Opening Times!

Hi,
I'm Stella and I'm here to tell you about the Summer Opening Times at the Centre.

At the moment you can come and see all the animals, like me, from 12pm-4pm everyday apart from Wednesday. But from next week on a Thursday and a Friday the Centre will be open until 7pm! That means you have even more time to come and meet all of us.

You could even come down and see me if you wanted to. The staff found me tied up to the door outside and I was very thin and hungry. It's nice being here because I get fed and I've put on some weight now. I was very scared and nervous when I first got here because I just didn't know what was going on. My tail couldn't seem to make its way out from between my legs! But now sometimes I even find myself wagging it.

Yesterday Stacey gave me a bath in the yard and I absolutely LOVED it! The thing they call a hosepipe is the most fun thing I've ever seen! It kept spraying water out and I loved chasing it. It was so nice to have fun and relax. I'd really love a home where I can have fun and fuss all the time. I know I'm quite big but I'm gentle really. I can be shy at first but I'm very friendly when you get to know me.

If you'd like to come and meet me and get to know me better then remember, the Centre will be open:

Monday - 12-4pm
Tuesday - 12-4pm
Wednesday - CLOSED
Thursday - 12-7pm
Friday - 12-7pm
Saturday - 12-4pm
Sunday - 12-4pm

I'd really love to meet you, and I know that all the other animals here would too.

xxxx

Belper Charity Shop!

Sorry! I've stolen the blog from the animals again for a post.

This is just to remind you all that our charity shop in Belper on King Street is opening tomorrow, Saturday 17th March! The Mayor will be arriving and cutting the ribbon at 9.30am with Belper News documenting the open. It would be great if some of you could pop down and see how hard the new staff have been working to organise it all.

Speaking of which...here's a picture of the new Shop Manager, Paul and his Deputy, Rachel. They look like a friendly pair don't they?

And here's a couple of pictures of them getting the shop all stocked up and ready for its Grand Opening:

Thank you to everybody who donated their items, without your kind generosity we could not do what we do!

Kennel Update

I'm Ozzy, you've seen me before in the blog and I'm on the profile picture of the blog too! Just in case you can't see that picture very well, here I am again (shameless, I know!):

I'm here to talk to you about the kennels I'm staying in. You might have heard that we've had some builders in and they're making all of the kennels so much better. They hadn't been re-furbished for a long time and were getting quite cold and miserable. Some of the kennels couldn't be used either, so the staff couldn't take in as many dogs as they wanted to.

Then, because the Centre was left something that Leanne calls a 'legacy' which gave them some money, work got started!

We've got two blocks that us dogs are kept in here. One of the blocks is all finished now and me and the other dogs have been moved into them. I can tell you, they're lovely! Nice and warm and much cosier now.

Soon the other block will be finished too and then, so I've been told, up to 22 dogs can come and stay. I really hope I'm rehomed before then because I don't like other dogs at all. It's bad enough with just a few others near me, never mind 21! So if any of you kind people would like to re-home me before that happens then please come along and meet me :D I'm the one with the adoring eyes who presses himself against the kennel front for some love!

Here's a picture of my neighbour Rufus in his basket in one of the new kennels. That's the back bit where we sleep, we've got our own little runs at the front too!

The big opening of the kennels is on the 12th May - we've got somebody coming to open it and everything! Like our normal opening times, it's from 12pm-4pm. Apparently there's going to be refreshments and games and allsorts of fun! There'll be plenty of time for you to look round at the animals too. Hopefully I won't still be there then though :-)

Thanks for reading!

Ozzy x

Golden Oldie looking for a new home

Hi,

My name is Martha. My owner left me in cardboard box and I was very confused - what did I do wrong? Luckily somebody found me and brought me in here. I was so happy because the first thing they gave me when they put me in my cat pod was FOOD!

I was so hungry that I dove straight in! After that they had to flea and worm me, which wasn't as nice, but I didn't mind too much because Andrea (the staff member who did it) is so lovely, and really I'm quite good-natured. The two best things about this place are the food and the attention that the staff give me. I love people, as soon as anybody walks past my pod I run straight to the front to see if they're here to give me fuss.

I'm 10 years old, which might put people off, I know a lot of people prefer the younger cats in the other pods, but I feel great really! They always say, you're as old as you feel - well as long as I've got food, love and a warm place to sleep I feel like a youngster. What I went through was horrible and made me feel really sad but I feel so much better now and I'm just waiting for somebody to come along who won't put me out with their recycling.



I don't really think I look like I'm 10, do you?




See - I'm very friendly!



I'm really ready for a new home where I can curl up in a warm basket, or on somebody's knee, and feel loved again. The staff tell me often how much they love me and how nice they think I am. Surely if they think so, somebody else will too?

