Animal Rescue

I have, in recent weeks, become involved in the world of animal rescue. It is without, the most rewarding, frustrating, heartbreaking and inspirational voluntary work around!


Frustration comes, when you spend a week, searching for a rescue placement for a large, uncastrated male dog, often to the wee small hours, only to find when you tell the 'owner' that she has handed the poor creature to someone on the estate where she lives, and all you get for your trouble is to be sworn at and verbally abused. Frustration knowing that an uncastrated makle pedigree dog, complete with registration papers, being handed round for free is highly likely to end up in a puppy farm, stuffed in a kennel, fed just enough to keep him alive, only taken out to perform his 'duties'. No life for any animal.

Rewarding comes when you find an owner who genuinely cares, but due to circunmstances can no longer keep the pets they so dearly love. Taking their animals, and keeping in touch afterwards so they know whats happened and when they have been rehomed, taking their fit healthy animals, knowing it will be a breeze to rehome them is rewarding and reassuring!!

Anger and sadness, comes when you go to collect animals handed to a rescue, that when you get them home and inspect them, you discover they are dangerously thin, injured and sick. To know that there is a long fight ahead to get them well, to put weight on them, to heal their damaged mental health. Picking up a tiny, skinny baby rabbit, seeing it trying to walk forward only for it to stagger sideways, breaks your heart. Knowing that for the sake of a bit of food, water and care, the chances are that the poor little sod would have been fine. That makes me cry.

The dedication, hard work and sheer gritty determination of a small band of people, who work all the hours in the day and then some, to save the lives of these animals, to educate the public so there will be less neglect, ignorance and cruelty is astounding.

You my beloved readers, if you ever want to help, email me. There is so much that everyone can do. Some very small things, some bigger. Can you foster an animal for a short while? A dog, a cat, a rabbit or even a gerbil? Have you a car and a few hours to spare? Can you help with transporting an animal to a rescue centre or foster home? It need not be far!! Or how about volunteering at your local rescue? Walking a few of the dogs, sitting and cuddling or playing with the cats. It need not be hard. It need not cost a lot of money, it need not cost a lot of time, but it all helps!!