DBARC CORNER

These articles features some of the animals at the centre looking for a home, and is very successful in helping them to find new homes

July 2010

In addition to micro-chipping every cat and dog that passes through our sanctuary, we have for many years been advising all people who care for roving pets of the advantages of using such a safeguard. The sanctuary sees an almost endless procession of people who have lost treasured pets and all too often find it quite impossible to trace their whereabouts.
There was, however, a happy exception recently when Mischka, a lovely Siamese cat, strayed away from home and ended up living nervously in an unfamiliar garden. Life was not all bad news for Mischka as the kind people who owned the garden were exceedingly compassionate and tried to entice her into closer contact by offering a whole range of tempting dishes, including large pieces of chicken and a Crispy Duck ordered specially from a near-by take-away. Finally Mischka was tempted into care and upon arrival at DBARC it was found that her owner had very sensibly micro-chipped the young lassie. This resulted in a rapid reunion with her delighted owner who had been desperately attempting to locate his missing friend, truly providing an object lesson in the great advantages of having your pet safeguarded in such a manner. If Mischka ever strays again, we suggest her owner might do well to make his first enquiry at the address where she found such excellent hospitality during her recent adventure!

Joy and comfort of a rather different hue is now the order of the day for Martie, a seven-month-old miniature Schnauzer. This poor little laddie was born with a congenital defect of his rear right leg which effectively resulted in his leg being formed back to front, making moving around a very painful and difficult affair in which his deformed leg was obliged to move against the natural action of his knee and hip joints.
We offered to assist another animal rescue centre by looking after Martie for a little while, during which period he was able to be examined by an extremely talented orthopaedic veterinary surgeon who has previously assisted us to care for troubled animals. The opinion, however, was sadly not to be as we'd all hoped and the only measure offered for Martie to have any quality of life whatsoever was to have the deformed leg amputated.
The end result, however, is the pleasure of reporting that Martie came through the operation without a hitch and, far from showing any signs of distress at the loss of the leg, is now careering around the sanctuary on his three legs with absolute gay abandon! Yet another example of how an animal's glass is almost always half full!

The truly disastrous effects of the economic recession upon the activities of nearly all rescue organisations continue to manifest themselves in almost every national and local animal welfare organisation and, very sadly, at the Hurst sanctuary.
More and more animals are being surrendered because their families are unable to fund the cost of ownership and the number of potential adopters is the lowest we can ever recall. We are, for example, quite familiar with our Cattery providing lengthy periods of care for older cats who often find it difficult to find new homes, but the present situation in which young cats and some absolutely charming kittens have spent some weeks without attracting anybody willing to take them in is unprecedented.
Our overall homing figures for 2010 are only just over a half of those experienced in previous years, which tragically means that there are a growing number of animals out there in hard and harsh circumstances whom we are unable to assist in their quest to find refuge from that final injection.
Whilst we appreciate that we do little more than scratch the surface of a problem which sees over a hundred thousand healthy animals killed each year, even the diminution of our small contribution is for us a genuine cause for grief.

June 2010

Sadly it is necessary to report that the DBARC sanctuary is experiencing the same kind of problems presently afflicting almost every animal rescue charity in the country.
Whilst our politicians postured during their election campaigns with talk of "green shoots" and warnings about the possibility of a "double-dip recession", organisations like our Charity are seeing clear evidence that the "first dip" of the recession is far from over for many lower and middle-income families.
As families throughout the land continue to experience the trauma of their bread-earners facing redundancy and all too often the loss of their family home, they are obliged to drastically reduce their expenditure and seek whatever savings can be achieved. It is during such times that the costs associated with a family pet become rather more significant and, as that dreaded law of probability so often decrees, transpires to be the very moment that their pet suddenly requires expensive veterinary treatment, crystallising their inability to maintain the animal.
On the other side of the same coin, families who might otherwise be considering the great pleasures of a new family pet, have second thoughts about the wisdom of entering into such an additional cost commitment. The net result is a sudden and sizeable increase in the number of pets arriving at the sanctuary's gates and a worrying decrease in potential adopters. Our current homing statistics are almost fifty percent down on the same period in previous years.

