Fears had been expressed about the welfare of some of the greyhounds whose owners might not wish to continue to care for them.

All the animal welfare charities agreed to combine forces to ensure that temporary shelter could be found for any animal who needed it, and after the last race, there were people at the stadium ready with mobile kennels to take any unwanted animals to a safe place.

Many animals were saved.

Sadly though, two greyhounds were turfed out by their owner to fend for themselves in the very cold night air, and the busy streets of Swansea.

Many volunteers from various animal charities have spent hours today, searchimg streets and fields looking for these two poor greyhounds. We know that they have both already been hit by cars and are injured. This could lead them to try to shelter somewhere… as dogs do….and the first frost of the winter is forecast here for tonight…. but they need veterinary attention as soon as possible!

Our best hope is that some kind people have taken them in to care for them….
If you know of their whereabouts, PLEASE contact

http://www.greyhoundrescuewales.co.uk/og2009/og2009.htm

and they will ensure that the dogs get the medical help that they urgently need

Please share this and help us to try to find these poor innocent animals.

The South Wales Evening Post today reported a ‘shock’ increase in animal cruelty in the last year.

The BBC ran a similar story this morning.

However, whilst the figures are distressing and the number of badly treated animals is disgracefully high, the fact is that the 2007 Animal Welfare Act is doing exactly what it was meant to do.

As a direct result of last year’s legislation, which came into force on 26th March 2007 in Wales, RSPCA Inspectors are now able to intervene at an earlier stage to give advice to animal owners rather than, as used to be the case, having to wait until real cruelty had occurred and could be proved…….. they can now do what their title indicates, PREVENT cruelty, rather than simply come in when it is too late and merely prosecute.

Early intervention means that owners are given a chance to change their behaviour. If they do, the animals get a better life, but failure to comply with advice will result in prosecution at an earlier stage than was previously possible.

The people in the picture above are members of the staff at Llys Nini, but we have personally transported both Roxy the Rotti and Clancy the King Charles Spaniel, to and from the vets’ surgery for treatment. Both are now looking for new loving homes

It is rewarding to see how well animals progress from the pitiful condition that they are often in when they arrive at Llys Nini, to the happy and fit animals they become thanks to the applied TLC at the re-homing centre.

Perhaps then, the increased numbers of successful prosecutions for cruelty is not a shock, but is rather an opening up of what we knew was there all along….. and proof that action is at last being taken to stop the terrible mis-treatment of helpless animals.

Our own lovely dog was a rescue dog from Llys Nini, and a better companion would be hard to imagine, but we often wonder what her life would have been were it not for the intervention of the RSPCA…..

If you are looking for a pet, why not try the re-homing centre first, and give a new lease of life to a dog, cat, rabbit, ferret, bird, etc., etc.?

Or if you would like to volunteer to do something positive to help, why not go to your local centre and offer your services?

Stop Press News! Santa will be in the RSPCA CHARITY SHOP in Gorseinon this week.

Llys Nini Animal Centre in Penllergaer is delighted that Father Christmas has agreed to make a special appearance at its shop in Gorseinon’s High Street on Tuesday evening, 4th December.

He will be there from 6.30, both before and after the lantern procession.

A spokesman for Llys Nini Animal Centre said last night ” Father Christmas is always a huge supporter of Animal Welfare. This is not suprising considering he keeps a number of animals, including reindeer, himself.

He appreciates that animals need proper care and attention and he NEVER encourages people to give pets as presents.

In support of Llys Nini’s work in caring for so many sick and injured, abused and abandoned animals, he has agreed to spend some time in our shop in Gorseinon on Tuesday.

He also asks, if anyone can spare a tin of pet food, some blankets, bedding or even a small donation to drop it into him at the shop.

Everyone at Llys Nini is very greatful for his help in providing food and care for our animals over Christmas.”

The RSPCA and Santa both ask for people to spread the word.

Obviously, in this line of voluntary work, we come across neglected, abused, sad animals all too often.

