RSPCA Manchester and Salford Branch

Pork Life

2012-02-19T10:36:00.011Z

The images above represent the highlights of our week. It really has been an exciting one, yes, I used the word 'exciting'! We've seen tremendous acts of kindness and generosity and the arrival of newborn babies, so let me tell you all about it....

We found out on Monday that we had enough money to pay for Humphrey's operation; the relief was enormous, because we had to go ahead with the op the Friday before because the surgeon was unavailable for the following two weeks. It was a huge gamble and one I didn't care to think of the consequences of if we failed to raise the funds. But the miracle I had been hoping for came true and to each and every person who donated - thank you ever so much for your compassion and kindness. Humphrey is well on the way to a full recovery and his cheeky spirit continues to shine through.

There was another miracle I was really hoping for, and that was a home for our Brandy dog (above). She was the main feature of an earlier two part blog post - the ones that saw me in plenty of hot water for accusing some of our animals of being ugly! (I'm sorry, I'm just trying to stifle a laugh whilst hearing the words of our trustee Gilly ringing in my ears, "Naughty Susie!" Tee hee.)

Anyway, the blog posting was shared on Facebook, which was in turn shared by our supporters amongst their friends. Then, something remarkable happened. A couple in Poole in Dorset read the blog and fell in love with Brandy and wanted to offer her a hope. We began exchanges of emails and phone calls and texts and now, a week on Saturday, Brandy will be meeting her new mum and dad!

We've got the easy side of the bargain, we are going to meet them in the Midlands, but they are making a 4/5 hour journey just to get that far! Thankfully they have family in the area so we can meet up there. Brandy deserves this home more than anything else so we are keeping everything crossed that it works out for her next Saturday. She just wants cuddles and a nice warm rug/carpet to lie on, oh, and lots of tennis balls! She lurves her tennis balls.

This week has seen a continuation of our cat rehoming success. So much so that one of the RSPCA Officers brought me cakes to say thank you for making her life so easy! This is because each time she has rung me to ask if we can take in a cat I've said yes. It's so nice to be able to say 'yes' all the time, and I know our run of success will inevitably come to an end soon but for now we are loving it and the cakes - thanks Gina! And thank you to everyone who is coming to us for a new furry friend because without you we couldn't amke the difference that we are.

Of our admissions this week are two delightful boys we've named Timmy and Tommy. Their story is remarkable and so are their personalities and so I'm really hoping they will be reserved this weekend......

The boys owners abandoned them when they moved out. They lived on the streets for a while but stuck together, which in itself is quite remarkable but they really are best buds. When the RSPCA got called to the abandonment there were actually three cats. They were all such good friends that everyone simply assumed they were from the same home. They were collected and taken to the RSPCA vets for neutering only to discover that the third cat had a microchip. The registered owner was contacted, much to their relief, and it transpired that she had been lost for some time. It seems that the boys must have befriended her and they were all looking out for each other whilst living on the streets. An ecstatic owner was united with their cat and our 8 admissions went down to 7, much to my relief!

And they boys? Well, they are just awesome characters and I really hope they get snapped up very soon. But what a remarkable story and what remarkable cats.

To finish the week off what better than the arrival of baby pork! They have to be the biggest piglets ever, but I can assure you they were born overnight Fri/Sat and the pics above were taken at noon on Saturday. They have their umbilical chords attached too, so they are just massive bubs. The pic of mum above was taken Tuesday this week and quite how she was even moving around is beyond me because on Tuesday she was fit to burst. Poor Petina!

So, what it also means is that our Hannah has to put her money where her mouth is, because the day we took all these beautiful fire rescued animals in she promised me that she would make it her personal mission to rehome the guinea pigs and raise us funds to help pay towards their care. Ha! Well, the time has come Hannah!

To be fair she began this a couple of weeks back with her Diary of an RSPCA Guinea Pig blog but yesterday, with the first of the babies arriving, Hannah donned her running shoes and went training in a hail storm! Bonkers? Yes, quite probably, but you see when Hannah sets her mind to something failure is not an option. So, to raise the money we need to pay for the extra care costs of the fire animals she is running a Half Marathon in Liverpoool on 17th March, hence training in silly weather. You can read more about her endeavours and our extra care costs here and it just so happens you can sponsor her at the same time too!

And if any of you feel inspired by our work or Hannah's endeavours then maybe you would like to consider joining our team on Sat 12th May to abseil down Leasowe Lighthouse on The Wirral. This is a once in a life-time opportunity for courageous, intrepid adventurers and you only have to raise £50 in sponsorship and the registration fee is just £15. If you are up for the challenge and would like more info please get in touch at: rspcamcr_salford@btconnect.com

I've got a good week to look forward to, because not only have the first of the guinea pig babiesarrived but the baby bunnies born on the night of the fire are now running around looking very cute pom-poms! Sadly, only two of the original seven have survived but what we do have is one crossed with a Great Dane; she is so massive! I can't wait to play, erm, I mean look after the babies ;o)

Abseil down a lighthouse? Are you mad?

2012-02-15T15:16:00.001Z

Can You Love An Ugly?: Part Two

2012-02-11T10:49:00.003Z

Rabbits. Well, those of you who know me know that I am fanatical about rabbits' but even my rose-tinted spectacles cannot hide the truth that you get ugly-bugly bunnies too.

Ariadne, the albino lionhead, is a typical example of the type of rabbit that gets a raw deal. The last albino we had was with us for about 18 months, despite featuring in local and national advertising campaigns. In the end a friend of mine adopted him, but if she hadn't I can guarantee Beano would still be with us now.

People just don't like albino animals, seemingly finding them odd and creepy looking. When I adopted an albino rat some years ago I coined the phrase 'jam eyes' and somehow this made her instantly less freaky.

I remember the third rabbit I ever adopted (some 10/11 years ago). I went along to a shelter and simply said I wanted the rabbit they were finding hardest to rehome. They pointed out a little Netherland Dwarf with jam eyes and they told me people found his eyes 'demonic looking' - truly! So, he came straight home with us and we named him Arthur (Half-A) cos he was the size of half a rabbit. His personality was wonderful and a true indication as to why we should look beyond the shell.

Ariadne has only recently arrived, and so her journey with us has only just begun and will definitely be a long one. On the plus side, in most instances we give our rabbits a better life than what they came from. In fact, I remember last year the national RSPCA's inspection officer remarking that the quality of life we give our rabbits is better than the average home. What a reassuring commendation to receive. But the truth is, for every rabbit that stays with us long-term, it is one less that we can help.

Ariadne was kept in a baron 3ft hutch along with two other rabbits. There was nothing to absorb the urine and she was stained yellow and the floor beneath the hutch was soaking wet with urine. We have 3 other rabbits from the same home and whilst they are young, healthy and sociable we know their looks will prevent them from being rehomed.

Danni, pictured middle, isn't ugly but her current moulting is making her look moth-eaten, and believe it or not this will put people off from wanting her. She can also be quite shy, so isn't very good at selling herself. We have the same problem with the cats; if they aren't forthcoming with visitors they reduce their chances of finding homes so much. We have a new cat called Norris that no-one has seen yet. He is a bit of a hulkling, frightened, ugly-bugly so we'll see if he settles in before making any decisions about where he would better off. If we put him in a foster home that will further reduce his chances of being adopted so for now we are just keeping an eye on him.

Betty, pictured bottom, really is an ugly-Betty. She has come from the same rescue as Danni and is most likely related to her, but she truly fell out of the ugly tree. To make matters worse she is really quite timid. Poor Betty.

Like all the animal shelters we struggle to rehome rabbits. There truly aren't enough good homes out there let alone for the more challenging rabbits. Invariably our circle of friends end up adopting them but at the moment we are all up to maximum capacity.

I've received criticism this week for our rehoming policy on rabbits; namely that we won't allow them to travel more than 1.5 hours to a new home. I know that this is contrary to many other shelters but our decision to do this went to board level where it was unanimously agreed to implement this limit. The reason? Because they are such highly strung creatures that when placed under prolonged periods of distress it can result in jeopardising their health.

Few people know that rabbits can go into something called gut stasis from not eating and pooping and die within as short a time frame as 12-24 hours. Stress can induce this condition, so by placing this time limit of 1.5hours we feel we are doing our best to safe-guard a rabbit's well-being.

We take quite a number of rabbits from the Yorkshire region and each time they arrive it is a tense waiting game to see if they start eating and defecating whilst they settle in. Just in the last week two rabbits have required syringe feeding to get them going again, so you see it really isn't a random rule.

And of course by keeping it within 1.5hours it means that we can offer a bespoke service to the adopter, by helping with any support needs they may require. For example, some months after adoption Herbert bunny required injectable antibiotics. His adopters were struggling with the injections so I travelled a two-hour round trip to go and support them in their home. This paid off and Herbert is back to full health again. I don't know many other shelters that offer this level of after-care but what I can assure you is that our policies are based on ensuring the best outcome for our animals.

Please open your heart to an ugly-bugly this Valentine's Day.

Can you love an ugly?

2012-02-09T15:39:00.006Z

It seems to me that we really are a nation preoccupied with aesthetics; if it ain’t cute and pretty then we just aren’t interested. At least, that’s how it seems from an animal adoption point of view because any animal that we try to rehome, whether cat, dog, rabbit or guinea pig if it is a
bit on the aesthetically challenged side they will wait months to find a home they can call their own.

Of course there is the extreme of being so ugly that they are deemed cute, like our British Bulldog Lola. But generally, if it ain’t ‘priddy’ they’re gonna get left on the shelf. So, in the run up to Valentine’s Day I want to share some overlooked ugly-buglies that are lonely and looking for
love. So, I ask you; can you love an ugly?

First to share with you is brindle and white staffie Brandy. She has been with us for months now with not even one phone call or email enquiring about her. Brindle staffs are, in our experience, the hardest dogs to rehome. For Brandy it is made all the more worse because she is going on 9 and she has a congenital skin fold on her neck that makes her look even more unattractive.

Now I’ll be honest, I’ve never really taken to Brandy; that was until yesterday. She came into our office for some respite from the kennels (she copes so well in them that we hadn’t considered doing this before) but one of the staff felt sorry for her so popped her in the van and drove her down.

Just seeing the stairs set her off with excitement. The feeling of warmth and the touch of carpet turned this normally placid, self-contained girl into a barrel of excitement and affection. We saw a side to Brandy we had never seen before and we instantly fell smitten. I’ll confess it brought me to tears seeing how different and so very happy she was from such a simple experience. She wanted cuddles and fusses and was so very affectionate. And she wanted a chew; something she’s always ignored in kennels.

It seems that Brandy has been truly hiding her light under a bushel all this time; quite possibly grieving for the loss of her former loving home/owner. Brandy came into our care some 3 months ago but she had spent 3 months already by that time in kennels on emergency boarding, paid for by Social Services (her owner went into hospital and never came out). Really, when you think about it, you can’t begin to imagine what she must have been going through all this time having lost her life as she knew it and now spending endless days, weeks and months incarcerated in a kennel.

The fact Brandy copes so well in kennels demonstrates what a special dog she is, but the reality is she’ll be lucky if she finds a home in another 6 month’s time because nobody wants an ‘ugly’. I truly hope I am proven wrong. And I can reassure everyone that Brandy will not be put to sleep just because she can’t find a home; she will be with us for as long as she needs us.

In reality Brandy is a victim of over breeding and our culture obsessed with image and aesthetics. It is such a shame to see this lonely heart breaking. I hope more than anything she gets to spend her remaining years knowing what love is once again.

You can see a video of Brandy playing at: http://www.manchesterandsalfordrspca.org.uk/dogs.html

In the words of Frank Sidebottom - 'BLIMEY!'

2012-02-04T15:43:00.013Z

Blimey indeed! What an incredible week it has been for RSPCA Manchester and Salford Branch and some of our neighbouring branches too. You know it's a bad one if by Monday evening I'm in a state worry and requiring a 'pep talk' from husband. He always knows just the right thing to say and this time it was the simple words of: "that's what you are there for" that did the trick. So, let me tell you all about it.

It all started last Friday when a Garden Centre in Royton, Oldham went up in flames and several hundred animals tragically perished in the fire. My counterpart at the Bury and Oldham branch, Mandy, rallied together her troops and they went in and rescued all the surviving animals. The Rochdale branch were soon on scene too and between them all they did the most heroic job of rescuing and caring for the very many animals that came out unscathed - and there were mighty many.

It wasn't until the following morning, when the extent of everything became clear, I got in touch to offer spaces to take in guinea pigs. We just couldn't take in any more rabbits because we were expecting 6 new arrivals but wanted to help out as much as we could and guinea pigs were our only option.

When the animals were signed over to the RSPCA on Monday we went up to collect just 4 guinea pigs. I was in my car (we can only afford one work vehicle) and I just had space on my back seat for 3 carriers. Ha! Well, best laid plans 'and all that' resulted in us coming away with far more than we could realistically fit in the car:

4 heavily pregnant adolescent guinea pigs
2 individual male guinea pigs

1 mummy bunny and her 4 babies that she gave to birth to during her rescue

1 female grey lionhead

We had to stack carriers on top off one another and balance on our knees, and as we were driving along a bun and piggy that had been rescued living together had a big fight and my colleague had to contend with the addition of a bunny in her coat as we drove for an hour. It was really quite a calamitous situation but we all made it unscathed.

Our Hannah is fostering one of the adolescent mummy pigs and you can check out why at her 'Diary of an RSPCA Guinea Pig' http://http//diaryofaguineapig.blogspot.com/ It is an absolutely fascinating insight into the world of guinea pigs and check out the 'popcorning' link on day 3 - it's magic stuff!

So, I suppose to most people this doesn't sound like a particularly large amount, but with us already being up to capacity, and that small matter of actually not having our own centre, it immediately puts a whacking great pressure on our limited resources. And let's not forget, 12 are soon going to turn into 20+++. BLIMEY!

It wasn't helped by the fact that in the previous week I had agreed to take in 6 other RSPCA rescued rabbits: 4 from a local welfare case, 1 from South Yorkshire and 1 from Hull. The panic just hit straight away that fateful Monday but my beloved Hannah and Gilly responded in true fashion by setting about raising funds. Hannah is going to run a half marathon in March and Gilly stumped up £200. How great are they? But when you factor that each rabbit actually costs an average of £400 to rehabilitate and rehome you can see why they were so quick to act and me to panic. In absolute basic terms it costs £2 per rabbit/guinea pig a day. So if we admit 12 (and counting) from the fire that's £24 a day extra we have to find, immediately. So, yes, I'm stressed.

If all that wasn't sufficient excitement we've admitted so many new cats this week too:

Peter, Norton, Maddy, Dotty, Donny, Danny, Charles, Sammi, Leoni - in one day alone I had to shuttle 5 into the cattery. This has only possible because of the fantastic run on adoptions and the support we've received from two foster carers helping us to bring round some timid rescue cats in their homes. We've admitted 3 more pups today and there are still 4 more cats to come in - I have to find the space on Monday, ho-hum!

by Wednesday we were all exhausted and the collation of our end of month animal activity stats demonstrated exactly why we have been so rushed off our feet for the last month. I am so proud and elated to share that we rehomed a phenomenal 34 animals in January: 26 cats/kits, 4 dogs and 4 rabbits. Just to put that into perspective, we typically rehome around 20-25 per month. When you factor in that for each animal coming into the branch they need:

collecting from their point of rescue and/or RSPCA clinic

delivering to the cattery/kennels/foster home

usually at least 2 vet appts for treatment, vaccs, neuter etc

and then, when you take into consideration the geographical logistics of our animals being in so many places because we don't have a centre, it's no wonder we are all shattered and our petrol costs are so high!

Now I'll be the first to admit we could just do with a quiet week to have a bit of a 'breather', it is fantastic the fact that we are helping so many animals and with so little.

The images above are some of my highlights of the week. Perhaps my two favourites are of Lulu rotti dog and Sadie staffie. Lulu is going to her new home tomorrow after never even being up for adoption! Our friends at SooZoo told clients about her pending arrival and let's just say it was all just meant to be! For Sadie it is a similar triumph and her reserve today was noted with a 'she's meant to be ours and she was brilliant with the children and even put the brakes on around them'. Oh, and I nearly forgot about Gilbert! He was reunited with his owner 7 days afer he was rescued by an RSPCA inspector. These things just never happen and it is all the more miraculous because he didn't have a microchip.

We are all ending the week happy and exhausted and we will start all over again on Monday with a renewed vigour to to help the arrivals. For now we are hoping for a peaceful weekend a lottery windfall.

Bull Breeds are dangerous - fact?

2012-01-25T11:26:00.014Z

I am angry. I am really angry.

It started at the weekend with the media coverage of a child who was harmed by a 'bull breed' in a park. By Monday morning the unidentified dog had become a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, without any foundation. Then last night the BBC aired a programme about the Dangerous Dog Act and whilst there was balance offered in the way of juxtaposing owners against their actions it in no way revealed the truth.But my anger is not attributable to the persistent media misrepresentation of bull breeds, but of the damage that it causes to their reputation and in turn the knock on effect it has on their rehomability.

We end up with the most wonderful natured dogs languishing in kennels for months on end and all because they have been made out to be 'folk devils' by the media. In previous decades it has been the Rottweiler and German Shepherd but for now the bull breeds are taking the 'bashing'.I have decided to share a paper I wrote just before Christmas for my University of Bristol Companion Animal Welfare and Behaviour Studies course. I entered the research without knowing what I would find. My findings surprised even me. I was awarded a First for this paper; I share this so you know it was considered academically sound.

Aggression in dogs is related to breed and therefore legislation needs to be breed specific. Discuss.

The above question asks for a discussion of legislation based on the presumption that there is an established link between dog breed and the expression of aggressive behaviour. Any conclusions predicated on this hypothesis will reach valid conclusions only if the presumption itself is valid, and that therefore will be the focus of this essay. As the question is too broad to be considered here as a whole, the evidence pertaining only to the most commonly cited breed will be fully examined. Consideration of alternatives breed-specific legislation and the relative merits of each will be considered when reaching a conclusion.

Dog bite related injuries and fatalities are a worldwide public health concern; in the USA alone it is estimated that over 4 million people a year are injured by dog bites (Langley, 2009). According to DEFRA in 2008/9 5,000 hospital admissions in England and Wales were as a result of dog bite related injuries and cost the National Health Service over £3million annually (Defra, 2011). However, the actual number of dog bite related fatalities is minimal, with an average of 15 p.a. in USA and 1 to 2 p.a. in Canada (Raghavan, 2008). Yet these minority incidents have received disproportionate media coverage, in response countries across the globe have been prompted to introduce dog legislation to tackle the perception of there being a problem with so-called ‘dangerous breeds’ (Svatberg, 2006).

Generally two types of legislation prevail: breed-specific legislation (BSL), which aims to ban, restrict or impose conditions of ownership of certain breeds that are perceived to pose the greatest risk (Patronek et al, 2010), and non-breed specific legislation which is aimed at promoting responsible pet ownership (Rosado et al, 2007). In the UK prohibited dogs are not determined by breed but by 'type', which allows for restricting variations of the following types: pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and the Fila Brasileiro (Defra, 2011). In BSL worldwide these breeds recur over and over again, but most common of all is the pit bull terrier. This essay will examine the efficacy of BSL in relation to the pit bull terrier.

The prevalence of the pit bull terrier type in BSL raises a complexity of issues, none more so than the fact that accurate breed identification is so problematic (Cornelissen et al, 2010). For example, in the USA the term 'pit bull' does not just mean the American Pit Bull Terrier but also includes all bull and terrier type breeds (Collier, 2006). Furthermore, the criteria to include them as 'fighting breeds' is no longer accurate because their contemporary, breed-typical behaviour is so different from their origins (Rosado et al, 2007).

Given the misrepresentation of the breed in dog bite statistics it draws into question the validity of studies by Sacks et al (1996) and Sacks et al (2000) that claimed to identify the pit bull as America's most dangerous dog (Collier, 2006). Sacks claimed that between 1979 and 1998 there were 238 dog bite related fatalities of which 66 were attributed to pit bull types, making them the highest breed responsible at 28% (Sacks et al, 2000). However, a 2002 examination of USA dog biting statistics found that between 1965-2001 actual pit bull types were only attributable to 6.7% dog bite related fatalities (Delise, 2002).

A study by Voith (2010) reinforces the potential inaccuracy of breed identification in bite statistics. Voith sought to assess the accuracy of breed identification by experienced animal shelter staff against DNA analysis. The study demonstrated that out of 20 dogs staff could not accurately identify dog breed mixes, with only a 25% correlation between visual identification and DNA. The paper concluded that BSL was not justified and warranted review.

A paper by Collier (2006) examining the efficacy of BSL in Australia revealed that over a 20 year period, of the 19 human fatalities resulting from dog bites none were attributable to the pit bull, yet in 1991 the Australian Dangerous Dog Act was introduced and outlawed the breed. To further reinforce the ineffectiveness of the legislation Collier looked at 547 reported non-fatal dog attacks between 2001-2003 and found that pit bulls were responsible for just 4% of attacks, whereas the category most responsible at 33% were cross-breeds. Collier concluded that Australian legislation had not acted against the breeds that most commonly bite, but rather sought to eliminate specific breeds from society.

Rosado et al (2007) drew a similar conclusion in the examination of the Spanish Dangerous Dog Act. The paper found that because prior to the introduction of BSL there were so few dog biting incidents attributable to dangerous breeds that there was little to reduce in the first instance, therefore, the legislation was fundamentally flawed. Moreover, the paper stated that the BSL in Spain had proven ineffective in reducing the number of dog attacks (fatal and non-fatal) and that it simply offered a false sense of security because by targeting only ‘dangerous breeds’ it sets up a problem of under inclusiveness. What the study actually found was that German Shepherd dogs were the most prolific biters but that they were also the most prevalent breed in the canine population. But as Duffy et al (2008) stated, “...the total number of dogs of a given breed in the local community is seldom known, so the degree to which that breed is over-represented among reported dog bites is usually undetermined.”

A study in Netherlands similarly found there was no justification for the inclusion of the pit bull in the country's BSL and, more significantly, that BSL had not reduced the number of dog bites in the country (Cornelissen et al, 2010). The researchers found that from a survey of 1078 respondents that there were 86 different breeds of dogs implicated in biting incidents, of which 764 dogs were of a specific breed, 212 mongrels and 102 unknown. The researchers stated, “We found that all dogs can bite...Removing the most common biters would also imply removing the most common breeds; for example, we found that the Jack Russell terrier was responsible for approximately 10% of bites...”. The pit bull was not cited as a common biter and this paper eventually contributed toward the repeal of the BSL in The Netherlands.

A paper by Patronek et al (2010) posed that there was no published evidence to substantiate the claims that BSL is a success at protecting the public, but that there was published evidence that demonstrates that BSL is not efficacious. As an example of the disparity between the perception of ‘dangerous dogs’ and the published evidence, the paper cited a German study that compared the behaviours of 415 dogs representing banned breeds with the behaviour of 70 Golden Retrievers. What the study found was that there were no significant differences between the two groups, which adds weight to Collier's (2006) belief that BSL has been based on a perception of risk rather than actual risk.

Klassen et al (1996) drew a similar conclusion about the UK Dangerous Dog Act. The paper stated that it was a failure because it had not reduced or prevented injury from dog bites and had failed to address the most implicated breeds. Instead they claimed that the legislation had singled out certain breeds without evidence to support the decision.

For Rosado et al (2007) the primary critique of BSL was its emphasis on inclusiveness that inevitably led to the assumption that all ‘dangerous breeds’ are aggressive. Both Klassen et al (1996) and Collier (2006) concur that greater emphasis should be placed on individual dogs rather than specific breeds. Cornelissen et al (2010) and Patronek et al (2010) posed that a dog's tendency to bite or show aggressive behaviour was dependent on a number of factors including: genetics/hereditary, early experience, socialisation and training, behavioural and medical health and victim's behaviour all play a role. Bradshaw (2011) placed particular significance on the effect that early experiences and early socialisation can have on a puppy between 3 and 11 weeks of age and how a deprivation in socialisation and/or negative experience(s) can imprint on and affect a dog for life.

Bites studies it seems are often responsible for justifying the formulation of BSL, yet the nature of the studies make them inherently flawed. This essay has already explored the essential problem of breed identification, but there are more areas for concern. Firstly, because most bites studies are based on retrospective data, obtaining accurate and reliable information about the attack is problematic (Cornelissen et al, 2010). In addition, bites from larger breeds are more likely to inflict more damage and therefore necessitate medical intervention. Therefore, bites by larger breeds are more likely to get reported than bites by smaller breeds (Shuler et al, 2008). Whilst BSL remains popular because, according to Patronek et al (2010), there is an 'erroneous belief in its efficacy', The Netherlands is not alone in having repealed BSL; Italy has also repealed their law.

The Dogo Argentine was considered a dangerous breed in Italian BSL. Diverio et al (2008) sought to investigate the prevalence of aggression in the breed and surveyed 22% of the registered breed population in Italy. The study found that predation towards small animals, inter-dog aggression and territorial aggressions were the most commonly reported behaviours. Perhaps of even greater significance the paper revealed the fact that the breed had never been recorded as having bitten a human in Italy. As a consequence, the researchers concluded that Italian legislation was of no utility in preventing Dogo Argentine bites to humans.

In 1966 Lorenz defined aggression in dogs as a single behavioural trait. Contemporary behaviourists now place importance on the context in which the aggressive behaviour has been exhibited because aggression in one situation is not necessarily likely to recur in other contexts (Serpell et al, 1995). Therefore, understanding the motivation behind the act of aggression is paramount in understanding how best to reduce injury and fatalities from dogs.

Lockwood (1995) explained that biting is a key characteristic of canine predatory behaviour. It can appear in a variety of contexts including defence of territory, be pain or fear elicited, protection of social pack members and so on. In the study by Diverio et al (2008) up to 15 different classifications for expression of aggressive behaviour could be found, which reinforces why it is so important to understand 'dog language' (Cornelissen et al, 2010). Although, Cornelissen et al (2010) believed that education alone was not enough and that owners needed to be made aware of the potential damage their dog can cause and be held responsible for their dog's behaviour. Sacks et al (2000) recommended educating owners to better understand breed profiles and the significance of sex and reproductive status in minimising risks of attacks as well as teaching the importance of socialising and training a dog. Whilst Collier (2006) stated, “...a more defensible and promising approach may be to declare dangerous individual dogs that have caused problems.”

It is this paper's belief that there exists a substantive lack of evidence to support breed specific legislation. This conclusion has been reached following the examination of the research undertaken in America, Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and the UK. Perhaps the most promising hope for a way forward in the UK comes in the guise of a coalition formed by twenty organisations, including the RSPCA. The coalition are calling for six key areas to be addressed:
consolidation of legislation, review of breed specific legislation, legislation that covers all places including private property, all dogs be permanently identified, better funding streams to improve 'policing' and improved education and engagement with dog owners.

Perhaps the most crucial element of all of this is that, “…legislation must focus on the owner’s actions or omissions rather than the type of dog” (Epetitions, 2011). Until such time that individual owners are sufficiently held accountable for the behaviour of their dogs there will be little headway made in the reduction of bite incidents. Victim behaviour undoubtedly plays a role too, as O'Sullivan et al (2008) state, 'many bite victims cannot recognise subtle warning signs shown in a dog's behaviour'. However, the responsibility for the canine population extends further: it is also the duty of law enforcers, breeders and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the canine population is understood, responsibly bred and suitably socialised, trained and controlled. BSL will never be an effective tool against dog bites, as it is too simplistic approach to a complex and ever evolving problem.

