Animals out and animals in!

I received an email from old Poppy this morning! She seems erfectly happy with her new address in Hampshire
and she tells me that her humans appear to not only have a lovely cottage and garden in very nice surroundings but they have told her that they also have over 100 acres where she can run and play to her hearts content. Poppy goes on to say that she hopes to be chasing lots of rabbits but is quick to assure me that she will not harm them, it will just be a game that she has always enjoyed.
Jess in Norfolk has also settled down immediately with her new humans who have a super large garden ideal for a lively young collie(1 and a half acres)- A pair of very lucky dogs.
Harry Utonagan has been adopted by Dani a supporter and fosterer for freshfields and He too is making himself at home though I confess to feeling more worried about him than the others.I know I shouldn't be biased but I feelfar less confident about this type of dog fitting in a new environment.I hope with Harry I will be proved wrong and it will change my feelings towards the suitability of Huskies and Utonagans as house pets.
New dogs needing homes are Tess a lovely little staffordshire bull etrrier cross found wandering three months ago and made homeless again due to current people living in rented property and bgeing ordered by landlord to get rid of her immediately.She is a real softy and is great with cats and other dogs but she is very cowed and nervous when first approached - going in to the dog submissive stance(on her back) and having sa little nervous wee! So far she has been totally clean ans quiet, in all respects appears to be a lovely little family pet for someone. The other is 18 months old Tom who was suppose to be a Belgian Shepherd but is in fact a mixture or crosss breed with maybe Kelpie, Collie and a little Shepherd in him. He is a very hyperactive dog who is not used to strangers and barks aggresssively at them, however he is a very affectionate anim al and he loves to play and retrieve a ball making him an ideal agility dog should anyone be looking for such a dog.We hope to get him used to seeing more people and accepting they do not pose a threat to him as we can all tell that his behaviour is a nervous one , and not intentionally aggressive. His other attribute is that he appears to love playing with other canines especialy Tasha one of our longterm residents.They really hit it off together.
Loads more cats in including the 13 from one home.I have taken pics of many of the new admittances but I am doing this blog on a laptop and I am not keen, mainkg more mistakes than usual Im afraid. The reason is that I clumsily spilled coffee on my new keyboard and caused the computer to crash. Phil my long suffering computer whizzkid (well he is not exacly a kid!more like thirtyy something and Phil I am so sorry if you are only a mere twenty year old , forgive me)has had to go and buy a new keyboard as I have ruined the old one. Even by my standards killing a keyboard within a week of ownership is pretty bad. Coffee is now banned from being placed within a metre of the computer so I will have to energise myself in the morning by other methods.
Hope to publish photos tomorrow, including one of feral black and white mum cat and her beautiful siamese type babies - Dad just had to be a siamese. They are stunning though like many ferals being born outside are suffering from weepy eyes and have had to be put on antibiotics.

The ups and downs of shelter life.

A few people who read the blog find it upsetting and I have thought about it and wonder if I should refrain from telling the sad stories but if I did that would not be representative of shelter life so would not give an accurate picture.I do understand that some of my news can be distressing so I would like feedback from readers. I do try to temper the sad tales with something uplifting but maybe I dont do this enough, in which case I will endeavour to find more though sometimes this can be difficult.

Today, for instance the staff and I are reeling from the sudden deterioration and subsequent demise of Lucy lamb who developed pneumonia on Sunday evening. I considered not writing about it but I try to follow through the animal tales, from their arrival to their(hopeful) successful rehoming. This outcome, however sad is part of life at any animal shelter and it has to be faced and there are other animals to care for and to rescue so we cannot spend too much time with the inevitable grieving process. Even a creature which has been in our care a short time is cared for and grieved over if we lose it and after over 30 years of animal welfare work I still spend hours in tears. One never becomes hardened, simply accustomed to it.There is a big difference. Over the years many have said to me that they would not be able to do this work because they "are not hard enough". I find this quite offensive so DONT EVER say this to me if we meet up! I may just surprise you with something learned at my kickboxing classes!!!