But this cat is SO beautiful, and in such excellent physical condition that she has clearly come from a good and loving home. All she wants is to be cuddled!

Everyone at Llys Nini Animal Centre and at the vet’s surgery fell in love with her. She is really lovely. ( And that from a lifelong dog lover!)

Sadly, she does not have a collar with her owner’s telephone no, nor has she been micro-chipped, as referred to in my earlier posts so she will have to be put in a cattery for a week to hope that her owners will come to find her. She was warm and comfortable (and well fed) when we left her this evening.

If anyone reading this page comes from the Mountain Ash area and knows of a grieving owner of a missing grey and white cat, please alert them to the fact that there is a possibility that it might be their cat that has been rescued.

Please Email (copy & paste):-

info@llysnini-rspca.org.uk

As anyone reading this will obviously have access to the internet, this is the easiest way to reunite this little poppet with her owners, but otherwise, try telephoning

01792 229435 and keep trying as the line is very busy.

Llys Nini is at Penllegaer, just off Junction 47 of the M4 and is open every day except Wednesdays from 11am until 3.45pm

I know that if this were MY cat, I would be out searching the streets for her!

Sadly, I did not have my camera with me today, but…. PLEASE, if you know the owners, tell them to contact Llys Nini asap.

Apparently, hundreds of people are at risk of killing their pet cats by mistake.

It is possible to buy anti-flea products over the counter at supermarkets,  and also online,  at lower prices than those prescribed by veterinary surgeons.

To save money, people are buying these flea products and not always reading the labels carefully enough.

Medication for dogs is far too strong to be used on cats. It affects the nervous system of the cats and results in the cats suffering fits.

This is often fatal. A visit to the vet becomes urgently necessary to try to save any affected animal…. resulting in heftier vet bill than would have occurred in the first place had the proper prescription been obtained specifically for that animal.

By chance, last evening, we shared a taxi with a group of friends who happen to be vets. They confirmed that the problem is widespread. They frequently have to care for cats who have been mistakenly given ‘dog’ medication, and the treatment is not always successful and pets do die.

Better to be safe than to be sorry.

Funnily enough there is often a “Pets’ Problem Corner” in our local paper.

No matter what the question is, the answer is invariably:

‘Seek the advice of your Vet’.

This surely makes sense? By the time somebody has noticed that a pet has a problem…… gets around to writing a letter….. posting it…… waits for it to be delivered…… and…some days later…… reads a reply…… ??

Well really!

Taking on a pet is a lifelong promise to give it a good home, love, warmth, understanding, food and shelter, and medical care and treatment just as soon as there is a need for it.

There is, of course the need for regular medication against infestation by fleas and other pests, but the vet really IS the expert.

If you cannot afford to treat a pet properly, then don’t commit to having one.

After all there are always plenty of opportunities at your local re-homing centre, to volunteer to help with the animals stranded there through no fault of their own, until you are in a position to afford to offer to adopt the animal of your choice. You can cuddle cats; walk dogs; play with ferrets, or rabbits, or guinea pigs, or degus; or talk to birds. You might help with web sites, or answer the phones, or drive the ambulances (like we do), or clean out the pens. There again, you could help with the many fund-raising activities that are so essential.

When I returned home, I first tried the phone book to see if I could make quick contact with the owner, but no such luck.

I then tried to phone the local Barclays branch in Gorseinon, a mile away.
I was connected to a call centre, probably somewhere in India, and explained the the gentleman that I had found a visa card and I wanted him to contact the owner to let him know it was safe.

After putting me on hold for about three minutes (awful musak), he returned to ask the name and number on the card……..

Back on hold for another three minutes (musak) ….. then he returned to tell me that he had stopped the card and I would now need to apply for a new one…..

Hmmmm !

Then he told me he was transferring me to somebody else who could help me… and left me holding on again (musak)….. (I’m paying for this call, remember!)

Then he returned to tell me the other person was busy right now, could I call back later?

