Animal Rescue with Marion Garnett
Dedicated animal expert Marion Garnett, founder of the Ealing Animal Charities Fair, continues her column
For a cat who never left the house, Ollie was loved by a lot of people. Fans of Ricky Gervais and his partner, best-selling author, Jane Fallon, will know that Ricky and Jane’s cat, Ollie, died last week and has been mourned by thousands of people.
Ollie had over 64,000 Twitter followers. Her feisty, funny, selfcentred but also compassionate personality drew people to her like a magnet. But she never went outside.
Ollie shows that, just because at this time of crisis, many people can’t leave the house, doesn’t mean our ability to interact with others has to stop. Innovative ways of doing this are rapidly evolving so that our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs are met. And, it’s not just people’s needs that have to be met. It’s also the needs of animals.
The RSPCA (rspca.org.uk) and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home (battersea.org.uk) continue to offer advice on how to care for our pets if we are ill with coronavirus or have to self-isolate but, for example, have a dog to keep occupied.
The virus is also having financial implications for animal rescue centres. Visitors to the recent Ealing Animal Charities Fair who enjoyed Alison Cronin’s talk may be interested to know the world-famous ape rescue centre, Monkey World, closed to the public yesterday for the foreseeable future.
This will obviously have a negative effect on their income. And other charities are feeling the effects too. But innovative ways of raising money are emerging. For example, Greyhound Compassion are involved with organising a Stay at home fun dog show which will take place over three weeks starting on March 22.
Entrants have to submit photos or videos of their dog in categories such as Best at snoring, Best dog biscuit catcher. It will be judged by the television vet, Marc Abraham. For details, go to @greyCompassion (on Twitter) or 3 shelters (on facebook).
For a completely different reason to Ollie, another cat who doesn’t go outside is Melvin.
This beautiful boy was brought into a local vet after being found hiding in a garage with two others after a storm. He is a shy boy who has a very sweet side.
He has feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and needs an indoor home. For details see rspca.org.uk or meet him at the RSPCA Cat Adoption Centre, Burket Close, Southall. But, please note that during this crisis, visits to view are by appointment only so call 0300 123 0746 first.