Now for the happy tales:-

The lovely collie we call Jess has left us today for her home in Norfolk where she will undoubtedly be spoiled and loved by June and Rod who fell in love with her on sight. A photo can show what an animal looks like but the superb nature and personality of Jess had to be seen to be appreciated and appreciate her they most definitely did. Jess will soon be living in the beautiful Norfolk countryside and her memories of being bored and left alone all day will soon be a thing of the past.

Harry the Utonagan has a few people interested in him, there are three possible suitable homes so a decision will be made over the next few days as to who can best can offer him what he needs.Kenny the puppy is also leaving us today.Vanessa has been fostering him and she says he is no trouble at all - she has been bringing him to work with her and he happily potters about around the stables stopping occasionally to mischievously and half heartedly chase one of the long suffering feral cats. He is told off when he does this but he means no harm to them . When one stopped in its tracks and glared at him, he wagged his tail and ran quickly back to Vanessa. I hate it when dog owners encourage their pets to chase cats, Kenny proves there is no malice to begin with in a pup, it is trained into them. Even lurchers and greyhounds can be cat friendly if taught to be so and I know people who have taken in ex racing greyhounds who now live contentedly and in harmony with cats.Having said that , it is something I would not necessarily recommend. To achieve this harmony between a dog used to catching and killing small animals and a cat you need to be an experienced ,sensible ,patient and very aware dog owner and it may be that some greyhounds/lurchers will never be trustworthy with other pets.

Finally on the dog side of things, I can scarcely believe it but 12 years old Poppy has today joined the family of a couple from Hampshire who whilst on holiday in Barmnouth spotted Poppys' photo in the window of our charity shop. Their last dog was 11 years when they took him in and their old cat had recently died leaving a gap for another rescued animal.It seems Poppy fit the bill and to clinch matters she jumped in their car and sat waiting patiently in the passenger seat as though she had been waiting for them to come for her all along! Although she was very attached to both Mei and myself, she barely gave us a backward glance as their car pulled out of the driveway. I am delighted for her and it now means I can give more attention to the remaining Maggie Martha who has had a stroke and is rather poorly at the moment. Poppy looks different from the last photo of her because her shaggy coat was clipped before she was admitted here.She looks so much smaller now.

A little bat(possibly a pipistrelle though I am not positive) was found on Lon Pant-y-gog this morning and I am about to get in the car and go to Porthmadog where I have arranged to meet up with the local "batwoman".If the little creature checks out Ok I will bring him back to release otherwise Sara who is a registered bat handler will take him home to look after him.

PS: The bat is a pipistrelle female and very pregnant according to Sara. Having checked her over she pronounced her fit to be released so I will be doing that just before dusk this evening after she has warmed up over a heatpad placed under the carrying box. This livens her up ready for her release.

Lucy takes a bottle

Worried she was not eating much , Mei and I made up a bottle for her. Thankfully we had some multi milk powder which had been donated.This is suitable for any orphan animal including lambs,calves etc. When I went in to feed Lucy , Mei discovered she had passed faeces full of worms, no wonder the little lamb is so anaemic. We added worming powder to the bottle and although she was slow to take to it she managed most of the feed. I am hoping this will clear the worm burden and make her feel less debilitated.

Ps: homed 2 adult cats today.

A little lamb in trouble

Living in a rural area it is quite common to see sheep and lambs on the side of the road but this little one was spotted on her own looking very dejected and with something clearly wrong with her back end. Fortunately for Lucy as she is now named, she was spotted by one of our part time staff Cariad who , along with her children managed to catch her and bring her to the shelter last night. Probably as the result of a blow from a passing car, she has three open wounds which were crawling with maggots. Dafydd, a vet from the Pwyllheli practice we use has cleaned out the wounds and treated her with antibiotics so it is now a matter of the waiting game to see if she survives.He thinks as we do that she has a good fighting chance. As many of the ponies are staying out now that the weather is so good she has been bedded down in one of the stables.I do hope that I haven't tempted providence by mentioning good weather! Last time I did that there was a drastic change the following day and the heavens opened. Actually we would be glad of some rain so we can use our chain harrow to fertilise the fields. The harrow was on our wish list but our kind hayman Mr Roberts has purchased one and left it here for us to use whenever we need it. It is very uplifting when people are so helpful and generous.

