The Day of the Iguanas: News Round-Up - Summer 2017 Issue 6

Heatwave! 

June's heatwave saw animal rehoming grind to a halt for over a week. Seemingly the idea of having to keep windows and doors shut to prevent newly adopted cats and kittens from escaping was too much, and who could disagree! Whilst our rehoming figures for June were lower than normal we still had many new admissions and some surprising ones at that!

At the height of the stifling heat it seems that some reptiles in Manchester also got the chance to bask in the natural warmth and UV on offer, or so it seemed. On the Monday a tortoise found themselves in an industrial park in Salford, whilst a frantic member of the public in South Manchester lost their juvenile tortoise following a potter in the garden. Two missing tortoises in one day is pretty remarkable and we had high hopes that they were one and the same, but alas were not. The next day brought us a very tame corn snake that had been found slithering in a suburban street (not quite as uncommon as you'd think!). But the following day brought us a double surprise, albeit double edged.

The Day of the Iguanas

A call from a National RSPCA inspector came in. She had a job come through to collect a stray Iguana with a lump on the side of his face. Not sounding good we made immediate plans to meet with inspector and make provision for him to be seen by an exotic vet specialist. This was quite an exciting time for us as we generally only help with snakes, geckos and bearded dragons so imagine our surprise when the same inspector got another a call to collect another iguana, this time at the RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital in Salford.

Both Iguanas were from different parts of the county, so seemingly unrelated, but the inspector needed our help with them both. By now it was early evening and so we accompanied her to a specialist exotic vets out of hours. Upon immediate sight of the first iguana it was clear that it was no coincidence that he had found himself homeless. His enormous facial swelling was preventing him from eating and he was emaciated, with no fat reserved left on him. The likely diagnosis was one of 3 things: an abscess, tumour or osteomyelitis, any one of which was going to be causing him considerable pain and unlikely to be successfully treated. The vet advised that euthanasia was the kindest option and seeing him in the flesh, in such obvious distress, we couldn't help but think he had deliberately and cruelly abandoned.

 

The other iguana was in good health, albeit retaining some of his shed. He was quite a feisty chap but it wasn't until he got warmed up overnight that he revealed just how grumpy he was, although it has to be said that iguanas are notorious for this behaviour. So we had to board him at the specialist vets for week to give the owner a chance to come forward. Unsurprisingly no one claimed him so we transferred him to a specialist reptile facility for assessment and rehoming. 

What the owners of the iguanas fail to appreciate is that by abandoning their animals we have to pick up the pieces. We then have to find the money to pay for the veterinary treatment, boarding and transfer of the animals and this doesn't come cheap. For the two iguanas we spent over £300 taking care of their needs. This is £300 that we have to raise ourselves as we do not receive any government funding. One third of our money comes from our 4 charity shops, another third through legacies and the remaining from community fundraising, donations and grants. So you can see that your support truly helps us to save lives and, crucially, end suffering. You can make a single donation or sign up to a monthly direct debit here. Alternatively, just TEXT: MCRS01 £1/2/3/4/5 or £10 to 70070. Thank you on behalf of our animals of all shapes and sizes!

By Branch Manager, Susie Hughes

Glorious Giftaid hits our charity shops

You can make your donation to our shops worth even more to us by signing up for Gift Aid.

When you donate your clothes, books, bric-a-bac, furniture etc to our Didsbury, Northern Quarter and Chorlton shops you will now be asked to complete a Gift Aid form. If you are a UK taxpayer this will raise an extra 25p per £1  from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

So, if you donate that designer summer dress you wore to your Aunt’s wedding last year (because the photos are all over Facebook, so you couldn’t possibly wear it again) and we sell it for £18 to Barbara who is going to take it on holiday to Tenerife, the tax man will give us an extra £4.50 to help the animals. That £4.50 would pay for a microchip for one of our animals, and it hasn’t cost anyone anything!

The form only takes a couple of seconds to complete and everyone’s a winner (especially Barbara, who seems to have caught the eye of one of the waiters at her resort)!

 Curry & Quiz night - last remaining tickets!

We will be hosting our first Curry & Quiz night on the 20th August in South Manchester! Join us from 6pm for a delicious range of vegan curies, rice and chapattis with unlimited soft drinks. You can BYOB if you wish but make sure you bring your giant brains ready for the general knowledge quiz! Children welcome! To book your place call us on 0161 882 0680 option 4 or email rspcamcr_salford@btconnect.com. We only have a few spots left so be quick and help us make this night a success for our animals.