I said that …no …. that would not be convenient, but that they could call me…..”Oh no! We don’t make outgoing calls”. He then told me the only way for him to be able to help me was for me to phone again later.

Funny that! I thought I was helping them?

So I ended the call and took the card in person to the local Barclays branch.

When I got there (and in a hurry as I was on my way to work at the animal centre), there was a long queue and only one position open.

As I arrived, a man opened a second window and asked if anyone was waiting to ‘pay in only’. I took my chance and short-circuited the queue saying: ” I just want to hand in this visa card that I found in the road”. I also said that I was less than pleased with the treatment received from the ‘Customer services’ department.

Although he did just about manage a summary mumble of thanks, he appeared to be more interested in apologising to the person who had to wait an extra minute whilst I handed in the card.

Thankfully, I do not myself bank at Barclays. After seeing how they operate, I certainly never shall .

I hope that the owner of the card was eventually told that it had been found and handed in safely.

I think that the people with whom I bank would have contacted me on my mobile phone immediately, had I been in a similar position.

When I was about 16 in the mid fifties, the usually very stuffy BBC Radio presentations began to throb with wonderfully vibrant sound. Elvis Presley had emerged!

We didn’t have TV in those days, of course, just old fashioned radio… and after I had worked at a Saturday job for a while, I was able to buy a little record player too and buy records.

Last night, we went to the 10th Birthday Celebrations of the Llys Nini Animal Centre in Swansea. It was held in the Swansea Dockers Club beside the River Tawe

The star of the show was Andy Woodward, a local Elvis impersonator, new to the task, but undoubtedly very very good at it!

As he belted out the old familiar numbers, the years rolled back and we bopped and jived for hours. It was wonderful. Well done, Andy!

In addition to giving everybody such a good time, it has to be said that everyone arranging the event and taking part (including Elvis himself) did so in a voluntary capacity. As well as the modest entry fee, there were raffles and auctions, with all the proceeds going to help the rescued animals at Llys Nini.

If you get the chance to go to see Andy Woodward as Elvis… I can heartily recommend the experience.

We put up a tent to shelter the officials and people wishing to register, and set out cones to create a car-free safety enclosure.

At the allotted time, the rain dried up and miraculously, the sun came out. The massed walkers set off for their three mile saunter bathed in beautiful autumnal sunshine.

SUCCESS !!! By the time all the walkers had left County Hall.. some with real dogs, others with toy ones, and some with their partners in harnesses with faces painted with black cold noses and whiskers, we had already been handed over £2,000.00 in cash. We were also promised more sponsorship money to be collected after completion…..so that total is set to grow!

This is a great boost to Llys Nini Animal Centre, but sadly only a drop in the ocean of the £350,000 that is needed to keep the Centre open. Remember it is entirely dependant on voluntary donations form the public as it receives no government support.

Our own dog missed out on the walk as we had then to pack away the tent and all the paraphernalia…. and take the cash to a safe place. However, she was rewarded with a walk later, on on another beach.

A big ‘thank you’ to all who came this year…and if you live in or near Swansea, look out for the event next year and come and join in the us next time… you don’t even need a dog.

When I am feeling a bit nostalgic, I occasionally turn to the ‘Costa Blanca News’, an English language newspaper published on Fridays in Spain. It was from this week’s paper that the names of Peter & Teresa Cunliffe leapt from the screen at me.

Until two years ago we lived on our sailing boat, ‘Bolero’ in the Puerto Deportivo at Guardamar Del Segura on the Costa Blanca. It was here that we met the Cunliffes. Indeed, we went to their housewarming party when they moved into their new home in Castalla.

Clearly, the people they met in Guatemala have made a big impact on them. I quote from the ‘Costa Blanca News, Sept 27th 2007:

“Brits touched by plight of Guatemala village

By Dave Jones
COSTA Blanca residents Peter and Teresa Cunliffe have launched an appeal to help the inhabitants of a remote jungle village in the impoverished Central American republic of Guatemala.

