Some of our rescue stories over the years
Here's some of our notable rescue stories from over the years at Faith, often challenging, always rewarding these stories capture why we do what we do.
Lanny Cat
Lanny cat We were called to Lancaster Close, a call from a distressed elderly lady said that there was a cat in her garden in a dreadful state. Lanny, as we named him, had been left with an ear infection so severe it had destroyed his ears. Blood and pus oozed from them and ran down his fur. He looked a mess but happily greeted his rescuer. Once at FAITH, we soon realised just what a lovely cat he was, he had clearly been a pet that was possibly discarded due to his chronic ear problem. A little time was needed to soothe his ears before surgery. Only one ear could be operated on at a time. We put his story on Go fund me and the response was incredible, Lanny has since had his operations, the vet saved his ear tips but all else was removed - from his ear canal to his middle ear. He is of course completely deaf but he probably had been for some time and was previously in enormous pain. The pain has now gone, thanks to the public’s generosity and support and this gorgeous four year old boy shows his appreciation every day with his purrs and kisses.
Dobies and Oldies
Dobies and Oldies We took in two Dobermanns, a large male and a nervous female. They had had an “accidental” litter. Which turned out to be more of a problem than the owners had accounted for and they contacted rescues for help. All the puppies were taken in by a national organisation but the mother was refused because of her nervous temperament, they said they would assess the father in a few weeks. FAITH was then asked to help with both adults, as they were unneutered we felt it was vital to get them in ASAP. With a little work and socialisation both were successfully rehomed. We had quite a few oldies too, it is lovely when kind people offer older animals homes. Many of our oldies come in pairs. A special thanks to those who have taken on oldies, sometimes two and given them a happy ever after.
The "Lambs"
Meet ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.’ They came to us at the age of 10-14 weeks old. Autumn had an injured leg, so off to the vets we went the following day. He required some meds and exercise to manipulate the joint as he grew. About 2 days after they arrived we noticed that one of them had developed some sores/scabs on his face. Becky frantically searched the internet for an answer. I was laying in the straw with the lambs kissing and cuddling them when she gave me her diagnosis….ORPH. Neither of us had heard of this before but it had turned out it was a zoonotic disease which meant that after playing surrogate mothers both of us could now possibly look forward to having sores and scabs on our mouths and faces. As you can imagine the lambs went into lockdown. We called the vet out to verify our diagnosis and issue the medications necessary to help heal the lambs. ORPH is a very serious illness, it is called Orph because it usually happens to orphaned lambs. Bottle fed lambs often get sores around their lips from suckling on plastic teats. Shrew Kitten She was the only surviving kitten in the litter and a fraction of the size of her stillborn siblings. We thought this tiny thing, about the size of a shrew, would soon be joining the lifeless bodies wrapped up in a towel. We wondered why such a tiny runt had survived when all her siblings that were a good size had unfortunately died. At first Shrew kitten was fed with an eyedropper every hour during the day and every two hours throughout the night. Slowly she gained weight, then when she was ten days old her Aunty Miley gave birth to five healthy kittens. Even though ‘Shrew’ was ten days older than her cousins and had grown well, she was still smaller than the newborns. I decided to try Shrew in with Miley, who accepted her by giving her a good wash. At first it was difficult to get little Shrew to suckle as she had got used to syringe feeding. However, after a few days of checking on her, topping up her milk intake and putting her on her Auntie Miley to feed, we could eventually leave her without too much worry. Miley did a fantastic job rearing all six kittens and when the time came for them to go off with their new families they all went off in pairs. Shrew with her younger cousin Page 15 I went to bed but couldn’t sleep Like they say I counted sheep But someone left the gate a jar Out they went, near and far I called my dog to help me out He just looked then ran about Meanwhile, the sheep were far and wide Jumping up with joy and pride Three fields away full of delight Nearly gone and out of sight I tossed and turned but couldn’t reach Couldn’t shout, I’d lost my speech My dog barked, I began to stir My hand reached out to touch his fur Daylight broke, no sheep to be seen I awoke, it was just a dream Frank They then rummage around on the pen floor and get dirt and bacteria into their sores, this then causes an infection leading to the development of Orph. Orphan lambs are also more susceptible to diseases as their immune system is compromised due to the lack of natural antibodies that is in their mother’s milk. So the lambs went into ‘lock down’ which meant that only Becky and I could feed and clean the lambs as we had been previously exposed to the illness. We did however have to take measures to minimise the risk. We had our hazmat suits, gloves, wellies, disinfectant spray, foot baths, sterilising every bit of equipment after feeds. We often looked like we were processing a crime scene especially as they would knock their scabs off and bleed on us. We also had to wash and crème their faces, feet and ears. Poor little things were in so much pain. We had a couple of real scares with Winter, she was the worst. The sores covered the whole mouth inside and out and her milk consumption was almost nonexistent. We tried smaller feeds and fed her every hour to keep her daily milk level up just enough. This disease was horrible to watch, to ease the suffering required such dedicated and intense TLC by both Becky and myself. It is not surprising to know most lambs with Orph will die if the farmer doesn’t keep on top of it, with intense farming the way it is and the increased natural stretching of lamb litters, many sheep now having triplets but a ewe only has two teats, this means there are often more orphans than can be cared for successfully. Anyway Winter made it through as did the others. Please come down and meet them, they have had quite a journey to meet you
Ashley Peacock
As you are probably aware, due to the publicity in local newspapers, we sadly lost one of our beautiful “Ashley” peacocks after seventeen years. Ashley would often walk down the lane to the Nature Reserve to the delight of many of their visitors. It was on his travels that he met his fate, though he managed to get home, we were devastated to have to agree to put him to sleep. The other “Ashley” became so sad and lonely but we were in two minds about getting him company. We didn’t want a Peahen (and the high possibility of ending up with chicks and all the stress that accompanies it) but a new male on his territory could be a problem. After seeking much advice we were offered a young male, he is not 100% Indian Blue as both Ashley’s were and this means we can tell him apart as his feather pattern is mottled, so he has ended up with the name “Motley”. He follows our Ashley everywhere and Ash is so much happier to have another of his species about. We are hoping this friendship continues, though Ashley will probably want a bit of space when he comes into ‘display’ for the breeding season. Motley is only two years old and so won’t get a beautiful tail until the following season. He tries to display but just looks like a cob turkey.
Ponies
We had to take in a group of four young ponies from a Welsh Pound; Odin, Loki, Flicka and Dalahäst (Dala for short) all under the age of two. If we hadn’t taken them in they would have been shot within days. Horse rescues are full and restricted to what they can take in during the winter months. Horses are expensive to keep in winter but what could we do? The paddock we have them in is not big enough but they are better there than dead, plus they have shelter, food and kind handling from our staff.
