Dear Friends,
I need your support please.
Between us we saved the lives of, and/or found ideal caregivers for almost 1,600 homeless, abandoned and unloved animals last year – thank you so much. With your on-going help, I am confident that we will achieve equal success in 2012. Happy New Year to each of you!
This newsflash is primarily a plea for help with the sweet Golden Labrador dog named Brie and with the lovely cat named Chance. Please read their stories below, follow the links to my website for more detail and photos, forward and Facebook the newsflash – and please offer whatever help you can manage. With an outstanding vet bill of $5,796.60, and other animals needing dentistry, de-sexing, etc, I cannot continue without you. In anticipation of your outpouring of assistance, please accept my heartfelt gratitude…
BRIE NEEDS YOUR URGENT HELP PLEASE
This beautiful natured senior citizen was booked in for a lethal injection because her caregiver was going overseas. I couldn’t bear to see this lovely old girl robbed of a happy retirement, so stepped in to rescue her.
It transpired that Brie had multiple, undiagnosed medical conditions that required immediate interventions. She has needed expensive and expert treatments and monitoring because her untreated diabetes and hypothyroidism had left her in a weakened state.
In the thirteen weeks she has been under our umbrella, Brie has had a wealth of joyful outings and as many loving belly rubs as she desires. However, her vet costs have almost reached $4,000.00. This must be paid so that we can complete her rehabilitation.
Please be a part of Brie’s recovery team and happy ending.
- To find out more about Brie, please click here.
- To make a donation, please click here.
- To view the donated sculptures for Brie’s Trade Me fundraising auction and/or to place a generous bid, please click here.
CHANCE HAS JUST HAD LIFE-SAVING SURGERY – BUT HIS BILL IS UNPAID
Chance has a nervous disposition - although he has now come to trust and adore us and offers a beautiful purr and head-bunts when we cuddle him.
In 2006, along with a group of other homeless felines, he was trapped by Lonely Miaow Association (see note below) and taken to a vet clinic.
The clinic contacted me, advised that Chance appeared to be compliant and asked if I would rescue him. I agreed and brought the frightened young cat home. His submissiveness that day saved his life...and three months later we had tamed him.
Although he was otherwise in excellent health, eighteen months later we learned that Chance had an extremely narrow urethra and tiny genitals. As a result of this, he regularly suffered from cystitis and a ‘blocked bladder’ which is life-threatening if not quickly recognised. The necessary insertion of a catheter into such a narrow opening caused painful trauma to Chance - both at the surgery site and emotionally.
After repeated local vet and after-hours emergency care, it was recommended that Chance undergo a perineal urethrostomy – which is essentially a gender change. This stops the on-going symptoms. Chance is now recovering from this surgery, which (even discounted) carries a cost of $1,241.48.
- To make a donation for Chance, please click here.
- Credit card payments may be made directly by phone to Chance’s vet clinic. Please call Auckland (09) 410 5169.
NOTE: Although it does wonderful work with friendly cats and with young kittens, to my knowledge, Lonely Miaow (LM) is the only cat rescue organisation that is opposed to TNR and traps and kills undomesticated adult cats who are homeless. For this reason the application by LM for membership in the Auckland SPCA Cat Coalition has been rejected. Wherever possible, other agencies, including Animal Re-homing, practise TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return). TNR involves de-sexing and returning the cats to their environment with daily volunteer feeders in place to manage the health and well-being of the group…until the colony dies out at the end of the cats’ natural lifespans. If you are concerned about undomesticated homeless cats, we recommend you verify that the rescue organisation you contact has a policy of TNR, relocation or taming and adoption as possible options.
HANDSOME YOUNG CASPER NEEDS A REFUGE
It’s never easy to find safe homes for roosters and beautiful, pure white Casper is no exception. He is currently living in our small holding pen awaiting an applicant who will cherish him for the rest of his natural lifespan.
You will need to check that you are zoned rural, that your neighbours don’t mind the sound of crowing and that you can keep him safe from roaming dogs. If you have hens, you must have a plan in place to stop them from hatching out unexpected clutches – remembering that 50% of chicks are cockerels.
Casper may be adopted alone or with Sunshine and Shadow - the two rescue hens with whom he is sharing his accommodation. Adoption criteria applies.
- To read about Casper, to view more photos or to apply for his adoption, please click here.
OPPOSE HUGE DOG REGISTRATION FEES
If you think Auckland Council’s proposed new dog registration fees are unreasonable, please post in your submission by 23rd March 2012. If the proposal goes ahead, in some cases the registration cost from July this year will be double the fee of 2011.
- To download a pre-written submission form, to which personal comments may be added, please click here.
IS FEATHER DOWN IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO ALLOW THIS?
Have you ever thought about how the feather down was gathered for your pillow, your duvet or your clothing? Is this something you want to be part of? With warm synthetics such as polar fleece now readily available, will you ban feather down from your life?
- To watch a compelling feather down video and to pledge against this animal abuse, please click here.
…AND SOMETHING TO SOOTHE YOUR HEART & SOUL…
- To bring beauty to the word ‘pollination’ and to re-assess the meaning of the word AWESOME, please click here.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
My deep appreciation to each of you
for your on-going support and for forwarding my urgent newsflashes
to your compassionate friends, family and colleagues. The results of your assistance are life-saving.
With love
Linda Nunn
Animal Re-homing
Someone in Orewa, Auckland area obviously dismantled their dovecote or their aviary leaving about 15 beautiful white fantail pigeons homeless.
OCTAVIA & HER EIGHT CHICKS NEED A SAFE HAVEN
Sadly, when the children lost interest in them and the caregiver decided to renovate, this little trio became superfluous.
The good news is that Victor’s blood results were excellent so we were confident he would be strong enough to go ahead with his many treatments under general anaesthesia. In addition to a thorough vet check, urinalysis, in-house and lab blood tests; Victor had X-rays taken, was neutered, and had three lumps removed along with five rotten teeth. His remaining teeth were de-scaled and polished, he has completed a course of four Pentasan injections to help with his arthritis and is on a special food to assist with this condition. He had his nails clipped, his anal glands emptied and is now fully vaccinated. In addition, he has been treated twice for fleas, ear-mites and worms, is now registered and micro-chipped and has been provided with a lovely collar and lead. Now that he has no toothache, the dear old fellow loves his food and we have to be careful he doesn’t become overweight. That’s the good news! The photo opposite is of him recently having all his stitches removed by veterinarian Kevin O'Meara.
The sad news is that we took Victor to the eye specialist yesterday (see photo opposite). Unfortunately he is clinically blind. He has no vision whatever in his left eye, due to an unknown historical injury. In very bright environments, the remaining eye may have minimal sight of shadows moving. We were all hoping that the small cataract could be removed and his vision restored. Unfortunately the retina is so degenerated, that removing the cataract would make no difference to his vision. We were so hoping that he could go into his retirement with some sight, but it’s not to be… On the bright side, I don’t have to fundraise for eye surgery now.