Similar problems are being reported by almost every animal-rescue organisation in the country, ranging from extremely large associations, such as the RSPCA, Battersea Dogs Home and The Mayhew Centre through to the lovely people who use their private houses as refuge centres.
The RSPCA's recent announcement that circumstances were obliging it to discontinue the acceptance of unwanted animals, in order to concentrate its facilities upon abused and extremely neglected animals, can only have a further adverse impact upon the general situation.
Perhaps the most poignant picture of the growing crisis is the recently published statistic that over one hundred and seven thousand dogs were abandoned in 2009, an increase of over eleven percent upon the previous year. Many of these poor unfortunates, perfectly healthy and affectionate animals, are summarily dispatched by lethal injection after the statutory seven days in a public pound. It is sometimes rather difficult to bear in mind that we were once described as an animal-loving nation!

One arrival at our sanctuary, however, was not at all keen to take advantage of our hospitality! Poor little Lisa, a one-year-old Collie, was taken into care after suffering appalling abuse at the hands of her former owners and arrived at the sanctuary bearing the physical and mental scars of her ordeals. She was absolutely terrified of human beings and initially resisted all attempts to entice her into willing physical contact, spending her time huddled in the rear corner of her sleeping chamber.
Absolute disaster struck soon after her arrival when she managed to slip her lead whilst being walked in our exercise paddock, her trauma being compounded when the handler attempted to chase after her. In absolute terror, Lisa made three attempts to climb the six-foot-high fence, finally succeeded in scaling it and disappeared across the adjoining field.
Mobilisation of a search party failed to locate the poor lassie, but luckily several reports were received the following day that she was straying in the Dunt Avenue area and Mandy Dorman, the local Animal Warden, kindly offered to assist with a dog-trap baited with some suitably tasty scraps of food.
Hunger certainly proved to be the required magnet and the following day Lisa was safely back in the fold, where she was finally persuaded that our sanctuary was actually rather a nice place to be! Lisa has now moved on and rests most contentedly in a loving home with her new family.

May 2010

For the second time this year, the sanctuary has been almost brought to a standstill, this time by a virus which affected almost every dog in our kennels.
Most of them were merely a little off colour for a day or so, but there was very real concern for some of the younger puppies, with one or two exhibiting extremely worrying symptoms which necessitated round-the-clock veterinary supervision. Fortunately they all survived and the mysterious visitation now seems to have succumbed to our veterinary and disinfectant regimes, thankfully leaving all our charges fit and well.
The arrival of this month's veterinary bill, however, may well produce a different form of nausea in certain quarters!

Poor little Jingle, a young Schnauzer, has unfortunately encountered yet another hurdle upon what has truly been a very difficult passage through life. When she was rescued at the end of 2008, this poor little lassie was not only blind, but also bore the visible evidence of an exceedingly traumatic history. After a lengthy period of convalescence to restore both her general health and confidence, an ophthalmic veterinary surgeon performed an operation which successfully restored sight to her left eye, a blessing which markedly enhanced her life as she wandered around the sanctuary eagerly absorbing the visual aspects of friends and surroundings previously characterised solely by sound and smell.
Unfortunately, the condition of her right eye has continued to deteriorate and it has now sadly been concluded that only its removal will provide Jingle with a stable future. As we go to print Jingle is about to undergo further surgery and everyone at the sanctuary wishes this delightful little lassie the very best of luck.

