Animal Rescue with Marion Garnett
Dedicated animal expert Marion Garnett, founder of the Ealing Animal Charities Fair, continues her column
THERE are ways of telling someone the relationship is over.
I’ve a friend who was told by her husband at Paddington station. They often met there after work to travel home together.
This day they met as normal but then, at the station, he suddenly announced that when she got home she would find his things were gone as he’d spent all day clearing them out. The marriage was over. No soft edges there. No soft edges either for Penny. When this girl wasn’t wanted anymore she was taken to a wood and tied to a tree with her legs taped together.
Fortunately she was found and taken into the care of Mayhew, the animal rescue centre in Kensal Green.
While there, they found she had a swollen eye which needed to be removed. But now she is ready to be rehomed.
Penny is an active dog who is looking for an active owner. She doesn’t cope well with being left so leaving hours will need to be built up slowly.
Her foster carer says that, despite what she has been through, she bonds quickly and loves curling up on the sofa with her head in your lap.
She is timid when approached by larger dogs but with smaller dogs she is keen to say hello.
If you can offer Penny a loving home see more details at themayhew.org
Now we come to a reminder that the Big Garden Birdwatch takes place this weekend.
Organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, this annual event is a vital tool which helps with monitoring the changing numbers of different sorts of birds. It also provides insights into the problems they face. Last year over 1 million people took part in the Birdwatch counting over 17 million birds. In order to take part, all we have to do is count the birds we see in our garden or local park for one hour between 28 and 30 January.
We should only include those that land, not those flying over. In order to avoid counting the same bird twice, count the most birds of a particular species seen at any one time.
So if there’s a group of four starlings together but later we see two together, then write four as the final starling count. Results should be submitted by 15 February. Even if we see no birds at all, that is important information. For your Big Garden Birdwatch Guide including a bird identification chart, go to rspb.org.uk.