Mother & Daughter Appealing For A Home

My name is Tiffany, I'm 3 years old and I live with my little girl Jewel who is 8 months old. Obviously we are looking for a home together because we love each other very much. We get upset when we're separated even for short periods of time.

I am a little bit more reserved and shy than my daughter, she's extremely playful and out-going! We both like attention and enjoy being stroked, so really I think you've got the best of both worlds.

We enjoy coming out of our cat pod for a cuddle and for a wander around the cattery because we're both quite nosey. We wouldn't mind living with other cats (we're nice and sociable!) but I think a dog will probably make me a bit too nervous so I'd rather not go to a home with one of those.

I know we come as a package deal, being a pair, but please don't let it put you off! We are nice girls and I promise you won't regret taking us both :-) xxx

Rabbit Awareness Day

Hi everybody,

I'm Smokey Joe and I'm here to tell you about 'Rabbit Awareness Day', which is this Saturday (10th March) from 12pm-4pm.

If you've already got a rabbit you can bring them in for a free health check by one of the staff here (they're all really lovely!). You can enter your rabbit into something called a 'Beautiful Bunny' competition.

Other activities offered on the day are claw clipping (not my favourite thing in the world really!), weighing, a carrot hunt for the children, advice and a tombola! If you've got any rabbit-related questions then come along - the staff will answer anything.

If you don't have a rabbit and you're thinking of getting one please come along on the day. There's lots of us here to choose from! Although obviously I think you should take me home. I'm a very friendly boy, I'm quite calm really and I enjoy being handled. I would like lots of room to run about in though! I can even use a litter tray (I'm very clever) so you could keep me indoors if you like. Really, I don't know why anybody WOULDN'T want to take me home. I wouldn't necessarily mind living with another rabbit but I am quite choosy about who I share my home with so to be honest you might be better off not risking it and having me on my own!

Here are some of the other rabbits the RSPCA are looking after. Some live here at the Centre with me and some are staying with a fosterer:

This is Rocky. He's been looking for a home for a long time so if you don't go for me, maybe you should give him a try? He doesn't like rabbits (not just choosy like me!) and he's big so he needs plenty of room!

This is Rambo. Like Rocky he doesn't like other rabbits! He does like humans though :-)

This pair are Bean and Button. They're not very old rabbits and they are best friends so they can't be separated. They're more nervous around people than I am so really small children probably wouldn't be the best idea as they need gentle handling.

This is Sunrise - she spoke to you on the blog a few days ago!



This is Troy. I heard the staff saying that an RSPCA Inspector brought him in, so I don't really know where he came from. I do know that he would be best with adults-only please :-)

These are Pudding & Dessert. They've been with the RSPCA longer than I have! Like me they are nice and calm and would be alright around children too.

There are even more than these but I need to go now and eat some food! Please come down on Saturday and meet us all - remember, it's 12pm-4pm :-)

xxx

Success for Harry!

I thought that it would be lovely for you all to hear some success stories. So from now on, every few posts, I'll have a chat with an animal who was successfully rehomed.

This post is about Harry the cat, who was rehomed by our volunteer receptionist, Sue:

'My name is Harry and I'm a British Shorthair x Rex.

I was at the RSPCA for quite a while because they said I carry some sort of bad thing in me, called a Corona virus. It means that I couldn't go to a home with any other cats in case I passed it on to them, and I'd have to be a house cat. It made me quite lonely and sad, and I thought I might never get a home of my own.

But then my new mum Sue came to see me. She'd heard about me because she volunteers at the RSPCA. She felt sorry for me so she decided to take me home to live with her because she doesn't have any cats - only a big Staffy called Eskiboy!

I'm so happy in my new home. I've got new parents to look after me and give me attention and I've also got a new best friend - Eskiboy! Here's a picture of us together.

I love curling up on mum's knee in the evening and if she stops stroking me I just prod her with my paw to tell her to keep going! I don't think I've stopped purring since I've got here, but why would I when I'm so happy? I've just recently discovered how comfy Eskiboy's bed is so I've started sleeping there now.

My favourite toy is a toy mouse that mum bought me from the shop at the RSPCA - I love chasing it around! But apart from that really my favourite things to do are eat and sleep. I love food so much but I'm a big lad, I need lots to fill me up! Mum keeps going on about how heavy I am, but I know she doesn't mind. She always tells me that she couldn't have picked a better cat and it makes me so happy to hear.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have found such a great home. I know that I'm the most loved cat in the world and I couldn't imagine being happier.'

Friendly little critters in need of a home

We're Tweet & Squeak and we're two male budgies looking for a new home together.

We love to sit together on our perch and have a little natter away - it's our favourite past-time. We are about one year old and have lived together forever, so we need to go to a new home together. When we feel comfortable and settled we are friendly. The people here are nice so we aren't too scared of people in general!