In sum, there is no evidence to suggest that aggression in dogs is breed specific. Research to date has been retrospective studies on hospital admission records for dog bites, i.e. records of bites that have required medical intervention. Therefore, this does not reveal the complete picture of just how prevalent dog bites are in any given community, or whether one breed is a more prolific biter than another, not to mention the questionable validity of the data in the first instance. Furthermore, there currently exist little, if any, evidence to justify BSL, as it has done little to prevent or reduce dog bite injuries in so many of the countries where it exists.

References
Bradshaw, J, (2011). In Defence of Dogs: Why dogs need our understanding. London: Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd.

Collier, S., (2006). 'Breed-specific legislation and the pit bull terrier: Are the laws justified?’ Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, 1, 17-22.

Cornelissen, J.M.R., Hopster, H., (2010). 'Dog bites in The Netherlands: A study of victims, injuries, circumstances and aggressors to support evaluation of breed specific legislation.' The Veterinary Journal, 186, 292-298.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/dangerous/ accessed 26th November 2011

Delise, 2002, cited in Collier, S., (2006). 'Breed-specific legislation and the pit bull terrier: Are the laws justified?’ Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, 1, 17-22.

Diverio, S., Tami, G., Barone, A., (2008). 'Prevalence of aggression and fear-related behavioural problems in a sample of Argentine Dogos in Italy'. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, 3, 74-86.

Duffy, D.L., Hsu, Y., Serpell, J.A., (2008). 'Breed difference in canine aggression'. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 114, 441-460.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breed-specific_legislation accessed 27th November 2011

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22631 accessed 4th December 2011

Klassen, B., Buckley, J.R., Esmail, A., (1996). 'Does the Dangerous Dog Act protect against animal attacks: a prospective study of mammalian bites in the Accident and Emergency department.' Injury: International Journal of the Care of the Injured, 27, (2), 89-91.

Langley, R.L., (2009). 'Human fatalities resulting from dog attacks in the United States, 1979-2005'.Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 20, 19-25.

Lockwood, R., (1995). 'The ethology and epidemiology of canine aggression' in ed. Serpell, S. The Domestic Dog: its evolution, behaviour and interactions with people. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 131-138.

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dogbites/the-problems-with-dog-bite-studies/ accessed 27th November 2011

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/Voith%20poster.pdf
accessed 27th November 2011

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/World-wide%20Failure%20of%20BSL.pdf accessed 27th November 2011

O'Sullivan, E.N., Jones, B.R., O'Sullivan, K., Hanlon, A.J, (2008). 'Characteristics of 234 dog bite incidents in Ireland during 2004 and 2005'. Veterinary Record, 163, 37-42.

Patronek, G.J., Slater, M., Marder, A., (2010). 'Use of a number-needed-to-ban calculation to illustrate limitations of breed-specific legislation in decreasing the risk of dog-bite related injury'. JAVMA, 237, (7), 788-792.

http://www.polfed.org/PR_New_Petition_Demands_Gov_Delivers_Dog_Law_OverHaul_181111.pdf accessed 18th November 2011

Souls

2012-01-22T18:04:00.011Z

I am so thrilled that this week is ending on such a tremendous high; it means we will all be starting the new week at RSPCA Manchester and Salford Branch with a spring in our step. It's all because of a wonderfully triumphant day for our dogs but 24 hours ago the outlook was very different indeed.

Perhaps the first triumph comes in the form of our beautiful SBT Sadie. I took a call the week before enquiring about dogs available for adoption. The lady described what she was looking for: we had the perfect dog. But as always it was with a tinge of trepidation that I raised the small matter of her breed. To the eternal credit of the caller her initial reticence took her on a journey of discovery and rather than listening to those prejudiced around her, she and her husband went and did their own investigations and came back hammering down our doors to come and meet her.

You see, what they learnt was the truth, i.e. that SBTs are one of the most loving, loyal and good natured dogs you could ever wish to meet. A trip to the cattery mid-week demonstrated how special Sadie is when naughty Rigby cat (who went to his new home yesterday) took a great big swipe at her through the bars of his pen door and she just sat there looking bewildered.

Sadie left our care at 10.30am this morning with a very excited new mum and dad. As I type this I am pretty confident that Sadie will be lounging on the sofa, snuggling up to her new parents and smiling whilst she enjoys a belly rub. What a lucky girl.

The second triumph comes in the form of one of our trustees, who found a home for a new admission - a chocolate Lab - within days of his arrival. Today he has been viewed, reserved and had his home visit done! So, once he has been neutered and completed his assessment period he will be going to his new home. Let me tell you, this dog is smashing and truly deserves the life of luxury and love that he is about to receive.

The third, and perhaps our most exciting triumph, is Oscar dog (pictured above). Oscar came into our care in a distressing state last November. He was underweight and was scarred and lumpy as a result of the years of beatings he had endured. We spent a month rehabilitating him before we proudly put him up for a adoption. Despite his handsome good looks and charming personality there was not a single enquiry about him in two months, until this week.......

In fact, I was so excited after taking the initial call that I text all the staff and Sunday dog walking team to tell them all about it. The caller was excited as I was: she hadn't slept all night after finding him the previous evening on our website and I was so excited because she was offering the perfect home for him.

I then waited with baited to breath to hear back from the caller to make an appointment to come see him. Thankfully I didn't wait long at all and we talked some more and made arrangements there and then on the phone to deliver Oscar to them if they fell in love with him!

So, at 12 noon today, those of us who weren't in work sat by our phones eagerly awaiting the arrival of Oscar's potential new mum and dad and the outcome of the viewing. An agonising 75 minutes passed and then the phone rang: it was love! I can't begin to explain how much this means to us all but needless to say we are all so thrilled.

On Wednesday Debs and Catherine will take Oscar up to his new home in Cumbria (primarily because he gets quite travel sick and it's easier to clean up our animal van than it is a car). It also means that we get to have the pleasure of seeing where Oscar will live out a life of happiness, which will include daily two hour walks in a National Trust forest (that's out the back door of his new home!). I am so truly grateful for this miracle and to his new mum and dad for offering everything we could wish for and more for Oscar. We know they will give him all the love, support and training that he needs. He may have been with us three months but it was well worth waiting for.

I mustn't also forget to mention that Lola the bulldog is going to her new home this Wednesday - oh do we love that funny girl! And we already have a new girl lined up to come in who is a beautiful rotti. She is currently in emergency boarding so it will be great to get her in our care.

For those of you who don't know we don't have our own kennels and instead pay to board our dogs in a private facility. We used to spend four days a week on site but this week we've begun trialling a 5th day. It means that the dogs can enjoy even more attention and stimulation and hopefully it will improve their welfare too.

I'll be regularly joining in on the 5th day at the dogs, and although it will mean playing 'catch up' on my workload at home I know it will be worth it. I already spend every Tuesday morning with the rabbits and I can tell you the benefits far out-way the loss of an evening or two a week. There is just nothing better than actually spending time with the animals and I'm sure they benefit so much too.

We've also had a tremendous week on cat rehomings, so much so that the cats and kittens are coming in and out faster than we can get them listed on the website for adoption! It has been really fast paced of late and whilst the workload has mounted up, it isn't half a good feeling to be able to say 'yes' to requests from our rescuing and treating RSPCA staff.

But I cannot end without talking about the sadness we have encountered this week. Again, it is the all too familiar tale of rabbit neglect. This week two beautiful bunnies died. They were Little Bob and the magnificent Hilda. Both were tragic losses. Bob's was certainly as a result of the awful neglect we speculate he had endured. I say speculate because all we know was that he was abandoned and he had the worst overgrown claws the inspector had ever seen. My hunch is that he was thrown out after having spent months, if not years, being ignored. Hilda's, however, was a simple operating theatre loss, which is only the second time in four years that this has happened and out of well over 200 rabbits. Whilst so rare, it is no less gutting.

But what really tipped the balance this week was the arrival of our new bunny lady yesterday. I am not willing nor able to share the details,but perhaps if I tell you that she brought tears to the eyes of one of my most experienced staff member that might give you a measure of just how sickening her state of neglect was. Maybe one day I will share her story. In the meantime I take solace knowing that this little soul, who we have name Twiggy (yes, black humour is essential at all times!) is safe with us now and we will do all we can to rehabilitate her and rehome her just like Oscar.

I just wish there was a greater sense of equality amongst people's perceptions towards differing species. If ever you were in doubt about the individuality of small furries like rabbits, rats and guinea pigs then you need to spend time at my house; you'd soon change your mind!

You can see some of our animals available for adoption at http://www.rspca-manchesterandsalford.org.uk/

2012-01-15T15:09:00.006Z

You don't often hear about the lengths RSPCA staff go to to rescue and rehome animals. I think this is partly because the staff take it in their stride that this is simply what they do. I think it is also partly because good news doesn't have the same newspaper appeal as a bad news story. And I think it is also about modesty. This week I have seen, heard and even participated in what I would describe as 'going above and beyond' and I wanted to share with you some myth-busting acts that have taken place over the last 7 days that I know about.

The first to astonish me was the dedication of an Animal Welfare Officer friend of mine located in the South Yorkshire region. She'd had a run on rescuing ferrets and had run out of places locally to put any more. So, she casually told me that (once she had nursed him better in her own home)she would be taking a trip up to Hull to make sure a ferret had the chance to find a forever home.

The same Officer was actually ringing me to see if we had any rabbit space. She and some of her colleagues had a number of rabbits they had been taking care of in their own homes (one for two months) after rescuing from various incidents/investigations. When I agreed to take all four she went rounding up all the rabbits she and her colleagues had rescued and drove them all the way to us in Manchester. (Only for three more to require assistance later that day. No doubt they went home with her.)

Unknowingly I performed a similar act this week when an adopter rang to say her timid cat was getting the better of her when it came to getting her in the carrier for a vet trip. Without a thought I offered to go round to help at 8am one morning (setting off at 7.30am). I didn't think twice about this but it was later pointed out to me that this was an example of how RSPCA staff regularly go above and beyond for the animals. (Poppy cat made it safely to the vets, and on time, but she was a tricky 'customer'!)

But perhaps the most remarkable act this week happened yesterday. I hope it gets media coverage because it truly is incredible. It involved a Jack Russell getting stuck up a tree. Well, actually, getting stuck up inside the tree! Our intrepid Inspector Heaton spent five hours chiseling away at a knot hole in a tree where the dog had got stuck inside. Firefighters were on hand assisting too, but it was Inspector Heaton and the owner that spent a total of five freezing hours outside with gritted determination to free the overly inquisitive pooch.

The reason why Inspector Heaton shared the story with me was because it was a tool that our branch had purchased for his inspectorate group that had helped finally free the dog and reunite him with a very grateful owner. Now, of course, it's not the branch connection I'm highlighting here but the extent to which the amazing staff of the RSPCA go to to aid animals. And do you know what? This is not a one off, or an occasional thing, but a daily occurrence; it's just that we don't get to hear about them as much as we should because the staff just take it in their stride that it's just what they do.

Well, I think all the officers and inspectors are amazing and I cannot applaud them enough for getting up each and every day and doing what they do. But they are not the only ones who are fantastic. This week my team have been even bigger troopers than usual as we've had to cope with being one down and lots of new admissions.

I am so lucky to be surrounded by such hard working and dedicated people. Freezing my toes off on a very cold Sunday morning with the Sunday dog team today only served to highlight how lucky me and the animals are to be part of something so special. Team M&S - you are the best!

Above is a picture of Holly mummy and her kittens - I know it has nothing to do with the rest of the blog but we all love a coo at kitties! Two have already been snapped and we have two boys remaining who would like to be rehomed together.

A right good spit wash!

2012-01-08T09:58:00.005Z

Well, it may be a slow first week back for most of the country but for us it's been full speed ahead. What a busy week! I think I've been at the vets every day this week and next week is looking no different.

We have a very poorly Samantha bunny and Cain cat, I've actually lost count of how many new cats we've admitted, we have an adorable new kitty too who was found stray on New Year's Day (pictured above) and let's not forget Lola the bulldog - that face could sink a thousand ships (see above).

Going to their new homes have been Huey, Kanga and Roo buns as well as Maisy and Florence kits. There is still little interest in our dogs despite Oscar being an amazing boy and Sadie being so loving and Brandy being very funny indeed! I know it's just the time of the year but all the while the dogs are stuck in kennels. The only saving grace is that the weather has been so mild. I always dread winter in the kennels, but so far we've been lucky weather-wise and I really hope it stays that way for their sake.

Next week sees the arrival of 4 more rabbits from the Yorkshire region. The area is desperately struggling with rabbits and ferrets and whilst we can't help with the latter we are doing all we can to help with the buns. That's going to be at least 15 we've taken from the region recently. Neutering and a ban on selling them in pet shops would solve the problem so easily, but that is just a mere pipe dream.

And I'm delighted to report that Kato cat has finally been reserved (as has newbie Jessica). So, it's just our adorably naughty Timmy that we need to find a home for, as he will be our longest waiting cat then.

Timmy is without doubt my kind of cat. Very high spirited, full of playfulness and bursting with mischief. He may be an adult cat but he is every bit the kitten, which I'm guessing is the reason why he's not been snapped up. Well, teeth and claw play does tend to be a bit off putting in an older cat, but I love it! I'm just surprised his stunning good looks haven't won someone over yet.

My favourite image of the week is undoubtedly that of our former charges Murray and Mitzie (pictured together above). I just love the fact that Murray has Mitzie in a head-lock whilst he's giving her a right good 'spit wash'. It puts me in mind of the people who you hear saying 'animals are boring' or that they 'don't like them'. Well, stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Which reminds of right good laugh I had this week. It was due to the comments section of an article on the Daily Mail website. The article was a peculiar one: about a cross-eyed woman who had lied to an animal sanctuary in order to be seen to be meeting the criteria to adopt a puppy. I truly do not understand why this merited printing, however, the 'entertainment factor' was supplied in abundance in the comments section.

The section was filled with the usual diatribe about how awful the various leading animal charities are but then some of the postings went off on a tangent about how dirty and horrible dogs are. They got more and more ridiculous but the best one of all was from someone who suggested we should round up all the stray dogs and ship them over to North Korea because they will 'put them to good use'. (And the tone really did suggest that they meant it.) At this juncture I was howling with laughter at just how ridiculous some people are but then you soon find yourself confronted with it in 'real life' by the multitude of calls we take that defy belief.

These most typically arise in the form tea-time calls about a pet that has been sick all day or for several days in a row. The emphasis being on tea-time here, when the vets are shut yet their animal has been suffering for hours or days or even weeks prior. I promise you this has become a regular occurrence every Friday, without fail. They usually start around 3.30pm onwards, so this time-slot along with Monday mornings have become my loathing periods.

But I think what really hit home for me this week was when I was at a primary school talking to different classes about the work we do. I had taken along a display of the 9 animals up for 'Best Rescue' (the voting has been extended due to our website being down, such a nuisance). The children wanted to hear all the stories, to which I did my best to sanitise/pare down, and they all rather brilliantly punctuated the tales with great sound effects. But it was actually the teachers' comments afterwards that really struck a chord: 'I've learnt so much' and 'I didn't know that you did all this' and 'that was really interesting'. It made me wonder what more we can do to share with a greater audience just exactly what we do. But then I got back to the office and discovered that perhaps we are beginning to find these ways already.........

This week I have had email contact with a lovely lady called Claire, who was keen on adopting one of our cats. She told me that she had come across our Facebook and blog and after reading about what we do she said she will be supporting us more in the future. That really made me smile because someone had taken the time to read between the headlines (so to speak) and learn for themselves what we really do. Claire's comment were exactly what I needed for a pick-me-up and I'm truly thankful to her.

Here's to another challenging week ahead and more space juggling!

Annual Review of 2011

2012-01-01T10:53:00.005Z

THE HIGHS OF 2011

Contemplating the last 12 months is a daunting prospect. It has been another incredibly busy year and a major event was the opening of our 3^rd charity shop in Didsbury. The shop is set to raise an annual profit of £10-15k, which will pay the annual boarding costs for our dogs. We’ve received fantastic local support for the shop and we really hope that this will continue throughout 2012.

On the animal front we have had a number of ‘babies’ come into our care and successfully hand-reared. This has been done by just two foster homes and there have been puppies and kittens and no shortage of cute pictures! But the dedication afforded by these foster homes is just priceless. Few people realise that it involves round the clock care for weeks on end and it really takes a very special person who can do this. We never take for granted how simply amazing and committed they are and we thank them for giving the gift of life to so many babies.

One of the remarkable aspects of 2011 is just how much we have taken off in social media terms. We now have an army of followers to our Twitter, Facebook and blog site and these wonderful people come to our rescue each time we place an appeal: whether that be for food, cattery enrichment, Xmas toy appeal or shop donations. We feel blessed and honoured to have such a devoted cyber clan!

But perhaps the greatest highlight of all has to be some of the more remarkable animals that have come into our care and been successfully rehabilitated and rehomed. Our Rescue Animal of the Year awards highlights some of these incredible animals: http://www.manchesterandsalfordrspca.org.uk/award.html

And you can read more about others we have helped at:

http://rspcamcrsalford.blogspot.com/

You really cannot better that sense of achievement that you get when an animal battles against the odds to overcome its former experiences and move on to a new forever home.

2011 ACHIEVEMENTS

273 Animals Taken in

Cats = 208 (2010 = 181)

Dogs = 45 (2010 = 62)

Rabbits = 19 (2010 = 88)

Misc = 1

275 Animals Rehomed

Cats = 195 (2010 = 165)

Dogs = 37 (2010= 50)

Rabbits = 39 (2010 = 40)

Misc = 4

300 Pre-Adoption Home Visits

274 Animals Attended Free Pet Health Clinics

217 Owned Animals Received Low Cost Microchipping

THE LOWS OF 2011

To fully appreciate the ‘highs’ it seems inevitable that we need to experience the ‘lows’, and there has been plenty to challenge our faith and commitment during 2011. There have been some truly severe cases of cruelty and neglect, which are all the more worsened when we cannot overturn the problems and have to face euthanasia. The images above are of some the brave animals we tried to help during 2011.

In total during 2011 we have loved and lost 28 animals. This amounts to nearly 10% of the animals that we have taken in during 2011. We do not put animals to sleep because they don’t find homes, but because we cannot help them any further than we have tried. These animals have been the victims of a society that treats companion animals just like any other commodity, and sometimes we have to accept that we cannot undo the harm/neglect that has been caused to them; although we rarely give up without a damn good fight. Losing an animal is the hardest aspect of our work and one that never, ever gets any easier. Tears are shed quite frequently but there is only one reason why we keep coming back for more.

Loosing accommodation spaces this year was something else we had to face up to, as the finances were pinched to their limit. The biggest expenditure after staff wages is boarding fees. As many of you know we do not have an animal centre and only have one f/t and one p/t animal staff plus the Branch Manager (who spreads herself wherever needed in the charity). This isn’t extravagant by any means and we just about get by (though we loathe it when one of us is on leave).

Cutting boarding spaces was the only obvious option to save more money and it means that we can now only afford: 4 kennels, 15 rabbits spaces and 11 cattery pens. We do make use of foster homes but this can create additional logistical and financial burdens so we do have to be careful not to over-fill.

We are coping, but with new systems in place at Regional HQ to allocate spaces to inspector rescued animals we may feel the pressure more next year.

GOALS FOR 2012

The branch will continue to prioritise the rehabilitation and rehoming of the animals the RSPCA inspectorate rescue. We are determined to ensure we maintain the level of service we are currently operating on and to make sure we help as many animals that we can.

But less choice unfortunately seems to mean less interest and this is certainly reflected in the rehoming stats for dogs in 2011. It stands to reason that if you have fewer animals to choose from, you attract less attention. But, believe it or not, we have not had a great demand from the inspectorate during 2011 for our dog spaces so loosing 4 did not prove to be so disastrous after all. But, as always, it is cats that are so over-populated and put the greatest of strain on our resources.

As a means to try and address this we are going invest £1k to trial a pilot scheme in Gorton to target female cat neutering prior to spring-time. Believe it or not this sum will only neuter 30 cats but that could prevent on average a further 150 cats being born in one season in just this one area.

If we can source further funding we will seek to repeat the scheme in other areas, which will also include free microchipping and even free transportation to the vets where required (such is the reluctance of some owners).

As the national RSPCA embarks on another year of rabbit welfare campaigning we will be right at the heart of supporting this.

As many of you know the bobtailed-ones are a big passion of the branch, so we are set to return with our ever popular Rabbit & Guinea Pig Roadshow around Easter time. We will also participate in ‘Rabbit Awareness Week’ in September and of course continue to champion the bunnies throughout the year with the highest of rehoming standards.

Partnership working with Salford Dog Wardens is our final goal for 2012. We have struck up a great relationship with them and they were instrumental in delivering our annual Xmas pet clinic in Eccles in 2011.

We will aim to target other areas in Salford with free vet clinics, free microchipping and free dog neutering vouchers (the latter courtesy of the dog warden). Of course this will be dependent on finances, but we will kick off the year with an event in Little Hulton for Valentine’s Day. Well, our pets are much loved too and what better way to show them?

WISHES FOR 2012

Certainly at the top of the list is funding for cat neutering projects. A close second is to open another charity shop to help us generate more sustainable income. A third wish would be for stability in the animal staff team, as we have been somewhat plagued with illnesses and line-up changes during 2011.

But the really big wishes would be a Branch Administrator, a Community Fundraiser and an Area Shops Co-ordinator. Pie in the sky? Well, maybe just a touch, but it’s good to have ambitions for the future.

So, for now, we’ll stick with simply rehoming lots and lots more animals please and to say a massive thank you to our incredible team of volunteers, staff and supporters who keep us going so brilliantly. Happy New Year to you all!

The Rest

2011-12-28T12:44:00.005Z

We are into our second year with the ‘Rescue Animal of the Year’ awards and this time round we shortlisted to nine, as opposed to twelve in the first year we ran it. We thought it might make it easier for the voters to choose, but in all honesty they are all such worthy winners. It then got me thinking about the animals that didn’t make the short-list, so I thought I’d share some of my personal favourites……

Bilbo was an all-time favourite cat amongst all the staff and volunteers. He was special in so many ways and someone who will forever remain in our hearts. Despite giving him all the veterinary treatment he required, money just couldn’t undo the years of neglect he had endured as a long-term stray. Everyone absolutely devastated when he could no longer walk and had to be put to sleep. Animal Welfare Assistant Debs Beats aptly sums him up:

“Bilbo should win best rescue animal because he really was just that. He never stopped purring even when we were putting ears drops in three times a day, bathing parts of him in salt water, poking and prodding him all day and worse of all putting him on a diet! He just wanted hugs and strokes all day long and was happy to spend the rest of the day curled up in his bed. Even during his last couple of days when he could no longer walk straight he still managed to sit up and hold one paw up as he did to look extra cute in the hope of getting extra treats, which of course we always ended up giving him! If he had been a human he would have been one of those inspirational people that have a terrible illness but somehow manages to run marathons!”

Boris was abandoned by his owner when they moved out and lived as a stray for a long time before coming into our care. Our Chair, Hannah Brookfield, shares why she nominated Boris:

“Boris was a lovely, friendly chap that I always remember fondly. Being a black and white cat he already had the odds stacked against him for finding a home (black and white cats, along with black cats aren’t as popular as all the other coat colours). Thankfully, his winning personality finally won his new family over and they adopted him this year. I have lots of pictures of Boris playing with his fluffy pink mouse in the cattery which always make me smile.”

Murray came into our care along with his brothers Brett and Jermaine when they were a couple of weeks old. A teenager found them abandoned, tried in earnest to care for them but after a few day alerted his youth worker who in turn contacted the RSPCA. The kittens were in a very poor way and sadly on Boxing Day 2010 Brett went dramatically downhill and lost his fight to life.

Trustee Dave Hartley explains why he nominated Murray:

“Murray was one of my brother’s and his partners very first foster kittens. I remember him when he was a tiny, sickly, little furry blob who needed lots of care and attention from the fosterers, nursing him two hours a day round the clock for ages. He was finally rehomed with his brother and a year on is a gorgeous, big ginger cat, with a tail to die for!”

Mr Jeremy was brought into our care as a long-term stray that had a sensitive tummy that flared up again when he was adopted. After 5 weeks he was returned but thankfully he cleared up straightway but we still took the route of an elimination diet plan and he remained in foster care until he found his forever home in Rossendale. Because he was with his foster family for so long the wrench was hard, but to this day we still receive updates from his 80 year old ‘dad’! Her, his foster mum explains why Mr Jeremy got her vote:

“Jeremy had the nicest temperament. He was cool and relaxed and was always up for a fuss. He never raised a paw or showed any kind of unhappiness. Even though he had to have the plainest food you've ever seen he never meowed in complaint; he just got on with it. I’ll never forget being allowed to let him out to play (he had been with us that long): it was summer and he ran after leaves blowing in the garden like a kitten. We loved him so much.”

Porky was brought into our care after his fairly young owner had tragically passed away. He was a nervous young boy who’d had minimal socialising and was totally unable to cope with the world. We had intended to put him in the kennels but within moments of arrival it was obvious this could not happen. We were very lucky to have our wonderful foster parents Sue and Simon come to his rescue and thanks to their hard work and determination a remarkable transformation took place and he was able to be rehomed. Here his foster mum explains all:

“Porky-piggy was absolutely petrified of everyone; let’s just say that he even emptied his bladder and bowels all over the vets whilst they tried to check him over. He also frantically tried to bite anyone that tried to get near him, hence he was a bit of a problem dog to put into kennels and we ended up with the little guy. After 7 weeks with us he ended up being the most affectionate, playful, fun-loving little dog; and we loved him even though he was the strangest looking dog you’ve ever seen - we called him a Westie on stilts!”

Bonnie came into our care after she was dumped in a bin just a few hours old and left for dead. Everyone was rooting for her as her first foster parents hand-reared her round the clock and performed nothing short of a miracle. Once weaned Bonnie went to a foster home where she could be socialised with large breed dogs. Here her second foster explains why she nominated Bonnie:

“Bonnie is now a bouncy hippo of a puppy and growing every day. She chews everything and anything including me and my husband and our 3 dogs. She’s heaps of fun and a little terror too. She has a little stubborn streak, but is such a sweetheart. She is going to be the most amazingly stunning companion, all be it a bit slavvery , yuk! I must say it’s been a pleasure looking after such amazing animals.”

Earl came into our care along with Lady, as there owner was unable to give them (and 4 other dogs) the care that they needed and were being kept in kennels 24/7 and rarely exercised. One of our volunteers explains why she nominated Earl:

“Earl was one of those cases that stick in my mind because he represents thousands of other dogs that have been in the same position. Being an ex-racer he was kennelled badly and had terrible bald patches on his back legs. I remember walking him in November 2010 and he was shivering with cold but two of the staff at Ashleigh Vets bought him and Lady coats. Luckily we managed to rehome Earl pretty quickly (and Lady too). I did his home visit just before Christmas last year. I was soon sent lots of pictures of him on the sofa and sprawled out in front of the fire with his Santa hat on. This is where greyhounds belong, not on the race track.”

Willow was signed over to our care by her owners who found to be failing to meet her needs. She was not the first dog we had taken from them. Two of our dog walkers explain why they nominated Willow:

“Willow was the most amazingly gentle, well behaved gorgeous dog! Considering the size of her she could have been a nightmare but she was the complete opposite and such a happy lovely dog! I always looked forward to seeing her!” Sarah McConville

“Willow the Great Dane was a big softie who used to nudge her head against you when out walking with her. I loved her to bits.” Jo Aljibouri

Clint had outgrown accommodation at two other RSPCA branches before coming into our care. He had been just 2 months old when rescued but he was a Continental Giant and grew to massive proportions and was temporarily being kept in a dog kennel until we came to his rescue. His adopter remembers the day he arrived because she cares for our bunnies at her private boarding establishment:

“Clint was transferred with his brother from another RSPCA branch. He came in very nervous and looking very sorry for himself. Having recently lost our gorgeous Benny-Benson, a Continental Giant house bunny with an awful brain tumour, we fell instantly for Clint and his brother and ended up adopting Clintos. He has come on in leaps and bounds and is quite the cheeky, quietly confident lad now and loves a special tickle from his new mum (me).”