The Yorkies arrive and our missing cat turns up.

The two little yorkies are in and they are adorable. They seem quite at home and are eating well if rather noisily.They both have a soft Palate which makes their breathing very noisy and they dont sound dissimilar to our two potbellied pigs, however they are healthy in spite of this problem and are very sweet natured little dogs.Rolo is 10 years and Fudge 9 years. Neither seem perturbed at their sudden change of circumstances which is a bonus, so many small pampered dogs struggle to adapt to shelter life even if it is only for a few weeks. These two are already following me about as though they have always lived here and NO I am not planning to add them to my animal family much as I would like to. They are fit enough to go somehwre where they can receive the attention they need,My last two were so old nobody wanted them (20 and 21 yrs!)which is why they stayed with me.

More mum cats and kittens are installed in our "maternity unit.Only one of the kittens is ready for rehoming - the white and tabby with the same coloured mother. (pictured here)The rest are only about 4 weeks of age and still very dependent on Mum.I have not yet been for the 13 cats whose owner has died but will be going this week, having made enough pens ready for the newcomers. I hope they ARE domestic and not feral as the relative informed me.There is not enough room to take them in the feral enclosure which reminds me I have a home waiting for four of our ferals so pending a homecheck they will be leaving us for a better life. The home is near Tregaron in Ceridigion and I am waiting to hear from a possible homechecker in that area. With the feral cats the prospective owners have to have a secure shed or building in which to keep the animals for at least a month in order for them to adapt to a new routine so that has to be checked and also to ascertain that they will be fed daily and will not be expected to catch their own food. This has been the only offer of a home for ferals that we have had for quite some time though if the homecheck does not pass muster I would rather keep them until a better place turns up. Even when we struggle for homes we will never grasp at the first home offered just for the sake of getting them out of the shelter. We have to think we have done our best each time, thats what it is all about.

Speaking of ferals - wonderful news, our missing ginger and white cat has turned up after three weeks, he is thin and hungry but otherwise unharmed.I cant begin to say what a relief it is to see him again.

Bart the handsome longhaired elderly cat which I featured in my blog a few entries ago was spotted by a reader and she hotfooted it to the shelter and offered him a home with her and her family. What a result! Thank you,Thank you,Thank you.

I have been ragwort picking today in the glaring sun. It was hard going, This was at the summer fields where horses Big Buster ,Callie and Freddie are grazing.They were totally disinterested in me until I produced a packet of their favourite treat - polo mints and I then had them literally eating out of my hand. Even Freddie who can be nervous and a bit standoffish was suddenly my new best friend. The term Cupboard Love springs to mind

There are people interested in the Utonagan. Both homes have the same type of dogs already and are experienced with the breed, one in Northumberland seems particularly suited to Harry and another is coming to see him at the weekend.(they live locally) Harry was neutered yesterday along with the lovely Jess border collie(her new people have had their homecheck passed and are travelling from Norfolk for her this weekend) He is a very aloof dog and reminds me of our dear old Monty collie whose personality and behaviour suggested possible autism - is this possible with canines? Maybe he is just bewildered by his sudden life change but his face looks blank of expression.Poor dog. I do hope we manage to place him where he will find contentment and possible happiness.

After I finish this blog I am going to put high factor suntan cream on the noses of the grey ponies whose noses are pink and without this will be even pinker.An attempt will also be made to put some on the back of pink pig.That should be fun!

Bonnie returns full of vitality and we have a busy weekend.

