Our New Dogs!

I've been away visiting the RSPCA HQ for the first time - I was invited to help with plans for a national rabbit welfare campaign - it was good but ever such a long way a way and when I got back last night me, the staff and my very clever hubby went to the Bolton Branch's annual quiz night - and guess what? We won! We were well chuffed cos we won £50 and so we each pocketed a tenner and gave a tenner back to the branch. But I'm shattered.

So, without further delay, let me introduce to you our gorgeous new dogs.....

Jed is a fantastic medium sized cross breed; he is approximately 5-6 years old. Jed came into our care via an RSPCA inspector, the reason for which cannot be disclosed on the internet but will be discuss with the right potential owner. Considering what Jed has been through he is a remarkably well rounded dog - he is very friendly and loves his cuddles. Jed is ok with other dogs and seems to have a healthy respect for cats! Anyone who takes on this wonderful dog will be rewarded with lots of love and a very faithful friend for life.

Prince is approximately 4 years old. He is a very handsome GSD cross. Prince came into our care after he was found tied up outside a local supermarket. He had obviously been dumped as he had been there for several hours - we reckon he will need a very secure home as he is a bit of an escape artist in the making at the kennels, he probably came from a home where it was normal to just open your back door at let the dog go roaming (I live in Salford, it happens all the time).

And finally there are Gemma and Snoop on a special BOGOF offer! They are 2 middle aged ladies looking for a new home together. Gemma, on the right of the picture, is a terrier cross, approximately 8 years old. Snoop, on the left, is a Jack Russell cross, approximately 9 years old. They were signed over to the RSPCA by their very ill owner who wanted a better life for them. Both these girls are still quite lively and still have a lot of life left in them - aren't they funny looking buggars!

Fluffy Nuisances!

I currently have my Tilly Looney causing as much mayhem and mischief as possible in my office! At present she is trying to claw all the notes off my wall space in front of my laptop and is incredibly chuffed with herself. Tilly is with me because she has a nasty eye infection and needs drops putting in 4 times a day, which consequently means I get no peace, at all. God I love her - she's just the best mentalist ever!

We have had a fabuous run on cat rehomings of late -we have had several go out this weekend and so we are really pleased to be able to say 'yes' again to the animal hospital and hopefully Inspectors too.

We also have a load new dogs in, who will all enjoy a doggy day trip out on Saturday as a team of staff and volunteers are taking them to the water park for a long walk and play on Halloween. But I'm gutted that no-one has come forward to adopt our gorgeous tripod Skipper yet. We thought he would have been snapped up by now.

When I get piccies of the new dogs I'll be sure to list them and tell you all about them - hopefully later today. For now, I'd best get on before Tilly Looney destroys my office any further!

Very excited!

I've had my two foster kittens in the office with me the last two days - both are feeling a little under the weather and on antibiotics for what seems to be a mild tummy bug (phoo-wee someones just done a poop!). Little Petey (only about 7 weeks old) has just wanted to sleep today but his companion Meg (about 11 weeks) as had sheer monkeyness on her today - she's currently scratching at the wallpaper despite the perfectly good cat scratching post opposite her! I love kittens ;o)

Jo has come back from our rabbits with another one for me to foster. This poor girl has a bite wound on her lip - she managed to escape from her enclosure late last week so she has obviously been putting her snout somewhere she shouldn't have - which all means my extra time in bed in teh mornings has gone out the window for the foreseeable future now that I have 5 foster animals and all my tribe to sort - grrrr, bloody rabbits!

So, I will keep you in suspense no longer. I have possibly some of the most exciting news to share. Our second longest stay dog, Roma (pictured), has found herself a home at last. Roma has featured regularly in my blogs and I am so pleased someone really brilliant has come forward to help this old lady with all her aches and pains. She really is one of the best dogs ever and to finally see an end to her RSPCA journey is just incredible - she first came in nearly two years ago because her owners had starved her close to death. It took a year for the prosecution and court case to conclude and we have had her ever since then - nearly 10 months. I am so utterly delighted that today sees a silver lining to her cloud.

Roma's new owners seem to tick all the boxes and so we are hoping that the home visit later in the week will just be a formality. Please keep everything crossed for her as she truly is a deserving animal.

My other big smiles of the week include - wonderful tickets sales for the gala and very wonderful and generous donations and offers of help from various companies - this is going to be an amazing night out - so don't miss out on the last few tickets!

The other big smile is about the kitten lickens pictured above....a lovely family went to view the two torty girls on Sunday with a view to adopting them. Jesse (b&w kitten) was left upstairs but howling so loudly at being left alone that his foster mum brought him down to keep him happy. Well, the little lad sold himself so well that the family decided they couldn't leave him on his ownsome so they are having them all! How greedy and fantastic is that! I really love kittens even if they do do whiffy poos.

Pictures of our new guys

I thought you'd like to see our new admissions... second picture is of Axel. The poor lad is as frightened as he looks in the picture. I don't want say his story out loud but needless to say he is going to need an extra special forever home he is so timid and scared. When he first arrived it took three days of coaxing and hand feeding to get him to eat. Two weeks on and he is only now brave enough to leave the kennels to go for walks. It's heart breaking.

