We can start with a happy input....that would be that we have just decided to offer a rescue dog a home for life with us. Chance the Staffie is now a permanent fixture of the Furry Friends household. He joins Buddy the 2 year old Lurcher (GSD x Greyhound) who has very bad behavioural issues and cannot be safely rehomed and the three dogs that have been here before the rescue opened in 1999 - Monty the 13 years old Chihuahua cross, Annie the 20 year old Yorkie cross and Harry the 12 year old Cocker Spaniel.
Sometimes when things feel right you just have to go with it and this is the case with Chance.
This week started with MJ the Staffie cross being bought into rescue. This lad found himself homeless when he owner found himself a new girlfriend who had a 12 year old dog that did not like him and decided to move in with her leaving MJ homeless. Another rescue had offered him a space, but not for three weeks and that was too long. The owner was attempting to give him away on Facebook and the people coming forward were not so pleasent and would not have been good for him, so for his own safety he came to us.
On arrival, he was neutered and microchipped, but he also had an untreated skin problem (Demodectic Mange - non contageous) and this condition had affected his ears in particular. Almost swollen to the point of closure and full of itchy scabs and infection, he was a very uncomfortable dog. A treatment of Advocate for the mange on his skin and a course of some ear cleaner and antibiotic ear drops and within a few days the ears had gone back to their normal shape and the scabs were nearly gone. Veterinary treatment when necessary will normally get rid of these simple problems and saves a lot of suffering...he had probably been dealing with the constant pain and itching for two or three months minimum, possibly longer.
His vaccinations cannot start until his skin heals, but only time can help that.
MJ continues to improve and his manners with people are wonderful. A real cuddly and lovable rogue!
We also had some sadness this week. One of the old ferrets who have been in rescue for about 4 years went into Renal Failure and had to be put to sleep. Unfortunately sometimes animals never find a home, but here we keep them as long as necessary and never euthanase an animal if it has been in too long - they get a home for life once admitted into rescue and we are always a safety net for them should their adoptive home not work out.
He joined a jill ferret who was taken in at the weekend who had a tumour in her anal glands that had been left to grow. By the time she got to us the vet could do little for her and could only remove a tiny fraction of this tumour. She was not in pain though and was eating, drinking and was playful and so we managed to secure her a home for the rest of her life with a lady who has adopted off of us for many years. She also met and fell in love with an elderly jill who was at least 8 years old, returned to rescue when her owner became fed up with her (after 6 years of ownership) and adopted her as well, so although these jills had some rough luck, their lives have taken a turn for the better now and they will live their lives out as spoilt house ferrets.
We had 7 terrapins dropped in with us who were very lucky. They were actually sitting in the euthanasia room when one of the staff asked if anybody had tried this rescue - which they hadn't! It was very close for them, so they were plucked out of that room and transported to here. Tomorrow they are joining three others and being taken to a specific reptile rescue. We always accept terrapins here. Many people will dump them in ponds and rivers, but they are not native to this country and they are viewed as vermin legally and because of this many organisations will euthanase them if they are found. We do not release them but network them to rescues who will ensure that they go to responsible homes. We have two resident terrapins here - Gammy and Biddy. These girls have been here for over 10 years and are now aged at about 30 years old.
So, these 7 plus 2 more that were already waiting to go were transferred to DWARF Rescue in Essex who have a huge indoor free swim pond where they will await adoption.
Sonny, who is a Pomeranian x Collie and has been sitting in rescue for 3 years was finally offered a home along with his sister who was homed a year ago.
These two arrived here as puppies and were completely feral. They had never been touched up to their arrival at 5 months old and were due to be put to sleep at that age because they were classed as unrehomable.
These two have proved that there ARE people out there who will adopt difficult dogs and if rescuers are patient enough and ready to commit, then there IS a home for every dog!
Also this week, two very cute multimammates have come into rescue. Their previous owner could no longer look after them so we agreed to take them in. Both girls are very friendly, but need to go to someone who has researched the species. Friday brought us some very happy news for one of the rabbits, as one of our long termers found a home. Oscar the grouch came to us last year with a very sad story. He was found in the bin by the bin men who brought him to us. It is scary to think that if he didn’t moved when they looked in, he wouldn’t have been noticed and would not be here today. Oscar has been overlooked for reasons unknown to us as he is very friendly and loves attention. Oscar has grown up in rescue, and although he did go to another home to live as a trio, one of the resident female rabbits would not accept him so he was returned. On Friday, he went to live as a house rabbit with two female rabbits and is doing great.
Dino the Miniature Pinscher went to a new home on Saturday, but sadly was returned on Sunday as he did not get on with the resident dog. He originally came into rescue because he growled at the new baby and the previous owner had taken him to our local vets to have him euthanased. The vets rang us and asked if we would take him which we did. Dino was treated like a baby in his old home and not like a dog. Because of this, Dino has some bad habits and we are currently working with him to stop these before he finds a home.
Sunday saw the arrival of Screaming Jim – a syrian hamster. We were told by the previous owner that he screams if you say certain words to him and bites a lot, however we are yet to hear him scream. We think he just needs some basic hand taming, as he is not afraid of people and has already been sniffing my hand. Luckily, Screaming Jim has a home lined up with people who have adopted hamsters from us before and are experienced with taming hamsters.
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