FOUND, Cork, 30/01/12

Found on Springlane very young female jack russell, who is quiet but very. Friendly someone must really be missing her.

FOUND, Cork city, 27/01/12

Black and white

Think he’s a border collie

Not fully grown – still a puppy.

Found on Western Rd at 1 o’clock.

Male

Timid dog, has obviously just got lost from his owner.

 

Found by Aaron 0877920111

LOST, Blackpool, 20/01/12

Looking for 1,5 year old male cat, foxy colour from Blackpool area. His name is Rudi and he went missing on the 20th of Jan.

Call 0872498236

LOST, Castletreasure/Donnybrook, 21/01/12

2 yr old tomcat is missing since around 8pm last saturday in Castletreasure/ Donnybrook.  Unfortunatey he is not microchipped.

He (persie) was last seen wearing a red flea collar and a red collar with a name disk with our phone number on it.

Call 0861516038

FOUND, Glanmire

Found in Upper Glanmire Male collie mix with husky markings. Very gentle and well-behaved. Soft, glossy coat. Call 086 382 4405

FOUND, Rathpeacon, 18/01/12

Found male white westie, 2 to 3 years old, neutered, no name tag, no micro chip.

Contact Fiona 087-3247233.

FOUND, Upper Glanmire, 18/01/12

A male cross-breed unneutered male dog was found today in the upper Glanmire area.  He seems to be a cross between a Labrador, a Sheepdog and a Dalmatian.  He has very distinctive white paws with black spackles.  He is wearing a collar without an id tad.  He is well-fed and trained.  He was very hungry and a bit dirty, so could have been travelling.

Please ring: 0863824405.

Lieutenant Dan: To Be or not to Be?

Lt Dan, a feral kitten, who has been through far too much already

“Back in September, a feral kitten was brought to The Cat Hospital after a road traffic accident.  Clare Meade rang the ACS to ask if we could help.  The kitten, who was later named Lieutenant Dan, needed an operation to have his leg amputated.  At the time, Little Red was also waiting for the big operation that would save his life.  Our funds were low and we knew that Little Red’s operation would be very expensive, but the public was helping for it through our special appeal, so we decided to give that other kitten a chance to live and used the remainder of our Clyde Fund (dedicated to RTAs) for his operation.

Lieutenant Dan before his amputation in The Cat Hospital last September

The operation went well and Lt Dan recovered quickly thanks to the loving foster home Maggie and Jim offered to him.  Soon, Lt Dan was running around the place, apart from the odd tripping from his foster sister.

However, worries were not over for Lt Dan who had to be brought back in emergency to The Cat Hospital because an enormous abscess had appeared on his head.  It was emptied and Lt Dan was put on antibiotics.  However, two weeks later it reappeared, and again two weeks later.  It became evident that it could be something serious.  We also feared that the infection would get to the bone and infect the marrow, resulting in poisoning the blood.

Lt Dan falling asleep on Maggie after having had his head cleaned, something that has become a ritual for the two of them.

Clare explained that an operation would be needed to properly clean the abscess, but also take a culture to be sent for analysis so that he would receive the appropriate treatment.  Estimated cost?  €500.  What were we supposed to do?  What would you have done?

On the same day Lt Dan went to The Cat Hospital, Maggie and Jim had to bring another kitten with him.  Billy Bunter had been rescued during a TNR job and suffered from megacolon; a result of being a small kitten in a colony of hungry feral cats.  The chances for him to recover from his condition were slim and it might have also meant a lot more suffering.  We could not inflict that to this poor kitten and Billy Bunter had to be put to sleep.  You may thus understand why we did not hesitate to go ahead with Lt Dan’s operation.  Or you may not if you are cold-hearted.

This post is called “to be or not to be” because too often animal welfare people are left to decide of the destiny of the animals they rescue.  It is a difficult choice and should not be so.  Animals should be loved and treated with respect and compassion by what we call “humanity”, but this is not so, they are left to suffer because too many members of our society believe that their own little comfort is more important.  The ACS believes that if there is a chance to offer an animal a better life, we should take it, so we did and Lt Dan was given the chance to be.

Lt Dan's head after his operation

Today, we are asking you if you could help us with the cost of Lt Dan’s operation.  As you may know, our funds are very low (how can they be otherwise when we have decided to spend whatever we have to improve the lives of animals) and we rely entirely on the public’s generosity.  We have set up a special appeal for you to help Lt Dan.

Again, I am asking you, what would you have done?  It is your choice now and your decision might result in the next kitten who meets our path to be or not to be.”

Necrotic (gangrenous) skin

We have so far raised €115 for Lt Dan’s operations and numerous visits to the vet, not near enough to cover the cost.  If you would like to help, you can donate here.  The donation is set at €2.50, the price of a cup of coffee to offer a cat a better life.

