If only there was a strict procedure for the ownership of such creatures, so many must fall into inexpert hands and as I mentioned before in my blog.these animals should not be allowed as family pets.My conversation with Gary , who told me of some of the cases he deals with simply helped reinforce this view.
The three colts are getting very cheeky, Merlin is starting to feel a little more confident around people and staff can now approach without him showing such extreme fear.Its a slow process but there is no quick fix to gain the confidence of a nervous animal.Patience is the key.

Gismo goes again.

Well, Gismo (pictured)was returned and 2 days later he has gone to another home, this time I hope for good.He will be a friend for another collie.Poor old Siobhan is still with me and there is a problem now because Pepe the abandoned red and white collie has formed a deep attachment to her.He is still such a very shy nervous little dog and he follows Siobhan everywhere.If she comes for a fuss, he will also though hides behinds her hoping we cant see him!! He is not house trained and I suspect this is why he was abandoned but he has such a nice nature if only we could overcome this and he was to gain more confidence round people.Of course we dont know what has happened to him priuor to his arrival at the shelter and he has obviously a fear of human beings so it could be a long job. He wags his tail when he sees me and others he knows but he is too scared to stay close, very occasionally he will allow me to fuss him but them he darts away as though he thinks I will chastise him, poor little man.
I had a call today about a Boa Constrictor meeding a home!!Trisha from our Porthmadog shop has had a request about finding a home for one whose owner is moving house and cant take the snake with him. I most certainly will not be rushing to collect HIM.(or the owner) I will try to find a suitable place for him with specialists, so many are kept cooped up in tiny tanks and far from ideal. I wish someone would explain the appeal of these, in my view they are NOt pets and should never be kept as such.I wonder if I will have loads of emails from people protesting that they are beautiful(I would agree with that)and make wonderful family pets!(I would Not agree with that)

Seal on beach

Photo is of the stranded seal pup from last week, shown with Barry and a few passers by looking on.Barry has followed up his progress and it appears he is doing well.It has taken sometime to upload a photo as the ones Barry took were wonderful, well at least they were wonderful of the blue tarpaulin they used to carry him in!! He sent me several different views of the tarpaulin with no sign of the seal.
This one was taken by Barbara our new volunteer and there is not a tarpaulin in sight.A much better photo I think you will agree.
I spoke to Merlins last owner today, seems our new colt is a gypsy cob and will make around 13 hands.I was surprised to hear his mother and father were that size, I was sure he would grow into a bigger pony.He is so much bigger than Celt and Shamrock the welsh pony colts. He certainly looks like a typical Gypsy animal, lots of feathering round his legs and a sturdy body with small ears, a very different shape to the others. I know very little about the breeding of horses and ponies, my only interest is their welfare but I have to admit to a sneaking admiration of this type of pony.I love the appearance of them, they remind me of an old horse I remember from my childhood. An old grey shire cross called Terence used to pull the rag and bone mans cart and my mother used to always rush out to the gate and as he passed by would give him a treat, an apple or a carrot.My mother was always quite scared of horses although she loved all animals and she made the mistake of curling her fingers round the apple instead of holding it flat on her palm.Needless to say the horse munched down and almost crushed my mums fingers.After that she made me give Terence his weekly treat. Mum and i felt so sorry for this old horse plodding miserably round the busy streets of Liverpool, blinkered and weary in all sorts of weather. When he died we were quite glad not to see him anymore but then another took his place and once again our hearts went out to him, this time a small bay pony was used. As he grew older I begged the owner to let me retire him but he would not hear of it and I often wonder what became of him, he always looked so dispirited, no green fields for him to enjoy, just days of pulling a heavy cart.
Im so glad I didnt live in the days where working horses were a daily sight, I heard enough sad tales from my mother and grandmother.
On a lighter note I have found a home for the 4 rabbits, a collie waiting to come in and several kittens. A friend from the midlands has found homes for all of these and is collecting them Sunday.
I have been asked to take 2 pygmy goats and am trying to work out a safe area for them, goats need a very secure paddock and I am not a fan of tethering.I will try advertising them locally, there are so many people with land round here, maybe someone is out there just waiting for a pair of goats called Ding and Dong!
The weather is so cold and wet, its hard to believe we have so many cats, theres not a one in view anywhere, they are all keeping warm and dry in their respective houses.
The forecast is bad for this weekend so there is little hope of a nice dry day at the moment. The horses are all ready and waiting to come in by 4pm.