____________________________________________________________

Hi everybody!

My name is Moomin and I thought it was about time you heard from me!

(Sorry about the red-eye in the photo! I'm actually much more handsome than this in the flesh ;-))



Now that Samson, Delilah and the babies are back downstairs I'm their neighbour! It's nice having a bit of company and I do think I might quite like to live with another guinea-pig (as long as they're nice and friendly). 

I really like people and enjoy being handled. Samson & Delilah have taught me that when a bag is rustling that might mean that veggies are coming! So I get myself over to the bars of the cage pronto and wait for the veggies to come to me :-D That seems to work, although I'm a bit fussy with my veg. I like cabbage but I don't always like to try everything else. I was brave and tried a green bean today though and I quite liked that!

I'm not very old so I've got plenty of years ahead of me if you fancy taking me home!

Let's get serious about micro-chipping

Okay, I know this blog is from the point of view of our animals, but I've wrestled it off them for this post!

I just wanted to talk to you all for a moment about the importance of micro-chipping your pets. Micro-chipping is something that a lot of pet owners might think about but may decide to 'get it done later, there's no rush'. I cannot stress the importance. No matter if your cat never wanders farther than the nearby field, or your dog is extremely good off the lead and never runs off. Accidents can always happen.

I guess the first thing you're wondering is, why is she harping on about it?

The first thing that we do when a stray animal is brought into us is check to see if they are micro-chipped. Occasionally they are and it isn't long before they are happily reunited with their relieved owners. However, sadly, the majority of the time there is no micro-chip to be found. This may be because the animals genuinely are strays, or that they have been mis-treated and dumped. Or it may unfortunately be because their owner just didn't really think about getting them chipped.

Unless the owner calls us to check whether their missing animal has turned up at our Centre there isn't very much we can do in that situation. However, if you take the short vet visit to get your animal chipped all the heartache can be saved.

It is a similar situation at veterinary practices. If a member of the public brings in a stray animal or, in those sad cases, a injured or dead animal, the vet will always scan them for a chip. If the worst happens to your cat or dog it at least brings you peace of mind if you can find out what happened to them.

All of our animals here are micro-chipped before the leave for their new homes.

 

  



Sad cat without a microchip

 



Happy cat with a microchip!



So how does it work?

A tiny microchip is inserted under the skin and this assigns your animal with a unique code. This code is registered with your details on a database. If your animal is lost and the chip is scanned, your details will be available and you will quickly be reunited.

How can I get my pet microchipped?

The prices for a micro-chip range depending on which veterinary practice you use. You can also now pay more and have a Thermo-Chip. When your animal needs its temperature checking instead of the usual (and slightly uncomfortable!) method, all the vet needs to do is scan the chip. We decided to pay the extra few pounds when we adopted our latest cat and bought the Thermo-Chip. Unfortunately our old girl was chipped before the advent of these, so she still has to endure the thermometer!

Here at the Centre, we offer micro-chipping by appointment for just £10. If you call up the Centre you can get your pet booked in with us. If you're interested just call the Centre on 01332 344620 between 10am-4pm Thursday-Tuesday or pop in to us at 45 Abbey Street to enquire. As well as cats and dogs, we will also chip ferrets and rabbits!

Thanks for reading guys!

Staffordshire Softies

Hi, I'm Ozzy, one of the Staffordshire Bull Terriers that live here at the Centre for now.

My likes are playing, bouncing up and down and having cuddles with the people here. My hates are other animals. I just want to chase cats and I really don't like other dogs. Don't ask me why, I just don't like them! But I LOVE people. They tend to give really good cuddles. I would love to be with people all the time.
The staff tell me that I need a new owner who can 'train' me because apparently I can be stubborn sometimes. I don't know what they're talking about...

Leanne loves the picture of me above - they took that to put a little piece about me in the local newspapers - I'm famous! And I suppose I do look quite handsome on it :-)

Ozzy xxx

________________________________________________________________________

Hi everybody, my name is Rufus!

Unlike Ozzy (I don't know why he doesn't like me!), I really like other dogs! Although I tend to get along better with dogs who are younger, like me, because I like to play and bounce. Older dogs don't like to do that as much. I have to agree with Ozzy on one point though - I don't like cats! I think they were put here just to tease me.

I love people and I am very loyal. If you show me love and attention, I will love you forever, I promise. I like those little people too (they're called children, apparently), but because I like to bound around I don't want to accidentally knock one of them over, so I think I'd be best with the slightly bigger ones.

Just think, if you take me home, you get to see my 'i'm-so-cute-you-can't-resist-me' face every day, which I'm demonstrating in the above picture. Please think about it!

Rufus xxx