Full animal house at the SPCA
The SPCA Nelson is bursting at the seams with tiny paws looking for forever homes but it’s also home to a few feathered friends – some more affectionate than others.
After being rescued from a storm drain, a juvenile black-backed gull has taken up residence at the centre after being spotted by a passer-by.
SPCA Nelson manager Donna Walzl said the wild bird would grow to be much larger than the average seagull.
‘‘He’s a curious little creature. He’s just all fluff.’’
The gull’s rescue mission saw the SPCA inspector being lowered into the drain upside down ‘‘dangling by her feet to rescue this little bird’’.
She said they aimed to raise the gull and release it.
In the same room, an Indian runner duckling recovering from a broken leg paddled and quietly watched the commotion of the squawking gull.
Walzl said the duckling had been found ‘‘dragging his leg’’ before he was taken to Victory Vets where they put a splint on it.
The little yellow duckling, normally kept as egg-producing pets, was recovering well.
In the feline section, kittens and their mothers could be seen pouncing, prancing or just lazing around.
‘‘We’ve got truck loads of kittens.’’ SPCA Nelson manager Donna Walzl
Despite having many kittens out on foster while they got old enough to adopt out, she said the centre was still ‘‘running out of space’’ for the animals.
‘‘We’ve got truck loads of kittens.’’ Out in the new barn, rabbits young and old were taking up the spaces designed for farmyard animals.
The extra barn was built for three times the capacity normally needed, Walzl said.
‘‘And the first thing we did was fill it up.’’
SPCA staff member Trudi Black has taken the rabbits under her wing and started up a system to buddy them
up. She said rabbits should be re-homed in pairs not alone as they needed company and stimulation.
Through a gradual process, she was putting single rabbits through a programme to bond them with another rabbit, which took about three weeks.
As well as needing a mate they had bonded with, Black said rabbit owners also needed to think about where they were housed.
‘‘A hutch is not enough. They need a run.’’
In the dog kennels, four 16-week-old puppies were struggling to find homes.
Walzl said the puppies had come from a litter of 13.
‘‘They’re nice puppies.’’
She said they were well-behaved and had been socialised at their original home.
‘‘It’s really sad, when they get to about four months, they’re not as desirable.’’
A puppy only four or five weeks old was taken into the centre on Christmas Eve.
She was found up the Maitai by the ford with a pink collar on, Walzl said.
‘‘Strange place. There’s not many houses around there.’’