Margot’s fate was so typical of so many rabbits that come into animal welfare charities’ care. She was found stray and was rescued by a member of the public. One of our volunteers explains why she nominated Margot:

“Margot was just a stunning rabbit that must have had some sort of hare in there too! I remember taking photos of her for our website after she had just arrived; she was so brave and dying to get out for a run. I can see how she ended up straying! Many of the rabbits are so scared when they come into our care due to the ill-treatment they have often suffered so it was a refreshing change to meet a super confident and uber naughty bunny!”

We owe everything and more to the dedication of our staff, volunteers and the private-boarding staff for making sure these very special animals get the chance to live a life worth living, against all the odds. 98% of the animals taken into our care in 2011 were RSPCA ‘generated’, which means they have been rescued from cruelty, neglect and/or abandonment. We are the only animal welfare charity in England and Wales that does what it does, which means our animals are very special indeed.

I can’t wait for the festivities to be over so we can get back to doing what we do best – rehabilitating and rehoming these exceptional furry people.

Charlie

2011-12-24T09:24:00.003Z

Hi my name is Charlie, I am a 2 year old male Collie cross. I have been in the care of the RSPCA Manchester and Salford branch since just before Christmas a lovely lady rescued me from a disused warehouse yard, my previous owner had thrown me over the fence and just left me there! I am a favourite with the kennel staff I love my walks and cuddles.

On 17th April 2008, after waiting 5 months to find someone to love him, Charlie was reserved. Charlie meant a lot to us all, but especially the inspector who rescued him. She closely followed his progress and was as thrilled as we were when he left to live with his 'dad' Graham Revell. The above passage is taken from his original write up on Dogsblog.com and it made me realised what a long way we have come since April 2008.

Since 2008 we have probably rehomed nearly 200 dogs, just like Charlie, that were rescued from despair. It is thanks to our supporters, volunteers and staff that we are still here today, albeit with less funds and half the number of kennels we once had, but we are still here thanks to you all. Charlie and Graham remember us each and every Christmas with a lovely handmade card and a generous donation to our work.

It deeply touches me that they continue to remember us and support us and it is so reassuring to know we have friends like them out there. I know we have so many friends out there like Charlie and Graham, which makes it all so worthwhile. Thank you to you all for making us what we are; we couldn't be here without you, your faith and support means so much.

Merry Christmas everybody.

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-16T09:22:00.002Z

This week has been such a contrast between joyful Christmas spirit and sheer incredulity.

We have been so lucky to have had such a great response to our Xmas Pet Toy appeal that on Tuesday each and every bunny got new treats and toys to play with and on Wednesday all the dogs got the same! In fact, the response to the dog toys has been so great that we've been able to have a much needed clear out of all the worn, well-loved toys that had seen better days.

We have not seen the dogs so happy in ages, and you know what rabbits are like: if they are eating they are happy! We have some more fantastic enrichment toys to give to the bunnies today and it's all just been so exciting and uplifting and I cannot thank everyone enough for donating so generously.

But whilst our friends and supporters have been so wonderfully kind and caring I'm afraid there has been the typical ,darker side going on.

By Tuesday I really had had a gut full of people calling 'to buy a kitten for their kids for Christmas'. Not a single person had a clue. One person actually challenged me when I said we don't rehome pets as presents and demanded to know why. I said that for over 20 years now animal welfare charities have campaigned against this and it was something she was genuinely unaware of. She didn't seem to listen to my explanation either, so there goes another homeless animal in the new year.

On a related topic, I read this week (courtesy of the Rabbit Welfare Fund) that within the first year of purchase 60% of pet rabbits are relinquished to animal sanctuaries. Sounds a lot, doesn't it? Well, when you consider that the figure amounts to 21,000 you can't help but feel opposed to pet shops selling animals. Currently the Rabbit Welfare Fund is conducting research to find out how many rabbits are in rescues throughout the UK. The previous figure was 35,000 at anyone time, but it's now thought to be much higher. But just think about that for a moment- 21,000 rabbits given up within the first year and 35,000 waiting for a new home at any one time.

Uh. It's so frustrating and makes me so mad. But people just won't have it that rabbits do not make good children's pets. Family pets, yes, but not children's pets. And as I sit here all cosy and warm as the snow falls in Salford - how many rabbits do you think will get ignored today because the owner doesn't want to go out and get cold?

Other bewildering 'snippets' that have happened this week.....

one caller sticks in my mind, who rang up to say we had to collect her cat cos she didn't want it any more because she'd gone and got a dog
another one rang to say we had to pay for her animal to see the vet as she'd spent all her money on Christmas presents
and I learnt of a rescue yesterday of 3 pups abandoned outside a labour club in the freezing cold

The calls to relinquish animals hasn't abated and matters are made far worse because there are no spaces anywhere because there are no animal adoptions at this time of year - either centres choose to close or people turn their attention to the festivities. But abuse from the general public doesn't stop just because it's Christmas and I know many of us have been getting a lot of it recently but the fact is we don't have the answers! Our cattery, kennels and foster carers are already full and will remain that way until the New Year when adoptions pick up again.

So, if I can ask one thing of people over the next week, please spend some extra time with your furries. Treat them to a new toy, buy them something extra special to eat or give them extra play time. Please, take a moment to cherish them and let them know just how lucky they are to be loved by you, because there are so many out there that aren't loved and cherished as they deserve to be.

What a team!

2011-12-11T10:13:00.003Z

Our volunteers are simply brilliant. They really are a fantastic team and always, always come good for us when we have an event on and yesterday was no exception to the rule.

We held our annual Xmas Fayre and Free Pet Health Clinic yesterday at Rainbow Community Centre in Eccles. Despite the usual lack of support from the local paper our 1000 leaflet drop seemed to do the trick and people came along in a steady, manageable trickle all afternoon and much to our surprise, by the end of the day, we had seen 115 animals and microchipped 65 of them! And what a menagerie we saw, thanks to having our exotic vet friend Molly Varga health checking.
There was:
80 dogs
16 cats
8 rabbits
5 snakes
2 tortoises
2 rats
1 raccoon - yes, a raccoon
1 hamster

It was funny because I had only been telling someone a few days previously about the growing trend for keeping increasingly diverse exotic animals. We once had skunks at one of our free clinics and that an inspector had recently rescued a stray raccoon. And low and behold would you 'Adam and Eve it' a raccoon appeared at the clinic yesterday. The animal was very well looked after and very beautiful, but it was tinged with sadness for us all because the owners were planning on breeding from her. And before you ask where you get them from there is a pet shop in Manchester that sells them along with Meerkats and Skunks and plenty of other animals that should be left in the wild, in my opinion.

Are we really any better than the old school safari 'trophy hunters'? I mean, have we really moved on all that much if these animals are now being peddled as pets? It makes you wonder really, doesn't it? I mean, when will mankind stop at appropriating animals for its own gain?

As Christmas looms ever nearer there has been a surge in calls from people wanting 'to get rid' of their pets. I promise you this is the exact term of phrase people use. Even someone who had had their dog for 10 years used the term 'get rid' this week and it upset me so much. I confess to having had enough of it all this week and the doldrums have well and truly struck. I'm tired of being expected to have the answers to everything and I'm distressed at the relentless onslaught of unwanted pets and I'm above all fed up with people hell-bent on hating the RSPCA.

It's so bad these days that I am reluctant to tell people where I work if they ask me. And it's not because I ashamed, it's because of the incredible amount of misinformation out there that so often converts to hatred towards our organisation. Two examples of this have arisen this week.

Firstly, there was an article in the Daily Mail about the Turton House Case. When my colleague sent me the link it was attached with a note saying 'I wonder what the truth really is behind this article?' Do you know, it was staggering the allegations made against the RSPCA for alleged 'in action'. And then the comments afterwards from members of the public who were clearly RSPCA haters were just awful. I mean upsettingly awful; but I don't suppose they care.

The very next day I received a document that outlined the true involvement the RSPCA had had with the Turton House Case and my goodness, it was extensive and reassuring. The newspaper article could not have been much further from the truth and in reality the RSPCA (and other horse welfare charities that worked in partnership with us over it) had gone above and beyond in helping to secure these animals' welfare whilst acting within the law.

This is the bit that people seem to fail to understand each and every time they are so quick to criticise - the RSPCA is a charity and does everything voluntarily and has no legal powers. It deeply saddens me why people have such little appreciation for this fact, and, that to prosecute someone costs thousands of pounds. Unless there is substantial evidence (and usually there has to be a vet willing to testify), the charity cannot just throw the money around; it has to justify spending the public's hard-earned, generously donated money.

The other fact that people don't understand is that the RSPCA cannot 'seize' an animal. It has to be the police who do it and invariably the police have to have a vet willingly to go on record saying that it is in the animal's best interest to do so. Again, something that the papers don't bother explaining. It's so frustrating because each time the papers inaccurately report on a case the harm they cause to morale and reputation is so great, yet they get away with it each and every time.

The second reason why I shy away is because of this widespread belief that the RSPCA puts to sleep animals if they haven't found a home in 7 days. Jeeez, if that was true how come we've got animals in our care that have been waiting 14 months to find new homes? So, when I was introduced to someone on a night out on Friday who's first question to me was whether the RSPCA pts after 7 days, I just shook my head and smiled and told the truth. Where does this nonsense even come from? But it's myths like these that perpetuate and breed and develop into contempt towards our organisation that in turn makes doing our work so much harder.

For the time being, the fight has gone out of me because for now, it has all just got a bit too much. I always say that the worst bit about this work isn't the animal rescue side but the people side, and at the moment it has well and truly 'got to me'.

'Dog Rescue Answering Machine Message'

2011-12-08T18:59:00.004Z

A very dear friend of mine sent me the 'Dog Rescue Answering Machine Message' below. I suspect it is from America from the spellings. I was struck by many of the frustrations we have in common with the author even though we are so many miles apart. So much of it rings chillingly true that I just had to share it.

Carla Bottle edited a doc. Why our rescue centres are full.....

Dog Rescue Answering Machine Message:
Press 1 if you have a 10-year-old dog and your 15-year-old son has suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away. Press 2 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your 150 pound, 8-year-old dog.
Press 3 if you have three dogs, had a baby a...nd want to get rid of your dogs because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs at the same time.
Press 4 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away.
Press 5 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and cute and you want to trade it in for a new model.
Press 6 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home TODAY and pick up the dog you no longer want.
Press 7 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your dog.
Press 8 if your dog is sick and needs a vet (but you need the money for your vacation).
Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not active and is going to outlive you.
Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for their elderly dog because it doesn't fit your lifestyle.
Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up before I have to go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way to work.
Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know you have left a dog in our yard in the middle of January, which is in fact, better than just leaving the dog with no message.
Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to take your dog that you have had for fifteen years, because it is not our responsibility.
Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog to be euthanized because I won't take it.
Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the volunteers had the audacity to go on vacation and leave the dogs in care of a trusted volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet.
Press 19 if you want one of our PERFECTLY trained, housebroken, kid and cat friendly purebred dogs that we have an abundance of.
Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your neighbor's cats.
Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this time with a different answer.
Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to board your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge, of course.
Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to deliver an eight week old puppy to your house by 6:30 am before your kids wake up.
Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and no longer cute.
Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog who has already had ten litters, but we can't spay her because she is pregnant again and it is against your religion.
Press 26 if you're lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel bad and take your personal pet off your hands.
Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because it is declawed, but you are not willing to accept the responsibility that the cat's behavior is altered because of your nice furniture.
Press 28 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered.
Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor only dog and are calling because she is suddenly pregnant.
Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it is cruel.
Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening phone number and you left your work number when all volunteers are also working and you are angry because no one called you back.
Press 32 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.
Press 33 if your dog's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you need a different color or breed.
Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next month anyway) instead of the dog.
Press 35 if it is Christmas Eve, and the Shih Tzu that you got 7 months ago because your 8 yr old and your 11 yr old PROMISED to take care of it isn't working out and you are going to teach them a lesson by making them walk the dog up to the rescuer's door to give it up. Merry Christmas, kids!
Press 36 if you went through all these 'options' and didn't hear enough. This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his family

Rattie Xmouse!

2011-12-04T09:16:00.004Z

I spent the day yesterday at Rainbow Community Centre in Eccles; it was an absolute pleasure. For those of you who know me, you will know this is not my idea of rock 'n' roll! So, why was it so enjoyable? Because I saw true community spirit was alive and kicking. Moreover it is in the heart of Salford where social deprivation is high but this seemed irrelevant yesterday and everyone took part in a Xmas Fayre, show casing their talents.

The centre manager and her team do a wonderful job and I have so much admiration for them. It's because of their enthusiasm that we regularly hold animal welfare events there. So, when I was told by the manager that they are going to fundraise for us next year I was absolutely bowled over. Just amazing.

We will be back at Rainbow next Sat with our free vet clinic and Xmas fayre of sorts. I hope the community comes out in force again to make it a worthwhile event. Paws crossed!

I also got to spend the afternoon with our volunteer Rachel, who has been with us now for at least 2 years, doing home visits and helping at events. Just like so many of our volunteers I see Rachel as a friend first and foremost. She's such an amazing person and so giving and caring. And yesterday she proved such a tonic after a very difficult week. In fact it was Rachel who said to me, 'you haven't updated the blog in a while, is that because you've been having a bad time?'. I smiled and nodded and said that in the last two weeks we had had a very rough time.

As you know, from a previous blog, there was the loss of Cassie. Well, in the last 2 weeks we've also had to have 2 new cats put to sleep along with Zoe bunny. This is an unprecedented number for us, so along with this and other 'challenges' it really has been very tough going. Zoe has caused me and her carers a lot of upset because of her history and length of time with us and no matter how many times we go through this it never, ever gets any easier.

On a positive though, we are doing incredibly well for cat rehoming again. Currently there are only 4 cats in the cattery not reserved! This makes us smile plenty!

Unfortunately it doesn't look like Oscar dog is going to get a home for Xmas and we are desperate to see this happen. If you haven't read about Oscar please take a look at our website. He was beaten by his previous owner yet despite the emotional and physical scars he bears he is a wonderful lad. He really deserves the best Xmas present ever. So, in case his wish list doesn't come true we are going to launch a toy appeal for him and the other pooches and bunnies that will be with us this Xmas.

And if you aren't quite yet in the festive spirit we have a competition you might just enjoy. See Polly rattie in my Xmas tree? Well, we are asking you to submit your seasonal photos on our Facebook page and the winner will be our profile pic over the Xmas and New Year week. So, far we've had some crackers but I suspect Polly will be the only rattie submission. What do you think?

Just Purrfect

2011-11-25T10:15:00.003Z

This is a special thank you to a lady called Karen and her furry friend 'Kitten'.

On the night of the Purrfect Party there was this card and photo of Kitten waiting for me at the venue.

Inside was a lovely note about how much Karen cherished Kitten and a £20 donation.

I cannot tell how touched I was that someone who doesn't know me would do such a generous and kind gesture.

I really feel the card was an omen, because the night ended up being a fabulous success with fun had by everyone and a profit of £1100 made.

Thank you Karen, kitten and everyone else who supported the event - you are very special indeed.

Cassie

2011-11-17T22:00:00.007Z

Cassie was a 9 year old brindle staffie. The type of dog that doesn't get rehomed. The type of dog that gets overlooked for months on end and languishes in kennels hoping and waiting, and hoping.

There are thousands of Cassie-types out there. They are like the dog equivalent of black cats; so frustratingly hard to rehome. The pretty ones always go first and the 'average' or 'nondescript' stay forever, waiting forever for that elusive forever home.

Cassie was special. Cassie was incredibly special. Not just to me but to everyone who met her. Cassie was possibly the most well-rounded, well-behaved, good natured, fun, cuddly, loving dogs you will ever meet. I absolutely adored her.

Today I took Cassie to be put to sleep. The decision to do so was made the day before. Biopsy results revealed she was positive for cancer. An indeterminate and potentially aggressive form of cancer. Aside from being unable to treat/remove 'it', there is no-one out there who would possibly rehome a 9 year old brindle staffie with cancer.

Cassie was incredible to the end. When she had a her leg shaved for the sedation injection she was too busy kissing the staff and wagging her tail to even notice what was happening. She continued exuding her infectious personality even as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Cassie made loving her so very very easy, which made letting her go so devastatingly hard to do.

Thank you to all our wonderful staff and volunteers and vets for doing such a brilliant job of looking after Cassie whilst she was with us. One thing is for sure she was very well loved.

The Joy of Kittens

2011-11-13T10:06:00.005Z

This week we have a guest blog from one of our wonderful foster mum's Carmen Holland.

You look around to see another pair of headphones have been destroyed and the culprit is now running around the hallway, dripping wet and looking rather startled having just jumped into the toilet.

Meanwhile little Bowie is calmly making his way around trying to make friends with everyone, but is not finding success with Ruby who just wants to follow her brother Rio around, whilst he shows off to everyone because he just knows he’s the leader of this gang. Flori is lying on the bed watching them all in what I like to think is a rather judgemental manner - because she’s older and finds all this childish behaviour rather embarrassing. Of course, I can't give her attention because Pippa leaps onto me, determined to be centre of attention and not let anyone else have a minute of my time. You would be forgiven for thinking this was a segment of the life of a large family. Which I suppose it is – it’s just a bunch of kittens instead of children.

We have been fostering rescue kittens for just over a year now. Fostering simply means that we give these kittens a home until they are adopted into their ‘forever’ homes. Our first little lodger was a tiny black kitten called Oscar. He was only a couple of weeks old when he was found stray so he needed to be hand-reared, which meant making up specific kitten milk and feeding him every four hours. I remember being terrified that we weren't doing it right and worrying he wasn't warm enough. Of course everything we were doing was right and he left us as a very healthy and energetic kitten. Since then we have hand-reared seven more kittens, so it’s fair to say we're now pros at assembling a feeding area of blankets, milk formula, warm water and cotton wool balls (for helping them go to the toilet afterwards).

It's rarely plain sailing though. Whether they come to us very young still in need of a 'mum' or they are older and they just require love, we often have problems. The story of them being dumped is all too common a tale to hear and this was true for three little kittens that came into our care last November, who we called Bret, Jermaine and Murray. They had been found dumped in a box in the freezing winter conditions in someone's garden. For little Bret this terrible start to life got the better of him and he spent the little time he had unwell. In the end the decision was made to end his suffering and he was put to sleep last December. I remember thinking that it was my fault and I did something wrong, but a text from the branch manager Susie reminded me that it was a miracle that two of the three had survived after being so young and having such an unconventional start to life. Jermaine ( now Tigger ) and Murray have now got a brilliant home and I've just been invited round to see them for their 1st birthday!

After putting together a scrapbook of all the kittens we have fostered, we’ve discovered that we've had 27 cats in total. All different sizes, colours and ages, but all with the reminder of just how cruel people can sometimes be. It's a truly lovely feeling when you take in this vulnerable life and watch it blossom from love and trust. Our bedroom has now become the 'kittens’ bedroom' because it is dominated by play tubes, plastic mice and ping pong balls.

When we have potential adopters come by to see the kittens we are always asked the same question; 'How do you let them go?' But I've now realised that letting them go is the best bit. Knowing they have found safety in their ‘forever’ home is what this is all for. We are just a small cog in this machine. I've often been left amazed and in awe by how much work the branch do on such a small number of staff and volunteers. A daily look at the RSPCA Manchester & Salford Branch facebook page shows you how they never stop working for these animals. I would encourage anyone who wants to get involved in whatever way to do it! You really do get the best feeling reading a success story and knowing that you had a small part in creating it.

2011-11-06T10:09:00.010Z

I'm not sure now what exactly set it all off on Tuesday, but once it started I just spent the week seeing one example after another. What am I on about? Just how wonderful our team is.

On Tuesday I was struck with a warm, cosy feeling about just how wonderful our team is. This feeling continued to burn strongly throughout the week and every day something happened to remind me just how special everyone is to me, and the animals. Whether it was turning up at foster mums homes at uncivilised times of the day, requiring late finishes from the staff or meetings at different organisations there was always a supportive smile or a genuine willing acceptance.

Our team comprises of such committed staff, passionate volunteers and regular supporters that are just rocks to me; they always seem to know when we've run out of kitten food or I need an email/text to cheer me up (one this week was a picture of bunny poop!). But more than ever this week I have had a strong sense of everyone rallying round to help with the animals and fundraising and it has meant so much to me. Everyone has been so generous of spirit on a week when we have needed it more than ever.

Kitten season is, for the second year in a row, continuing with a vengeance and well beyond the summer months. There continues to be more multi-cat home rescues that our branch alone is unable to cope with so we are truly grateful to neighbouring branches, Stockport and Tameside, for rallying round to make sure all the animals can be given a second chance. But really what is impacting on us more than ever is the recession.

The one thing I've heard over and over again this week on the phones is the number of people having to relinquish animals due to housing problems. There was an article in the Guardian this week about how much the nation's pets are being affected by the recession. I suppose to the wider general public this was 'news' but to us it's all we've heard for the last two years, but undoubtedly the problems have dramatically escalated in the last two months or so.

The most saddening aspect is when people call to say that they have tried all the animals shelters and they are all full and ask me what next can be done to rehouse their animals. Quite simply I don't have the answer, but typically the caller's frustration boils over and there becomes this entrenched expectation that we should do something. I often get people saying ' you're the RSPCA, you're supposed to be animals lovers!' Or, 'call yourselves the RSPCA; you're a disgrace.' Or, 'I've been donating to you for years. What was the point? I'm cancelling my subscription.'

I always take the time to explain that we have to prioritise the animals the RSPCA field staff rescue and that there is never enough spaces for these animals. (Let's face it, what's the point in us rescuing the animals if we have nowhere for them to go?) I also explain that we are an independent charity from the national RSPCA and have very limited resources.

But, if you were in a desperate predicament would you care about any of this? No, and understandably so. All I do know is that all the animal shelters, just like us, are doing our absolute level best to help as many animals as we can, but that we all have finite resources and spaces - we have just 4 dog spaces and 11 cattery spaces. I really do wish I had the answer, but equally, I really do wish people would think through the long-term implications of allowing their pets to breed.

So, as the cat and kitten crisis worsens I feel a small miracle happens each time one is reserved. It is something that keeps us all so highly motivated - the animals finding new homes. It is simply thrilling and this weekend, so far, we have had 4 cats and bunny reserved and I'm really keeping everything crossed for a second bunny, Shady, to be reserved too.

Many of you know we've had a very difficult year for rabbit rehomings and as a consequence of having several large cases in our care we've been overrun with bobtails. It has meant that we have been pretty much closed to admissions for the year but there is a very strong likelihood that we will be able to start taking in again, as we have had a recent run of adoptions that have seen our numbers nearly drop by half. I don't want to get too excited just yet but I can't quite tell you how much this prospect means to me.

So, I want to finish on sharing with you one of my highlights of the week. The pictures above are of our sable lop called Ruby. She was seized by inspectors in Sept 2010 along with a large number of other animals from an allotment. It took 11 months to conclude the prosecution of the owner, which meant that Ruby and her chums were with us a very long-time until being released for adoption just a couple of months ago.

Ruby was spotted by a family in south Yorkshire after their boy bunny had lost his partner. They were experienced at pairing rabbits so they took Ruby home to do the introductions themselves. The day Ruby left we all took a big gulp. It was really quite sad to see her go but of course it was all we had ever wanted for her.

Today I opened my email to find the most wonderful update waiting for me. Ruby and Basil were officially 'married' and had been successfully living together for 5 days and it was time to make the adoption official!

What the pictures show you is Ruby enjoying the true meaning of freedom for the first time in her life - running around, eating grass and plants and having a companion to share her life with. These pictures are symbolic of everything we strive to achieve and they just make me feel so emotional, proud and grateful. I hope you enjoy them too.

Black Magic

2011-10-31T13:46:00.002Z

Guest blogger Becky Day-Preston debunks the myths about black cats for a Halloween Special:

Did you know that black cats take three times longer to be rehomed than cats of other colours? I know, it seems totally ridiculous, and as the owner of a black cat, I take personal offence!

I have had my black moggy, Alan, for three years, and he is absolutely fantastic. He was a rescue cat, adopted from the mean streets by a lovely lady and her family, who then had to give him away because times were hard and they just couldn’t afford to keep so many pets. When I met Alan he was still practically a kitten, tiny and timid, and totally adorable. And he still is, having grown into a big, sleek, confident little git who I can’t imagine not being around. He has a white spot the size of a 5p piece on his chest, which I like to call his ‘cravat’ when he sits proudly, like a Victorian gentleman.

Imagine if I’d taken one look at Alan, and said “I don’t want him; he’s black!” I would have been denying myself the pleasure of knowing one of the best cats in the whole world, and I would have been denying a poor, shy little cat his chance at a loving forever home, all based on a superficial prejudice. In that situation, nobody wins.

But why are people so averse to a sooty moggy? The only reasons I can think of are witches and bad luck. Except that this is 2011, not 1611, and we’re pretty much over the whole witchcraft thing (seriously, read The Crucible!). And as for the idea of a black cat crossing your path being bad luck, I’d say I’m living proof that that is complete bunkum: Alan must cross my path at least 10 times a day (in fact, he sometimes careens directly into my path, and my ankles) and I consider myself a generally lucky person. Superstition is ridiculous, and completely outdated, so that leads me to think that people are rejecting black cats simply on aesthetic grounds, which is just plain ridiculous on two counts. Firstly, black cats are gorgeous, and I won’t hear anyone say otherwise. Secondly, and most importantly, it is that sort of superficial attitude that means that it’s not just black cats losing out, but also those who have been scarred and injured in their previous lives.

I could go on for hours about how awesome my Alan is, how he has adopted the footstool as his own kingsize kitty bed, how he goes nuts if he even catches sight of a ribbon, how he chases my boyfriend round the flat every morning, chirruping, and how he welcomes me with a big meow when I come home from work. If I had rejected him, I would never have gotten to know him, and the real tragedy is that if you reject a black cat (or one with a ratty tail or a gammy eye, for that matter) you could just be rejecting the best cat you ever met.

Little Fish

2011-10-29T10:01:00.005+01:00

We have really felt the pressure this week. Demand to take in animals has absolutely rocketed and the feeling of impotence - when in one day more animals needed to come in than we have capacity for - hit an all time high (and I can tell you I went home that night feeling deeply demoralised).

There were lots of words of comfort, support and admiration, which always goes a long way to shoring us up. But when I read the RSPCA's internal magazine People Matters last night I ended up feeling deeply insignificant, which I think is a really good leveller.

The magazine essentially celebrates the work we do at the RSPCA, whether it be at local, national or international level. Story after story highlights just how dedicated (and heroic) the staff and volunteers of the organisation are. It also shares stories about the animals we help. It was this particular aspect that made me so emotional for two reasons.

Firstly, the depth and breadth of animal abuse, neglect and suffering is just so unbelievably widespread. When people complain to me about the RSPCA I always have in the back of my mind just how lucky this country is to have a charity that voluntarily dedicates itself to alleviate animal suffering. The RSPCA is not a government organisation and is under no obligation to do any of the tasks it sets itself. I also genuinely believe that the RSPCA does its best, but like anyone or any organisation we can't please everyone all of the time and we can't get it 'right' all of the time; it's what makes us human.

