Animal Rescue with Marion Garnett

Dedicated animal expert Marion Garnett, founder of the Ealing Animal Charities Fair, continues her column

SATURDAY morning at Victoria station and the whole of humanity is here.

Hen parties, people meeting, greeting, looking for adventures – it’s heaving. For me, the highlight of Victoria station is what you see if you’re sitting on the left when your train leaves the station.

Yes, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. And there, just like the people at the station, dogs are ready to meet, greet and are waiting for new adventures to begin.

Sika is looking for adventures. She is a Dutch Herder crossed with a Lurcher. She’s intelligent, motivated and energetic. Battersea are looking for experienced owners who want a high energy inquisitive dog to have adventures with. Importantly, in her previous home, Sika also enjoyed snuggling.

Until she becomes more settled she needs to be the only dog in the home. Sika can sometimes be worried so would be best suited to a house in a quieter area with owners who understand she needs more training. Sika is currently in the care of Battersea at Old Windsor where they adore her.

If you are interested in offering Sika a loving home, see details at battersea.org.uk.

It’s good to know Battersea have their finger on the pulse when it comes to what’s happening in parliament regarding animals. After working on the Animal Sentience Bill which has recently become law, they are now focusing on the Kept Animals Bill, which was included in last month’s Queen’s speech.

This Bill will crack down on activities such as puppy smuggling, ear cropping and dog theft. Battersea are calling for several amendments to the Bill and will keep us updated on its progress.

However, as other animal welfare organisations have pointed out, last month’s Queen’s Speech, disappointingly, did not contain all the animal welfare proposals that had previously been promised.

For example, Save The Asian Elephants (STAE) highlight there was no mention of a ban on the UK advertising and sale of practices and venues abroad where elephants and their babies are tortured to render them compliant for easy use in tourism such as for elephant rides.

This is despite millions of people supporting such a ban. Subsequently, the founder of STAE, lawyer Duncan McNair, has challenged key government politicians to publicly debate the issues and has invited them to join STAE for a visit to Asia where they will see first-hand the brutality inflicted on elephants used in tourist “attractions” promoted by UK companies.

We wait to see if this is an adventure too far for those invited.

Sika is looking for adventures