An unfortunate situation has once again highlighted a particular difficulty we have previously encountered on a number of occasions when attempting to identifying suitable homes for rescued dogs.
Many of the dogs we assist have been abandoned and we therefore have no account of the animal's history. In addition to the common sense inherent in such a precaution, the rather litigious nature of our society obliges us to presume that a dog is not suitable to live with young children unless we have clear evidence that it has previously done so.
Unfortunately, some potential adopters meet a particular stray and become convinced that absolutely no problems will result from it living with their little Jack or Jill, sometimes confident that their previous experience of similar breeds provides comforting evidence. They may, of course, be entirely correct in that assumption, but we cannot afford to take that chance and have to insist they wait until a suitable animal, with a known track record, comes along. The vast majority of people, though possibly dismayed, understand this position and entirely accept our obligation to do everything possible to ensure the optimum compatibility of a dog with its potential new home.
A few however adamantly refuse to accept the situation and one or two, presumably anticipating the potential hazard, resort to subterfuge in an attempt to manipulate the position. The latest difficulty materialised when some potential adopters declared their interest in a rescued terrier whose published details clearly stated that we had no knowledge of its background and could therefore not home it to a family with young children. The couple duly completed and signed an adoption application, plainly stating they had no children. During the usual home check, however, clear evidence materialised that very young children lived in the house and the potential adopters, having then admitted to two children aged under two, were advised we could not continue with the adoption process.
This led to a very angry exchange with the unfortunate volunteer carrying out the home check and a subsequent, rather abusive, telephone call to the Manager of the sanctuary, who was quite unable to persuade the caller that we were only conforming to guidelines designed to safeguard her children.

April 2010

The overwhelming power of a little sympathy and tender loving care was yet again underlined when Andy and Angus, two Collie cross puppies about seven months old, were brought into the sanctuary. An anonymous telephone call had led to the investigation of a near derelict commercial site where they had been found tethered in quite appalling conditions. Their neglected, emaciated condition and terrified attitude to human beings very clearly underlined that their previous experience of our species had not been a pleasant one.
Their arrival at Hurst was certainly not an edifying experience, as the two young puppies shivered in apprehension, cowering together for comfort in wide-eyed anxiety. However, a lengthy monologue from a staff member seated on their kennel floor, delivered in calm and soothing tones and augmented by frequent, but careful offerings of tasty treats, began the healing process and, by the end of the day, distress had moderated to mere unease and the first possibility of acceptable physical contact materialised as tempting titbits were retrieved from ever narrowing distances.
From that point on the recuperative process really began to blossom and soon even tails began to move cautiously from side to side as Andy and Angus clearly accepted they were at last amongst friends. Their poor physical condition and nervous disposition, however, will take some considerable time to completely resolve and the two laddies have now been fortunate enough to go to one of our best foster homes where they will be fully rehabilitated before they pass on to a permanent home.

We sometimes experience considerable concern about animals that reappear at the sanctuary after extremely brief periods with adopters. Animals may, of course, be returned for perfectly valid reasons which could not have been foreseen at the time of adoption and occasionally it may become rapidly apparent that the interaction of an animal with its new family is patently not going to be satisfactory for either party to what must become a sympathetic and loving relationship. The worrying aspect, however, is that some are returned by apparently acceptable adopters who seem unable or unwilling to accept the fact that any animal placed in a new environment needs a fairly lengthy period of readjustment, with rescue animals often requiring particular sympathy and perseverance.
Our procedures already include an appraisal of potential adopters and their likely interaction with the animal of their choice and the customary home-check is used to emphasise the need for adopters to be aware of the obligations and responsibilities they are assuming. Indeed, our procedures have been criticised in some quarters as being too meticulous and have led to several emotional exchanges on occasions when we have felt uneasy and thus obliged to counsel against a proposed alliance. It really is most difficult to envisage what additional measures might be introduced to help prevent the heart ache that unsuccessful adoptions often provoke with the relevant families and the patent distress it invariably occasions the poor animal. Discussions with other rescue centres have failed to elicit any potential solutions and merely indicate they have very similar concerns.
We shall never eliminate the kind of oddball who returns a cat after less than twenty four hours, with the recrimination that "It tried to sit on my lap!", or a young puppy after a few months, complaining that "You didn't tell me it was going to get bigger!", but we should dearly love to find a way of eliminating some people's unrealistic expectations. On some occasions we have been able to persuade customers experiencing such early doubts that perseverance for a relatively short time will resolve their anxieties and it is a particular delight when their patience results in the development of that special bond which reaps them the benefit of all the joys and affection a rescued animal can gratefully bestow upon its benefactors.