So many countries in this world don't have so much as an animal sanctuary let alone animal welfare laws or even 'policing'. It's when you stop and think about the enormity of this that it makes you realise just how lucky we are in this country to be so progressive and forward thinking and to have the institution that is the RSPCA.

The second reason why I became so emotional was reading the individual stories of animals that had been rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed. The parallels with some of our recent charges made me really stop and think about what we do as a branch. Let me explain.

Some of our recent admissions have endured horrible ordeals like the ones I read about last night. We never dwell on this aspect and simply get on with doing what we do. I realise this is about self preservation, because we need to see beyond the 'crime' and channel our energies into loving and caring for the animals. But let me give you a brief run down of animal stories of late:
1. Jazz and Jago kittens abandoned in a sealed box in someone's garden
2. Bonnie pup dumped in a litter bin
3. Jimmy dog approx 4 years old and kept crated all his life
4. Oscar dog badly beaten throughout his life with lumps and scars all over him and underweight
5. Benny dog left to starve and was half his weight when rescued
6. Mrs Fella cat violently assaulted with a pneumothorax and suspected broken ribs
7. Alfie cat kicked in the face, required reconstructive surgery
8. Bruce cat found stray with a flea infestation and completely shaved
9. Pebbles kitten dumped in a recycling bin
10. Banjo, Bongo and Bosco kittens dumped outside a pet shop with flea infestation and cat flu

Really, I could go on. These 10 represent less than 5% of the animals we have taken in to date this year. The stories never cease to amaze and it made me realise that even if we are limited with what we can do, it really is better than nothing. We really are doing our best with our available resources but I doubt any animal rescue charity ever feels they are doing 'enough'.

What does spur me on, and makes us all feel hope, is when we meet so many wonderful adopters/potential adopters. Today is a classic example. A gentleman is coming all the way from Nottingham to meet our Cassie (pictured above). He had been looking for some time for a new dog and had something very specific in mind and it definitely wasn't a staffie cross! But our write up just leaped out and grabbed him so he's making (or rather has now made) the long journey to see her.

Another wonderful example was the Whittaker family. Dad rang up in the week asking what cats we had that would be suitable for his family home. We had the perfect pair of cheeky 5 month olds (Jazz and Jago). It turns out they lived just metres from their foster home and within 48 hours the furbabies were settled in their new home and updates were posted on our Facebook site! Incredible.

Now this is what makes it all so worthwhile; meeting and learning about the many passionate animal lovers out there. But I confess that this week I am all of a flap. There are just 3 weeks until our fundraiser, Purrfect Party, and we have many tickets left to sell. The anxiety about selling the tickets and making it a success has well and truly set in. It's starting to really trouble me and if we can't sell them we may end up making quite a loss, and I really don't want this to happen.

The event should be so much fun and with £5 from every ticket going directly to the animals it means you can have a really good night out and feel good about it at the same time! Seriously though, £12.50 covers the catering and venue costs and all the artists have given their time for free. Where else can you get a 2 course meal with live entertainment for just £17.50? I know everyone is skint at the moment but I am so desperate to make this a success. If you haven't bought a ticket yet it's really easy to do - just get in touch.

The hard sell may be over but my anxiety will continue for the next 3 weeks!

2011-10-21T11:30:00.007+01:00

As it's our Vintage Bazaar on Sunday I'll not be able to put my feet up, gorp at soap omnibuses and write the blog, as I usually do so I'm attempting to reenact Sunday at home today.

The elation of rehoming so many furries last week has just served to unearth dozens of animals needing to come in. This week we will have admitted 10 animals and have even more to come in next week - talk about pressure! I have no idea where we are going to put next week's animals so I'm hoping for a miracle this weekend on animal reserves.

The animals we have admitted this week have been so special that I wanted to tell you all all about them.....

Monday saw the arrival of Hippo, or at least that's what I've dubbed her cos she is a bit of an ugly-bugly! She was found in a litter bin by a member of the public and was barely a day or two old. She is being cared for round the clock by our foster mum Julia and on Sunday we are going to film her and put her on our Facebook page for everyone to see!

She is thankfully, and against all odds, thriving. What a little fighter. We think she must have been the runt of the litter and thought to be ailing so was 'dumped' like a piece of rubbish. It beggars belief really that anyone would think to put a dead or dying baby in a public litter bin, but there you go. Obviously, we are truly grateful to the person who found her for rescuing her and letting us know and we'll be in touch with them to share her progress.

Then, we took in 5 cats that were abandoned in a property when the tenant/owner moved out. It's such a common problem these days that we simply aren't coping with the phenomenon. We have 7 more from a different home but same predicament that need to come in. This time they are living outdoors and the owner is returning to feed them when she can. They have an upturned wheelie bin to shelter in and some are as young as 6-8 months old, but honestly, we just have no spaces left to put them anywhere and it is so frustrating.

We also have to find space for two cats that were adopted from us in 2004. We have the policy that we will take in animals adopted from us if the adopter can no longer care for their animal. This is an urgent admit too, so the pressure really is on to find new homes for our existing cats to create spaces for these newbies in need.

And we have also admitted two cuties - Fred and Tilly - who were dumped in a garden in a sealed box. Yes, a sealed box! They are being fostered by our Catherine, cos of lack of space, and they are adorable. They are approx 5 months old - Fred is a snuggle-cuddle whereas Tilly is a monkey. Catherine said she had to stop Tilly from getting in the bath with her on their first night, so no shortage of confidence. But after her bath she left Tilly playing with the remaining bubbles and she had a ball!

What is really lovely is the next day I went to a local primary school to meet the children at assembly as they had raised £100 for us and after telling them all about our new animals a teacher has offered Fred and Tilly a home! So, we'll see how things progress and keep you posted.

We have a new dog arrival (kind of) this week too. She's been boarded at the kennels we use for the last 3 months because her owner has been in hospital all this time and now can't take her back, so we've been asked to help. She's called Brandy and despite being in kennels so long she's doing remarkably well. Ideally I'd like to place her in a foster home because she's, erm, not much of a looker and has this weird elephant-man like skin folds on her neck and isn't a youngun so I think it will be a while before she finds a forever home and it would be kinder if she was in a home. But, as always, it isn't that easy.

We have one more furry to take in this week and she's a beautiful 5 month old black and white little girl, again abandoned. Sigh.

We need a miracle....I tell you, my idea for a super power of eyes that can neuter pets by just looking at them would come in really handy in this world! I can dream, can't i?!?!

Magic Round-A-Bout

2011-10-15T22:11:00.007+01:00

I'm going to be bold. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this week could well prove to be one of the highlights of our year. It's been so uplifting and so rewarding that I think we have all ended the week on a high. And, I don't want the bubble bursting just yet please!

On Monday Smudge the dog went to his forever home and an update on Wednesday let us know that he had well and truly settled in and had already learnt some basic commands! This is a far cry from the nervous, rarely-before walked, matted, underweight dog that entered our care 4 weeks ago.

By Wednesday 7 out of 11 cats in the cattery were reserved (and will all be in their new homes by the end of the weekend!). We also had a kitten in foster care reserved and a viewing booked for kitties Pingu & Daisy - good times!!!

On Saturday Jimmy dog was reserved without ever being promoted for adoption; we have been so lucky to have found a very experienced rescue dog owner for him, so paws crossed for his home visit next week.

But, undoubtedly, what has caused the greatest amount of excitement was Roxy rotti travelling to her new home in North Yorkshire today. Our Catherine took her because we couldn't get a home visit sorted. This meant she had the pleasure of seeing Roxi settle into her new home this afternoon. We all got the news that within minutes of arriving she had settled right on in and was soon crashed out and snoring as if she had always lived there! This really is the stuff of magic for us and simply makes our hearts sing.

And if all that wasn't enough excitement, dogs Ronnie and Benny, who were on 'trial' in their respective potential new homes, have officially been adopted! And, bunnies Hilary and Rose, who have been with us for 11 months have been reserved. What a week for adoptions and reserves! It's so fantastic.

We opened our doors to 3 wonderful new dogs this week. Pip for sure is going to get snapped up with her infectious personality, whilst 9 year old Cassie is just so lovable; she throws herself onto your lap for cuddles. Oscar, however, is looking like he has some medical problems that we will be investigating with x-rays next week. He has been beaten by a previous owner and has scars all over his body that betray his awful past. We remain hopeful that his problems are not insurmountable but we shall just have to see.

And, in my usual style, I have lined up more new cats to admit next week than we probably have spaces for, but as always, I'll worry about it when the time comes. The first to arrive (or rather I'll be collecting on Monday) is a chunky hunk of a cat who is white and ginger with different coloured eyes - he is stunning and ever so good natured. Then we have 5 black and white cats that were abandoned at the same property when the tenant was evicted; all unneutered and unvaccinated so quite a lot of money will need to be spent on getting them ready for adoption (typically this is an average of £200 per cat). I think I've said 'yes' to others but I'm in denial, so not thinking about it!

But, perhaps my personal highlight of the week is the pending adoption of 'Big Fella'. This cat is remarkable, moreover, his foster family are remarkable. Over the last 18 months or so that they have been fostering for us they have repeatedly fallen in love with their charges, but each time they have remained strong and determined not to keep so they could continue with their good work. But, when I delivered Big Fella it became immediately apparent that he and them had an unbelievable, instant connection. He just settled right on in and they all just instantly melted.

Big Fella, or 'Junior' as I like to call him, caused us all a lot of upset and distress when we learnt about his terrible ordeal. He had been assaulted by his previous owner and thrown against a wall. He had injuries to match the harm inflicted on him yet despite his harrowing experience this cat has been consistently loving, affectionate and people-focused.

I say this all the time, but truly, animals are amazing. Their determination to live and love never fails to humble me. The human race could really do with paying closer attention to the creatures we share our planet with and learning from their extraordinary capacities. I just think animals deserve so much more respect than we give them.

I am forever indebted to everyone who helps us with our work - whether you follow our social media sites, donate items to our shops, adopt an animal or attend an event - you all are making such a huge difference to us and the animals. But for today, I would like to say a very special thank you to Emma, Tony and Shealyn for giving Big Fella the life he truly deserves. I know you won't regret this decision and he certainly won't!

How To Measure Success

2011-10-05T22:43:00.004+01:00

At the end of every month every RSPCA branch and HQ-run animal centre has to produce 'SAWA' stats. This stands for 'Summary of Animal Welfare Activity'. Each time, for about an hour or two after collating these figures, I run on a high, or a low, depending on the outcome and then all is forgotten until next time.

I think the reason for short-lived elation, or disappointment, is because our achievements cannot solely be judged on statistics alone. For me and the staff it is about a more intensely personal relationship that we have with our 'work' rather than a broader picture. However, it does get me thinking; how do we measure our success?

I attended a workshop recently concerning the role of a Community Fundraiser. Within this there was a discussion on how to measure 'Key Performance Indicators' (KPIs). So, having seized upon this concept I began to explore what, in theory, would be our KPIs:

Number of animals admitted
Number of animals rehomed
Number of owned animals helped
Success of events
Solvency of the branch

Whilst these are the most obvious and easiest ways of measuring success they are all more complex than they may first appear.

The number of animals admitted is dependent on available space, of which there is always a finite amount, despite what the general public seem to think. At our branch we only have eleven cattery pens and a handful of cat foster carers. We choose not to recruit more foster carers because we cannot afford the additional costs associated with taking in more animals.

To further illustrate, I visited a branch-owned animal centre in South Yorkshire recently. Their finances are so dire that they have had to close kennel and cattery blocks to keep costs down. This alone shows that measuring success on admissions is not as straightforward as it seems, especially if the ultimate goal is to manage budgets to ensure the charity can stay operational for the foreseeable future.

The number of animals rehomed is generally perceived as an accurate reflection of an animal charity's worth. In 2009 we had a record year and found homes for 333 animals. 2010 saw the recession hit us hard and only 257 animals found homes. This year, to date, we have rehomed 197 animals, an average of 22 a month. Not bad? Well, actually, when you consider that July saw the worst rehoming figures of the branch in recent memory - just 9 animals were adopted - it demonstrates how dependent our rehoming figures are on external forces. Factors that affect adoptions can include:

1. The desirability of the animals available for adoption. Recently, we have had a massive influx of black cats and have struggled to find homes for them, simply because of their common colour.
2. The economic climate and its media reportage deeply effects 'consumer confidence' and the affordability of such a luxury as a companion animal.
3. Seasonal trends. The summer and Christmas holiday periods always hit our rehomings hard, this July being a case in point.
4. Our own rehoming policies. For example; we only rehome kittens in pairs (unless there is a cat in the home already) and we insist on large enclosure sizes for rabbits. Whilst these policies are based on best practice, we seem to be quite unique in implementing them. As a result, many potential adopters choose to go elsewhere to quicker and easier fulfil their needs and desires. This may prove disappointing, but our conscience won't permit us to compromise on an animal's welfare, especially after they have been rescued by an RSPCA inspector in the first place (98% of animals we admit are from RSPCA generated sources).

The number of owned animals helped is again directly related to the financial buoyancy of the charity. Over the last few years we have been very proactive in delivering community pet health clinics, but this year we have not had the money to run them and our budget has been a mere £300 a month for such activities. We share the money between us and the local inspectorate, effectively halving this monthly allowance. From that we choose to offer a maximum of £50 a time to owners of animals with immediate needs, such as euthanasia or critical vet attention.

The success of events is also a very difficult one to assess, as we have learnt to our peril this summer. Every experienced fundraiser has felt the pain and frustration of organising an outdoor event and then watching it ruined by an uninvited and persistent raincloud. This year's summer washout has affected us to the tune of £3,000, a vast sum of money that we are desperately trying to recoup with more events.

Finally, the Solvency of the branch is particularly difficult to quantify because it depends so much on public support and legacies. We have really struggled over the last few years to juggle animal activity levels against unpredictable income. It is a challenge we continually grapple with and, if the financial situation doesn’t improve soon, we will have to face further significant cuts to our work.

So, having reviewed all the KPIs and considered all the pitfalls, how do we go about measuring our success? If I think about what motivates us as individuals it really is quite simple: a successful outcome for each individual animal.

There are just too many to highlight but dogs like Benny; a collie cross who was rescued weighing just 9kgs, now weighs over 16kgs, is receiving all the love in the world in his foster home and is receiving weekly hydrotherapy sessions to help with his muscle wastage. For us, it is outcomes like this that make us realise how worthwhile our work really is.

It does, however, mean that when we don't succeed in overturning the neglect and suffering an animal has experienced we often take it exceptionally hard. The loss this year of Sian, Bilbo and Morag are, thankfully rare, examples of animals we had to put to sleep, despite pouring all our hearts and efforts into trying to 'fix' their problems. At times like these, we can’t help but feel a sense of incredible failure and helplessness, as well as renewed distress towards the cruelty or misfortune that has conspired to put such beautiful creatures into these terrible situations. And yet, it is only through a passionate focus on each individual furry that we can truly measure our success, and that success is something that is felt deep down, beyond the graphs and statistics. I think if we did not have such compassion for each and every animal (and yes, we do pick favourites!) then we perhaps shouldn't be here at all.

With thanks to Mr D for making this happen x

Marathon Effort

2011-10-03T09:23:00.004+01:00

This week sees the return of the Liverpool Marathon for the first time in years. Jess, a much-loved friend of the branch, is running it in aid of us! This will be Jess' first ever marathon, which makes it all the more wonderful that she has chosen to run for our furries.

I truly admire anyone who has the willpower to commit to things like diets, training, discipline - they are all things that completely evade me. So, please, join me in showing Jess how amazing her feat is and donate by either:

Text - 'PAWS11' plus your chosen amount up to £10 to 70070

or via http://www.justgiving.com/Jessica-Leech2

Thank you Jess for being so brave! And thanks to everyone who sponsors her - you know it really does make a difference to our animals' lives.

Favourite image of the week

2011-09-30T15:55:00.002+01:00

This piccie is of two of a litter of eight puppies rescued a couple of weeks ago by an RSPCA inspector. Four went to the Warrington Branch and we had the other four. We've found homes for all of ours, and here is a piccie of two of the lucky ones.

Now tell me this isn't adorable! They are crossed with Doberman and are going to be big! They are only 8 weeks old this week!

Cleopatra

2011-09-26T19:08:00.005+01:00

Cleopatra came home from the vets last Thursday afternoon, seemingly over the worst of the gut stasis. She perked up once back in her familiar environs and seemed to be doing well until yesterday afternoon.

Cleopatra had been with us since the 7th October last year. I remember the day she came into our care so well because we had travelled all the way to North Yorkshire to collect her. We had gone with the intention of collecting 20 rabbits and guinea pigs from a very large multiple animal case and came back with 27 instead. They were all what we call 'case animals'; having been seized from the owner for neglect with a view to prosecution.

There were a total of 433 animals removed from the one home; Cleopatra being one. She was a standard Rex of show quality, we know this because we had a ring removed from her leg. What I know even more was what a wonderful rabbit she was - elegant, intelligent and able to run rings round anyone.

When the case was eventually concluded we were able to place her up for adoption. She had lots of interest in her but what followed was a number of failed bonding attempts, seemingly she was too used to having been kept in solitary confinement and perhaps scarred from being used (and abused) for breeding.

Cleopatra settled in really well to 'our place' and was genuinely a happy rabbit who had almost everything a forever home could give her. She ate for Britain and did golf-ball sized poops (they were so large that they really caught our attention!) and so when she eased up on her eating last week we knew she wasn't well in an instant.

Today, we took her back to the vets. She had lost more than 10% of her body weight in just a matter of days. Upon examination a mass in her abdomen was found; most likely a tumour. The only decision was taken.

I opted out of being with her whilst they put her to sleep. Selfish, I know, but I just couldn't face it. My sadness for her imminent loss was just too much for me to cope with. I gave her hugs and kisses goodbye but just couldn't stay with her. (To be honest, she wasn't in a good way so I don't think it would've made much difference to her.)

I loved that rabbit and so did many others of us at the branch. But, I am at peace with her passing because I know we gave her a life worth living. I just feel terribly sad by her loss.

It is for her and all the other rabbits that are kept in inferior conditions in homes up and down this country that we will continue to champion the highest rabbit welfare standards that we can. We don't have them for no reason, so please, I urge you to ask yourself - does your rabbit have a life worth living? Can it travel up to 5 miles a day should s/he choose? If not, please take a moment to learn more about a rabbit's needs.

(Thank you to Darlington and Durham RSPCA branches for all their support.)

Roxy

2011-09-21T19:44:00.004+01:00

I have a quarterly newsletter to write and I have been trying to find inspiration as to what to write about. When I arrived home this evening, after yet another long day, I suddenly found myself asking what do other people find up-lifting, a mood-picker-upper so to speak.

Two things have kept me vaguely 'up' the last few days, which have been turbulent to say the least what with Cleopatra bunny going into gut stasis and developing colitis (she's still in the vets being intensively nursed) and Roxy the rotti and her x-ray, but more about that in a bit. My two things have been my house-bunny Domino and the colour of his chops after consuming a homegrown (yes, home grown!!!) beetroot - he ate it with such great relish that it stained all his face and down his bib and the shocking pink colour stayed for a good day or two. The other was the resurrection of Simon and Garfunkel's Live in Central Park album. It was a much cherished memory from my childhood that was unearthed to ease my swelling anger with the world. I'm pleased to say it worked, after several repeat plays whilst driving around with the animals. But I still can't shift that guttural panic I feel inside each time a bunny goes into stasis.

Today I have been preoccupied with that sinking feeling. It started this morning with the closure of the Urmston charity shop due to staff sickness. The shop is likely to stay closed for a few days longer yet as other shop staff are ill too so we have no cover. The loss of income sets me into panic mode but thankfully these problems are rare. The day continued with other animal worries and new admissions but above all it is Roxy that has spurred me to write.

When I was searching for themes for our newsletter one stood out above the rest. This year, more than any other time before, we have had dogs come into our care that we have not been able to rehome because of profound health problems. Sometimes the problems have been insurmountable, sometimes unaffordable and other times it has just been a combination of things amounting to an inevitable feeling of failure. I don't know where Roxy fits in to this all yet but what I do know is that it's not bloody fair.

Roxy is pictured above. She is beautiful in every which way. She is only just 1 year old and by my calculation we will likely be her fourth stop in her short life. She was removed by an RSPCA inspector from someone who had only had her 4 months and was keeping her outdoors with out adequate shelter. Aside from how awful that is it suggests she had a home before, and, logically a home where she would have been birthed in too. Therefore, making our care her fourth stop.

That in itself causes me a deep amount of anguish. And what evident betrayal by mankind that dog has experienced. Yet she is the most wonderful dog you could wish to meet. Admittedly a wee bit simple, but that's probably been her saving grace. But what is so upsetting for us all now, is that her likelihood of being rehomed is so remote.

Roxy was x-rayed today because she sits oddly. We don't usually jump to doing x-rays because of the cost implications but after 3 weeks of observation we really were concerned. The x-ray revealed two things. She has been born with a considerably shortened right back femur, which is already beginning to show mild signs of arthritis, whilst her left leg has signs of hip dysplasia.

The poor girl. Talk about the odds stacking up against her.

Roxy will need glucosamine and chondroitin tablets for life now and in later life, as both conditions degenerate, she'll need anti-inflammatory pain relief. But because this now a diagnosed condition it cannot be insured against so who is going to adopt her now?

I really do feel despair. But none of us want to give up on her so we really want to do all we can to try and find her that special home. It must be out there somewhere. She is so deserving and so utterly lovable and loving.

In the meantime we've been told that she would benefit from hydrotherapy but with us now only being able to afford a budget of £150 per animal for treatment (and it's been spent on x-rays and consults) we just can't afford it.

Miracle time please! I know. I ask too much.

Cattery Wishes Come True

2011-09-15T11:08:00.005+01:00

I am very keen to express our immense gratitude to everyone who has responded to our appeal for equipment and toys for our cattery.

We have received a really fantastic response and I cannot tell you all how much it means to us, but most importantly the cats in our care.

I got this text from one of our staff this morning, hopefully this aptly sums it up....

"I'm at the cattery.It's just one huge play pen here. Everyone this morning is enjoying the new gifts."

Whilst pictures may say a thousand words Catherine's text just made me beam.

Thank you everyone who has helped to enrich our cat's lives, especially Ben (pictured above in full play mode). I mentioned in my last blog. He has been with us since 10th June and will not doubt be with us a whole lot longer because he is black and very 'playful'. The toys and equipment means that Ben's life (and the other cats') will be far better whilst he waits for that elusive forever home.

Thank you so much. You know who you all are.

Little Big Man

2011-09-10T21:48:00.012+01:00

It would be fair to say that Damien wasn't overly enamoured at being crowned the winner of 'Rabbit Romeo' this week. Damien is such a typical Netherland Dwarf and is quite territorial, doesn't like being treated like a teddy, and kinda has a bit of a chip on his shoulder in that 'little-big-man' kind of way! But to be fair, he does look like a teddy and fits in the palm of your hand!

When I placed his prizes (from our supporter Jemma) in his enclosure he was furious and threw the toys out of his way in disgust. This just made us all laugh because we are so used to him. I can honestly say we all love Damien but it seems there aren't that many neddy fans out there as he's been waiting nearly a year now for a new home.

The Rabbit Romeo competition proved really productive; out of the 5 boys that were in the running Burt, Ira and Shady were reserved! We received even more interest in our other bunnies and at the beginning of the week a total of 9 were reserved. Unfortunately not all will be successful rehomings because so many are dependent on 'bondings' and home visits but we will keep ever hopeful that our bobtailed ones will find their forever homes one day.

The good news continued this week with the most wonderful response to our 'cattery wish list'. We have had so many pledges of new toys and beds and activity centres and we are soooo excited! Some items have already started rolling in and Catherine came back from the cattery on Friday very excited to tell me how much of a hit the new things are. We are especially excited about a huge activity centre our supporter Jacqueline has ordered - it's got Ben cat's name on it!

Ben is a magic, bonkers black cat with plenty of feisty play in him. He has been with us a couple of months now and is struggling to cope. He's an active, cheeky, full-on feline and certainly not for the feint-hearted - just my kind of cat! But sadly not many other peoples' cup of tea; he's just got serious cattitude! But the new activity centre will be brilliant for him....pictures will follow, and probably a whole lot sooner than a home for him.

We've had new dogs arrive in the last week and so whilst there are only 2 listed for adoption it doesn't mean that we aren't busy caring for the woofs. We have a few in need of rehabilitation and one that desperately needs fostering, but in a home with no other pets or children, which we just don't have. If anyone can supply us with a miracle we'd be most grateful, and so will Smudge.

Our favourite doggy news of the week is that Benny has been reserved. You may remember him from a previous blog? He is a collie x that weighed just 9kgs when rescued. Benny will be going to his new home on a fostering basis next week. Everyone wants to take a cautious, measured approach, as he still has a long way to recover but we are truly grateful to the family that are offering him this chance.

We've spent the end of the week gearing up for three new forthcoming events - the launch of our 'Best Bunny Buddies' competition, our Teddy Bears' Picnic on 17th and our annual Mutt Strutt on 18th. Talk about busy! My head is positively spinning and not been helped by some of the furries having inconvenient illnesses late on Friday afternoon and over the weekend. But hey-ho, that's just the way it goes sometimes. And today, we have 4 puppies arriving - squeal!!!!! They are just 6 weeks old so won't be up for adoption for another 2-3 weeks but I can't wait to sniff and cuddle them! Why do puppies always smell so good?

Next week is shaping up to be a very hectic one and I'm knackered just thinking about it. It will be a seven-dayer with many early starts and late finishes. But it's all worth it for our animals. I say that, but if we have torrential rain at the Teddy Bears' Picnic and/or Mutt Strutt I may just give up on outdoor events altogether. Every event we have run or attended, with the exception of one, has seen awful weather and proved less than great on the fundraising front. Indoors has to be the way forward!!!

Listed above are some of my favourite images of the week. The best one has to be of Ronnie dog. We've been able to put him up for adoption this week, which we are all delighted about. If you look at our website and read his history you'll see why this is such a great moment for us all. Let's hope his age doesn't put people off from adopting him, as he really is a special gentleman.

Ruby and Rio

2011-09-09T15:13:00.005+01:00

Ruby and Rio pictured above were little miracles we took into our care in August. They were found dumped in a communal recycling bin along with 2 other kittens in July. They were all desperately ill, 2 didn't make it, and Ruby and Rio took two weeks to recover from their ordeal at the RSPCA vets.

We then faced the struggle of rehoming them because they are seemingly deemed less desirable because they are black. But, they (and us) got a lucky break at the end of last month and were given a forever home by the Jachim family who were won over by our policy of rehoming kittens in pairs. (We only rehome single kittens if there is another cat in the home).

Today we received the most wonderful update in our email inbox that I simply had to share with the world!

"Thought you might like an update on Rubes & Rio and their progress!

Firstly they were very quick to settle in - in fact they were purring in the carry case when we picked them up from their foster mum! They've really adjusted to their new life and are sunbathing on the windowsill as I write this!

We expected Ruby to be very shy and for Rio to be the bolder cat, but in fact Ruby was much more curious than Rio in exploring the house - and even more surprisingly she eats more then him too! She is very loving and really enjoys to be around people. She will often follow me around the house purring until I pick her up; she's a very sweet little girl with a lot of character.