Bonnie came back bright as a button from the Vet, you would not believe that she was recovering from an operation. He thinks her growth was not a malignant one so as long as she keeps out of the sun she will be Ok. We are all so relieved, she is such a great character and is so much part of the shelter it would seem weird without her lumbering about in her inimitable way

More good news , I cant believe that Vixen(now called Sally) has gone to a home already but she has found someone to love her thanks to Marc and Joe(friends and supporters from Anglesey) .Joseph came to see us and brought a friend who had just lost his dearly loved canine companion and could not bear to be without a dog. He did not care about the dogs appearance, in his own words he just wanted to give a loving home to a rescued dog.Out came Vixen and the "deal" was done. There was no asking if we had anything else to look at, he liked her immediately and she liked him so that was that! If only all homing was so simple. A man with exactly the right attitude and believe me that is rare.I cannot remember the last time that happened. Good luck to them both. It was just the best thing to put a smile on my face - I really needed something good to happen today because this morning I had to have one of the Maggie Marthas put to sleep and felt very despondent. Even the presence of the other dogs failed to cheer me up. At the age of 22 years this little yorkshire terrier had grown very frail and there was no longer any quality to her life.Today she refused to eat again(she would not eat yesterday either) and I could no longer ignore her deterioration. The other Maggie Martha seems oblivious to her departure for which I am thankful but she still has Suzy to snuggle up with

Speaking of Yorkies, there are two mid age Yorkies in need of a home.I will probably bring them here in the next week or so but in the meantime I have taken in Poppy the 12 years old shaggy type dog I mentioned a few weeks ago. I was unable to find her a home and her situation became urgent.Her owner is still in hospital and not likely to come out and Poppy was still in the empty house for which the keys were being returned to the Council yesterday. Although it was thought she was not good with other animals, she is in fact wonderful and no trouble at all.In fact she is the sort of dog I could very easily fall in love with! Oh no, I had intended to reduce the numbers of my own dogs to give me more freedom to travel and actually have a life outside the shelter!Will this ever happen?I need to be stronger willed and learn not to melt at the first sight of a homeless dog with expressive big brown eyes and a habit of rolling on her back to have her tummy tickled.Works every time with me. A pleading expression and a sloppy kiss and I am lost. Just for the record this works ONLY with dogs

After writing about the probable future problem with huskies , I have been asked to take in a Utonagan.This is a dog which originated from crossing Siberian huskies with Malamutes and German Shepherds. Why would anyone want to do that? Well it was to breed a dog which looked like a wolf and the only reason I can see for that is to impress as with the so called dangerous dog breeds.For heavens sake are there not enough breeds in existence, what is the need for another?Will this be the latest craze? It scares me because it is hard enough to find good homes for ordinary dogs but those with specialised needs are so much more difficult to place and most breed rescues are overwhelmed already. Harry seems to be a lovely dog in many ways but has only been in his new home for a few weeks and already they are nervous of him.These are dominant dogs,like the Siberian Husky and as I have said before should never go to people inexperienced with the breed type. I will try advertising him first and see if anyone knowledgeable responds, if not I will try a foster home, at least he is good with other dogs.

There have been a few offers of homes for companion horses but actually we are running out of suitable animals to home on our loan scheme. Murphy shetland is going pending a home visiand then there are just the the three youngsters and Marigold and Melba (though they are a bit of a handful.) Most of the others have health problems in one way or another and are on medication or need specialised diets. There are some on the waiting list which I have been trying to match up with suitable owners but again most are not entirely without a health issue.Either that or they need to be homed with their companions and most people will not have the space or money to take on two.

Another old cat has been brought in because his owners are emigrating. Bart is already missing his home comforts but he has settled in fairly well for a cat used to a good home life and is eating well too..He is 12 years old , a beautiful big longhaired cat with a lovely temperament , he is used to children fussing him and has even lived with a dog - there has to be somebody out there who will appreciate him. I am confident he will not remain here too long

We have two new mums with their babies. Grey mum has two kittens with her and black mum has 5 little ones. As often happens when taking photos of animals - They MOVE. so they are not the best photos in the world.We have to think of names for the newcomers now, we have lists of names to look at when our brains can no longer come up with anything remotely original which is most of the time!

