Sylvia's Diary 12-12-24

The week for the diary started with Storm Darragh building up. Three dogs were due to arrive that night from Cyprus and they all had sad stories and endured a very long hard journey. It had been arranged for months but blood tests had to be done and passports arranged, checked and rechecked. Then a space on the plane was secured and they suddenly were coming and arrived as the wind was building.

Mickey and Minnie had been found two years previously in Cyprus beside their poisoned dead mother's body. They were raised at a rented kennels and there they stayed because, as black crossbreed dogs, they had no hope of finding a home.

Cleo was found being stoned in a village. Her nose was bound, her mouth taped closed and she was terrified. She must have wandered into the village starving and as she loves people she maybe thought she’d get help but man can be the cruelest and that’s what she got for her trust.

The rescue had her for years too and by taking the three dogs I hope I have given not only the dogs hope but the rescuers too. They know that we can see the good they are doing and that they are not alone. Here are their pictures then and now.

I thought the first night of the storm was quite worrying but the day ahead was even worse. The 8 newborn retriever puppies were not doing well and did not seem to be able to latch on and suckle so were getting weaker and weaker. I decided the thing to do was to supplement their milk and to stay with them the whole day to monitor and try to get them stronger.

People stayed with them in shifts the whole day. Lots of people were involved and then at about lunchtime we lost our electricity!!! This meant that none of the dogs but more importantly, none of the newborn puppies had heated mats, heated lights, heated rooms. It was a total nightmare. This resulted in me staying up all night and constantly checking them and doing my best to put blankets over them, keep them warm but also stop them from tangling up so they couldn’t get to their mummies for the milk that they needed.

My niece had come down and she had helped me with the retriever mummy. She’s a qualified vet nurse and so this helped a lot. After very careful thought we decided to take the puppies away from their mum who didn’t really want to be near them too much. She seemed to be too hot all the time and of course they were getting colder and colder so very sadly we parted them.

My niece took 5 home (we had lost 3) as they were weak and lethargic and I had no electricity to make warm milk and wasn't able to keep them warm. She fed them all night and in the morning they were shouting and up and about and looked a lot more lively and happy. However, their poor mum did not look so happy. It seems that she has infected milk and she had very swollen tight mammary glands. When we milked her the milk was infected and yellow and not nice which is why the puppies weren’t wanting to latch on I expect and why we’ve lost some.

Let’s hope we’ve caught the infection early enough and we’ve given the mum some milk suppressant medicine which she’ll be given for the next five days. We’re also milking her and giving hot and cold compresses on her poor swollen glands in hope that she doesn’t get mastitis which can be extremely painful and result in open wounds where it breaks out.

The night was really horrible going round from dog to dog and worrying about them but there were other people worrying too and my sweet friend Kay was one of them. She turned up with 17 boiling hot water bottles all wrapped in towels to give to the puppies. In the morning at about 5am, I texted her as I had the tiniest bit of reception and asked if she was up, could we please bring the hot water bottles to be refilled and bring some discs to go in the microwave that the puppies needed. Almost immediately she responded and said not only was she ready for this but she was coming over as she had made Bill and I something warm to eat. We were so grateful. Bill had got up very early and I’d been up most of the night and having that little bit of hot food was wonderful. Eventually the winds started dropping, the sun came out but the electricity and phones were still off.

This place seems to be one drama after another and it’s really hard to stay strong and focused and not want to bury your head in the sand.

The next day there was still no electricity so the hot water run back and forth to Kay's home continued. After the staff left Bill and I were left with fading head torches and the nightmare of the night ahead. We sat in Bill's truck with the engine on trying to get warm and charge our phones. Then Bill decided to go and get some hot food and I needed to check the pups. We checked the update on electricity coming back and it now said 11pm the following day. Then as Bill drove away, suddenly all the lights came on! I called Bill and he turned around, and the two of us went round every cattery, every kennel and of course every pups place and checked all heat lamps were on and turned off any lights not needed. It was such a relief and that night I went to bed and slept deep and dreamlessly till 4am.

The next day started the next worry.  So many people had not come and adopted their dogs reserved for them because of the weather. We had no foster run and Joyce needed to pick up the Southern Irish passported dogs and without dogs having left the kennels space was at a premium. I made plans for kennel space but as I worked on this, the office got a call.

Two 9-year-old cross breeds were being put to sleep. They were the same two that I had agreed to help last week, however a friend had offered to help at the last minute so they never came which meant the space was filled with other dogs. Now the person had been let down and a court order meant they had to leave their home and there was nowhere for the two dogs to go. As I said, space was at a premium but Joyce was not scheduled to get back till midnight, so there was still time for miracles, so I said yes, and the girls will be here in the morning.

The chore of physically picking up the dogs is huge but the actual getting them in your arms is wonderful. However before you get to that point you have to put up with a lot. I did the last run with David and it was a very long, freezing cold trip. Joyce offered to do this one and I was so grateful. I organise it and she carries it out. It takes about three days of paperwork, route planning and coordination with the public, breeders, agent and vet before the run is ready. Bill and I get Joyce’s van ready and she leaves around 10.30am, depending on which ferry and where she is going. This time she left at 10.30am, got to the port and waited, and waited and waited. Then she was told as there was storm damage at Holyhead all lorries had been redirected to Fishguard.