Rio causes the most trouble. One of his favourite hobbies involves sneaking along the kitchen counter and retrieving sweetcorn husks, banana peels and so on from the food waste bin. He chews fingers and still suckles on Ruby - she doesn't seem to mind - and he is the baby of the two definitely. Whilst Ruby is quite happy to be independent of Rio, Rio will harass his sister and bother her until she agrees to curl up with him. Rio has a toy giraffe who he adores and he loves to lie on his back on a lap and have his tummy rubbed whilst he chews a finger or two!

Both of them love chasing each other round the house and fighting. Despite his definite size advantage, Rio is often the truce caller as Ruby is incredibly agile and persistent. Then they're quite happy to clean each other and march around looking for trouble or a different sort!

They're expert footballers (they play it with a ping pong ball) and they're very confident. We can't believe how much fun two kittens can have together, and we love having two sneaky little creatures running around. Thank you so much for entrusting us with them, they're very much spoilt and loved by all the family!"

It's moments like this that make everything all worthwhile. Thank you Jachim family.

Wish list

2011-09-05T15:17:00.003+01:00

A wee while ago we mentioned on Facebook that we are in desperate need of new cat toys. Well, our wonderful friends Jemma and Lucy from Furry Feet Pet Care spent their own hard earned money on kitting out several of the cattery pens. Awesome, or what! Thank you so much ladies.

Around the same time I asked our new staff member Debs to write a 'wish list' and she got really creative on me and sent a beautifully illustrated doc to me whilst I was on leave. It hasn't quite translated to the blog but the pics and words give you a flavour. I just had to share!

" MY CATTERY WISH LIST

Multi platform scratch posts like the one recently donated BUT big enough for an adult cat. Most of them are a bit small, they are still fun but most of the cats can’t fit in/on them, think they are designed for kittens really but something like these would be dandy. Nothing too complicated or closed in.

DANGLIES! Apart from the couple of dangly sticks recently donated, most of them have seen better days, thanks to Ben and Gideon! The ones on an actual stick with either a ball or feathery thing on the end go down the best, the string ones tend to break quickly and can easily wrap around the cat.

RADIATOR BEDS are really great if they are sturdy. Because they have to hook onto the mesh the material which holds the bed together has to have holes made in it to be able to hook it over, if the bed is sturdy the cats love it!

CAT TENTS or soft material houses to go on the floor in the cattery would be nice as a lot of the cats like sleeping in the corners on the floor but as its tiled it’s very cold. Just something comfy and warm that can easily be cleaned would work.

SMALL STOOLS or little chairs would be nice in the cat pens if they didn’t take up to much room. The cats could sit on them and hide under them and then visitors and staff could use them so the cats could sit on knees and have a proper fuss rather than sitting on the floor."

We need to kit out 6 more pens so if you have any items that your cat doesn't use then please can our rescues have them?

Vote for Ira!

2011-08-27T10:21:00.014+01:00

The week has been long, eventful and full of contrasting emotions. We started the week with the elation of having received very welcome financial support (as mentioned last time) but then the frustration of being a small, struggling charity soon welled to the fore as we had the onerous task of implementing cut backs in our animal intakes.

On the very same day we were evacuated in the afternoon due to a raging fire two doors down. Thankfully no-one was hurt, but a lesson learnt - the fire was started by a computer on standby. Scary, or what?!

So, we now have to aim towards halving the number of rabbits in our care, which means we need to find homes for approx 12. Of course, if it were as easy as all that we wouldn't have so many long stay bunnies, would we, but we have had one bobtailed friend find a new home this week, and a pretty special one at that!

If you haven't seen our 'Rabbit Romeos' yet then please take a look at the website - Burt is the lucky fella to find lurve!

http://www.manchesterandsalfordrspca.org.uk/romeo.html

He has been snapped up to live with the beautiful Tallulah bunny. Aw, cute! And I'm delighted to see that my fave bunny boy, Ira, is winning the poll. Before you ask why I don't adopt him, it's simple, I have 8, and they are all house rabbits. So, I really can't have any more!

We also have to start to reduce the number of cats we take into foster care, which is seriously tough because these are the cats that need us the most, but unfortunately they usually cost us the most due to health/welfare needs.

And because we simply cannot afford the kenneling costs anymore we have had to halve our capacity from the start of the year, which means we can now only kennel 4 dogs.

All in all it makes all feel really rather lousy but the animals need us and that's purely what's kept us all focused during this frustrating week.

The high point was certainly the outcome of a prosecution. We have been caring for 5 rabbits for nearly 12 months now, waiting for the case to conclude. It finally happened on Wednesday and the perpetrators were sentenced and the furries signed over to our care, which means we can finally find them forever homes. The previous owners were convicted for failing to provide a suitable diet and veterinary care. They received a 5 year ban on keeping animals but were allowed to keep two pets. One of them got 150 hours community service and the other a 4 month curfew - whatever that means. They were also ordered to pay £100 costs.

If you had seen the state of some of the animals, when they first arrived, you would feel quite angered toward this sentencing. Not to mention the thousands of pounds of money it has taken to bring the case to court. But with such a lapse in time and such a turn around in the animals' health, it's just a relief to us all that we have won and we get to find them the homes they truly deserve. I'm not holding my breath mind, the way rabbit adoption has been going this year they'll probably be with us for another 12 months, but I can't wait until that day happens.

I learnt this week that our branch covers the majority of the 'wards' that are in the top 10% deprived areas in the country - in fact, we cover 25 out of those 33. When you look at it like that it shows why our income is so poor and why the demands for help is so high. Being able to meet that demand is never going to happen (and that's with a large number of other sanctuaries and rescues in the area too) but it does at least throw into sharp relief why we are struggling so much financially.

Take, for example, our annual Mutt Strutt with Nowzad Dogs. The first year we ran it was 2009 and we raised around £900, second year we raised £1400, but this year we only have 5 people signed up for the sponsored walk (aside from our dogs that is). I heard on the radio yesterday that the average person's disposable income is just £100 a month. So, sponsoring your mate and their dog to walk round a park suddenly seems such a frivolous luxury. The lack of interest in the Mutt Strutt therefore understandable. But it's not ,until 17th September so hopefully by then, more people will sign up. (You get to geo-cache too!)

But, as I mentioned previously, it's focusing on the animals that makes us keep perspective, and this week we've been able to take in 2 new dogs, a cat and a kitten.

The new cat is called Taz. He is a big, black, panther of a cat that went and got himself stuck up a 60 foot tree. He had to be rescued by fireman - so there's a new approach for you singletons out there for bagging a date, hey! Anyhow, the poor lad is afflicted with dental disease so needs a costly op next week. And, he sadly adds to our growing number of black cats that are being overlooked. Another one, Ben, is our longest stay resident all because he is black. I wouldn't mind but he has the most awesome personality. But hopefully his time will come soon.

Ronnie is one of the new dogs. He was rescued from a home over-run by animals. He is the sweetest older gent, but again he has bad dental disease so he'll be in for an op next week too. Between him and Taz we are looking at in excess of £350 just to sort out their teeth. It's hardy surprising that pets are often the first to suffer when times are hard.

We are really hopeful that the bank holiday will bring much needed renewed interest in cat and rabbit adoptions and we get lots of calls next week for offers of homes. In the meantime, as his campaign manager, I am obliged to urge you to vote for Ira!

Benny

2011-08-21T09:14:00.004+01:00

Aside from a disturbing call last thing on Friday from a man who, in all seriousness, said he was going to eat his daughter's pet rabbit unless we took him/her in, we've had quite an uplifting week. Truly.

Animals have been reserved - woo-hoo! Animals have gone to new homes - double woo-hoo! And we've received some very welcome financial boosts.......triple- riple woo-hoo!!!!

It started with a surprise cheque through the post for £500. It was from a team of staff at a company called Skanska who won an internal competition and nominated our charity to receive the winnings. Things like this just don't happen to us more than, maybe, once every year or two. So the shock and delight was incredible. The money has meant that we can give our dog Benny everything he needs to recover from his ordeal.

Benny came to us 3 weeks ago, desperately underweight and lame on his back leg. He had actually been rescued 8 weeks previously by the RSPCA inspectors from shockingly neglectful cruelty. At this point I have to be careful about revealing info, but he had basically been shoved in the backyard and forgotten about.

Benny should weigh around 22-25kgs but when he was discovered, he weighed a pitiful 9kg. Yes, truly, 9kgs. The inspectors said they could lift him with just one arm.

Benny is now up to 16kgs but his recovery is slow and his muscle atrophy very apparent so he is going to hydrotherapy every week to help build up his strength. As Benny will be with us a while before he returns to full health the £500 means we don't have to worry about the additional costs involved with him being with us for longer. It also means that our dive-bombing water babe can continue with his hydrotherapy for as long as he needs it, even post adoption if necessary. I've only seen video footage of him swimming, but boy does he love it and it is wonderful to see how much pleasure such a cruelly neglected lad is now enjoying out of life.

And then, last night, we got to learn that an alt/grunge night in town called Rusty Cage had held a fundraiser for us and raised the phenomenal sum of £850!!!!! I mean, how awesome is that! This will likely make the difference to us being able to pay some of the bills this month, which I can tell you is a huge relief - I may not be scared to check the bank balance, for a change!

It costs on average £23k a month to run the charity and we've had such a shortfall each month for so long that our reserves are down to just 4 months worth. So, you can imagine receiving financial support like Skanska's and Rusty Cage's means we can feel less anxious about paying the dreaded bills.

But alas the cuts still have to come and next week I have face up to phase one of this and implement a very reluctant decision. For now, I want to enjoy the sunny Sunday that's on offer and live in hope that tomorrow morning will find lots of messages on the answer machine from people who have been to view our animals and want to reserve them. Arrgh, let me live in hope, please!

On the line

2011-08-12T09:29:00.006+01:00

It's been a while since the last blog, and it is only with great reluctance that I do this one. Why? Well, because there is little joy to share and little hope of things improving and so we have all spent the last week or so just reeling from the horrible reality we are facing.

July saw the worst animal adoption figures I have ever known. Only 6 cats/kittens, 1 dog and 1 rabbit were adopted. We usually rehome around 25 animals a month and August is set to be little better. The demand for cat admissions in particular is through the roof. We have exhausted every last opportunity we can to place a cat or kitten yet the numbers being rescued is relentless. The only glimmer of reassurance came yesterday when I learnt that a neighbouring branch was experiencing the same dramatic reduction in adoptions.

We've just had a 5th dog of the year returned from last year's rehomings. That's nearly 10% now of the dogs we found homes for last year that have now been returned. Despair is a very real feeling at this moment in time and whilst I'm sure it is not uncommon that other branches and animal charities have dogs returned, it just upsets us all so much as we feel like we have failed them, and that hurts.

Crisis is a word I would never use lightly, but this is what we are facing. We have had a review of our finances and we are in crisis. Rising costs, some large, unavoidable expenditure and reduction in income means that we are in crisis financially and need to find in excess of £30,ooo worth of savings. There's only 2 places where that can come from - the animals and staff. And so this is the terrible reality we are yet again trying to come to terms with.

It's all just so mind-blowing. Animals needs us now more than ever but the means to help them just isn't there. We did an analysis of costs per animal and it is so clear to see where the money goes:
Av costs to rehabilitate a dog in 2011 is £685 (£560 in 2009)
Av cost to rehabilitate a rabbit in 2011 is £420 (£290 in 2009)
Av cost to rehabilitate a cat in 2011 is £210 (£220 in 2009)

These figures only include the basics - boarding costs and vet bills - and not the staff costs or associated sundries such as transportation costs, environmental enrichment etc. And yes, it is our job to do this, but without the money to we simply can't.

You can see that it is the rabbits and dogs where the costs have spiralled. Rabbits take so long to rehome because of their complex needs and, I hope, because of better information being disseminated these days about how they shouldn't live in a hutch and are not children's pets. Whereas with the dogs the costs to rehabilitate really betray the care needs they have when they come into our care.

When you see the truth of what it costs per animal to take in, rehabilitate and rehome, it becomes quite maddening when people balk at the idea of paying an adoption fee. We charge £100 for a dog, £50 for a cat/kitten and £40 for a rabbit - all are neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and where species applicable they are flea and wormed regularly too. It was only yesterday that I spoke to someone who had bought a regular kitten of the internet for £39 and had to return him/her because they were riddled with fleas. I constantly ask myself why wouldn't you go to a shelter?

So, you can see why my absence from the blog has been so long. It is just so much to come to terms with, and as always, the staff are dealing with it all so admirably whereas me and the trustees are still despairing. We remain closed to animal admissions for the foreseeable future but with dozens and dozens of them waiting for new homes there is no shortage of work to keep us busy. I have included a selection of some of our beautiful new cats.

In the meantime, if you'd like to help there are some really simple ways you can do this:
1. Tell people to adopt an animal from us.

2. Bring along unwanted items to our Didsbury shop - 19 Barlow Moor Road. We had a good first 2 weeks but the weather has really dampened sales this week and we will barely break-even, plus donations have really dropped off, so we really need anything you can share.

3. Donate your copper jar to us - we love counting pennies.

4. Help us with our events/fundraising - we have a hot supper and dance booked for November and we really need donations of prizes for our raffle, auction and help with decorations

Every bit of help and support means so much to us. We are grateful to all our supporters, staff and volunteers for being there for us and we hope we can be here beyond next year but at the moment this is on the line.

Babies

2011-07-31T10:20:00.004+01:00

The week has been dominated by just one thing - the birth of baby Claudia on Wednesday. Her proud mum and dad are trustees of the branch and very dear friends to us all. The birth did not go to plan and little Claudia was in an incubator until yesterday but is making great progress and will hopefully be able to come home next week.

We all know just how precious babies are but when things don't quite go to plan it somehow makes them all the more special and worrisome. Kittens Ollie and Lily (above) have befallen a similar fate. They have been with us far longer than they should have been and over the 5-6 weeks they have been waiting for a home they have gone from being little bundles to adolescents.

I always think that when kittens grow up in our care it is nothing short of criminal. But, thankfully, the saying '3rd time lucky' came true yesterday when the 3rd family to visit them decided they would like to give them a home - hooray!

All in all we've had a very uplifting week. The new shop has done well and turned a good profit, we've had 3 kittens and 2 cats reserved and Merlin the bunny hopped off to his new home with his girlfriend Carroty, but undoubtedly our best news of the week (aside from Claudia) was the reserve on Dexter the dog.

Dexter has been with us close on 3 months, far longer than he should've been because he is a cracking dog. But a family in Harrogate fell in love with him from his write up and came to visit him on Wednesday and fell well and truly for him. So please keep everything crossed that he will be on his merry way soon!

Of course amongst the wonderful highs, plenty of lows have punctuated the week. Kittens season is well and truly in full swing and there just isn't the space in the region to accommodate everyone rescued. It's simple maths - if we don't rehome animals we can't take new in, and with record low rehoming figures for the branch this month the pressure has felt far worse than usual.

Whilst I was at head office in Horsham this week I learnt that rehoming figures are down this year for all the leading animal charities, but this is small comfort when in 2 days more cats/kittens have needed to come in than we have capacity for. I'm guessing it's all about 'consumer confidence' - money is so tight and jobs scarce, that people are sensibly not taking on other commitments.

A new dog admission this week has also rocked everyone due to his state of neglect and emaciation. Things don't look great for Benny at the moment but only time will tell.

And the 3 community events that we've attended recently to promote microchipping weren't too successful for us and only 4 animals were chipped On one of the events we were doing chipping for free! So, yes, highs and lows all round but Claudia will remain, uppermost in our minds, and rightly so I reckon!

Grand Opening

2011-07-24T09:52:00.004+01:00

I have spent the week in a bubble. A bubble of charity shop! Myself and shop manager Stephanie have worked round the clock this week to make sure we opened our new Didsbury shop in time yesterday and I can tell you it was well worth the hard slog.

We were graciously officially opened at 12 noon yesterday by Chief Inspector Cathy Hyde and Jack our rescue greyhound who is looking for a new home.

We raised a fantastic £400 in just 5 hours and we are hoping they'll be many more successful days to come. We will be open 7 days a week and specialising in high quality high street and designer gear. We currently have some amazing, brand new Penguin and Humor mens clothing and lots of lovely Monsoon too.

So please come and see us at 19 Barlow Moor Road....

I can't wait to get back to the animals. We haven't rehomed a single one in 2 weeks. I really don't know what is going on and it's a tragedy.

Very proud

2011-07-18T08:47:00.003+01:00

This is Buddy and Cleo. They were adopted from us about 2 years ago. They were born in our care and adopted by wonderful bunny mum Heather.

Buddy and Cleo have become stars over the last 2 years because of Heather's incredible photographic skills and have appeared all over the net, magazines and calendars and won loads of photo comps.

But what is particularly proud making is that the bunnies are the stars of the RSPCA's rabbit welfare promotional campaigning now and in the future.

The piccie above has been taken by the RSPCA photographer.

So very proud indeed. And thinking about it, their siblings came along the rabbit roadshow this year and they were looking equally stunning (they were formerly called Clover + Mint, I think).

Great British Summer

2011-07-17T10:34:00.004+01:00

Despite, possibly, the worst weather in the 4 year history of our Summer Fair and Fun Dog Show, the show went on yesterday thanks to the amazing attitude and commitment of our incredible volunteers and staff and to the passion and love of our supporters.

Yesterday's weather was tantamount to bloody awful but what kept me going all day long was the incredible spirit exhibited by everyone, even at 9.30am in the morning in torrential rain setting up marquees!

At one point it was looking like we wouldn't break even on costs, but as brief (10 min) spells of sunshine falsely lured people out of their houses it meant that we actually managed to turn a profit! Not the £2k we usually manage but a good £500-600, so all was definitely not lost. And, we have finally dried out!

I love British Summer's, but I love our volunteers, staff and supporters even more! Thank you all so much for making it a day to remember, rather than a titantic disaster, ha!

The pictures above have been taken by Mercedes Jacques and Hannah Brookfield.

Summer Newsletter

2011-07-04T11:32:00.005+01:00

Batten Down the Hatches!

Good intentions are all well and good but when you hit a crisis period you have to do all you can just to keep afloat. That’s what happened back in April when our only full time animal staff member Catherine fell suddenly ill and ended up being off work for two months.
When you are such a small team as we are (1 x f/t and 1 x p/t animal staff and a branch manager) any loss of staffing, for any amount of time, has a considerable impact.

But, after a very tiring and challenging period for all concerned we are pleased to report that Catherine has made a full recovery and is back work. However, it has meant that our plans to deliver a monthly newsletter will remain on hold for the foreseeable future, as we ‘batten down the hatches’ once more as the dreaded kitten and holiday season comes into full swing.

ANIMAL MATTERS

We’ve got off to a good start this year with animal adoptions and seem to be having particular success with rabbit and dog rehomings. But we have not seen the adoption figures increase any on last year and we doubt we will see the numbers being adopted like we did back in 2008 and 2009, but perhaps that’s not such a bad thing if people are being cautious and careful about making a such an important commitment.

To date we have rehomed an average of 22 animals per month:
17 dogs, 22 rabbits, 91 cats, 3 g’pigs in total. And we admitted a total of 135 animals in the last 6 months, 98% of which have come from RSPCA generated sources.

Unfortunately we have had to scale down our animal welfare promotional work because of the lack of funds, but the branch did take part in the Rabbit Awareness Week and assisted 121 rabbits and guinea pigs in receiving free health and dental checks by exotic vet specialists.

We have also run low cost microchipping initiatives and to date chipped 114 animals.

DISPATCHES FROM A VOLUNTEER
Local blogger, writer and branch trustee Dave Hartley reflects on new adventures in Didsbury.

Didsbury. A leafy green suburbia; back garden to a great city; home to the country’s poet laureate; wonderful Didsbury. Were Didsbury a bird, she’d be a peacock; grand, proud, colourful and just a little bit posh. Of course, Didsbury and our feathered sky-friends have a long and happy history - here being the location of the founding of the RSPB in 1889. Ah, Didsbury and its cafe culture aspirations and its happy-go-lucky, charitable peoples (the Didsbronians?). Perfect place for a charity shop, no?

Well yes, as it happens, although it’s been a long time coming. The financial climate being what it currently is, finding a suitable spot and opening a new shop has been a tricky endeavour by all accounts. But the branch is not short of wills, and after pounding the once-cobbled streets a spot has been found. So, naturally, we are delighted to announce the grand opening of the Manchester and Salford RSPCA’s charity shop number three; 19 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury on Saturday the 23rd of July at 12 noon!

Roll up, roll up indeed. This is great news for the branch, and couldn’t have come at a more needed time. Most folk, Didsbronite or otherwise, probably don’t realise that a rather large majority of the branch’s funds come through the shops, and that’s after staff wages and rent costs have come off. Being a separately run charity from the national RSPCA means that we have to find our own ways of bringing in the dough, and a shop, once it is up and running and getting the customers, can be one of the most reliable sources.

Now that’s not to say you shouldn’t be dropping a few quid into our boxes whenever you see them – we need all the pennies we can lay our grubby paws on – but what we do need, now more than ever, is the three ‘D’s. Donations, donations, donations. Lost weight since joining the gym in the new year? Give us your old clothes. Just bought a Kindle and your books getting a bit dusty? Clear them out, and chuck ‘em our way – books is a goldmine for charity shops. And what about unwanted jewellery (no questions asked...)? Board games you’re bored of? Ornaments disrupting your feng sui? We only say no to electrical goods, everything else is fair game. Think about what a Didsburyite would like and treat yourself to a belated Spring Clean.

And while you’re dropping the stuff off, have a mooch around our new digs. Keep what you’ve learnt in mind; the shops are our lifeline and without them we’d be round your house at all hours shaking tins and pleading with puppy dog eyes. And I do some things for this branch as a volunteer, but I won’t do that. Leave my beautiful puppy eyes out of it, thank you. Instead, by departing with your cash at the shop you actually get an added bonus to go with your sense of wellbeing, and the real puppies get the help they deserve. Quite apart from which, Manchester’s finest trendy suburb is just beyond the door. Whatever the heck the residents may call themselves.

Dave Hartley blogs at abarrelroll.blogspot.com and can be found on Twitter (@lonlonranch.) The branch has also been known to tweet. Find us at @rspcamcrsalford

Super Sonic Supporters!
We have been the very grateful benefactors of several ‘sponsored endeavours’ this year and the wonderful ways in which our supporters raise money for us is simply inspirational.

First up, trustees Sarah and Hannah (pictured) took up running in January and set themselves the goal of completing the Manchester 10k. Not only did they finish the course in 1 hour 12 mins, they raised the fantastic sum of £800!

Then two weeks later Clare Goss (pictured) threw herself out of a plane above the Hoover Dam in Vegas and raised a phenomenal £870 in the process!

July sees our Urmston Shop Manager’s son, Rob Lowe, taking part in the Manchester to Blackpool 60 mile Bike Ride in aid of the branch. This is all the more impressive when you learn that Rob only started training a couple of months ago!

If you would like show Rob your support please go to:
http://www.justgiving.com/RobLowe1981

And if all that wasn’t enough, in October Jess Leech a seasoned runner will be undertaking her first ever marathon in Liverpool and doing all for the animals in our care! You can show Jess your support at:
www.justgiving.com/Jessica-Leech2

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Summer Fair & Fun Dog Show - Sat 16th July 12-4pm -
There will be something for everyone this year from Punch & Judy, craft workshops, circus skills, bouncy castle, stalls, food and much much more.

Head for Chorlton Park Visitor’s Centre, off Nell Lane, M21 7FZ FREE ENTRY FOR ALL

Grand Shop Opening - Sat 23rd July 12noon
Come along and show your support as we open our 3rd charity shop at
19 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury, M20 6TN.

There will be bargains galore and light refreshments to enjoy and a chance to meet your local RSPCA inspector!

Yappy Days! Sat 23rd & Sun 24th July - Queenston Arthouse in Didsbury - Weekend of Animal Art & Animal Fun, £5 Pet Microchipping 12-4pm, Plus Dog Show

Wardley Community Fun Day Sat 30th July time tbc
The branch be offering free microchipping to all pets. Please note this is an outdoor event.

Rainbow Community Rooms - Grand Refurb Open Day -Saturday 6th August 11.00 -3.00pm - The branch will be offering low cost neutering for cats and dogs to pet owners on a low income.

EST Donkey Sanctuary - Summer Fair - Sat 20th August 11.00-4.00pm -The branch will be offering £5 microchipping to all pets. Please note this is an outdoor event.

I'm staying at home with the bunnies

2011-06-28T12:19:00.006+01:00

I have returned from the annual mud fest that is Glastonbury Festival - a national treasure in my eyes. It is probably more special than ever to me now because we are facilitated in enjoying the event by being able to use a campsite designated for folks with disabilities. The campsite is an absolute godsend and testament to how committed the festival and individual organisers are to enabling everyone to participate. They all have my greatest of admiration, as do all the attendees who are so determined to enjoy life to the full despite pain and/or bodily malfunctions/compromises. I find it reassuring, to be honest.

Having checked out what I'm walking back into work to tomorrow I'm also reassured that it is safe to return! No major catastrophes except the very sad health diagnosis of a little dog called Charlie, who has since been put to sleep. She had a health problem that should have been rectified years ago and is now too insurmountable for us to overcome. So sad, and yet so unnecessary.

'Consequences' was one of two themes I took away from this year's festival outing. It struck me more than ever that people (at the festival) act before thinking through what effect their action might have. I don't know why this was such a revelation to me but it just seemed that everywhere I looked there were people doing things to satisfy their immediate need without thinking about the impact of it.

This concept resonates even further into the wider community when I think of what we do and dogs like Charlie, and when I look at the wider world and the two news stories I first encountered when I got home last night.

The first was from my local paper (warning, this is shocking). There was an article about a man who had tortured a baby rabbit in a pub after no-one would buy it off him. Allegedly the man waved the rabbit around by its ears, forced a lit cigarette down its mouth, slammed its head against a hard surface, set its fur alight and then broke its neck.

Sickening.

All the way through reading this article just one thing stood out - why had no-one intervened?

The next article, which has likely received far greater publicity, was of the two police dogs who were left in a locked car in soaring heat. I understand they both later died at the vets.

What stood out for me on this was how? How can two dogs be forgotten?

I am in no way attempting to draw parallels between the two incidents but what did strike me was how one got far more attention than the other, and why? Is it because a dog's life is perceived to be of greater value than a rabbit's? Well, probably partially, but if we are honest it is more about who the perpetrator of the crime is, isn't it?

I could go on, but I think it is far more productive to focus on the positive news I learned from Mr Steven Patrick Morrissey at around 9pm on Friday night. I think I was a solitary whoop in the crowd, but who cares, because he told me that the ban on wild animals in circuses had been passed. News I've been waiting to hear for very many years and a triumph of good over evil (ahem). I can't tell you how incredible this news is to so many of us, in particular the good folks at CAPS. It proves to me once more, that as a nation we do value animals lives and have some of the best laws in the world.

The other highlight I have to share is the fabulous picture above that was waiting for me in my inbox. This is Monty and Jerry, adopted from us at least 2 years ago. Their story is sadly an all too familiar one now - from an animal hoarder's home, dogs stacked up in cages, breeds unrecognisable due to their degree of neglect. These two in particular had suffered, more than anything psychologically. Had they not been taken on by the folks who adopted them there would not have been a happy ending for them, such was there depth of disturbance. One is still troubled to this day but they are with deeply committed and experienced dog lovers and proves yet again how great humans really can be.

I've learnt something else whilst away this weekend. It was eloquently articulated by the wonderful Jeremy Hardy. During his comedy set he explained that he is often accused of 'hating people'' (something that you'll often find muttered around our office) but what is actually the case is that he hates what people do.

