Sylvia's Diary 21-11-24

You have got to admit, even if a writer for a TV soap tried to write a series about our day-to-day, no one could dream up the dramas that go on here. Believe it or not, I don’t even get to share with you all of the rescue and staff stories that occur - there just isn't enough time! Since I am so busy, I am not always aware of everything that’s going on. I try to know about all of the dogs, but seldom do I know all about the people who make this place the very special place it is but this drama was a big one!

The early part of the day before it all kicked off was very busy and needed careful, methodical working out which meant all had to stick to their jobs and crack on. The reason for the careful planning was that three of the staff did not come in for one reason or another. Meaning Chelsea, Steph, Lisa and I had to take up the slack for those unable to make it in. All of us had either driven long hours or been up the night before seeing dogs in; all were tired. Nevertheless, with Irene’s (an amazing friend of Many Tears and an invaluable volunteer) help, we got to 4pm and it was finally starting to wind down for the day.  

Phew!!!! I thought at last the bath and bed were in sight. That was a stupid thought, as at that moment the radio blared out “Sylvia urgent, go to TV iso”. There, in one of our isolation kennels, I found Chelsea on her knees and another staff member looking very worried. Chelsea was bent over a tiny Frenchie we had brought in very pregnant with her canine husband, a Cav cross Frenchie. As I bent to look, I could see she had started to give birth, but all she had managed to push out was the head of the first pup. Although Chelsea had tried to help her she just could not do it. The vet had nearly left and luckily enough we were able to catch up with him and the vet staff. The vet managed to do an internal and found the pups leg was in the wrong place and its bone on the bitches pelvic bone, which ultimately meant the pup was stuck. The pups head was getting bigger and bigger as the blood pressure was increasing, and we feared it would die, time was of the essence. It was decided a c-section was imperative. Just then the vet managed to manoeuvre the pup’s body internally and then slide the pup out. Even before the mum was sedated to have the c-section, the stuck pup, now out, was suckling. We all took a huge sigh of relief. That night a relay of watchers came and checked the pup, one of our trustees Billie did the late-night early morning checks and that let me sleep a bit. Early in the morning, I checked in and not only did her pups look ok but also her sweet neighbour mum, a kind Dachshund's 4 remaining pups looked ok too.

I think the time has come to start looking for one of our horses at home. Homing horses is a huge responsibility, especially as we want better than they have here and here they have a lot. This horse stands at 15.1, and the most amazingly beautiful light weight 4-year-old horse. A horse with more intelligence than I have ever seen in an equine. Although, having brains could bring complications. He likes other horses around but will fight over the stall, half playing half not. The fields he will be out in need to be very good as he loves to run and gets bored so easily. Here he is brain trained in the morning and ridden in the afternoon or something like that. Needless to say, he has a routine and is better for it. He can see fairies where there are none and though he has a good jump on him he needs a lot more work to make a show jumper. He needs a home that can go on long rides, give him some brain training, liberty and tricks, and a human of his own who will be there for the next 25 plus years that will love him. This means no one old like me should have him and preferably no one too young as their life plan may change and with it his home. No livery yards as he will not like, enjoy, or cope with all the changes. Unfortunately, I cannot put his picture as all will want him and will be amazed at him and finding a home will be hard enough as it is. I hope so many people read this out there, and that he will find that very special person. Although he has all these requirements, he is INCREDIBLE. 

This rescue is blessed with the most wonderful volunteers. I will tell you about some, as when you hear about them you will see everyone has skills and can be invaluable, however before I start, I must tell you about my childhood. I was a true disappointment to my parents, although they did not say it. My mum especially blessed me with oceans of love and patience and believe me I was one of those kids who required a bit of patience. From as soon as I can remember, all that really mattered to me was dogs and ponies. This was a true challenge for a family who had neither. My brother and sister always conformed, as far as I remember, and were NEVER naughty, disobedient, or hard work for my parents. In fact, they were two children to boast about. I guess that was good, as then my folks had the energy to try to keep up with me. There were rules, but I just could not follow them. If there was someone with a dog, I just had to go and visit, cross the road and accompany them to their gate. If it was a horse, it was worse, I just had to see them. We had rag and bone men (men who drove a horse and cart and picked up scrap, they called out ”RAG and BONE“) and people ran out with their scrap metal mainly and it was picked up. The man's call echoed up the roads well before you saw him, if you saw him at all. If I heard him, I was off searching, just in case he would stop and let me lay my hands on his horse. Honestly, I think that’s one reason I so love the public being allowed to work with our horses. I was a quick learner if it suited me but if it had no relevance to my interest, I was the slowest learner ever. When my brother and sister had completed their education, they became a consultant surgeon, a nurse and later a teacher for people with learning disabilities. And me….. well, I became an animal rescuer. I lost my dad well before that, in those years I was just a pain and an underachiever….. I have always thought of myself as just that.

Anyways, back to the amazing volunteers. All sorts of people say they wish they could help, but sadly they just cannot and then they tell me a string of reasons why. The first lady I want to tell you about is a wonderful lady, Irene. When she came to us, I think she had a lot of time but perhaps a feeling of little purpose. Now she has little time and a lot of purpose. She became our main meet and greeter and works very hard doing what she can and tells us if she needs help. She has ladies who come and sit and sew, men who come and do paperwork, all working under her guidance. My other lady, Kay, cleans our surgery each week. Of course, the surgery is cleaned after every days work, but the deep clean means vets out and sweet Kay in. She tidies the dog blanket shed, takes coats for the dogs home to wash and makes us so happy. Then there is Beryl, who makes things for us to sell. She provides decorations, and goods that adorn our shop, and they all come via her wonderful husband who ferries the goods to us whenever we have sold some.