Sunday saw lots of volunteers at the shelter..Sue our Wednesday lady (and holiday cover) arrived , then Emma (her third time here helping with the cats )and then our longterm sunday volunteer Dilys arrived bringing with her a new helper. Yuri is from Peru and has lived in this area for over a year, he has worked with horses both in his home country and in the Uk. He brought his"tickling stick"which he uses to establish contact with himself and a new horse, this method is excellent for nervous animals to become used to the touch of a human and works very well.Blue although not nervous was lulled almost into falling asleep and the staff were fascinated by Yuris way of communication with the animals. Its been good to have so many new helpers here.Its taken a long time to become established in this area and it seems our constant publicity has finally begun to pay off. Our volunteer base is definitely growing.

Finally a car pulled up this afternoon and the driver brought us a dear little dog called kenny whose owner died yesterday. He is not full grown yet, a cross jack russell/cavalier spaniel and he is sitting beside me in the office as I type this. He is a real sweetheart. A lady from Colwyn Bay happened to ring at the same time he arrived and he sounds just what she wants so is on her way to see him. He is another I could really fall in love with so he needs to go QUICKLY!

Photos are of Kenny, Yuri and Blue , the two mum cats mentioned and the lovely Bart.

Bonnie has an operation..

After writing about the lack of support from local supermarkets, I have been told that there is a new Waitrose in menai Bridge in Anglesey and they are supporting local charities so thanks for that information .I will follow it up. My new computer is now up and working so I am hopeful that there will be fewer problems connecting to the internet. The donation of this computer may well have saved my sanity (well, what sanity I have left!)I am very grateful for both computer and the prevention of an extremely likely nervous breakdown which would probably have resulted in one very temperamental piece of technological equipment being hacked to pieces! Thank you Peter for preventing this mayhem.



A rather thin lurcher type female has been found on the bypass and so far nobody has turned up to claim her, she loves playing ball and gets on very well with other dogs which is always a bonus.If nobody claims her this week I will arrange to have her spayed with Jess. The staff have named her Vixen and it suits her, she does look a little fox like. There is also a 12 weeks Kelpie pup being fostered in Machynlleth, his owners said he is growing too big! This always mystifies me. When someone aquires a pedigree breed there is none of the uncertainty as there is with a crossbreed so why is there such surprise as the dog grows "the wrong size"?



Our dear Bonnie Foxhound has been to the vet today because of a lump on her leg.The bad news is that it is skin cancer and she has stayed in for an operation to remove the growth. Poor old Bonnie, this means that she will no longer be able to roam freely round the property scavenging and sunbathing when the sun is shining.It will be too dangerous for her. Fortunately she is not a young dog, around 10 years we estimate so she does like her sleep a lot too and may not be too concerned at her enforced incarceration during hot weather. That is of course if we do have any more good weather. In future I will have mixed feelings when I see the sun,instead of heralding it as a great day,I will now also worry about Bonnie being shut inside. Que sera, sera.



The horses have now gone to their summer home and yesterday I went to check on them, all look blissfully content and barely looked up from their grazing when I approached. My presence failed to compete with the profusion of lovely green grass. I did notice the ragwort was starting to grow so stayed to pick as much as I could.Another visit will be necessary at the weekend



.I was upset and angry to read in the local newspaper about the man from Bala who left a young pony in a field to die last winter . Words are not enough to describe my feelings about this. It makes me feel murderous. Why Why Why? In spite of RSPCA being aware of the situation months before, this still happened. It is beyond my comprehension. If this happened to an animal I had been informed about I would be totally devastated and would feel unfit to continue my work. having said that I dont know the background of the case and perhaps should not make judgement so quickly. .



We had a short but pleasant visit from Ian who is in charge of the neutering voucher scheme implemented by the Cats Protection League headquarters. They have allocated Freshfields a sum of money to be used towards neutering cats at both shelters.This is such a wonderful help to us, without it we would never be able to afford to neuter the many stray cats brought here.



Speaking of cats, I have just received a telephone call requesting help for 14 cats, none of which are neutered. They will need collecting as the owner has no transport and it is doubtful will have cat baskets either. Their owner has died and his widow wants them gone! I should be able to collect them some time this weekend.

Well I am off now to collect Bonnie from the Vets surgery.She will be glad to come home,