I recently returned from a very enjoyable short trip to France, ostensibly to see Bruce Springsteen in concert but whilst I was in Paris, I took the opportunity to visit two ex farm dogs from Freshfelds. Penny and Bentley had been adopted by a couple in Cheshire who later moved to France and I was lucky enough to have an open invitation to visit .Ian and James made me very welcome, they took me to see some of the sights in Paris and of course it was fantastic to see two once unloved and neglected dogs living such a wonderfully different life. This pair have definitely fallen on their feet and I could not have felt any happier for them.Penny and Bentley are pictured here with their devoted carers Ian and James.
I came home two days before Bastille Day and like others, I was horrified at the massacre in Nice on that day when families celebrate and congregate to join in the celebrations and watch the fireworks display. The sheer wickedness of deluded people is impossible to understand and make no mistake, if these terrorists ever took us over, not only would we suffer as a nation , our animal welfare regulations would quickly cease to exist. Here’s hoping the efforts to subdue them work and soon!
Our lovely lurcher pups have all been adopted, as has their mum ‘Minnie’.We now have another litter of pups in which also have whippet in their DNA. This time they appear to be crossed with a Jack Russell. Their mum is needing a home too so we plan to bring her in as soon as we have space. We collected this litter after we had done our sponsored zipwire event (more of that later)which happened to be in the same village. I was concerned to discover that not only had the puppies not been fed by eleven am but that there was no suitable food In the house for the pups either. I would have liked to take all the pups away but was unable to persuade the couple to part with the two male pups.A very difficult situation. I will do my best to improve the situation those pups are currently finding themselves in but I need to rescue the mother dog first.
I am not sure what is going on this month but there are collies
coming out of the woodwork! We have rescued and rehomed 16 dogs over the past 14 days and most of them were collies.Some were farm dogs, other family pets which had become too much like hard work and they were all adorable though of course the common denominator between them all was their high level of energy.We try to place collies in homes with active people and if they involve themselves in dog agility or flyball, then it is even better as we know the dog in question will have lots going on to keep him/her occupied both mentally and physically. The mistake people make is being attracted to the pretty appearance of a collie pup but failing to research the level of exercise and time needed to keep their pet from becoming bored ,Boredom can mean hyperactivity, destruction of property and attention seeking barking and that is not a happy situation for either dog or carer.
Right, now on to the sponsored Zipwire in Bethesda. First of all thanks to everyone who supported me on my Justgiving page.With the added gift aid I very nearly raised the hoped for £1,000, I was just £50 short so I was very pleased.I will post the full amount raised when all the money is finally counted.Did I enjoy it in the end? NO I HATED EVERY TERRIFYING MOMENT! I cannot believe so many people do this for fun, they are deranged! What is to like about being strapped into a harness attached to an overhead wire which stretches high (very high)over a quarry complete with deep lake and then pre flight being left dangling like a well packaged parcel over a precipice. Not my idea of Sunday fun. Would I do it again? Not in a million years and not even for a meeting with Bruce Springsteen!.(Ok in truth I might then just consider it)
Wednesday:
After a rather scary moment collecting the pups on Sunday (The man was furious that I should question his care of the pups and was in a raging temper), I was not prepared to go alone today to collect the mother of the youngsters so took Mei along for back up. Fortunately , when we arrived we could see that it was a totally different scenario . I had no concerns this time about being confronted with aggression . Mum is a kelpie (?)and seems a lovely dog – she was being cared for by the daughter of the family and was at a different address. I was pleased that this dog was in good condition though after speaking to this young lady, my concerns were intensified about the welfare of the other dogs I was unable to remove.I have now reported the situation to the RSPCA and I hope that they will be able to do more than I was able to.
This morning the first pup went to a home on Merseyside and has gone to live with Vet nurse Jake and his other rescue dog Pepper.
Also today Mei and I collected four feral kittens which had been trapped by a family who were worried about the increasing number of cats and kittens arriving on their doorstep. Thank goodness some people care enough to be practical about such a situation and who show willing to put themselves out to help.I was also delighted to meet the family dog who turned out to be a Pound stray I had put them in touch with. When I do this I seldom get to meet the dogs which are adopted directly from the pound so it was great to see this little one in such a nice home.Is she a mixed breed? No, she is a pug(the dog everyone seems to want nowadays)but apparently she had to have operations to correct a problem with her eye. I guess that is the reason she was unclaimed. Disgraceful, but it ended well for this sweet little dog who is clearly in a much better home now.
Lack of funding appears to be affecting all the charities and the small ones are hit the hardest.We need to be raising at least another £3,000 a month to function well and that is going to be a very hard thing to do. If anyone can help us wth our own fundraisers or has any good ideas and is willing to organise something for us, I would love to hear from you.We are hoping(weather permitting) to hold an Open day /Fun Dog Show at the shelter on September 4th, please let me know if you can help at that event.