I frequently hold out such faith and hope in humanity but all too often (in our field) they do things I absolutely despise and despair of. I'm not quite sure how you ever really separate the action from the person (and that was essentially Mr Hardy's cheeky point) but as a whole I so desperately want to believe that as a species we are fundamentally good. Let's hope there's plenty of proof of it this week or else I'm staying at home with the bunnies (oh, if only!).

All the fun of.........

2011-06-20T14:09:00.000+01:00

Elvis is in the paddock

2011-06-18T09:47:00.007+01:00

What a week!

Every cat in the cattery has cat flu, we have no foster homes left and we even have a poorly cat in our office because we've nowhere else for him to go. We've got kitten-lickens everywhere and we've run out of donated kitten food and our new dog Charlie has been diagnosed with a problem knee cap that keeps popping out of place and we are likely looking at an op costing in the region of £500 to rectify - money which we simply do not have. And, to make things just that bit more cheery, we haven't rehomed an animal in nearly 10 days!

I could go on but you get the gist - a bit of a murky, miserable week (like the weather) with plenty to do, as usual.

As obvious as it sounds, we need homes, food and money - such a metaphor for life, hey.

On the plus side we've received some wonderful updates on rehomed animals, including Zak the dog, Dexter the bunny and Bailey the dog. And it has been really heartening to have so many supporters rallying around to help us get donations for our new shop.

On that front, work began yesterday to fit the shop out for 'retail use' and you can already see just how great it is going to be. When I return from hols in a week or so time the pressure is really going to be on to get it set up in 3 weeks, as well as organising the summer fair! But, I'm chuffed to bits that we have enough volunteers for the fair this year and chuffed to bits that I've had the offer of help from a local firm offering staff on 'volunteering work days' to help us set up the shop. I can't tell you how much of a relief this all is and I actually feel I can go away and relax for the week.

If I stop and think about it, we really do have a very busy summer ahead of us with lots of fundraising and welfare events - which can only be a good thing for the animals. And what's even better is knowing that there is such a fabulous team of staff and volunteers behind us.

I'll leave you for a week or so with what is undoubtedly my favourite image of the week - it is Sam the dog, who has just gone up for adoption. The comical look on his face just makes me smile every time I see it because he is such a sweetheart and it is such an in-congruent image to his personality. It makes me think he is doing an Elvis impersonation - "I'm all shook up. Uh-huh-huh." Sorry, I know, cheesey.

Innocent creatures

2011-06-12T10:25:00.006+01:00

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things change in this line of work. I use the term 'work' loosely cos it's a labour of love. Simple. Within a matter of hours of posting the last blog things went from euphoric to hideous. The mood has not lifted much throughout the week and we have rattled along in a haze of astonishment. Whilst I have no intention of rattling off a catalogue of low points, I do feel the need to skirt around a phone call I took this week.

It was undoubtedly the most shocking call I have ever taken. Catherine came into the office shortly afterwards and found me sat there staring into space. I couldn't share it with anyone, it was that bad. Thankfully, the situation is being taken very seriously by various authorities, I know because I fielded more calls about it that day.

When I got home I ended up sharing the content of the call with my husband, just because I couldn't hold it in my head. I hope to goodness that the severity of the crime is fully recognised and addressed and I hope to goodness that the perpetrators are helped before it's too late for them. I hope to goodness I never get a call like that again, and it did make me consider properly, and perhaps for the first time, just how bad it must be doing the job of taking cruelty complaint calls on the national helpline.

We lost Bilbo this week. And it was a real loss. I don't think there was a single person who didn't adore him. For those of you who aren't aware of Bilbo he has been with us since the beginning of February. We had been trying in earnest to 'undo' the neglect he had endured after being abandoned and left to live stray for several years. Despite the best efforts of everyone we had to give up this week when he very suddenly and dramatically lost his balance and co-ordination. He was in a state and the chances of making any form of sufficient recovery was next to nothing, so we ended what was very clear and evident suffering.

Bilbo will undoubtedly remain our favourite cat of 2011 just because of who he was and how very special he was to us all. He was such a cheeky, happy cat, despite being in the cattery for several months. Actually, he was probably so happy because he was in the cattery - being loved and groomed and regularly fed and kept safe and warm. Bilbo looked like a really scruffy old cloth cat, just like Bagpuss and we loved him all the more for it!

It has been an incredibly busy week with cats and kittens and we are now bursting at the seams with them and there is seriously 'no room at the inn'. To make matters worse it looks like cat flu is brewing in the cattery again, so you know what's coming - closure and a stand still on rehomings if it does break out. This truly is the last thing we need in the height of kitten season and on Friday I spent much of the day fielding very sad calls from people whose loved ones had died leaving animals behind, and it was just so frustrating not being able to help. I do loathe kitten season, but not as much as the ignorance that perpetuates about cat neutering.

Of all the low points of the week the most conflicting of all was the resignation of our wonderful Animal Welfare Assistant Mel. For those of you who don't know there is only 1 full time and 1 part time animal staff plus me (though my job isn't just animal side, it's charity shops and running the charity on a day-to-day basis). So, we are an incredibly small team who are very committed and close to one another and to loose Mel is like loosing a limb. But at the same time her decision to leave is based on personal circumstances for which I cannot feel anything but complete support and admiration.

We've had our moments this week of holding back the tears, and there will no doubt be more, but for now I'm going to enjoy every last minute we have left with her and Mel will no doubt enjoy every minute she has with the mum cat and her 2 iddy biddy kitties she started fostering this week. They are pictured above. The kitties are only just beginning to open their eyes and Mel has named them Bubble and Squeak!

It is a priveledge to care for such beautiful, innocent creatures. I just wish many more people understood this principle too.

Thank goodness Glastonbury is beckoning me...........

Our Branch Has Got Talent!

2011-06-03T19:50:00.005+01:00

What an incredible 7 days we have just had. We have rehomed and admitted an astonishing number of animals (well, for our branch that is) and we are on a high. I'm really not quite sure where to start with all the news there's just so much to share....

Cats and kittens - well, wow! Over the bank holiday weekend we had 9 adult cats reserved and rehomed (that's out of 11 cattery pens) plus 2 kittens were reserved and rehomed, which meant by Tuesday we had lots of spaces to fill, so we did, but not before finding one fantastic new home for 3 little kitten boys. They had come into our care at separate times but become best friends whilst in the same foster home. Pictured above is Wilf, he is 1 of 3 boys, and we are so chuffed they are going together.

This week we have admitted lots of new cats and kittens and it is so apparent that kitten season is in full swing. The last admission of the week arrived at 3.30pm today and were a group of 3 little girls, about 3-4 weeks old, who had been found by builders constructing the new metrolink line by Manchester airport. Mum was nowhere to be seen but must have been returning to them as they are in good, chunky health! They will now join Poppy (who you may have seen on Facebook) and be hand-reared by our foster parents Carmen and Rick. Rick is doing the night-time feeds so Carmen and I chuckled at the prospect of him having to cope with 4 hungry, demanding mouths at silly o'clock. We are, however, very grateful to you, we are just grateful it's not us!

We also admitted more adults than I can actually remember, another 2 kittens found in a play house in their garden, and we have another 6 kittens to come in yet and 1 adult cat! They are at the RSPCA vets and we are waiting for them to be given the 'all clear' along with a gorgeous fluffy boy cat too.

On the rabbit front, oh, dear - yes, well, I was weak and said 'yes' when I should have said 'no' because we are still very much over capacity on the rabbit front. But I kinda thought that with Isaac Big Boy going to his new home tomorrow I'd get away with it. So, we said 'hello' to Margot.

Margot was found roaming stray and was successfully captured (albeit reluctantly) by members of the public. The next day an RSPCA officer collected her and brought her to us, and boy is she stunning. She looks kind of hare-like, but pretty with it, and has such a striking, confident personality. I'm so glad I said yes and I would have got away with it if it hadn't been for those damn pesky kids.

The Scooby-Doo villain was right this time, again! I had my worst lapse since last year when I heard an inspector utter the words: 'baby bunnies', 'you look after them so well' and 'lop eared'. I caved. Readily.

See what a bit of flattery and fluffy bunnyness can do to me! So, currently in my spare room are 3 picture-postcard cute, lop-eared babies. Squeeeeeeaaaalllll!

And last, but in no way least - Bruno. As I type I am imagining Bruno laid out in his new home watching Britain's Got Talent with his new family. If ever a dog deserved a forever home, Bruno is the one. I am hoping with all my heart that he has really found his home for life this time. He is a wonderful, special dog who deserves the moon on a stick after everything he has encountered in life.

Bruno was adopted as a puppy from another branch, and returned a few months later to the branch of origin through no fault of his own. Nearly a year on, he was still in that branch's care and still waiting for his happy ending. So, when we found ourselves with a few empty kennels a few weeks ago we went knocking on their door and offered to take him in, hoping that a new area would make all the difference......

Bruno wasn't an obvious 'looker' and whilst we could see him for who he was we figured that this was the main reason why he had been overlooked. After we had completed our assessments of him we placed him in foster care to learn more about him. And wow, what a difference that made! What leapt out within just a few short hours was one of the most wonderfully loving and good natured dogs.

It is with great satisfaction that within less than 2 weeks of putting him up for adoption Bruno found the home he'd been waiting for all along. It is entirely thanks to his foster mum for inviting him into her home, that we have what I can only describe as a potentially fairy tale ending. (I try not to get too excited until they've been in their new home without any major mishaps for a week or two). But, nonetheless, it sends goosebumps up my arms just thinking of what we have hopefully achieved for this beautiful lad. I'm hoping with all my heart he has found third time lucky forever.

We are going try our hand at helping another dog in a similar predicament next week, but for now the newbie dogs of the week are 2 Lurcher types who's owner was unable to give them the care and attention they needed. Following complaints from people in the neighbourhood of abandonment, one of our inspectors investigated and the dogs were signed over to our care.

What it means with all this activity is that we only have 1 dog up for adoption, but keep your paws crossed because he has a viewing tomorrow!

So, I'm sure you'll agree this has been a very eventful 7 days. I am about to embark on my first proper weekend off in over 2 months - yes, that's right, our Catherine is back! And what a pleasure, relief and delight it is to have her back.

All's well ........... for now.

National Vegetarian Week Feast for a Fiver

2011-06-03T13:28:00.005+01:00

Rabbit & Guinea Pig Roadshow 2011 Report

2011-06-01T15:45:00.004+01:00

Introduction
The branch has been successfully running rabbit welfare promotional events since 2008. In 2010 the branch created the ‘Rabbit and Guinea Pig Roadshow’ in recognition of the fact that guinea pigs are as a much a misunderstood species as the rabbit, and that unfortunately there is still the misguided conception that the two species can be kept together.

The branch took the decision to hold this year’s roadshows during Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW), in support of the national RSPCA participation/collaboration with this annual campaign.

This year’s roadshows took place on Saturday 21st and 28th May 2011 and were only made possible thanks to the unfaltering support the branch received from its team of volunteers.
What We Hoped to Achieve
The aim of the event, as always, was to educate pet owners on how best to meet the welfare needs of their animals. This year we strived to generate new and more accessible ways in which to get the key messages across.

How We Achieved It
Each year we review the way we try to deliver information and in the past we have tried out surveys, quizzes, seated advisory areas and interactive displays in attempt to develop greater awareness of these species’ needs.

Following a review of previous approaches we decided this year to take a more informal approach to information sharing. To achieve this, each animal owner was given their own ‘advisor’ who shadowed them during the veterinary consultation to pick up on support needs.

The animals were each health and dental checked by exotic vet specialists. The owners were in turn given the opportunity to ask any questions they had relating to their pets and veterinary care. During the consultation owners were also given a ‘health record’ booklet for each of their pets (supplied by RAW) and completed by the vet.

After the consultation the advisor then directed the owner to a ‘station’ containing displays of key welfare messages alongside displays of suitable vegetables, daily dried food allowance and samples of good quality hay.

The stations offered visual illustrations to support the advisors knowledge sharing, which proved to be a particularly powerful method of communication. There was also supportive literature on hand from both the Rabbit Welfare Fund and the branch.

Each owner was then given a goody bag that contained: a welfare booklet from RAW, a sample of dried food labelled and measured out as representative of one week’s worth of dried food for an average sized furry, a loo roll stuffed with hay to demonstrate how to enrich an animal’s life cheaply and easily, plus other food samples.

The branch also sold a wide range of toys and natural treats that were marked up only fractionally in order to encourage people to consider purchasing additional enrichment opportunities for their pets.

Outcomes
At each event we had:
Two exotic vet specialists
A team of 12 dedicated volunteers
Branch Manager for RSPCA Manchester & Salford
Across the two events we saw a total of 121 animals in 8 hours.
This broke down as: 66 rabbits and 55 guinea pigs, of which 8 rabbits were microchipped and 11 neutering vouchers were issued.

Observations
This year it really was a game of two halves! At the first event we saw lots of returning animal owners who proudly explained how they had taken on board our advice from the previous year(s) and changed their animals’ lives for the better. This was hugely reassuring and motivating to hear because it meant that we had previously succeeded in spreading the word about rabbit and guinea pig welfare.

The second event, however, was very different in tone and arguably more successful because the animals that attended really did need our help. It also demonstrated that we still have a long way to go in educating people about contemporary rabbit and guinea pig welfare practices.

At the second event we saw and treated quite a large number of animals with cheyletiella mites (also known as ‘walking dandruff’), we identified a number of animals in the early stages of developing dental issues (which hopefully will be able to be addressed with appropriate changes to diet) and we also saw a surprising number of unplanned pregnancies and a frustrating amount of animals at risk of unwanted pregnancy.

Perhaps one of the most shocking cases was a guinea pig whose owner had brought him along to the last roadshow in March 2010 and whose claws had not been clipped in 14 months – they were in a shocking state.

Whilst the second event may have highlighted more welfare issues than the first, it nonetheless created a strong sense of achievement because it meant that we helping animals in need.

The Future
Whilst the branch fully supports RAW and will do so again in the future, the attendance figures for the 2011 roadshow were a disappointing 121 (compared to last year’s attendance figures of 199 - down 78.)

It was felt that attendance was likely down due to the number of other similar free events running at the same time, which whilst fantastic for small furries, it is not so fantastic for a small charity like ours that has to be as cost effective as possible. As such, in order to maximise the effectiveness of the roadshows in the future, which cost in excess of £1300 to run, we will reinstate the event to Spring in 2012.

Thanks
The roadshow would not happen each year without the passion and enthusiasm of our dedicated team of volunteers. They never cease to amaze us with their unfaltering passion to improving animals’ lives. We feel honoured and privileged to work alongside such compassionate and caring people and thank them all for being there for us and the 301 rabbits and 168 guinea pigs the branch has assisted at these events since 2008.

We would also like to say a special thank you to Pollie from Cavy Cosies for raising the money to enable us to offer neutering assistance to many of the attending animals and for tirelessly promoting cavy enrichment.

Lastly, we would like to express immense gratitude to vet specialists Sarah Pellet and Molly Varga alongside Supreme Pet Foods for supporting our events and for their commitment to improving the welfare of small furries.

The Wow Factor

2011-05-22T09:30:00.008+01:00

What a week and a half! There is so much to share this week that I'd almost forgotten about Sarah and Hannah's Manchester 10k triumph. They ran the course in just 1 hour and 12mins and raised £800 in the process. What a phenomenal amount. With two other people running for us too, well over £1000 has been raised for our animals at the event. This is such welcome news and may hopefully help us to balance the books this month (I shouldn't speak too soon, should I!).

Trying to find a steady stream of income is so difficult for all charities but one thing we've been determined to do for the last year is open a third charity shop. This is not as simple as it sounds, and we've been on the hunt for some while. Our dream area has long been Didsbury but the rents are simply too high and therefore too risky for us to take a gamble on. But a little miracle has happened this week and we have found a perfect little shop just off the main route through the village and we've negotiated a deal. We are all incredibly excited about this and can't wait to sign the lease and get trading! Hopefully we will be up and running by mid to end July and making some more money to secure our future for the furries. We will keep you posted on progress - I can't wait!

It has been a distinctly dog-themed week this week with 3 new arrivals. We've admitted a 12 month old Great Dane (we've never had one before and I'm so excited about her arrival), an akita x and a beautiful English Bull Dog. The last two have been cruelly abandoned. We think both had outlived their purpose as breeders and the poor Bull dog has a horrible skin complaint that's going to take weeks for us to get better too. We also have another Bull Dog and two whippets waiting to come in but with us only having 6 kennels, which are fully occupied, it's going to be a while before they can come in.

Currently we only have Bruno (pictured) available for adoption and whilst he's only been listed for a few days I am very disappointed we haven't had any interest in him because he is just so gorgeous and adorable and cuddly! The staff think it's because people won't find him as attractive as others, which makes me very sad because it's the black rabbit and black cat scenario all over again - no-one ever wants them, either.

We've also been on tenterhooks this week with our favourite cat Bilbo. I can't begin to explain why so many of us love Bilbo other than he is a tatty old cloth cat, just like Bagpuss. He has been through one hell of an ordeal - found in the most manky state with a ruptured eye, cauliflower ear, polyps and all sorts. He's now a one eyed tug-boat that is greedy and cheeky and will do anything for a bit of 'wet' cat food (see picture of him rummaging in the bin!). But his balance hasn't been great, again, and we knew it was likely related to the polyp problem down his cauliflower ear.

I had to make the decision as to what to do next, which was not easy because Bilbo is not your typical 'desirable' cat. In fact he's been up for adoption for some weeks with no offer a home. He's cost around £500 in veterinary treatment so far too. But with his personality being such as it is, and so many people being so attached to him, it makes it near impossible to make a rational decision (like I should do). But I got given a 'get out' card by our wonderful vet who said he would perform the op Bilbo needed at cost price. I can't tell you the relief that gave me.

Whilst Bilbo is not out of the woods yet, but what I can tell you is that by the very next day he was up to his naughty antics and endearing himself to all the vet nurses. It's going to be touch and go for a while to see whether Bilbo's op is successful, but in the meantime he is on cage rest at the vets and driving everyone to distraction - go Bilbo!

This week has also seen the first of our two Rabbit and Guinea Pig Roadshows. (We are also doing a third with the Wigan branch on Thursday, which we are really looking forward to.) We've been running the roadshows for some years now and typically see between 80-100 animals per event, but oddly, this time only 63 animals attended. Despite doing more publicity than ever before we can only put the poor attendance down to good weather (well it has been raining lots recently) and lots of other similar events taking place around the same time for Rabbit Awareness Week. I'll be honest, I feel really deflated after the yesterday's event and just hoping that our last one on Sat 28th in Eccles sees a better attendance because it then feels all the more worthwhile and you can justify the expenditure.

But the highlights of yesterday were undoubtedly seeing lots of old furry friends and their human companions but even more special was seeing people we've met at previous roadshows explaining how they had taken on board advice previously received from us and made their animals lives so much better as a result. This factor really did make it all the more worthwhile for us all and so I'm going to remain ever hopeful for a good turn out next weekend so we can help improve the welfare of even more small furries.

As I finish writing this blog our intrepid volunteer Clare Goss will be arriving in Las Vegas any time now. In the next couple of days Clare will be undertaking a sky dive over the Hoover Dam to raise money for our branch. What an amazingly stupidly brave thing to do! I can't wait to hear all about it and show you the pictures but for now, please keep everything crossed for Clare.

If you want to read more about Clare's motivation for doing this please go to http://www.justgiving.com/clare-goss

Clare's dog Ben was with us over a year, waiting for a home, much because he didn't have the visual 'wow-factor' like our Bruno. Just sad, so very very sad.

Ernie, Eric and Jessica

2011-05-19T14:08:00.002+01:00

You may remember these kittens from a few weeks ago. They were found abandoned with their umbilical chords still attached. Well, they have miraculously pulled through thanks to two-hourly, round the clock feeds by their extraordinarily dedicated foster mum.

The kitten are now approaching 6 weeks of age and will be available for adoption in another 3 weeks or so.

Russian Roulette

2011-05-14T09:35:00.006+01:00

The excitement of having raised an astonishing £1048 during RSPCA week sadly didn't stay with us beyond Tuesday morning. It has been a rock bottom week this week and I'm just relieved that my first weekend off in weeks has landed on this one.

This week has seen us loose a rabbit, kitten and dog. Each desperately sad, in different ways, and add up to nothing short of me and Mel feeling miserable.

The phones have also been really challenging this week with so many calls that make you simply despair. Hannah came into help us out on Thursday and she described the office phone line like a game of 'Russian Roulette' - and it is such an apt description. You see you just never know when you are going to get shouted at and abused but what you do know is that it is going to happen.

We also know that each day will bring a call or three from members of the public who have allowed their animal to suffer. Some of these types of calls have really stuck in our minds this week and I can't, obviously, go into too much detail but you would be amazed at the number of people who leave their animals to suffer when they have a very clear need to see a vet. Typically people ring because they think we are the RSPCA vets that are based in Salford.

During the call you inadvertently learn how someone will have left their pet for days unable to walk, stand, eat and/or live comfortably. Invariably we feel this is down to apathy, ignorance and/or complacency. Some calls really do stay with you and at times you find yourself genuinely struggling to sleep easy knowing that such neglect has taken place and worse, could be continuing. I often say I wouldn't wish answering our phone line on anybody; it really is that vile at times.

And then the working week ended so perfectly with our AGM failing to be 'quorate'. In a nutshell what this means is that we didn't have enough members attend for us to meet charity rules to be able to operate for another year. It means I have to set up another AGM for the branch by the end of June if we are to continue. This is no small task and such a pain and couldn't have come at a worse time.

There have, of course been moments of light relief, namely in the form of animal adoptions and reserves. Perhaps my favourite being that of our wonderfully grumpy, fluffy, mop-head bunny Cuthbert who found himself a girlfriend and the pair of them fell for each other big style and are just giddy little kippers together!

There was also the moment when the most enormous, towering pallet of freebies arrived from Supreme Petfoods for our Rabbit Welfare events in 2 weeks time. It was like receiving the biggest and bestest Christmas present ever - we are still sorting through it all but can't wait to share the spoils at our events in Stretford, Wigan and Eccles.

And tomorrow Mel and I will be bellowing to our hearts content as we cheer on Hannah, Sarah, James and Michelle as they run the Manchester 10k for our branch. If you want to come and join us then head for White City at around 12noon and we'll be stood with our branch banner making lots of noise for these fantastic runners!

For now, I will leave you to enjoy pictures of a miracle. Above is pictured Archie. When he was adopted 14 months ago he was a trembling wreck that cowered under the table in our downstairs office. But his mum and dad were up for a challenge and were smitten by his sweet nature. Yet within 48 hours of taking him home Archie dramatically changed in character. It seemed he had just been severely missing his home comforts and settled right into his new home and found his confidence and became the Lion King he really was!

It was wonderful to receive the updates on him last year but to hear how he is getting on a year later was a magic moment for me. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I do. Just shows what a bit of love can do.

Woo-hoo!!!

2011-05-08T07:31:00.004+01:00

'Woo-hoo' stands for LOTS of things this week. So, many wonderful things have happened this week that my tiredness very nearly pales into insignificance. By the end of the day I'll have worked over 60 hours this week and that's with having the bank hol Mon off. I truly am feeling it but the highlights of the week makes it feel so much better!

SooZoo Doggy Fun Swim Fundraiser raised the phenomenal total of £568! That's about £200 more than I had thought. People were so unbelievably generous and I can't thank them all enough. Sue and Simon really worked so hard - I'm surprised they didn't look like prunes! But what a fantastic success and testament to how many dog lovers are out there - renews your faith, it really does.

So, on to more of the highlights of the week....
Our little black cat Kelly found the most wonderful new home this week. How is this so remarkable I hear you ask? Well, black cats are so hard to rehome. No-one wants them and they get overlooked in favour on multi-coloured cats and are often with us for months on end. But on this occasion Kelly was barely with us a month! She is darling little girl and I'm just so chuffed she has been snapped up by such wonderful people.

We have lots of bunnies on reserve, again. But again it is all dependent on bonding so I won't get too excited just yet, although it does feel good that we are getting so much interest in them. (I have some other exciting news on the bunny front, but I can't share it just yet, but let's just say they'll be more going up for adoption soon.)

On the dog front, in just 1 week, 4 out of 7 dogs have found new homes. (The remaining 3 haven't found homes simply because they aren't up for adoption.) There is a distinct trend developing with the dogs. More or less within a matter of hours of us listing a dog for adoption on the national RSPCA website they are being snapped up. It is truly incredible. I swear, Harry was booked for a viewing within 60 minutes, as was Zak and Kim too. I think it shows that we are doing something very right with our assessments and work with the dogs. I can confidently say that we do not have long stay dogs anymore. Haven't had for a year now. Just goes to show what you can achieve even with minimal resources and a big dollop of determination.... 'Dog team' you are brilliant.

And my last highlight of the week has to be our RSPCA Week collections. For those of you who don't know, every year we have a week to highlight the work of the RSPCA nationally and locally. Tesco very kindly allows branches to go into their local stores and collect money. This provides an enormous income generation opportunity with many branches raising thousands of pounds.

Our branch has never raised remotely that amount, largely because we struggle so much just to get enough volunteers to do a couple of days in one store (and we have about 5 or 6 Tescos in our catchment area). What it invariably means is that I do a lot of the collecting because the opportunity is too good to miss. But this year, I have been a lot more lucky with help, especially from our adopters, and as a result we have been able to collect in two stores, which is brilliant.

So far we have spent 10 hours in two stores, i.e. a total of 20 hours collecting, and we have raised the fantastic sum of £730!!!!! Today is the last day and I am really hoping we will reach £900. That maybe a little too optimistic but no harm in wishing! Pictured above are furry friends Molly and former resident Pip with our trustee Gilly above. These guys raised over £50 in 2 hours - great stuff guys, and thank you!

Splish, Splash, Splosh

2011-05-01T10:37:00.005+01:00

I probably had one of the best days of the year yesterday. I spent a fun filled 9 hours watching lots of dogs participating in the Doggy Fun Swim Fundraiser. I went home so wet that I was squeelching in places I didn't think possible.

Today is the last day of the 3 day event and it looks like it is on course to raise around £400. We are truly grateful to Sue and Simon at SooZoo Canine Hydrotherapy Pool for such a spectacular fundraiser. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

It's Just Not Bunny

2011-04-28T02:09:00.008+01:00

Admittedly this post is a few days late but technology at home let me down at the weekend, so please forgive!

Easter week proved to be eggtastic (yes, the pun was necessary!). We had the most phenomenal occurrence......a total of 8 cats out of 12 in the cattery were either reserved or went to new homes! I can honestly tell you this has never happened before and is simply astonishing.

Easter week also saw our funny little imp Ruben, the dog, finally go to a forever home. He had taken a while to be rehomed because we had to make gradual introductions to his new mum, and of course find the right new home for him. But after tragically loosing his original owner at just 12 months of age he very luckily landed on his paws, twice - finding fantastic foster parents and finding a fantastic forever mum.

Our bunnies didn't miss out on the Easter action either - thanks to their 'fairy bunny mother' and another lovely lady we received enough enrichment treats for them all to have one each. When you consider we have some 30 rabbits that is pretty awesome! Thank you both so much, it was an absolute pleasure to hand them all out and watch them get so excited - Treacle positively pounced, the swine!

On Easter Saturday we held our second annual Treasure Hunt round Chorlton Park. I naively thought we'd have a great turn out what with the weather being so glorious, but it had quite the opposite effect. We even hoicked along our 'Hutch is Not Enough' demo, thinking we'd have a big audience, but no. Nonetheless, we all enjoyed sitting out and sunning ourselves, oh, and raising double the amount we did last year with a fantastic £200! - a superb result thanks to all the volunteers and supporters. (Check out the picture above.)

