March 14th.
Problems with the cow rescue, she is suspected of having an infectious disease and cannot be moved at the moment. I am waiting to hear if the farmer is willing to keep her until she is given the all clear but I am doubtful. Just when we had organised the collection, the paperwork, the home etc,it all falls through, such a shame. It isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. Quite often we will spend hours trying to sort out a rescue/find a home only to discover the pet has been rehomed without our knowledge or even has been put down, but we still need to try our best to help and thankfully nine times out of ten it all works out successfully. She may yet be rescued . We will have to wait and see what happens.
Some people will remember our connection with a Dog rescue in Romania and the dogs we brought over to find homes(My own Oliver was one of them)Fresh fields did a lot of work with that shelter but eventually we had to sever contact because of a problem with communication. We were all upset about it but without proper interaction with the shelter owner, we felt we could not continue our support.Now there is another rescue in that country with 150 dogs due to be destroyed in 7 weeks time. It seems that most rescues are working from rented or free land which belongs to the city and most of the Mayors in the various towns are unsympathetic to dog rescue and eventually they want the land returned. That leaves the dogs with nowhere to go. They will not be humanely destroyed as they would be here in the Uk ,and that simply does not bear thinking about. Another Romanian rescue has offered to take 60 and a small rescue group in the Uk are taking 5 including (hopefully) one which I will bring over here.I am paying for this myself as I don’t want the charity to bear this extra, unexpected and unplanned for expense. With extra publicity it is hoped that the remainder of the dogs will be saved. Heartbreaking.When I look at my Oliver I think how lucky he is to be living in this country and I cannot believe that he once lived on the streets of Romania with every day a struggle to find food and to stay safely away from the cruel heartless dogcatchers. He really is one of the lucky ones.
Tomas, One of our old ponies gave us a bit of a fright yesterday, he developed a bout of colic but thankfully he was much improved after the Vet came out and administered treatment. The following day he was clearly feeling much better because he decided he was not going to go in his usual field and instead chose to trot gaily off down the track followed closely by pal Rocky. Fifteen minutes later they were safely back in their field with staff member Chloe looking very redfaced and out of breath!
Our thoroughbreds were feeling the cold and thanks to our wonderful supporters they not only received the two urgently needed but two spares also.We were thrilled to bits and the horses appreciate the warmth afforded them by their new rugs.Pictured here are Moko, the ex polo pony and Jimmy the ex racehorse. The necks are tucked in on the photo because on the day the rugs arrived, the sun came out!
I placed an appeal on Facebook for a dog on Death row in a local Dog Pound and was delighted to have an excellent response. It is such a nuisance not having kennels here but Morgan as I have named him, is now safe and will be collected this weekend to go into a foster home.
Thursday March 16th
The one dog I was rescuing from Romania has turned into two dogs! Their transport to another safe shelter is now booked and they will soon be on their way.Once there they will receive all their necessary vaccinations and paperwork ready for travel to the Uk. Thank you Chris for sending a donation to help with that transport. I know some people will say’ what about the dogs in the Uk?’ . Well, I help as many as I can through my Freshfields work and if I choose to personally help 2 dogs from Romania which would otherwise face an inhumane death (no easy injection in that country) and if there is no cost to the charity, then I cannot understand anyone who is opposed to that.I know, however ,that there are always those who are up in arms about different issues and strangely enough, they are usually people who do little or no charity work themselves!
It looks like the cow has been passed by the Vet as fit to be moved (she does not have the infection thank goodness)and has the necessary paperwork but she will need another TB inoculation as hers runs out this week. The farmer is obviously not willing to pay that, however he is prepared to wait until John(our driver) returns from holiday.John is an ardent skier and is taking off to the slopes of Italy for a week but will do the trip on his return.
We have some beautiful cats in the cattery at the moment,including a sweet, gentle 16 years old unspayed female. Ozzie is too old to put through an operation to neuter her so we will be looking for a home with an apartment living cat lover.Currently she is with our permanent cats in the conservatory but it would be really good to find her a home of her own for her final year(s).
Our Easter Fair is coming up very soon and I still need more donations of chocolate for our chocolate tombola. If anyone local reads this please ask your local sweetshop if they will donate a bar of chocolate for the charity.We still need cake bakers too so if you can bake us a cake for April 15th, please let us know. We will be taking along some of our rabbits to meet people and perhaps one or two may even get reserved. How good would that be!
Other upcoming fundraisers:
June 4th: 5 mile Sponsored Dog Walk. All dogs participating will be given a rosette to mark the day.Starting 11am from Penrhos Nature Reserve.Holyhead,Anglesey.Meet at the Coffee Cups Car Park. LL65 2UX. Sponsorship forms available now from Freshfields (01286 479711) Farm and Pet Place,Llangefni, Anglesey Pet Clinic, Bennett Williams Vets in Gaerwen and the Bodrwnsiwn vets.
23rd June: ‘Welcome to the House of Fun’. Held in the Barn at the shelter in Nebo. Live entertainment from ‘Dangerous Age’ and Ray Owens ‘Boogie Nights Disco’. Dress up or dress down.It’s up to you. Theme of 60’s , 70’s and 80’s. Prizes for the best three costumes. Barbeque food.Licensed bar. Tickets £20 from the shelter.
Open Day date yet to be decided.
Finally, this year is an important one for the shelter in Wales,We really do need to bring in more funds is we are to continue.I know I mention this a lot but I really do need to get the message over loud and clear so please forgive me if I go on about it.Grant applications have been applied for but we still need people to help us fundraise or to support our organised events. I am also looking for a ‘doggy’ person in the Porthmadog area to help me organise another sponsored dog walk in that area, someone who can decide on a suitable place and can lead the walk. I will do the posters and forms. I will be glad of any help you can offer. If you have anything suitable we can use as raffle prizes at these events, can sell tickets, put up posters, bake a cake, be a volunteer at a fundraiser, anything at all, just pick up the phone to speak to me.
If you can take out a regular standing order that would be fantastic. Any sum at all. £3 monthly or £50 a month (?) Whatever you can afford will be welcome. Either ring me and I will send you a form ,or email me at: lesley@freshfields.org.uk.