March 2010

Our sanctuary staff were subjected to the variables of animal health care last week, demonstrating to them yet again that animals, like human beings, can exhibit very different tolerances to the prospect of medical aid!
Little Meg, a truly lovely one-year-old black and white Collie cross, arrived at the sanctuary after being found wandering the streets. In addition to her generally frail condition, poor Meg had a very severe wound to her right eye and, despite urgent and skilled veterinary treatment, there was unfortunately no way in which the damaged eye could be saved.
When she arrived back at the sanctuary after the operation to remove her eye, her remaining eye was also giving some cause for concern and it was deemed necessary to treat it twice daily with a veterinary ointment. Lovely Meg, however, was a perfect patient, quietly resting on her side whilst the ointment was carefully applied.
A couple of days later Meg acquired a new neighbour in the adjacent kennel in the form of Beauty, an eighteen-month-old terrier cross, who, it transpired, was also suffering from an eye infection which required regular applications of eye ointment. There, however, any similarity ended. The application of Beauty's eye ointment became a twice daily ordeal requiring two of our sanctuary staff, both experienced veterinary nurses, a muzzle and an enormous amount of patience!
Fortunately this determined application of the ointment finally achieved the desired end result, at which point, I strongly suspect, both Beauty and the sanctuary staff heaved tremendous sighs of relief!
Meg and Beauty were both fortunate enough to subsequently attract the attention of potential adopters and are now about to depart for superb new homes.

DBARC has been honoured in being selected as one of six world-wide animal rescue sanctuaries to be nominated as beneficiaries by Santa-Claws Drive, a global fund-raising enterprise.
This internet-based organisation, established by three animal-welfare enthusiasts, Lynn Haigh of Stamford, England, Salina Gannon of California and Dorian Wagner of Florida, aims to provide funds for charities providing shelter for homeless animals. Six beneficiaries were selected from nominated charities to receive assistance from the funds collected during 2009, three in America, one in Canada, one in Australia and one in United Kingdom.
We were successfully nominated as the United Kingdom's recipient by "laddiethemutt" of Basingstoke, a pseudonym which we strongly suspect hides the identities of a lovely Collie who passed through DBARC and his adopter. We thank Santa-Claws Drive most sincerely for their great kindness and "laddiethemutt' for remembering his old friends. We assure them that this most generous gift will be used to help many other animals achieve peaceful contentment.

Although most of the animals we assist are truly most agreeable characters who have just fallen upon hard times, we do occasionally have residents that react more extremely to their particular traumas and need very special care and devotion in their new homes.
The compassionate customers who are fully prepared to take on such animals deserve very special praise as they embark upon an adoption knowing that long, patient and loving attention will be necessary if the animal is to have any chance of rehabilitation.
We recently gave shelter to Jessie, a cat found living wild on a local derelict site, whose terror of human beings manifested itself as sheer unbridled aggression, to the extent that we were drawing lots as to who would end up with the task of putting her into the basket for a visit to the Vet! Weeks of tender attention, including regular treats and caresses with a feather duster, calmed her down a little and now a kindly lady, fully aware of the potential difficulties, has given Jessie a home.
Somehow I suspect Jessie will rapidly come round to accepting that the gods have at last truly smiled upon her, but, nevertheless, I raise my hat to her adopter.

February 2010

As the mini Ice-Age, rather paradoxically generated, apparently, by global warming, pervaded the first weeks of the New Year, DBARC had excellent reason to reflect, yet again, upon its exceedingly good fortune in having such a wonderful band of people staffing its sanctuary.
During those first few snowbound days, when seemingly the vast majority of the population took one early morning glance through the window and returned hastily to bed, our sanctuary staff trudged through the deep drifts piled up along the roads of Wokingham and the Hurst lanes to ensure our sanctuary animals were properly cared for and comfortable. Coping with not only the usual varieties of sanctuary life, they also had to dig their way through to the kennels and cattery, hastily reallocate accommodation to provide more secure and warmer quarters for the animals and deal with frozen water supplies.
When that well known law of perverseness deemed it appropriate that some of our puppies should be taken ill, there was still absolutely no way in which vehicles could approach the sanctuary, so off they trudged yet again to collect veterinary medicines. What a marvellous group of people!
In a world so frequently characterised by selfishness and materialism, the efforts, dedication and ethics of this small band of employees and volunteers provide benchmarks which many other working groups might do well to emulate.