But undoubtedly the highlight of the week was going to visit our boy Spike in his new home. Spike, bless him, looked like he was going to be with us a while, largely because he is an 8 year old greying staffie cross, who, whilst having the most wonderful disposition, didn't take the best photo. But as it turned out a chance enquiry to the office about dog adoption and a gushing 'review' of him meant that we rehomed him before we even put him up for adoption.

Spike was so happily settled after just 10 days that you'd have thought he had lived there all his life. His new owners had nothing but positive things to share. He already had a favourite room in the house, knew where his toys are kept, knew where the treat box is kept and gets upset on a morning when his bed is hung out out to air and is being spoilt rotten - he'd had a roast dinner that day - lucky boy!

But above all, he really loves his new owners. This is how strong his attachment is already - his mum walks with a stick, and when she takes him out he walks slowly and gently on the lead by her side, he genuinely seems to know he needs to do this for her, whilst with his dad he strides strongly and confidently along. In fact, even on their first meeting, when they all went out for a walk, Spike stopped to give her a chance to catch up. I think some things are meant to be and this is definitely one of them. Just the stuff of magic and it was just the best thing to see him in his new home so utterly happy.

So, this week has seen us cramming a week of work into 3 days. We have had quite a lot to fit in, as usual, including quite a few new admissions to sort out, but thanks to the help of our volunteers, Mel and I are coping, in our own way, which essentially means we look dazed and confused most of the time!

But without doubt we are missing our Catherine. It is our second full week without her and each have seemed so long. Mel and I have had to face up to, and get on with, doing things we don't like - mine is spending endless hours driving around doing collections/vet trips etc whilst Mel's (by her own admission) is having to be extra organised. She's doing good too, but I think we would both much rather be doing what we do best.

So, we are looking forward to another, most welcome, bank holiday weekend and to the Doggy Fun Swim Fundraiser. We are all really excited because it is booked out!!!! I'm so looking forward to seeing so many doggy friends enjoying the experience - pictures will most definitely be forthcoming. And I can't thank everyone enough getting involved and supporting this genius idea of Sue and Simon at SooZoo.

Superb. Can't wait!

Little miracles

2011-04-18T17:10:00.002+01:00

In my blog yesterday I mentioned the 3 kittens we took in that were so young that they still had their umbilical cords attached. Well, today they have been with us exactly one week and by some utter miracle they are thriving (actually, I think foster mum Julia is entirely to blame for keeping such a close vigil). I have great pleasure in introducing Eric, Ernie and Jessica and this is what Julia says,

"The Babies are thriving. I've attached some photos and as you can see Ginger, (who I think is a little boy and is known as Eric) has started to open his eyes. When he arrived last Monday he weighed 140g today he weighs in at 183g. The larger black one who I think is also a boy and is known as Ernie weighed 137g last week and is now 195g and last but not least we have a little girl known as Jessica - after the lady that found them - last week she weighed 117g and now weighs a wopping 194g ( I might have got her weight wrong last time because that seems like an awfully big weight gain). All the cords are off now and as you can see from the photos they are really cute."

Wishing you well

2011-04-17T09:33:00.005+01:00

Watching the London Marathon as I write my blog is just what 'the doctor ordered'. Not because there are more bonkers people out there than me, but because of the inspirational stories behind so many runners. One of these runners is a friend of mine called Ellen. She is running to raise money for British Heart Foundation even though she has had major heart surgery herself at a young age. Frankly, she is lucky to be alive; she is simply a walking miracle. Today, this is what I need to perk me up after an exhausting 65 hour week.

So, my absence from the blog has just been through sheer bewilderment with workload, but I'm adjusting and coming back down to planet earth after a very intense week or so after our (full-time) Animal Welfare Co-ordinator Catherine had emergency surgery last week to save her life.

You can imagine it rocked us all, not least of all Catherine, and she is going to be out of action until the end of May. So, me and Mel (who works part-time) will be doing our best to fill her shoes, but after just one week I've already told Catherine she can have her job back! She knows how frustrating I find driving around, just cos I can't multi-task and do three things at once. But you don't realise how much driving around we actually do with the animals - I suppose it's the downside of not having an animal centre with animals all in one place - it certainly is ever so time consuming. But I have to say many of our foster mum's have been so great helping me out of late with vet runs and collections and I really could not have coped with them - you know who you are, thank you ever so much!

However, I'm pleased to report that Catherine is in good spirits, although she has a long way to go before she will back to full health, so we will be frequently visiting her and keeping her up-to-date with all the goings on (at her request), so let me tell you what's been happening.....

On a a great high note 3 of our dogs (bare in mind we have only 6 kennel spaces) have gone to new homes this week! We have already filled the kennel spaces, (it rarely takes long for news of spaces to get around the inspectorate) so we will hopefully be able to share more about them on our Facebook and Twitter pages later today.

This week we have had 4 wonderful updates on rehomed dogs of ours - one from last year, one from the beginning of the year, one from a month ago and one just 24 hours after adoption. Each and every update was simply magic to hear. Each and everyone so positive and so motivating. I can't thank the owners enough for letting us know that what we do really does make a difference.

This week we have reopened the cattery too, after just a 3 week brush with cat flu, thanks to Humphrey. Good job he is so bloomin' gorgeous! We have admitted 4 new cats into the cattery with 2 lined up next week for the last remaining spaces. We also admitted 3 newborn kittens thought to have been abandoned by their mum - so young they still had their umbilical chords attached - and they are still going strong! And we also admitted Lofty, pictured above. He was found near a post office in Salford. His mum and siblings could not be found, but he clearly was missing them....

Lofty's first night was not great. He wailed that unmistakable cry for his mother, for hours on end. But a few days on, and I received a wonderful update from his foster family yesterday letting me know that he has settled wonderfully well and decided to ditch the substitute cat milk and launch into wet food and is absolutely thriving and loving! Quite a remarkable change from the little hissy-spitty bundle that first arrived.

We sadly, however, had to have a kitten put to sleep this week. Ebony had very suddenly developed really quite progressive neurological problems. She was likely to get even worse and we didn't want her suffering, and even more of a troubling viewpoint is the reality that we have kittens that have grown up in our care that are now adults, such is the difficulty in finding enough homes.

It felt awful asking the vet to euthanize a kitten. A kitten. Just a horrible thing to have to do. Her foster mum was ever so understanding and supportive and I can't thank her enough. It just seems that at times we barely go a week or two without having to make such horrible decisions.

Our busy week finished yesterday with our attendance at Chorlton's Big Green Festival with a vintage stall. It was a fantastic day, with great weather and a huge turn out. It was a 10 hour day but worth every minute as we raised £580 from our stall! It is with great thanks to our shop staff and volunteers that we did so well. It was so uplifting raising so much money.

And next week is looking just as busy with adopted animals being returned: 2 rabbits (owner allergic) and 1 dog (change of circumstances) and two events going on. I'm just grateful we will (hopefully) have Good Friday and Easter Monday off to recover!

But back to the marathon runners.....good luck and thank you for raising my spirits and I hope that Ellen has a great day.

"As weeks go, this one rates as a pretty good one."

2011-04-03T10:04:00.009+01:00

In the last blog I hinted at some good news on the horizon, well, I can now reveal all!

This week 6, yes, 6 cats went to their new homes. This is quite a remarkable number given that we only have 11 cattery pens. It means we have a few spaces to fill, but alas there are symptoms of cat flu, again, brought in by Humphrey the Persian, who came into our care late last week. He must have been incubating the virus and now its coming out......groan. I really hope it isn't too serious because otherwise we'll be shut down for a few weeks and there are quite a few cats waiting to come in.

The good dog news is that our young collie x Matt, who had spent the best part of his life contained in an indoor kennel, went to his new home yesterday. The lad is a big, leggy gullah, but we love him, and we are keeping everything crossed he doesn't prove too much of a handful.

Probably the best news of the week is bunny related. At teatime Friday I received the call I'd been waiting for.....news that 9 case bunnies had finally been signed over. There were originally 10, but George the giant died in my home, in my husbands arms, just 2 days after being rescued last November. The relief that the remaining 9 are now ours to rehome is just awesome, and 4 have already been reserved. I can't tell you how wonderful this group of 9 are. Poppy and Pansy, pictured above, are 2 of the 9 and just such wonderful characters. I hope they, and the others, all find homes in no time.

But for me, the best news, was the miraculous recovery of Buzz bunny from major surgery on Friday. By rights he shouldn't have made it through, but he did and he is now recovering really well and hugely happy back in his familiar environs. Although he must be sore from the op wound he was still doing happy head shakes and plodding about when he got back 'home'. He has been eating for 3 and pooping for 4 so I think they'll be no stoping him now!

So, the other picture posted is of our gorgeous boy Bailey. From how well trained he is it seems that his owner must have really cared for him, that is until he moved into a property where animals were not allowed inside so he kept him tethered up outdoors 24/7 with very little shelter, attention and stimulation. Bailey is only 4 years old but terribly unfit, so this week hei started him on hydrotherapy sessions.

Simon the hydrotherapist has 2 rottis of his own and could say with confidence that Bailey has quite significant muscle tone loss on his rear, clearly as a result of a lack of exercising. It's so sad, and so avoidable, but at least we can help him with the swimming. Apparently, it wasn't long before he took to it and was jumping n to fetch toys! How wonderful. Bailey will be going up for adoption this week, but I fear he will be overlooked for quite some time; larger, older dogsusually are - such a crime because big boy is adorable.

What is also wonderful is that Simon and Sue, who run the canine hydrotherapy pool, have decided to dedicate a whole weekend of swims to raise money for our animals. The weekend of the Royal wedding will see all proceeds from swims go to us! We were bowled over when they told us and so now we are doing all we can to get all our dog friends to book in for a fun swim in the luxury 6m x 3m hydrotherapy pool - just £15 for one dog or £20 if two go in together. Check our website for more info. If your pooch loves swimming and/or fetch games then why not give it a go and help raise hundreds of pounds for our dogs in the process.

Well, hard sell overnd looking forward to the week ahead we have preps for our Annual General Meeting (mailshot to over 250 people) to attend to and our quarterly newsletter to distribute as well as preps for our demo in Manchester city centre next Saturday. We are outside Lush on Market Street (opposite M&S) spreading the message that a 'hutch is not enough'. If you fancy a giggle you'll be able to see me sat in a 'human hutch' dressed as a rabbit for the day! Just a typical week in our work, hey!

Perfect Weather To Fly

2011-03-27T11:09:00.009+01:00

After a timely week off and a trip to Barcelona I had an enormous 'welcome back slap' at ten past eight on Monday morning.......

Betty was a case cat who had been cared for by our wonderful foster parents Clare and Darren. After 6 months of looking after her the case had finally reached the first court hearing. However, Betty was knocking on 19 years of age and those years had suddenly caught up with her and on Sunday night she was admitted to the emergency vets and placed in an oxygen tent to help her breathe. When I turned my phone on and got a text at 8.10am Monday morning telling me I had to collect Betty at 8.30am I knew then that there was going to be no way back from this; old age had caught with her. The heartache of taking in case animals struck again, as a stressful day played out.

You see when we look after a 'case animal' they remain the 'property' of the owner, which means we cannot do very much veterinary treatment-wise without the consent of the owner. It's a complex one to explain but essentially any veterinary treatment that is deemed invasive, e.g. neutering, general anaesthetics, operations etc cannot be done without consent. It's something that I have learned to work with and accept but it nonetheless can cause frustration and delay. It ultimately means that we have no 'control' over decision making, which asthea self-confessed control freak that I am, it makes it hard to contend with.

Betty's owners thankfully made the decision to put her to sleep and they went to say their goodbyes to her accompanied by an RSPCA inspector. Now, whilst I have no issues with this myself, it did cause a number of others consternation for obvious reasons. It also meant that the people who had loved and cared for her for the last 6 months lost any 'claims' to her (if you get my drift) and were unable to say their goodbyes.

It really rocked me that I couldn't allow her foster parents to say goodbye, and really cemented in my mind that taking in case animals is perhaps something I'm not emotionally capable of doing any more. The rollercoaster ride that it creates and the possibility that the animals might have to be returned is just too much for me and I don't mind admitting this weakness. Up until this point I had still had the niggle of a sense of 'duty' but now I just can't help but feel I just don't have the emotional capacity to cope with it all, which is incredibly selfish but of late we've had such a turmultuous time with the animals that a bit of damage limitation and self preservation feels quite essential. Maybe in a week or so I'll feel differently, but for now my cup it overfloweth!

There have, however, been some rather wonderful events happen this week, which I am still extremely excited about. But, rather than tempt fate, I'm going to sit on them until my next blog, just to make sure it all pans out as I hope it will. But just to say it could involve lots of happy endings for lots of our cats, a dog and rabbits.

But there have been a few other wonderful things that have also kept me going this week, which I can share, and they have been updates of our rehomed animals Dennis, Rico and Micah. The former two you'll be able to see on our website soon (just in the process of seeking consent from the adopters) but I have permission to share with you all about Micah, pictured above.

Now let me tell you....I first became acquainted with Micah's owner when I took a call from her one day after she had come across the blog and 'lost' two hours reading it and felt compelled to call and let us all know what great work we do. I know, how awesome is that! The lady was also looking for a companion dog and so we began chatting with one another. I told her all about Mikey, a true gentleman collie who was abandoned by his owners when they returned home to Romania. Well, the rest is history, as they say, and Mikey became Micah and I have received the most wonderful regular updates on him ever since. They enchant me so much that I sought permission to share with you the delightful updates I have been enjoying. I hope you are charmed and warmed by them as much as me; happy endings really do happen!

1. First meeting

We had a great time with Mikey this morning. He is as charming and bright as you said he was. We fell for him hook, line and sinker – he is just so perky and has tons of potential.

We’d love to have him as part of the family and look forward to hearing from you re the homevisit. Hope to speak to you very soon with more good news!

Thanks for letting us spend time with him – it was lovely.

2. Homecoming bulletin from Micah (formerly Mikey).

NO problem in the car. Once out of the car he had a guided tour of the garden and met Fennel and Eric our chickens who pecked him on the nose. He responded in a very dignified manner!

Indoors he met Pete and Fudge the cats who both happened to be in the kitchen when we walked in – Micah just looked and walked past them both – they have since been in the living room together with no problems although Fudge has not yet touched the ground.

Then he met Oscar my nephew who fell in love instantly. I think they may be doing Play Station later.

Then we had a mooch for ages –– he was so inquisitive. He helped fill the dishwasher and went to the bathroom with Janet.

Then ……… ball in the garden – we started off on the lead but soon decided to try him free – and he was brilliant.

Now we are resting.

Thanks so much for letting us have him. He is going to be such a great companion. Big country walk tomorrow. I don’t know when I’m going to fit work in!

3. In the early days

The only word that adequately describes Micah is EXUBERANT!!!! We love him to bits and it seems as if he has been around for ages – so settled and no problem with routine.

He is relaxed around everybody, eats well, tells us when he needs to go out and is getting the hand of walking nicely with the gencon although he is clearly afraid of traffic.

So far his second favourite thing is lying on the settee (I know I said I wouldn’t allow it but ……) with Oscar whom he adores (see pic above).

His very favourite thing is playing ball on the lawn. We do this at least ten times a day – usually starting at 6 a.m. before breakfast and ending immediately before bed. Good job we have lighting outdoors. I’ve developed ball skills I didn’t know I had and we will soon be competing internationally!!

At tea time he does half an hour of cat games – the three of them zoom around having a rare old time – we just stand back and watch in amazement.

The only thing he won’t do is go in his basket – he hardly even looks at it so I don’t think he is suspicious of it – perhaps he prefers the floor. Pete and Fudge have decided to make good use of it in turns.

4. Settling in

Micah has had an invitation to “meet the Vet” on Tuesday which will be good and he has two play dates booked for the week after next with Cuthbert the border terrier and Tess my former foster dog.

Today he jumped into the back of the car without hesitation – last week I was having to physically lift him in – which is great progress.

Thanks for all that you do – we really do know how much you care and how you always go the extra mile for the animals in your charge.

5. Paws under the table

Micah has been to the seaside today. A great day – car full of dog sick (although he waited til we got to Blackpool before he threw up), tide completely in – more completely than I have ever seen it - AND I was so keen to remember all his stuff (items for every eventuality) that I forgot the flask!!

BUT he had a whale of a time – we found a strip of sand and he was away – fetching his ball, stones, shells, bits of wood, disgusting unidentified objects, rolling in the sand, eating it, chatting to other dogs (including David the poodle), strolling along the prom as if he owned it and just being glad to have the sun on his back and the wind in his fur. He was like a child on the way home – two hundred yards of looking though the window and then completely zonked out for the rest of the trip – and no vomiting. This evening he confined himself to Mastermind and Gardeners’ World sprawled on the settee followed by a small skirmish with Pete which took up most of the house but caused less damage than the one yesterday.

I just love this dog!

For me, it has been an absolute pleasure to receive these wonderful updates on Micah. It has given us a rare and priveleged insight into the settling in period of one of our rescue animals. I can't thank Micah's family enough for their generosity and kindness; we have found dear friends in them all and a magnificent new home for Micah, I'm sure you'll agree.

I'm very lucky indeed

2011-03-10T15:20:00.000Z

This week has been the longest on record in such a long while. Monday really feels like a lifetime ago.

It hit rock bottom this week with the loss of Queenie (above) and Moragh (below).

Some of you may remember Queenie came into us 3-4 weeks ago in a starved and ailing state.

Queenie hated the kennel experience and barely coped - not even a walk or a play in the paddock eased her anxiety. It seemed to us that she was very unfamiliar with the outdoors, so it led us to speculate that she had likely spent her life incarcerated in a room, used for breeding.

Much to our sadness further health complications arose with Queenie and I felt that it was time to end her suffering. Her health problems were insurmountable with our resources and so we gave her the peace she needed. Whilst she marked another battle lost against animal cruelty we took heart in the fact that she was not enduring a miserable existence any more.

But the next day, Tuesday, was incredibly cruel and we received the most painful, devastating news, which still brings me to tears.

Our beautiful girl Moragh, who had spent 4 months with us being brought back to health was to undergo one final treatment on before leaving us to live with her new family, except she didn't, because she couldn't.

Moragh had gone in to have what we all thought was a simple polyp removed, only it turned out to be far more sinister and hiding even more worrying problems. The blow was devastating. Both Catherine and I broke down in an instant as the vet told us we had to let her go. Sheer disbelief at what was going on and Catherine and I just sobbed.

I called Mel so she could join us in saying goodbye to Moragh and we all cuddled and fussed her until we felt able to let her go.

The vets were absolutely amazing with us and left us to spend all the time we needed with her and their sensitive handling of our grief made it all the more tolerable.

But it felt such a cruel, bitter blow after all she had been through and having found her a home to spend the rest of life in. We all really loved that cheeky little girl and she brought so much joy to our lives. We all shared very fond memories of our time with her and as I let everyone know of her departure they too shared their favourite memories; long walks around the water park, endless throw and fetch games, being smothered in kisses and leaping into our laps for cuddles. She was our Moragh.

I learnt a lot this week, specifically about the meaning of some of my feelings. You see, most of the time when I have to make the decision on euthanizing an animal I feel deeply despairing, frustrated at having failed another furry, but at the same time I feel I am able, to some degree, spare everyone else from that responsibility of the decision making. But with Moragh it was different. With her I wasn't shouldering any 'blame', so I couldn't spare anyone from grief. I couldn't make it any better for anyone. It was sheer grief. Painful, harsh, grief. This time I couldn't make anyone feel better about her loss, there was no 'at least she wasn't....', it was simply horrible, gut wrenching grief for us all.

But what I did see (and not for the first time I might add) the most amazing tenacity of my staff Mel and Catherine, who commit to their work and carry on for the animals. They come back to work the next day with ever more gritted determination and unfaltering belief in what we are trying to achieve. I admire them so greatly, cos let's face it, how many people would stick at and contend with the heartache and trauma that we deal with on an almost weekly basis. I think they are both amazing.

This week's blog is in memory of Moragh and Queenie but also in celebration of the staff and volunteers around me who come back to do this troublesome work week in, week out and all because they care so much. I'm very lucky indeed.

Says it all for me

2011-03-05T07:18:00.000Z

I hold my hands up! I've been avoiding my blog. To be honest I still don't want to be doing it now but it's like a commitment I've made to myself and now, having neglected it for nearly two weeks, I cannot hide from it any more!

There's only ever two reasons why I don't blog - I'm on holiday or I'm so damn well overwhelmed by everything that outside of work I just need to switch off and box it all away. Unfortunately it has been the work one that has caused me to not blog, and I'm feeling worse than ever if the truth be told.

Uppermost in my mind at the moment is the last, outstandingly horrible thing I dealt with, which was a continental giant rabbit yesterday. The words "unimaginable suffering" have been floating around in my head for the last 24 hours and I'm still feeling pretty teary about the state she was in. Now, I'll be the first to confess that my feelings are worsened by the fact that I am a rabbit obsessive and a giant rabbit obsessive at that, but even so, what that girl must have gone through is simply awful.

We called her 'Posh' and she had been found in a paddock in Cheshire. The only way she could have got there was by being thrown over a 6ft fence. How she was still alive, and not been eaten by foxes, is a miracle and suggest she wasn't there long; she had paralysis in her back legs (most likely neurological related) so she couldn't run away. If that wasn't bad enough, she had to weight bear on her front paws that had abscesses the size of plums. She had chronic mites and her ears were stripped bare and bleeding and she had puss truly dripping from her left eye. Her back paws were bald with thick scabs and coupled with the lack of urine scalding (rear end paralysis results in that) led us to conclude she had been kept on a bare mesh flooring for a long time. Mesh flooring is most commonly used when breeding.

The pain that girl went through each time she raised herself up off her belly must have been unbearable, and she had clearly been like that for some time. I really hope that whoever did this to her will reap what they sow one day. Making her suffer like that is revolting in itself but to 'throw her away' is so horribly cruel too.

Even though we only spent a short while with her, Posh was a lovely natured rabbit. Despite being severely disabled and not even knowing us she was up for attention and actively moved towards us whenever she could to get it and then sat there very happily whilst we stroked her. Needless to say we euthanized Posh, and whilst it was unequivocally the right thing to do, I remain deeply affected by her level of suffering. I just don't understand why people don't get that rabbits deserve better.

To lighten the mood I can tell you that Queenie, the desperately thin staffie featured last time, is doing very well and looking more and more healthier by the day. Her weight gain is steady and she is settling into the kennels and her personality is beginning to come out. We have, hoverer, found that in the paddock she gets distressed and wants to go back inside and out on walks she isn't much better, which does lead us to question whether she had been kept indoors an awful lot. A combination of patience, treats and a DAP collar is helping her to learn to trust us and we shall keep persevering!

Our rehoming figures for February were great once again with 25 animals finding new homes, admittedly it was mainly cats but now we have reopened the kennels after closing for a couple of weeks due to signs of kennel cough I'm hopeful we will be able to rehome more dogs this month too - like Mikey, who is going to his new home on Wednesday and was snapped up after only being listed on our website for half an hour! That is a record. Previously it had been one hour - how awesome is that! (Pictured is Riley the cat, formerly Sam, in his new home - he left us in January and we got a wonderful update about him this week, which is possibly the best bit of our job! In fact, we've been lucky enough to have quite a few lovely updates recently, which has been a very much needed motivator).

I'm also pleased to say that we are doing well on the small furries front too. We have just rehomed the last of our guinea pigs from the 433 animal case we helped out with last year and we have reserves on two bunnies too (we rehomed 3 in Feb and would have been more if 'bondings' had gone well). We are finally down to 14 small furries on the rehoming side, which is nearly back to our normal numbers - never thought I'd see the day!

But what has been really troubling me, and having me hide away, is the news that a case has fallen through and the owner will not be prosecuted and that the animals belonging to the owner that we have in our care have to be returned.

Words cannot be found to describe how we feel about this. We have looked after these animals for the last 4 months.

Some of us have had them in our homes, whilst a team of us have cared for them in one place. We have spent all that time undoing the sickening level of neglect they had suffered. One bunny alone has required 18 vet visits and racked up bills amounting to £500. We have loved and cared for these animals like they are our own, like we love and care for all the animals that come through our doors. So I can tell you that words really do fail me, fail us all, as to how we have ever found ourselves in this position and how we can conceivably return animals to the suffering they once came from.

'Reeling' is perhaps the best description I can give to how everyone is feeling at the moment. I really am sitting here 'reeling', as I once again have to entertain this notion of returning these precious animals.

Dog of a week

2011-02-18T17:55:00.000Z

Usually I update my blog at home, on a day off, when I can sit and reflect on how things have been that week. Unfortunately, one of my delightful foster bunnies called Ollie (his owner is being prosecuted) decided to break into the 'back room' by determinedly scrabbling on it until it gave way and opened! What resulted was a clean chomp through the broadband cable.

It is customary when I get home that I ask how Ollie is because he isn't all that well, but on the day that this happened I was duly informed by hubby that Ollie was a 'lil @@@@@! Oh dear. Needless to say Ollie is absolutely fine but we are still internetless. So, I'm at work on a Friday night finishing off for the week (oh, how I love having two days off in a row) and thought I'd do my blog whilst I can.

This week has been really hard going for completely different reasons than the last one. The week started very badly with having to have our teddy bear Sian (a Chow) put to sleep on Monday afternoon. It truly was the pits. We had battled with her for nearly 4 months to try and overturn the effects on her after previously been kept for many years outdoors in all weather, with little shelter. Alas, after a lot of care and attention (and money), we were defeated when her cruciate ligament ruptured in her right back leg and the vet diagnosed that the one in the left back leg was on its way too.

We just couldn't put her through any more intervention and, to be honest, she look defeated and like she had had enough. He fight seemed to have gone of out of her and it was really about doing what was best by her and nothing at all to do with money.

We are all still devastated by her loss; she was beautiful, loving and so wonderfully good natured. She was our teddy bear. But it just feels like such an injustice and such a big blow to us all that we couldn't make things right.

On the same day Sian left us, newbie Queenie took up residence in the space that Elmo, the 10 year old yorkie, had occupied (having left for his new home on Saturday). We got a wonderful update from his new mum at the start of the week and it sounds like they are besotted with one another, which is just lovely. Anyway, Queenie was found abandoned in Derbyshire at the weekend in an appallingly emaciated state. We were warned she was thin, but my goodness is she ever.

We let her settle in for a couple of days and took her to the vets Wednesday where we were revolted to learn that she weighed just 12kg - she should be more like 20/25kg. She also had a catalogue of problems too:

1. she is currently in season and looks like she has either recently had pups and/or been used as a breeding machine

2. she may have demodex (mites) because she has lots of bald patches but hopefully it might just be due to a lack of nutrition
3. her tail tip is infected and may need amputation (she is on antibiotics)
4. her teeth are in very poor condition and she will require dental treatment when she is a better weight (each tooth extraction costs £30, not including the G.A. and cost of the scale and polish)

5. she has conjunctivitis which may or may not be being exacerbated by the entropian she has, and this entropian may need operating on

With her being 6-7 years old, dark brindle and a staffie it is so sad to admit that the chances of finding her a home, even if we do succeed in getting her back to health, are so slim. I confess that when I learnt about the catalogue of health problems my first thought was to question what to do with her. But then the side of my brain that doesn't include rationality and logic was overtaken by the compassionate side and I just felt she deserved a chance after all she has clearly been through. I just desperately hope we can make her better and, even more importantly, find her a new home.

Thankfully the pictures above, taken on Catherine's mobile, spare you from seeing just how bad she really is - as if they weren't bad enough!