The first pic is of Jasper. He arrived Tuesday and is just an absolute poppet. Approx 2 years old his owner had mental health problems and couldn't look after him so just kept him in the back garden 24/7. I'm so pleased he is in our care as is a lovely fella who will find a fab new home pretty quickly, I hope!

Biggest and Bestest Ethical Night Out of the Year

I'm so pleased to share the news with you that tickets are selling well and there are only a few remaining.....don't miss out on the best animal-free night out you'll have this year! To book your tickets email: rspcamcr_salford@btconnect.com or call 01618820680.

You know you wanna be there to help all the fabulous animals I regularly tell you all about.

Big 'n' Butch Dog Show

We have just had confirmation that this Sunday's Big 'n' Butch Fun Dog Show will be running at Ordsall Park 12-3pm and that the council will be paying for all the microchipping that we do on the day. So, if you are a Salford resident why not bring along your pooch for free microchipping, enter them in the dog show and have a professional photo done of your dog too! You can't ask for a better day out.

Very giddy

My day started brilliantly with a call at 9.15am to say that Ordsall Arts are going to pay for Ordsall residents to have their pets chipped for free at the event we are doing on Sunday - that means they will pay us the cost of each chip we do - just bloomin' brilliant - so chuffed cos it means we aren't out of pocket and more animals will get done.

But then things just got better. Over the weekend:

Amy the cat, Blackie the elderly dog, my kitten Sparkle and Kia and Lucy (mum and daughter dogs) all went to their new homes.

And.....

Cloud, Celia, Tilly, Ellie and Charlie the cats all got reserves on them - yippppeeeeeee!

So excited, especially cos Tilly and Ellie's home visits have been done and passed too.

We have 5 new admissions so far - a guinea pig and a 9 week old grey torty kit that we are collecting from the RSPCA clinic as I type (obviously not me collecting, Jo is). Then I took in a gorgeous 4mth old white and black kitten at the weekend called Millie but she couldn't cope with my zoo so went to Jo's zoo instead. A woman just walked in and just abandoned her in the reception of the clinic!

So, cos I had space again I could take in a little 11 week old kitten that Inspector Ben collected in Stretford on Saturday morning instead. My husband thought he was seeing things as I swapped the kittens whilst he was sleeping - as a result our latest addition is called Respray because he thought I must have resprayed her black and white!

Things with the gala are looking up too and ticket sales are good. Just don't want to tempt things just yet but I'm feeling very excited - though wish to god I would stop waking up in the night about it - 3 times I woke last night - grrrrr!

Anyway, hope you like the piccie of lucky kitty Celia who has a reserve on her. She was nursed back to health by us after sustaining a nasty collar injury from one of those nasty elasticated cat collars - ban them, is what I say!

Our new dog Skipper

This is probably one of the loveliest dogs we have met this year. He is called Skipper and he was in a road traffic accident and taken to the RSPCA Animal Hospital in Eccles. He is only 7-8 months old and sadly had to have his leg amputated as a result of the accident. His owners didn't want him back because of his amputation and having children. They said they couldn't manage his post-op care but there really was very little involved.

Any way, we are delighted to have him and so would you be if you adopted him. He is on foster care with 4 other dogs and two children and gets on brilliantly with them all - he really will make a fantastic family pet.

We love Skipper!

Gala evening - less than 4 weeks to go

We have just 40 tickets remaining - don't miss out. To book please call 0161 882 -0680 or email rspcamcr_salford@btconnect.com

If I make it to the 7th Nov it will be a miracle, the stress is unbelievable - I hope only hope it's worth it in the end for our animals. Check out Skipper!

Fantastic Facts

I've been doing stats for our quarterly newsletter and had to share with you my findings...

Comparison stats for rehoming on 1st 9 months:

2008 cats = 176 2009 cats = 136
2008 dogs = 28 2009 dogs = 49
2008 buns = 38 2009 buns = 50
2008 misc = 1 2009 misc = 18

Overall we have rehomed 253animals so far this year, which is 10 more animals than the equivalent time scale for 2008 - which isn't bad for a recession!

We have also, so far this year:
Microchipped 1,140 animals (it was 540 on the whole year last year and we won an award for our efforts then).

Not bad at all......

Whoo-Hoo!

Top news everybody - we have half of our dogs on reserve. Woo-Hoo.

Kia, Lucy (mum and daughter staffies), big Harley (as reported earlier) and now Bonnie and newbie Blackie - yippeeeeeeeee.

We have taken in a new guy today called Rockey, who is to die for. He is only about 7 months old, medium sized tri-colour, smashing, lovely dog. He was in an RTA, had to have his leg amputated but his owners didn't want him back because they said they couldn't manage his post op care.

So, Rocky is a tripod and a bloomin' gorgeous one at that. I reckon he'll get a home very quickly cos he is soooooo lovely.

Even more good news, we've almost booked up for the Cat Health Clinic tomorrow for World Animal Day and we are now indoors for our dog microchipping event in Salford at the new Oasis Academy.

I feel reeeght chuffed.