MONDAY June 6th
RIP Billy Meade:
Staff at the shelter have been saddened to learn of the death of a great advocate for cats and supporter of our own work. Bill, who lived in Holyhead,Anglesey made himself known to me not long after I moved to North Wales.He and some cat loving friends ran a branch of the Cat Action Trust which raised money for the neutering of Feral cat colonies. We regularly helped each other with rescues and Bill worked tirelessly to help abandoned cats in Anglesey .He once heard of a derelict house in which cats were living and breeding so he caught and homed the kittens , neutered the adults and then purchased the house so they would not lose their home! This kind gentle man will be very sadly missed by everyone who knew him. RIP Bill.
Animals still flying out to new homes so the shelter has been very very busy.All the Romanian dogs have been adopted and are doing well. Most had homes waiting. I know some people think it is wrong to bring dogs from overseas when we have so many dogs here needing homes but the fact is that many shelters in the Uk are full of Bull breeds and there are a great many people who , for their own reasons will not consider such a breed. When I bring Romanian dogs over , I choose the type we seldom or never see here so I can home to people who are struggling to find the dog they want in our shelters. For example I would not bring a collie or a lurcher over because we have far too many of those here and it would not be fair on them.Most of the overseas dogs are real mongrels,dogs with the DNA of several breeds but many are the size and shape of Corgis,like my own dog Oliver. I can honestly hold up my hand and say that I have never had to turn away a Welsh dog in order to make room for a Romanian rescue and I will never do so but in my opinion it does not matter where they come from.if they are in need of help and it can be given, then it will be, by me and by everyone who cares about the plight of animals in distress no matter where they are located.
Wednesday:
Still on that topic, over the past 48 hours I have had the sad news that two of our original Romanian rescues have passed away. Both Violetta and Lizzie were middle aged on arrival in the Uk but they spent five happy years with wonderful families and were dearly loved and cherished. I could wish for nothing more. I can still picture them after their long overland journey from their own country ,having a fantastic run about, chasing one another and barking for sheer joy.I could never forget them and am so grateful to those who offered homes to these ex street dogs and who made their lives so much better than they had ever been used to.
A stray ferret has been admitted and, thankfully, he is very friendly unlike the one which took a piece out of my lip and hung there for what seemed like hours! That was many years ago but I still bear the marks of his dislike with a scar! This lovely fellow enjoys being around people and when he is neutered, we will place him for adoption in a pet home and ideally with another ferret or two for companionship.Ferrets just love company and are such fun to watch when they are playing.They love empty binbags and boxes and generally the same things kittens like. Just don’t put a strange ferret anywhere near your face. You do so at your peril!
Animals make such good companions and as many of you know, they have been a life saver for me over the years. When we took in a young Welsh sheepdog called Chase , we were concerned about finding the right home for him .He was, in truth , a bit of a handful, a real bundle of energy and I knew we had to find an very experienced home for him but on the positive side he had a lovely friendly personality and was extremely affectionate and intelligent. Over the time he was with us, several people came to see him but as we expected they all found him too boisterous. Then one day a gentleman called here, he came in a large vehicle adapted for his wheelchair and told the staff that his dog had passed away and he would like to see Chase. Of course the first thing that sprang to mind was that a man in a wheelchair could not possibly cope with such a live wire, but he insisted on seeing him and when Chase raced over to him there was instant love on both sides. Simon proved to be extremely knowledgeable about dogs and their training ,and was devastated having lost his own beloved dog. We could see that he had amazing upper body strength and the right attitude towards the needs of a lively dog and so our doubts gradually diminished. He came every day for a number of days so he could introduce Chase to travelling in his vehicle and for him to get used to the wheelchair and of course to Simon himself. Eventually the time came for us to say goodbye to Chase and to his new ‘Dad’ and since then we have had regular updates on the progress made and in Simons own words – Chase has given him a reason to live again. How wonderful that these two have found each other. We wish them many years of love and companionship.
Main photo of Chase and Simon.
Tasha rom dog in new home.
Ferret.
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