It also looks like there maybe kennel cough developing in the ranks, so all in all not the best week on the dog front.

Thankfully it is far more promising on the cat and small furries front and I'm really hopeful we will be able to admit new cats soon, if we get some reserves this weekend. There are still plenty many waiting to come in, so please keep everything crossed.

Until next time........

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-12T09:03:00.000Z

I can honestly say this week has been tough going. Driving home on Thursday marked the end of possibly the worst day in a long week. I had one of the Deputy Shop Managers with me and both of us were close to tears.

Steph had had a day of people blatantly taking the 'mick'. Shoplifter after shoplifter, and customer after customer asking for money off the ridiculously cheap shop prices. It gets you down that people will steal from, and barter with, a charity shop but that really is how it is. So, understandably she was upset and frustrated.

Few people understand quite how hard charity shop staff work to 'process' donations and raise the money they do for the charities they represent, and in our case, because everyone knows every penny counts they take it personally when someone behaves despicably.

For me, I had had a day of abuse, no actually a whole week of it, and all because we cannot meet peoples' expectations and say 'no' to them. On many occasions my inability to help resulted in me being called (amongst other things) 'racist', 'dirty bitch', 'useless', 'shit', 'whore'....you get the picture. But two calls in particular have remained with me; one a gentleman who wanted us to collect his dog and have it put to sleep, the other I refused to rehome animal to.

Amongst the things our branch is able to do is to help people financially with things like euthanasia, but what we can't do is offer a taxi service to transport pets. The latter seens to cause no end of anger from callers and this week one of these calls has stuck with me.

I really wish that people better understood that we don't have unlimited resources. Crumbs, I would love nothing more than to help every animal in need but the reality is we can't. At our branch we have just one van, which is in constant use each and every day. But that in itself is not sufficient for all the jobs that need doing so staff use their own cars to run animals around, collect shop donations and run any other errands needed by the branch. Whilst we get recompensed for the petrol the branch cannot afford to help with vehicle running costs, but no-one minds, and they do it all out of sheer kindness.

I think what really upsets me is that each and everyone of us goes that extra mile every single day, and if we say 'no' it's not from being a jobsworth or being sheer bloody minded, it's because we really can't help. In fact, even the Chief Inspector said to me this week that she and her team know that if we have to say no to animal they know it is genuinely because we cannot help. That means a lot to me, because it is awful saying no but at least there is understanding and appreciation of the situation from internally.

Back to the call. I remain haunted by the image of a dog whose owner had left him for nearly 24 hours, unable to move and screaming in pain whenever he tried to move. The caller got very angry when I explained we could not collect his dog but that he was eligible to use the RSPCA vets. This just simply wasn't good enough for him and he hung up, but not before telling me what he thought of me. Had that caller stayed on the line longer I would have talked to him further about other assistance, as I did with a similar call on Monday where the owner had also rung for her dog to be collected but we reached an agreement and she got a lift to the nearest vets and we paid £80 to have her beloved dog euthanized.

I just hope that man took his dog to the vets and that dog isn't languishing somewhere in sufferable pain.

I see and hear so frequently so many people who are all too keen to pass off their responsibilities on to others; asking for help is very different and I have no problem with that. But the amount of times people are abusive and emotionally blackmailing on the phone is awful and this week it has really taken its toll. We simply cannot say yes to everything and I just wish people would have some understanding towards this fact and realise that they have to take responsibility for their actions.

The other call of the week that has resonated with me was one where I was accused of accusing the caller of animal cruelty because I refused to rehome an animal to her because she wanted to install a device in her garden to stop the animal roaming. I had never heard of this particular brand and asked the caller to explain. The upshot was that it was what the RSPCA calls an 'aversive' training device and something that we are deeply concerned about and do not condone. So this is what I told the caller and you can imagine pretty much how the call went from there.

Afterwards I researched more about this product and it did not do as she perceived it did and let out a vibration if the animal went too near the fencing, in fact the website was very evasive as to what it actually did but it certainly didn't emit a vibration to the collar around the animal's neck. From what I can tell about this particular style of product, it either lets out a 'high pitched noise' (inaudible to humans) but in some products it also gives out a further warning of a 'low static correction shock'.

Now some of you, perhaps this lady included, may not think a high pitched beep is all that harmful to an animal, but the truth is negative training techniques are neither kind nor have the long term desired effect of suitably training the animal. But, still troubled by this call, and the unpleasantness that ensued as a result of me saying 'no', I contacted our 'science' department for further guidance, and I'm so glad I did because it turns out that the Welsh Assembly has banned the use of this kind of fencing in Wales and has passed the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (Wales) Regulations 2010. Apparently DEFRA is also looking into these products, and hopefully they will reach the same conclusion as the Welsh Assembly.

So, to all the people who have told me this week that either I or the RSPCA are 'shit', I apologise for causing you such anger. I really wish I could meet every one's expectations but sometimes it just isn't possible, or even desirable.

Happy Valentine's Day to your furries - aren't animals amazing.

Justice

2011-02-06T08:58:00.000Z

This week has been positive. We have achieved a lot in a short amount of time, opened our hearts and doors to quite few new animals and moreover one of the inspectors won a very distressing case.

You may have read about it in the papers, about a dog whose owner failed to seek veterinary attention for their dog who was in so much pain that he couldn't open his mouth without screaming. Amongst the punishment dished out they received a 10 year ban on keeping animals, which meant their cat could not remain with them and so they agreed to sign her over to the RSPCA.

We took her in this week and I can't tell you how pleased we are to have her because she too was in a very bad way. At this point I have to be careful what I say, but needless to say it will cost a good £200 to get her back to full health, assuming that we can, poor love. I guess her and her dog companion's plight can't help but make you wonder just how many other animals are out there suffering in silence, needlessly.

I was disturbed to the core this week when the news reported the outcome of an investigation regarding a toddler who died in front of a gas fire in Baguley. Like it or not the similarities are there - a defenseless being at the mercy of adults, suffered for no good reason.
Whilst I was really pleased about the sentencing of the animal owners, many around me were dismayed, and rightly so I suppose, because in reality who is going to 'police' a 10 year ban on keeping animals? And the £200 court costs they were fined are nothing compared to the costs that will have been incurred in helping both the animals and seeing justice take place. But I guess for many of us it is because justice has been sought and found that the result is satisfying, or maybe more accurately, satisfactory. But, as always, I can't help but find myself wondering just how many more animals and children are out there, undetected.

This week has seen an even greater rise in cats needing to come in. I don't really know what is going on but currently on our waiting boarding we have 19 cats that need to come in - we only have 11 spaces! Obviously this does not include the ones where I say 'no' or ones that we will have to take in (for a variety of reasons). I feel quite panicked about it all if I'm honest, largely because I'm fearful that we will slow down on cat adoptions again because we have a whole host black and black and white cats - the least popular colours and always the longest to find homes. In fact, thinking about it, we exclusively have these colours in the cattery now because Billy and Hattie were reserved on Friday!

I suppose you could argue that it's a kind of racism? It's exactly the same for the bunnies; albinos and black bunnies take months to rehome and some years ago, because of the this phenomenon, all 5 of my house bunnies were black/white because they never found homes,. so they came home with me....
.....oh, the days of only 5 bunnies are long gone, my house is just a giant warren these days (and all the better for it, I say!).

We also said 'hello' to Mikey this week. He is a lovely collie x, approx 18 months old, whose owner went home to Romania leaving Mikey in the care of friends, but he never came back to England. The friends themselves returned to Romania and Mikey was left abandoned in the property they had rented. Despite all of this he is such a sweetheart and ever so good natured. After an absolute soaking from dog walking yesterday in torrential rain he had no problem being towelled down by a complete stranger. What a love. Oh, and he smiles; he is a real smiler! So, after his assessment we will get him up for adoption and hopefully he'll get snapped up, although, and this sounds terrible, he isn't a big 'looker', hopefully people will fall in love with his personality.

We had 3 dog viewings this week. One for 10 year old Yorkie Elmo, who is now reserved - hoorah! And two for Sid (pictured above) but each time no-one turned up. This has become such a frustrating phenomenon. We always urge people to let us know if they can't make it because if they don't it means we have to hang around on site and the dogs miss out on extra play/walks as a result. I don't know what more we can do to overcome it and I'm sure we aren't alone in experiencing this. Above all, I feel so sad for Sid because whilst he is unaware of it all, it is another week in kennels for him.

Sid really is adorable and I love him so much. He has such a wonderful character and spends every Wednesday afternoon in my office. As soon as he falls asleep he snores and trumps! When he is awake he talks to me and throws himself at me for cuddles; how can you not love him, really!

Well, let's hope Sid is third time lucky next week and gets another viewing........and adoption please!

Triumphant

2011-01-30T09:51:00.000Z

It's been a good week for a number of animals who we had feared the worse for - Gregory the bunny, Twiglet the kitten and Sian the dog. All three had varying health 'problems' but after investigation (a lot in Sian and Twiglet's case) the suspected health problems turned out to be either insignificant or ok. The relief for us all is enormous.

There just simply isn't anything worse than having to make a decision about the life of an animal (unless of course they are very obviously suffering) and it is something we all deeply loathe doing. Thankfully this time it has all worked out and we will be able to find them homes soon - it is such a relief, and a triumph and makes all the worrying (and cost) worthwhile. No, actually, it what it really makes you feel is that you are doing your job: helping to successfully rehabilitate animals most in need, and it doesn't get much better than that.

This week has also been a great triumph for our guinea pig Caesar. He was rescued from a home of over 430 animals and had had little or no handling and was a completely freaked out, skittish little fella. He lived with his brother (and best mate) and they seemed content together. But, tragically, his brother Dante had a stroke and died at the beginning of the month leaving a very frightened Caesar alone. We gave him a couple of weeks to adjust and then had him castrated to increase his chances of finding a new friend.

I am delighted to share that Caesar has been given the break that he deserves and has found himself a wonderful new home and is leaving us today! We are ever so grateful to his new adopter for giving him such a wonderful new home and the chance to be happy, finally.

We opened our doors to a number of new animals this week - 2 kittens, 4 cats and 1 dog.
One pretty surprise was a cat called Clover. She is only about a year old and suspected to have been in an RTC and had clearly been coping with a terrible leg fracture for sometime because the leg had quite bad muscle wastage from lack of weight bearing. Can you imagine how awful it must have been for her coping with such a terrible injury?

Thankfully a member of the public found Clover and called the national RSPCA helpline and on Monday she had her leg amputated. Now, I just assumed it was a back leg, but when I collected her on Thursday I was surprised to find it was a front leg that had been removed. It made me realise that I don't think we've ever taken in a cat with a front leg amp before, only dogs. How strange, huh?

Clover is a little overwhelmed by her ordeal at the moment but is coming round and beginning to adjust to her change in circumstances (in more ways than one) and hopefully, soon, we will be able to find her a home as a house cat (to minimise the chances of any other RTCs now that she is less mobile). One thing is for sure, I know we will do our best by her.

Pictured above is Ruben. He was in such a state that it was difficult to watch, as he trembled with such abject fear on his first day in our care on Friday. His owner had died and was left with a family member who was unable to care for him due to having Alzheimer's. Catherine collected him in the morning and he was so petrified that we couldn't get near him to do anything other than vaccinate him. He is only 12 months old and was frightened of his own shadow.

Catherine called me to tell me how bad he was and how we just couldn't put him in kennels. This, of course, left us in a desperate panic because we don't have any dog fosterers at present due to ringworm and bereavement, so panic set in! But thankfully, not for long, because our friend Sue jumped at the chance of fostering him and in less than 24 hours she has performed miracles with the little lad and he has settled in really well. We are now feeling a lot more hopeful for him and there is every chance we will be able to rehome him sooner rather than later. Please keep everything crossed for the wee chappy and hope that he continues to blossom.

The last challenge of the week has been event organising! This is something I really enjoy doing and usually find quite straightforward, but I have to confess I am stumped with a particular one we are keen to do and so I'm appealing for help, please!

National Vegetarian Week is w/c 23rd May and we want to do a 'Veggie Grub and Booze Tasting Night' during that week. It turns out it is also Chorlton Arts Festival week so I can't find any suitable, available venues in that area. If anyone has any suggestions for venues in the Sth Mcr or city centre area (that are in our catchment area) I would be so grateful to hear from you. My brain is bored of me thinking about it so much so please rescue it!

Fear and Loathing in South Manchester!

2011-01-22T10:06:00.000Z

This week has felt oddly positive. I can't nail precisely why, and we surely don't have any major reasons for feeling that way, but it does feel positive. I wonder then, whether it isn't so much 'relief' that I'm experiencing?

This we week we formally announced to our staff and volunteers the branch's decision to make more cutbacks to try and get through the year and beyond. I suppose the difficulty lies in accepting how bad things really are, coupled with the reality of having to say 'no' and take in less animals.

For going on nearly 3 months we have seen charity shop sales drop by up to £2000 a month, as shoppers seemingly have less disposable income than they used to. That in itself means we just cannot afford to maintain operations at the level they are at now. Let's face it, that amounts to £24,000 a year, so we have had to take action to safeguard our future.

Consequently, it was reluctantly decided to reduce our kennel spaces to just 6, halve the number of cats in foster care, close to rabbit and guinea pig admissions and scale right back on our community animal welfare work. The hardest bit for us all is the reduction of animals in our care, but, as many of you know, it is the vet bills that cause us so much trouble financially.

But, rather than feeling despairing about it all, we have reasons to feel optimistic thanks to the level of support and well-wishing we have received as a response to our announcement. I think this is what has made me feel so positive, knowing that we aren't facing this alone and that there are so many branch supporters, and animal lovers, out there to help us in every way that they can. I can't thank each and everyone of you enough for being there for us; it makes all the difference knowing we aren't facing this alone and that people are willing us to succeed. Thank you so much.

The animal rehoming side is also looking up, which you just wouldn't expect with more people facing job losses and cut backs, but there it is. With two bunnies reserved this week, making the total so far this month to 5 - that's more than we rehomed in the last 2 months of last year! And the cats are being snapped up faster than we can get them listed on the website for adoption, which is just fantastic, and possibly an all time record was set on Thursday with Dash the dog being booked for a viewing within less than an hour or two of him featuring on the website! But then, Dash is incredible.

I feel grateful this week, and honoured, to have the wealth of support and help that we do. Our position is not unique, we aren't any more more or less special than any other animal charity fighting hard for furries in need, but what does makes us special are our staff and volunteers and our determination. Thank you all for sticking by us.

Pictured is Floyd the cat in his new home. He won our 2010 Rescue Animal of the Year. When I was emailing with his adopter this week I asked them to give Floyd a belly rub from us all (as this is his favourite thing) and I received this picture in my inbox soon after. I'm still smiling now!

The other thing that has made me grin this week is that our trustee Hannah has agreed to run the Manchester Bupa North Run with trustee Sarah to raise money for our branch. Sarah is a fitness fanatic but Hannah has only just begun her new fitness regime. Hannah has my utmost respect and I'll be cheering from the side lines as they go round.

The last thing I have to share is that I have agreed to do a parachute jump with our volunteer Julie W. to raise money for the branch. If I make this a public announcement I then can't back out of it. So there, it is done! The problem is I have the most almighty fear of heights and the highest I can travel is three rungs up a ladder! But if I can do this I will have earned every bit of sponsorship I raise.

Oh dear goodness what have I done.

Blessed

2011-01-16T11:22:00.001Z

There have been some really great high points to the week that I am determined not to loose sight of. Amongst the great things we have been blessed to experience this week we have:

received even more jars of pennies from people (keep 'em coming!)
received 4 more cat beds (hooray!)
rehomed cats Eve, Molly, Barclay and Dexter, dogs Jessie and Josie and rabbits Beano, Twiglet and Pablo!
we received half a pallet-worth of amazing dog treats from Mars - you should see it all, it is amazing! We will probably have enough to last 6 months, maybe even longer. (Nothing like this has ever happened to us before so you can imagine how excited and grateful we are.)
had our kennel fees frozen for another year (magic stuff)

But despite these wonderful happenings I have to say this week I feel lost and low. I guess it's because it has been a week of reality biting very hard, again. You see, we have reviewed our financial situation for the year ahead and the truth is we have to make even more cut backs if we are going to survive. Whilst of course this is essential and necessary and the only way we can keep going, the implications of the decisions begin to hit hard when I have to start saying 'no' to the field staff who have just rescued animals.

It also hits hard when we get the vet bill in. You get to see in black and white how much each rescued animal has cost and it is hard to know how to approach conditions that aren't life threatening but are slowly but surely racking up the bills. Like Sian the Chow. She has ongoing urinary issues that we are still trying to get to the bottom of. She is on a specialist food that costs £50 a sack (albeit a large sack) and so far vet costs are at £550. She has yet to be spayed and have her eyes operated on for entropian and the urine situation is still under investigation -so many more cost are on the horizon.

The thing is, you could say 'enough is enough' and put her to sleep, but her health problems are not insurmountable, she is coping really well in kennels and her general health is improving. We all have a strong attachment to her and, after all, wouldn't we then be wasting £600 if we did put her to sleep now? I'm not sure many of us could have it on our conscience, the idea of putting an animal to sleep just because they will cost a lot to rehabilitate from their neglectful pasts, but then this is a reality that shelters up and down the country face on a daily basis.

I was saddened to discover this week that many shelters have to cap spend on vet treatment as little as £150 per animal. We have talked about the idea of a cap many times before but in our hearts we just don't feel able to adopt this approach, after all £150 doesn't go far in vet bills terms at all. Though that is not to say that we don't understand and appreciate why shelters have to do it; I guess we are just fearful of having to do this because the implications are just so harsh. I guess I just feel despairing because there seems no easy way out and with bad news this week about the health of 3 separate cats, hard decisions are on the horizon too.

It has also been a week of animal bereavement for some of our friends this week; Avalanche the bunny, Digger the dog and yesterday Benny Benson bunny. These were all very special animals owned by very dear friends of the branch. We are all so deeply saddened and touched by their loss and send our best wishes and thoughts to their family and this very difficult time.

All three animals were very special furries, each with their own stories to tell that had touched their family and friend's lives in so many wonderful ways. If anything they are testament to why we agonise over things like cutbacks and expenditure so much, because ultimately each and every animal is an individual in their own right with their own uniqueness and life-enhancing qualities.

The age old argument therefore rages on as to whether we try to give the best care to those we take in, or try to help as many as we can on a strict budget but take the consequences that go along with that approach. I remain lost, as ever, on this point of debate, so will leave it with you to consider instead. In the meantime I will look to the week ahead for some hope.

Starting Blocks

2011-01-10T14:24:00.001Z

Well the first week of the year didn’t start off great, and I have to say I was worried it was a sign of things to come. But the week ended on such a high that it just goes to show what a variable and unpredictable line of work we are in.

The beginning of January was D-Day for two of our bunnies who we had been trying to help overcome dental disease for about 5-6 months. I had a sleepless night before I was due to take them to the vets but remained hopeful. However, it was a shock to find that the one we were most hopeful with was the one we had not been successful with. Her teeth were simply out of control and wouldn’t matter what we did she would need regular dentals for the rest of her life, which of course means two things – putting her through repeated procedures and her unlikely to ever find a home.

Euthanizing a rabbit because of dental disease used to be completely against my principles, but over the years I have come to accept the implications on both the rabbit and the charity. It is just a very horrible, harsh fact of life that there isn’t a bottomless pot of money and an unlimited number of homes out there. I am still stunned that we have so many of beautiful rex bunnies, many of which are still babies, still waiting for homes – in fact we have over 20 adorable bunnies and I cannot for one minute understand why we still have Beano, who has been with us since May last year.

The next day wasn’t anymore fun when I got the call to say Dante the guinea pig had had a stroke. I rushed to get him to the vets but he died along the way. He was in such a mess that it really was the best thing. But knowing that he had been rescued from awful conditions and never found a home sits really uncomfortably. And he also leaves behind his brother Caesar, so next week we will get him castrated to increase his chance of being adopted and paired up with a girl or two.

But despite this shaky start we had some great highs. The best, of course, is always the reserve of animals, and we started the week well! Jessie and Josie the dinky staffie sisters were reserved to live with each other (and leave us next week), then there was Autumn and Harley the cats and Twiglet, Pablo and Eugene bunnies!

We also had quite a few new admissions too – 3 adult cats, 3 tiny 2-3 week old kittens found abandoned in a box and two new dogs. In fact, we have done so well on dog rehoming of late that everyone is so new that they are all still under assessment and we don’t actually have anyone up for adoption yet, which means with Jessie and Josie going we don’t have any dogs available for adoption – that is simply amazing!

But perhaps what has touched me the most this week has been the generosity of people – we had a retired lady give us a chocolate tin full of copper collected over two years, local music shop Johnny Roadhouse collected another box full amounting to £42, we received the most incredible cheque for £530 from local business Swinton Group with a letter explaining that the staff had collected the money for us throughout 2010 – we totally knew nothing about it and were just stunned and delighted.

There was one other surprise that arrived late Friday afternoon, a huge parcel with an anonymous note signed ‘C’. Inside was amazing cat gifts, including a lovely fluffy cat bed in response to our appeal for donations of cat beds. Our gorgeous tiger Sam will be the lucky recipient of the cat bed because he is huge and with love stretching out on it, whilst the 3 hand-rear kittens have got the fleecy blanket to snuggle on and all the cats will get to enjoy the treats that were sent too.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped the animals this week, you have renewed my hope for 2011 and the future of our animals.

Annual Review of 2010

2011-01-02T11:22:00.000Z

WHY WE ARE PROUD TO BE YOUR LOCAL RSPCA BRANCH

2010 has been an incredibly difficult year for the branch as the world wide economic downturn really took hold. At the beginning of the year the branch had to make significant cutbacks and sadly key staff were made redundant. This placed an even greater strain on existing staff and volunteers and it is to their eternal credit that we are still here, providing an even better service than ever before to locally rescued animals. Without their loyalty and dedication to our work we would not be who we are today – and we thank each and everyone one of you for going that extra mile for our animals.

Our veterinary care costs have been at an all time high this year and continue to escalate; perhaps this is an inevitability given that we are taking in ever more animals direct from their point of rescue.

In 2009 77.5% of the animals we took in came from RSPCA generated sources such as RSPCA Field Staff, RSPCA Salford animal hospital, born in our care, rescued by the branch etc. In 2010 this increased to 97%. We are really proud of this achievement and even more grateful to the national RSPCA for 'going public' in May 2010 and announcing that RSPCA rescued animals would take priority above unwanted pets. In so doing our job has been made a lot easier and we have been better able to say 'no' to the the general public when they have wanted to relinquish their animals for routine reasons.

Our income, or lack of, has probably caused us the most consistent amount of stress this year. Across the board income generation has taken such a hit. From charity shop sales, events, donations and legacies we saw less and less money coming in, which resulted in us having to sell some bequeathed stocks and shares to raise much needed funds.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like much will change in 2011 but one thing is for sure - we will keep on fighting! In the meantime let's celebrate what we have achieved in 2010 thanks to your help and commitment to animals in need.

2010 SUMMARY of ACHIEVEMENTS

*337 Animals Taken in: Cats = 181 (2009= 187)
Dogs = 62 (2009= 55)
Rabbits = 88 (2009= 68)
Guinea Pigs = 6 (2009= 19)
(Misc 2009= 2)

*17 more than 2009

257 Animals Rehomed: Cats = 165 (2009= 183)
Dogs = 50 (2009= 61)
Rabbits = 40 (2009= 68)
Guineas Pigs = 2 (2009= 19)

1180 Animals Attended Free Pet Health Clinics:
Dogs = 610
Cats = 232
Rabbits = 112
Reptiles= 98
Misc = 128

* 197 more than 2009, made possible thanks to £5k grant from RSPCA HQ

632 Owned Animals Received Low Cost Microchipping

THEMES OF 2010

1. Wide and persistent ill health amongst the cats effected rehoming figures, sent vet costs spiralling and caused a total of 3 months worth of cattery closure.

2. By far the greatest number of pedigree dogs and puppies (dogs under 18months old) were relinquished than ever before.

3. The branch admitted 'case animals' for the first time. In total: 1 cat, 4 guinea pigs and 39 rabbits were cared for whilst the owners were investigated and prosecuted by the national RSPCA.

4. For the time in recent memory there have been an abundance of kittens and queens 'in season' out of season . Such as little Oreo pictured, who was found at barely 4 weeks old seeking warmth from a car engine.

RESCUE ANIMAL 2010

During December the branch launched 'Rescue Animal 2010'. Staff and volunteers were invited to nominate their most memorable branch animals of 2010. Those animals were then short listed to 12, the adopters informed of their animal's success and an online vote began!
We were delighted by the response the poll received and in the end nearly 600 individual votes were cast.

The winner was Floyd the cat, pictured. Although a surprise winner his determined nature, love of belly rubs and winning personality won the majority over as he secured 18% of the votes.
In second place was Thomas the cat who had suffered incredible neglect that was tantamount to cruelty, in third place was long term stray and grump, Bruiser the cat, and in fourth place was Nipper the JRT cross, now known as Layla and possibly the most good natured dog we have ever had in our care.

Congratulations to all the animals short listed, but let's face it, everyone of the 257 animals rehomed this year were winners because they all found a second or third chance at love and life.
Nipper's new mum really summed it up perfectly for us: “The message here is if you are looking for a pet think rescue....they are simply the best.”

GOALS FOR 2011

In 2011 we need find ever more innovative and cost effective ways of promoting animal welfare.
We will not have the funds to deliver more than a handful of free pet health clinics in 2011 so we will be focusing on welfare events that promote microchipping and share good welfare practice.

We continue to remain committed to improving the welfare of rabbits in the UK. 2010 has seen even more large animal cases involving rabbits. The branch has been directly involved with a number rabbit rescues and to be frank, the state of rabbit care in this country is nothing short of shocking.

The branch is delighted that the national RSPCA has chosen rabbit welfare as a focus of research and campaigning for the next few years. The branch will be playing a key role in the development of this work and will continue to promote rabbit welfare regionally.

In April we will be asking Manchester shoppers to consider rabbits as 'pets, not prisoners' to address the common belief that rabbits should live in hutches and to hopefully deter the giving of rabbits as presents at Easter.

In May we will be participating in 'Rabbit Action Week' by holding our a roadshow offering free veterinary health checks by exotic vets and free VHD vaccinations.
But as in every year, our main goal for 2011 will be to help as many locally rescued animals as possible.

We are delighted that we have been help even more animals in need than ever before, especially so with such restricted staffing and resources. Yet we do remain fearful for the future of animal welfare as a result of the state of the economy.

We have witnessed first hand the decline in animal adoptions and increase in animals in need in 2010. With more job losses and cutbacks forecast the future of the branch has never looked so uncertain and already we are predicting and even more challenging year ahead.

Now, more than ever, we need your help to give hope and love to the animals the RSPCA inspectorate bring to us each week.

Money is not the only thing we need, there are many practical ways you can help:

We urgently need cat beds - new or second hand.
We always need donations of adult or kitten wet or dry food.
We always need donations of dog toys and 'treats' such as raw hides.
We always need donations of suitable rabbit toys and suitable 'treats' like hay cakes or dried corn cobs.
We always need donations for our shops. and don't forget we can recycle almost anything for cash - such as unwearable clothing, broken jewellery, foreign/old coins, books etc.
But if you have any time to spare why not get involved in our events organising or become a trustee?

We need your help more than ever, so please get in touch if you would like to get involved this year and make a difference to the lives of animals like Floyd, Thomas, Bruiser and Nipper. We have over 50 volunteers who do just that each and every week, so why not join our team in 2011?

Thank you all for your continued support; we wish you all a peaceful and happy New Year.