Following this call for help on Facebook last December, we received a different kind of offer: Emma Robertson (Veterinary Physiotherapist) offered to do laser treatment on Lt Dan’s head.  As Lt Dan’s abscesses keep coming back and that we have no idea why, Maggie and Jim decided to go ahead with the treatment.  Lt Dan went for his first session yesterday and here is Maggie and Jim’s report:

“On Sunday, 16/01/12, Lt Dan underwent his first laser treatment. At this stage things with Lt Dan have got desperate: countless trips to vets, numerous examinations, several operations from which tissue was taken and sent for cultures to be grown, and no result. Lt Dan’s recurring abscesses have proven to be a complete veterinary mystery. There is no detectable infectious agent present. There is nothing that can be eradicated through the use of antibiotics. But still the abscesses pop up, and out, on poor old Dan’s head regularly. The only treatment that could be offered to Dan was the nightly removal of the scab and bathing the abscess with salt water in order to keep a channel clear so any puss could exit the wound areas. This was far from an ideal method of dealing with Dan, who had already suffered a great deal in his short life. It was also becoming obvious that all this ‘pulling and tearing’ at Dan was having an adverse effect on the cat’s wellbeing and he was starting to exhibit signs of stress.

Wound before treatment with the scab removed

During the course of our last Facebook appeal a lady called Emma Robertson contacted the ACS and offered to treat Dan with laser therapy. Emma, who is a chartered veterinary physiotherapist, also specialises in a range of holistic therapies and very kindly offered to take the problem of Dan’s abscesses on. So Lt Dan was marched (unwillingly) into the car and over to Tower to see Emma. The actual treatment took a matter of minutes and involved no intrusive or painful procedures that would stress Dan out even more. Emma has a portable laser generator and she merely took out a handset - it looks like a small torch with a right angled head - and held it over the abscess on Dan’s head. The laser light is red in colour and within a few minutes of beginning it was all over and Dan was back in his cage glaring at everybody.

Today (Monday) the early results look promising with no significant discharge from Dan’s head wound; the first time this has been the case in quite a while. The wound itself looks a lot drier and more healthy than it has been. Dan is due to return to Emma for further treatments, spread over the next few weeks. We are very grateful to Emma for her kind offer to help Dan as both ourselves and Clare Meade are baffled by Dan’s refusal to get better. Emma does work for the Donkey Sanctuary and is no stranger herself to animal welfare. She can be contacted from her Facebook profile.”

 

FOUND, Western Road

This lovely female terrier is still looking for her owners – she was found in the Western Road area of Cork city but may have followed people from town. She is desperately missing her owners so please if you know who owns please call 086 2112850 or 4287216, thank you

Fundraiser at the RedHat Offices in Cork, by Brigitte Asslaender

It all started with me winning a Munster Rugby Jersey, and not really knowing what to do with it.  Sell it on, I thought, and give the money to an animal charity.

Then I had a better idea : raffle it off. Much more fun for all my colleagues in the office, and probably a little more money for the charity.  I had given money to the Animal Care Society Cork before, after I had sold some cakes in the office.

That got me thinking … surely I could combine the raffle with a bake sale, and make it a bit more of an event? I started talking to my colleague Margherita, who is very involved in animal welfare as well.  The office also had had a jumble sale about a year ago, which was a success. We thought we could repeat that as well.

After asking around, we received several vouchers and some bottles of champagne to be prizes for the raffle, with the Munster Rugby Jersey to be top prize. One of our managers even promised to get the Jersey signed by a member of the Munster Rugby team.

We announced the event to the office 2 weeks in advance, to give everyone time to find stuff at home they no longer needed and to buy tickets.  The sale of the tickets went amazingly well, although I had the distinct feeling that most people were after the 2^nd price, the champagne.

On the big day, we set up what cakes we brought in the kitchen. There was a Lemon Drizzle Cake, a big batch of Tiramisu and Banana & Fudge Muffins (and yes, they were all as yummy as they sound).  We also arranged and prized the items for the jumble sale.

Jumble Sale

The response was somewhat overwhelming… by the time I got round to take pictures, the only thing left of the lemon cake were some crumbs on the tray, and the muffins had been greatly reduced in number.

Baking sale

The raffle was held at 3pm, with a voucher for Brown Thomas going to our office fashion queen, and the champagne to our legal department. A colleague from order management won the Jersey, which is now going to be a christmas present for a special someone.

All in all, we raised €274.00 for the Animal Care Society Cork.

The ACS would like to send a huge thank you to Brigitte for organising a fundraiser for the animals in our care.  You made their Christmas a little brighter!