So many different skills, all used to help our dogs and animals here. There was a day that I realised I was not really such a waste of space and so I set my aim high, believed to achieve, put my head down and tried (not always successfully) to ignore the unkind words some love to post and with everyone's help the rescue survives evolves and is loved. We all have something to give and giving truly is good for your soul. The sadder I get the harder I work; this has helped me get through the worst so far.

It’s very hard to get things right, often if you do what you think is right, then it’s often wrong. Years ago every time we picked up a stray we had to send it to the pound which was always very sad because in those days they didn’t have heated kennels.  Although they insisted heated kennels for a boarding license and everyone applying had to have these the same did not apply for the poor strays! Their own pound franchise kennels were not heated and so cold we would send woolly jumpers and bedding with the dogs and shed tears. We would watch to see if they were ever claimed and if they were not, we would even buy them out as we were not given the opportunity to just rescue them when their time was up. Slowly times changed, when we found strays we started putting them on Facebook pages and at last their owners were found, and for quite a long time we have not had to call the pound, or Dog Warden at all although we continue to take out of hours stray and police calls on a regular basis as the council do not offer that service.

However, on Friday a woman turned up with a dog off a lead and let it run into the rescue when it was very busy, and said it was a stray. As we caught it, she disappeared before she could tell us more and a lot of folks were around to witness this. We thought it might look a bit like an XL type and called the Dog Warden. We were asked the breed and we said it could be classed as an XL but we’re not sure of their size and weight requirements. At this point we were told that if it is an XL type, they would not pick it up and didn’t want it in the pound. This was very hard for us to believe, as what would they expect the people who find XL bully types to do? Just turn them out in the street??? So we called again and repeated the same story and were given the same answer "we're not allowed to take it as a stray". We informed them that we were at full capacity until Sunday and his response was to ask if we had that on a sign on our website and at our rescue. Our manager felt in a very bad position and was intimidated by the conversation. In the past, we have had to keep any stray not going to a pound for 28 days in pending as this can be required for transition of ownership of the stray. I informed the council that we did not have the space to do this and also did not know in this situation if it would have been allowed. So, it was then decided and as we had no space to do that this weekend, we called the council again and eventually the poor dog was picked up.

We are now trying to get to the bottom of this to see why Carmarthen Council do not want to accept XL types, which will make the public just turn them free and surely that is not what they want. We have tried to call the pound all weekend and still don’t know how the dog is. If we are allowed to house her, once we have a free kennel we will take her if that is what the pound and council wants and will allow. But until then we are still confused, sad and cross as we are trying to do what’s right.

Update on the pound dog…. We eventually got hold of the pound, which is called West Wales Poundies and who also run a rescue as well. They were charming and lovely and said we did it all correct and the dog warden was wrong. The sweet dog was deemed as a mastiff cross and not an XL. We are all relieved as they assured us they do not put dogs to sleep, and she is safe in their hands.

This week like all weeks we get asked to help many animals, but the ones that stand out and especially need help this week are two goats. They are both castrated males of 3.5yr and 1.5yr de-horned that walk on a lead and are currently in Kent. They need a home that knows and understands goats and has the right facilities for them to thrive.

My goodness, it’s so cold here. All the heart lamps are on the hottest mode and the dogs have deep clean bedding and most are wearing a woolly jumper that has been donated. This is yet another way people can help. Save wool and donate or knit jumpers. All are used regularly. Just look at the pictures, you’ll see the difference it makes.

King our dog from Sarajevo has had his blood tests and will be with us in a few weeks we hope. If you remember from last week's diary, this dog was found near death on the side of a mountain, and was saved by a foreign hiker who sponsored a place to stay until a home was found. Unfortunately, this did not happen and he lived a lonely life on a concrete floor till his carer and their friend asked us for help. They have sponsored his travel, and we are so happy to help this poor older dog who is covered in scars from trying to survive on a mountain.

One email that touched my heart was from ARK rescue in Korea. They are saving dogs from meat farms and sent me a shocking video I will not show you but the ending is happy. They are trying so hard to make a difference. We have said yes to a couple of dogs and as you know, I am a strong believer that even if we do a little, it adds up to a lot.

I will end this week’s diary on a happy note. A month or more ago I picked up the saddest, most pathetic dog, who I thought would die. She no longer had the will to crawl to a bed and all she could do was lay on the floor of the place she lived, with pee soaked into her body. When I got her home, she was in such a mess I had to bathe her before a vet looked at her. Days passed and Fiasco changed. At first I really only saw an expression change, but every day a little miracle occurred, a tremor of her tail, an almost wag, then YES a wag. It was like winning the lottery, but better than that she was eventually well enough to spay, and then homed. The adopters sent a wonderful picture of her in their arms. Just imagine this could happen to one who thought life was over.  You all should feel great about Fiasco, because without you, she would have had no chance.  So from her and me I want to say a HUGE HUGE thank you.

I am still hoping people will send unwanted unusual items not needed by your selves for our special auction. This will help fund the extraordinary bills we have for unusual operations and save lives. Please try to support. Many Tears is a very unique rescue, doing very unique work, all because of its supporters, please help us to carry on. Especially next year where like for every one the government seems to have put our neck on the chopping block, and I am worried.
Sylvia x