A State of Flux: News Round-Up Autumn 2017 Issue 7

A State of Flux

Well times are certainly a-changin’ at the branch as Autumn embraces us with leaves, gales and pumpkin spiced lattes! We’ve been so busy it’s been rather cathartic to take a moment to update you on all things RSPCA M&S. 

Deb with one of her many past foster animals!

Firstly, join us and shed a tear (or bucket-load) as we have two members of staff leaving us this year! As a team of four ladies (on the animal side of things) the loss of half our workforce is a scary thought! However, we are extremely happy as Deborah (left) who has been with us for 6 years, 3 months, has been accepted on to the National RSPCA inspector training course and Catherine (below) is leaving us temporally to have another beautiful baby! 

We are so very proud of ‘our Deb’ for making it through the rigorous selection process and starting her training in November. She’ll be training for a year before graduating as a fully fledged inspector. As many of you will know, we work very closely with the National RSPCA inspectors who are the front line service for rescuing the animals we then rehabilitate and rehome. Therefore, we hope to see lots of Deborah in her new role!

Catherine is in the middle, dressed in white!

After a tricky selection process with many high-quality candidates applying for the posts, we narrowed it down and the interviews have taken place. We hope to be introducing you to our brand new team members very soon…. exciting times ahead for everyone!

The most common reasons that animals come into our care are abandonment (being left in woods, outside vets or at the side of busy roads to name a few!) or due to concerns over welfare. However, in the second half of the year we’ve had two unusual cases we’d like to share with you!

Case A: Hook, feline & sinker: Annette

We can honestly say there’s a first time for everything! National RSPCA inspectors were called to a case where a cat was reported to have a hook in her mouth. On arrival, lo and behold that was indeed the case! This poor girl had a fish hook completely through her delicate mouth. Thankfully, she was rescued and received immediate vet care. The offending item was removed and after some TLC Annette, as we named her, is now up for adoption!  Sadly, Annette wasn’t microchipped and her owner did not come forward but we are hopeful she’ll find a new, loving family very soon or even, maybe with you?!

Case B: Scrapyard bunny: Pia

If you are a regular follower of our Facebook page you’ll know that we live and breathe rabbits. As much as we absolutely dote on our cats, piggies, ratties, mice and reptiles—rabbits are our passion. As such, when we received a request from an inspector to take in a badly burned rabbit we had to help. However, we were shocked when we actually saw our girl, Pia. She was found by staff at a car scrapyard, collapsed with burns, probably caused by something on site. She was quickly sent for a consultation with our exotic vet and began treatment which included twice daily cleaning and medication. Despite the pain she must have been in Pia remained trusting of people and adores her fusses! She has been a true success story and is also now available for adoption. Perfect house bunny anyone?

Pia fit, happy and beautiful after her recovery!

Daring to care

With so many needy animals coming into our care this year it’s no wonder that the monthly cost to run the branch is currently roughly £30,000. To put this into perspective, the basic cost of neutering, microchipping, vaccinating, blood testing and flea/worming a cat ready for adoption is nearly £300. Add to that any costs for treating additional health problems plus paying for boarding in a private cattery (we don’t have an animal centre) and food, litter, toys etc—the expenses can soon can spiral! Therefore, anyone who offers to fundraise for us is welcomed with giant, open arms! This Autumn we’ve had several amazing supporters step forward and do amazing challenges for our animals….

Clare v  the Mountain

Long term supporter and adopter Clare climbed the summit of the second highest mountain in the Alps, Monte Rosa in September. It took two days and staying overnight in a mountain hut (not to mention the three days training beforehand) to scale. She raised an amazing  £986.73! You can still donate here too: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/clare-goss3

Gladiators Ready!

It was a team effort when Michelle, Hannah, Ricardo, Lisa and Rachel ran the gauntlet in September. They crawled up walls, monkey climbed and threw themselves down slippery hills, oh and ran 5K (Rachel doing a stonking 10K). In total a whopping £927.50 was raised by our intrepid gang of warriors!

13.1 miles for moggies

To top off our great fundraising activities just last week volunteer Hannah and staff member Michelle tackled the Manchester Half Marathon. Sadly for Hannah, who is particularly sensitive to warm weather when running, it turned out to be the hottest recorded temperature for that day for the past decade…. Despite this our top pair of ladies smashed the distance and raised a fantastic £540.  

Michelle and Hannah, victorious!

Looking forward

If the antics of our fundraisers have inspired you to join team RSPCA M&S and help abandoned, neglected and abused animals why not join us! Our next fundraising challenge will be at the Etihad Stadium on the 29 November. We need 30 people to join us for just a few hours to help collect donations. Fancy dress is encouraged, particularly bunny or cat ears! Last year we raised nearly £1,000 at the same event, can we beat that this year? Email rspcamcr_salford@btconnect.com to sign up! 

As I sign-off on this newsletter we are currently experiencing a wave of kitten and rat admissions; all rescued by inspectors and needing our help. So back to work we go! 

Keep up to date with all the news from the branch via our Facebook page and website (both updated daily). If you are interested in adopting an animal why not check out our website, your soul mate may be waiting for you… 

Enjoy the rest of your Autumn and as always, thank you for your support.

Team RSPCA M&S 

Happily adopted animals!