Instead of getting in at 5.30pm it was now 7.30pm. I rang round telling everyone who needed to be updated. At 9.30pm I got a call to say Joyce had only just got off the ferry. She would ring around to tell all and I was told not to worry. This morning I had a message from someone really cross as they did not know what was going on. We try so hard to save so many. This is the first time in over 15 years anyone has been annoyed and I am so sad. I wish it was understood the lengths we go to try to pick up these dogs, the cost in money, and in our sanity.

Joyce's trip home on the ferry was scheduled for 7.30pm last night. She arrived at the port ready and waiting. What she found were queues and queues of lorries waiting to get on the boat as the Holyhead boat was cancelled. The ferry was delayed and did not leave till 2.30am this morning. She had to sleep in the van under the spare bedding for the dogs. She arrived here still smiling at 8am this morning. All the dogs look fine (of course she cleaned, fed and cared for them beautifully), and another 50 lives are saved. Going to Ireland is really no cruise!!!!

Going around the centre after the storm, we found fences down and wrecked, a few trees down, one being a huge one that had fallen into our car park. An aerial had been ripped off a cabin and electrics ripped away. We were lucky that the damage was not as bad as last time. This time it will cost around £4000 to repair things but still that’s a lot when everything is costing more and more each day. Some around here have been less lucky. We are getting calls of field shelters blowing over hedges, homes flooded and people and animals suffering each day. All a nightmare.

More desperate calls this morning, more dogs about to die. This never stops and the days go into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. I thought things would take a turn, but we are living our lives in crisis, illnesses, injuries, viruses, pay cuts, firms having to shut, because of the government's lack of care. This all affects the dogs, cats and horses who, to many, are disposable commodities. People say I hate to get rid of him but I have a new job so cannot work from home. It's so hard to smile and take the dogs back to kennels as they pull back to their person. It's so hard to hear them whining at night, it's all so hard!

A few years ago, I asked my daughter Leah to take on a pregnant corgi and her friend. The friend found a home and the corgi gave birth to two pups. One died straight away, the other when born had an open belly, where the mum had pulled at the umbilical cord so much that she had caused a wound. Leah took her straight to a vet, this was out of hours and with a young vet who informed Leah the pup needed a very expensive specialist operation. Leah disagreed, having seen this before, The pup received one stitch in its belly that saved us over £3000 and saved the pups life. Leah then hand raised the pup with the mummy cleaning and sleeping with it but never coming into milk. A few years have passed, both mum and pup (Hash Brown) live with Leah. Here is a video of Hash learning to be a super star and I think she will get there!  What do you think?

A good thing this week is that I rode (in a walk) a horse this week. Days were a lot more bearable when I could take a 20-minute break riding but since July the pain has been too much. I think I need to work through this as the NHS don’t care.

Because of the storm, the lack of visitors, no foster run, space is at a premium. Every day we have calls that are passed on to me. Desperate people in desperate situations. Our funds are slipping away as so many dogs this year came in with problems and go out by donation, which never touches on the amount spent.

In a very unchristian manner, I have started to resent the wasted money spent by other organisations. For instance, £75 000 to rebrand was spent by one charity. Maybe they are not in touch with the huge suffering of animals here and throughout the world but now we are worrying about running next year. I just cannot understand why donations to help animals go towards things like this that my daughter and I could do for free, as long as the money they would spend went directly to the animals. This week we really do need miracles. 

Christmas seems to be a time when the big rescues shut???? People feel their problems have to be solved and hundreds of dogs and cats are made homeless or are put to sleep. We are open all through Christmas and we do rehome at Christmas after very careful vetting. Many families are at home and ready to have a dog and, if the situation is right, we will rehome to make a space for the ones that will be put to sleep or put out on the streets. This is no exaggeration, if you saw the emails I am getting accompanied by pictures of very loved dogs they cannot keep, you like me would not be able to sleep at night. What we need is a large foster run this week, so I am praying this will happen.

To end on a positive note, we have staff members called Joe 1 and Joe 2, who meet and greet people coming in the gate. They both work on different days (sharing the job with lovely Irene) and do this with such warmth and enthusiasm that the volunteers coming in to help are immediately affected too. So, like a smile, they pass on the enthusiasm and everyone around feels energy and interest and need to help. I smile as I think of these two great employees who brighten the day.

If you enjoy reading my diary, I once wrote a book about how the whole idea of Many Tears evolved and why. It's on sale in our online shop HERE and it would make a good Christmas present. Every penny goes to the rescue and none to the tax man as no VAT on books!!!! Our SPECIAL AUCTION ends today at 5pm. Please head over to it to take a look and if you can bid on some items to help us raise money to help us continue and make some repairs for the storm damage we would be grateful please click HERE.

Thank you for reading the highs and lows of the week. We are always striving to make things better for the animals of this world but really only man being more responsible will ever do this.
Sylvia x