Meet Merlin

Today Merlin has really started to settle and is following the other youngsters wherever they go.Now its a case of handling him as often as possible. he has not had a headcollar on before and is unused to being on the end of a lead rope so we should have plenty of fun with him! He needs our farrier to trim his feet, then we can see exactly what is going on with him.He has clearly not been seen by a farrier before so that is another obstacle he needs to overcome. The trouble with the type of person who bred him, is that no time is spent on the foals, no getting them used to human contact, just bred and turned out with the rest of the herd.This is the worst thing they can do, foals need to be handled well right from the start otherwise you end up with very troublesome and potentially dangerous animals through no fault of their own.Ponies like this are evrey farriers nightmare.can you imagine having to try to pick up a horses feet to trim and the animal has never had someone do that before so is scared and resistant.Sometimes we have had to call in a vet to sedate a pony in order that his feet can be trimmed.Even then they can rear on their hind legs which is no joke, even the smallest shetland can manage a very hefty kick and I speak as one who knows!
We are having one of the field shelters extended so more ponies can take shelter during the day if the weather turns nasty, it will only be a three sided affair joined on to the existing shelter but it will afford more protection against the elements

A new foal arrives.

The new foal arrived unexpectedly from South Wales,Although I knew he was coming at end of the month no arrangements had been made so they took a chance arriving without even a phone call.I do wish people would not do this.It isnt like fitting in a dog or a cat which in itself can be hard but with horses much more has to be sorted out.
Anyhow he is here now and I am pretty sure he has not been weaned correctly, he was extremely traumatised and seemed to be in a frenzy searching for his mother, it was upsetting to witness.Today he is calmer and has settled down with the two other youngsters.We have called him Merlin, he is a coloured Welsh cob colt and is about 5 months, the same age as Celt and Shamrock though quite a bit larger.It is clear that he has not been handled much and is very headshy and skittish so will need quite a bit of work to make him as easy to handle as this companions.Although I had bveen told he had suffered a leg injury through barging through a wire fence, the driver of the horsebox told me a different story, that the colt had been born with a deformed front leg. We have called the vet out next week.At the moment he is too hard to handle and we need him to settle more before upsetting him again.Merlin has a very strange gait and at the moment I do not know exactly what the problem is or if it can be rectified.
More mice arrived and have gone to the LIverpool shelter for rehoming, I think we have taken the majority now as they are only being caught in smaller numbers now.Thank goodness for that, I was dreaming about mice every night!
Disappointingly the lovely cross collie/gsd Gismo which was rehomed days ago has been returned, seems a member of the family developed an allergy to him.What a shame, this is the one of the nicest best behaved dogs ever. Soemone will have a cracker in him. hopefully he will go again soon.
I must go in as fireworks are going off everywhere, my neighbour is having a bonfire party for her grandchildren, she thoughtfully always let me know so I can ensure the animals are kept in.All the horses are in their stables, cats shut away(except the ferals which I cant round up)dogs are comfortable in their beds, house dogs have the TV on loud as William is terrified of loud noises and is the one I always have problems with each year.The tv driowns out the noise of the bangs outside. For a rural area this past two years has seen an increase in fireworks due to the many young families who have moved closeby. I ache for the farm dogs and others chained up with no way to escape the noise. Roll on the end of the week.

Reunited with her owner

Well, the little old dog was claimed this morning, she was 16 years old and her owner was very pleased to have her back, as was Sandy who was overjoyed to be reunited with her owner. I have cautioned her that she must take her to seek veterinary treatment immediately, the poor little dog has a very sore mouth which looks very infected and I suspect there is something more serious underlying with her weight loss.The owner was worried if she took her to the vet she would have to have her put down so had delayed doing so to the detriment of her pet.I had no doubt she was dearly loved but there is more than one way to be cruel to a pet and withholding veterinary treatment is certainly one.I will check that she has done as I requested. In the meantime I may get a good nights sleep tonight, little Sandy howled all night and in the end she had to join the gang in my bed where she settled straight away! (I hasten to add that the gang are comprised of several cats and a dog and not the entire cast of the Chippendales!) I should be so lucky!!

A little old dog arrives and horse neglect reported.

I had 2 cases of possible horse neglect reported to me this weekend, one involved several horses being kept in poor conditions in a muddy field.Most were underweight, one particularly so. They had been eating the bark off the trees(a sign of vitamin deficiency and starvation)This is no way to keep horses and is very upsetting to see.
The other was a pony with overgrown feet , he was clearly in a great deal of pain when he walked though there were signs someone was caring for him as there were feed and water bowls in the field.
Photos of both have been sent to the ILPH for action to be taken.All I can do in cases of reported neglect is to visit, take photographic evidence and forward this on to organisations which have the power and resources to take action.As many cases which are reported can be simply a case of a dispute between neighbours and no cruelty or neglect is evident I am happy to check it out before calling in already overworked inspectors.
A little old dog was brought in today, she is emaciated and has the most terrible teeth which must prevent her from eating properly, she was found wandering along a busy road and was in danger of being killed.She will have to visit the vet tomorrow.Currently she is curled up in a basket in my living room and seems glad to be warm and comfortable.Who knows if anyone will claim her.I am doubtful but stranger things have happened.She seems oblivious to the presence of the resident dogs and cats which is a bonus - after agreeing to take her I worried about the possibility she would be a cat hater but as soon as I saw her, it was clear that she is far too frail to be a threat to the cats.