The snow, however, proved to be rather better news for two recent inhabitants of the Hurst sanctuary, giving them what proved to be an extremely fortuitous period of deferment in their lives.
Both had been adopted as family pets during the latter stages of December and, as so often happens when animals react to a change of environment, had become somewhat unsettled and a little fractious during their first few days with their new families. Despite the advice given during the adoption process and post-adoption assurances that the pets would almost certainly settle if given a little time, the adopters decided they would prefer to return the animals to the sanctuary.
But then along came the snow! Once things had returned to something approaching normal, we telephoned the adopters to enquire as to how things were and were absolutely delighted to be told by both that their animals had now settled in and were now valued members of the two families. Just goes to show that every cloud - even snow clouds - can truly have a silver lining!

If your waistline is still showing signs of those mince pies and perhaps over-generous helpings of plum pudding, or perhaps you just feel some regular exercise might well prove beneficial, why not set up your very own walking club? All you need to do is to find an enthusiastic, loyal, absolutely consistent and reliable friend who will, in all winds and weathers, be ready, willing and able to accompany you upon as many daily walks as you wish to embark upon.
It is also advisable, of course that this new friend should provide that especially congenial companionship derived from an alliance based upon an unsullied and constant affection, with no insistence upon idle chatter, nor ambitions of any social advancement beyond the sheer pleasure of your company.
If those attributes were to be augmented by an absolutely minimal clothing allowance, an undemanding diet of cheap, ready-prepared food, a preference for water rather than your vintage wine and absolutely no intrusion upon your television, telephone, or computer activities, then many people would adjudge you to have found the perfect friend. You might well respond that such companionship perfection would be welcome but almost impossible to achieve, but I can assure you we always have a wide selection of potential candidates at the Hurst sanctuary that will, at some time, include just that perfect companion for your walking club!
So why not visit us and find that very special canine friend that will light up your life. It can surely be no coincidence that the only anagram of god is dog!

January 2010

We do hope you enjoyed all the traditional joys of Christmas and trust you're about to embark upon the great unknowns of a New Year which, ultimately, will provide memories of great pleasure and contentment.

At the Hurst sanctuary, many of the animals were fortunately able to find new homes during the weeks leading up to Christmas, in which they would hopefully experience the love and care which had been sadly lacking for some of them in previous times.
Included in this happy band were one or two that had already made significant progress towards the displacement of former traumatic times by an acceptance that they now lived in a sympathetic and caring community. Max, for example, was in a pitiable and highly traumatised condition when he was rescued, but this four-year-old Collie cross rapidly responded to the tender care of one of our foster homes and, having regained much of his confidence, was lucky enough to find a splendid new home in time for his turkey lunch!
Timmy, a young black & white Collie Cross, was left with his vet for a day's procedure, only for it to transpire this was a convenient way for his owners to dump him as they emigrated. Timmy had clearly had a pretty horrendous time with them, but some patient work soon had this delightful little laddie demonstrating his lovely nature and great enthusiasm for as many cuddles as possible! As he now enjoys life with his new family, we suspect his only reflections upon his previous owners will be along the lines of "good riddance"!
One young lassie had very good reason to be thankful that her lovely nature was always most evident, when, abandoned and straying, she ended up in a field of sheep tended by a farmer equipped with a shotgun. As the sheep reacted nervously to this intruder and the farmer strode forward, Vicki, a six-month-old Collie cross, totally ignored the sheep and trotted up to the farmer with her tail wagging in delighted anticipation of this new acquaintance! This act of friendship undoubtedly saved her life and she now delights in the love of her new family.
Some of the animals like Ollie, a delightful three-year-old crossbreed, and Sooty, a charming ten-year-old black cat, had somewhat less traumatic experiences, losing their homes when devoted owners passed away, but were also fortunate enough to spend the festive season in the contentment of new and loving homes.

I should like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation to our lovely volunteers, who turn out in all weathers and circumstances and our truly dedicated band of employees, who staff the sanctuary and provide such loving standards of care to our animals. Together, you comprise a group of people who could be used to set the benchmarks by which dedication, compassion and simple goodness could be judged.
May you all benefit from the joys and happiness you so richly deserve in 2010. On behalf of many thousands of animals - thank you.