]
Blog November 7th
Well first of all, apologies for the long absence, it has been so hectic here, it was put on a back burner but there is lots to write about which I hope may compensate for the delay?
Bonfire night has been and gone which is a great relief to all pet owners everywhere.As always there have been reports made to us about dogs which went missing on November 5th. Poor dogs, why were they In a situation in the first place where they could go missing? Mine were kept in all night with just trips outside into a secure garden area and I’m sure you all looked after your own pets this Guy Fawkes night.What do people need to make them aware of this issue or do they just not care? I believe Italy has come up with silent Fireworks, what a great idea and why are we not jumping on that bandwagon? There must enough pet owners willing to go down this road and certainly there are petitions always going around the Uk to ban fireworks. Italy’s solution would provide a compromise and would greatly improve the life of pets around that night(and the previous week and the following week!)
Our Halloween Barn Dance ,our new fundraiser on October 28th went down well though I should have provided and sold twice as many tickets. Everyone appeared to enjoy themselves, the folk band’Mooncoin’ was great, but I was very conscious that the barn was huge and in spite of there being over 60 people in attendance, it still seemed empty. There will definitely be another next year and I will publicise more and print more tickets, just hope I will be able to sell them! We will be holding another barn fundraiser in May so I am just trying to pull that together. Once again there will be live entertainment, this time provided by ‘Dangerous Age’ , a popular local duo/band.We are toying with the evening being another themed night like a seventies one but I would be happy for input from anyone.What would you like to have on the evening?Any ideas what would be most popular?Fancy dress or not fancy dress?We are stepping up our fundraising thanks to a few new volunteers who are helping us and we need to keep the momentum going but we do need your support so if there is a fundraiser in your area and you are free, please consider attending.We cannot continue our animal welfare work without local support.
We have been struck by the number of animals coming in to us from owners with serious mental health issues.
There seems to be an epidemic! I can’t help but wonder if this society we live in today has produced its own problems.So many who should be in a safe ,secure and caring environment have been turned out into society with little or no support and both they and their pets become victims of the system. Apart from the people themselves, the other sad part of this scenario is the fact that their pets often provide a lifeline to the mentally ill but the animals suffer because they so often do not receive the care they need and have to be removed to a safer and more suitable location. It is a vicious circle; without their pets to care for, the person concerned may deteriorate but at the same time it is an extra burden for them to deal with and the needs of the animal must also be considered. The difficult decision often lies with family who, in most cases do their very best to improve the quality of life for both owner and pet.We see it all the time and generally the pet concerned has been an important part of the owner’s life but he/she may have been deprived of regular exercise or even daily food in the most severe of cases. Fresh fields is always inundated with requests to take In unwanted pets and has to always prioritise the most urgent ; these situations are usually given high priority, we know that the pets concerned are at risk .
Big and Beautiful:
We were inundated with calls and emails when we advertised for a home for Sting, a 6 years old Bernese Mountain dog.He had been much loved but his owner had developed a serious illness and his elderly mother was unable to walk Sting. She was devastated and felt she was letting down her son and the dog also but she was doing the right thing and we tried our best to assure her of that. This large breed is stunning in appearance and with a docile nature also, we were fighting off prospective adopters. There were so many applications to adopt him, we could not deal with all of them and had to post a public announcement that he had been successfully re homed.We were thrilled to receive such a good response , his story was read by fifty thousand people though when we ask for homes for other dogs we are lucky to have six. thousand views. It seems pedigrees and puppies are the most popular to get ‘liked’ and shared’ and homes offered.If only all dogs received such attention!
The second large dog we admitted is a totally different matter. Pepsi, an almost blind 10 years old Newfoundland came in with a dreadfully matted coat which had clearly been hacked at before she arrived here.She had several open wounds caused by this ,was underweight and smelled so badly it was obvious she had been living in filthy conditions.Poor girl had lived outside all her life and even in her twilight years had not been granted the benefit of a little comfort.Poor old girl. Once she is back from the Vet she will be going to live with our Office administrator and her family, for however long that may be. She deserves to be cossetted and treated like a princess and I know that is what now lies ahead for her.
PS: Update on Pepsi: She had to have numerous stitches but today she was bleeding profusely and is back at the Vet on a drip! What an ordeal for her.I can only hope she will recover from all of this.
Princess moves to Scotland: We often mention that our dogs get everywhere, France, Spain, some years ago one even went to Finland and another to Sweden where they lived wonderful lives with adoring families. Now we have a young Staffordshire bull terrier cross who is going this weekend to live with a lady in the remote Outer Hebrides! Princess is a very lucky dog, many of this type languish for several months in rescue kennels though she is a lovely natured dog and I was hoping and hoping she would be one of the ones snapped up fairly quickly. I think we may very well need to do some follow up homechecks during the summer!The problem will be choosing which member of staff to go as they are all clamouring to pay Princess a visit.I think they are getting carried away after my visit to Paris to see Bentley and Penny.
A full House:
All our horses are now back from their summer grazing fields and we have had one pony returned from his loan home so we now have 29 on site though we have just been offered a winter home for a couple of ponies which is yet to be organised. Thanks to the reasonable weather we have been experiencing they have managed to stay out much later than usual but we are glad to have them back through this cold spell. You will be pleased to know that 30 years old Melody who came in to us a couple of months ago in such a poor state, is looking very well; her continued dental treatment has been expensive but effective and she can now graze and eat without problem.When she was admitted this gentle Clydesdale cross was weighed in at 518kg and she now weighs a respectable 589kg.Her whole demeanour has improved. From a dejected underweight shadow of the horse she must once have been, she is now bright and enjoying life with pal Blodwen and the others in her group.
Amber the Bengal cat:
Apart from the gorgeous but ubiquitous black, and black and white cats which continuously fill our cattery, we admitted a heavily pregnant stray Bengal cat. We named her Amber and just days later she gave birth to seven beautiful kittens. Some looked like her and the others were a pretty grey colour so it is anybody’s guess what colour ‘Dad’ was! Amber and two of her kittens were very quickly reserved and the others followed soon afterwards. The fact that someone somewhere must have paid a lot of money for her when she was a kitten, did not keep her safe.This is where microchips come into their own.Had that been done, she could have been returned to her home straight away. As it was we had no idea whether she had been missing for a long time or whether she was already unspayed and pregnant whilst in her own home. She is ,of course, now microchipped and should she go missing from her new home, (hopefully not)at least there will be a way of identifying her.
Tescos petfood box and fundraisers.
2nd December (FRiday) Christmas FLower Arranging 7.30pm at Penygroes Memorial Hall,Clynnog Road, Penygroes. LL54 6NP. The flower arrangements will be auctioned off by a mystery guest at the end of the evening.Refreshments (free cuppa/panad).Entrance fee – a donation of a tin of catfood.
Finally, we have two fundraising events coming up in early December, in Anglesey.I will publish details in the next week or so. Winter is upon us now. We need a great deal of extra food and hay for the horses and will be needing every penny we can raise between now and Spring.
Tesco’s Bangor have allowed us to have a collecting box (in the foyer) for petfood for Fresh fields animals, so I hope that it will be successful and we will save some money on our huge petfood bill. Thank you Tesco’s.
Photo of staff at the Halloween Barn Dance.: from left to right.Me,Mei,Jac and Penny.