The couple, who live in Castalla, discovered the hamlet by chance as they were exploring the vast Río Dulce near the country’s Caribbean coast earlier this year.

The Cunliffes were scouting a tributary of the river in their 38-foot boat Sonatina when they came across a group of children in canoes at tiny Lagunita Salvador.

After spending several weeks with the villagers who live without a source of drinking water and on a restricted diet, the couple decided they had to do more to help them become self-sufficient.

“We fell in love with the children and we wanted to do something for this lovely village which is not getting any help,” said Peter, a retired garage owner from Blackpool.

While the Cunliffes were staying at the hamlet, they discovered that the 20 families had arrived after being displaced during the 36-year civil war which ended in 1996.

One man, Álvaro, had witnessed his parents’ murder by an Army death squad when he was just 12 years old.

However, with the aid of American missionaries they had built a school and church, although funding from abroad has now dried up.

“We are currently raising money for a dozen or more projects from providing clear drinking water to paying teachers wages,” Peter explained.

“This year only one of the teachers’ wages has been paid.

“When the children started at the school they only spoke the Indian language Qeqchi.

“Now they have learned Spanish and they are teaching them maths and other subjects.

“We don’t want them to lose this.”

The Cunliffes are currently sponsoring five children to go to school and have also forked out for infrastructure projects as well as financing a scheme to start a fish farm.

“We are doing this all on our own and at times find it incredibly hard work and even depressing when giving a talk about the village school and the only reply to us was ‘why do kids in the jungle need to learn maths?’” said Teresa.

“That’s the opposition we’ve been getting but on the other hand we’ve had a lot of generous people who have given as much as £350 per person.

“Now we need to raise £1,000 as quickly as possible to help them purchase a boat and outboard motor and will need £5,500 for next year to keep the school open.”

The couple are heading back out to Guatemala in January and are trying to raise as much cash as possible before they go.

“We need donations but we also need people to organise fund-raising events and set up a website and put up posters for example,” said Teresa.

They are raising money through a raffle for an MZ Simpson 50cc motorbike and a Halloween fun day which will be held in Calle Río Nácera, Castalla International on October 31.

Anyone who can help out can contact the couple on 0034 697 985 882 (Spain) or at ptsonatina@aol.com ”

So…. anyone who is touched by the plight of these people, and would like to offer help, is welcome to get in touch with Peter & Teresa Cunliffe ….. and if you do, please tell them you heard about them via this post!

A substantial number of dogs and cats who have been lovingly cared for by the staff at Llys Nini, Penllegaer near Swansea, are at long last available for re-homing. They are special animals who have had a less than perfect start in life and who have then been obliged to spend two years at the Animal Centre

Sadly, despite the care and attention lavished on these poor animals at Llys Nini, living in an animal centre cannot compare with the security and comfort having a real home with a loving family.

Special people are urgently needed as soon as possible to adopt these lovely dogs and cats. Having been in cages for so long, they will need training and a lot of love.

However, having been associated with many of them over the period of their incarceration, we can vouch for the fact that they are lovely little chaps and girlies who only want to be loved.

If you have love to spare and the time to give to re-starting a life-on-hold… please visit this page and scroll down to see the pictures. Click each picture for a description of each potential new friend.

Not only will re-homing these animals be excellent for them, it will also free up spaces to rescue other needy animals to continue the marvelous work at Llys Nini.

If you live in the Swansea region, you can visit the centre any day (including Sat & Sun) except Wednesday, between 11am and 3.45pm.

Hope to see you there!

By the way, if you cannot commit to re-homing an animal, you would be most welcome to volunteer to help at Llys Nini, cuddling cats, walking dogs, socialising rabbits, ferrets, birds etc, manning the telephone, helping out in one of the charity shops, driving the ambulance ….. there is plenty to do! And if you live too far away to visit, or have no free time, there is always the Safe Haven Scheme…..