September already ! I just love the Summer and hate to think that it is nearly over, but, only nearly, we are off to Cap d’Ail on the 8th for a week, then it will be heads down and preparing for the Autumn Book Sale on 20th October. If you have books to donate, just get in touch with me so we can collect in good time.
This August has had ups and downs. Let’s get the downs over with first. I had to decide to have my darling Ziggy pts. I collected her from Carcassonne refuge many, many years ago and for some reason or another she was never adopted so stayed with us. A few years ago she developed chronic arthritis and mobility became a problem. For about six months now she has been unable to use her legs at all and spent her time sleeping and eating, oh how she loved eating, in her bed in the kitchen. When she needed to go out she would start to cry and either Ernst or I would carry her outside. She was so clean that if neither Ernst or I were around, she would drag herself outside. I would take her to the vet regularly to get her claws clipped and when I took her a couple of weeks ago he looked at me and I knew it was time. I have gone through this many, many times but it never gets easier.
Then Scoopy my Bichon Frisée went downhill suddenly rapidly. Scoopy is 15 years old and the only dog I have gone and chosen for myself from a notice on a board. A trip to the vet and he was diagnosed as diabetic with renal problems. He stayed in for a few days then I went to pick him up and was shown how to carry out insulin injections. I was so nervous but am now a dab hand ! He has never squealed and I have only jabbed myself once – I did squeal ! I’m not kidding myself, he is still very poorly and very old, but I have been given a bit more time and I will make the most of it, he will come down to the South of France with us next week.
Now for the ‘ups’ ! All the Newfie pups have been homed with adopters coming from as far away as Lille and the Charente Maritime. There is just one left with me and I have to admit that I am sort of hoping that the people who have expressed interest change their minds. Olivia, as I have named her, is just a lump of cuddle, but she will be a HUGE lump of cuddle in a few months !
The Border/Australian pups have all been adopted also, but watch this space for the arrival of more ‘accident’ litters.
There have been quite a few sheep attacks recently by stray dogs, so much so that the paper printed the rules about stray dogs. All dogs (and cats), MUST by law be chipped or tattooed. Any unidentified dog, ANY UNIDENTIFIED DOG, who is found more than 100 metres from home can be classed as abandoned or a stray and can be taken to a refuge then put up for adoption if the owner does not come forward within eight days. If the owner comes forward after the dog has been adopted the owner has no recourse and no rights to get the dog back. An owner walking a dog or dogs off the lead, must have enough control over the dogs to call the dog back immediately (have to say I am guilty of not being in this situation). If the dog is not obedient and there is a problem with damage to animals or property, the owner is liable.
I had a case recently where someone contacted me for advice. He had gone on holiday leaving the care of his cat to a friend or neighbour. The cat strayed, was picked up and taken to a refuge. The cat was not identified, the owner did not come back from holiday for ten days by which time the cat had been adopted. The owner did not have a leg to stand on and lost his cat.
I was in England last weekend for a family reunion and stayed in an airbnb on a houseboat in a boatyard. It was great and only £57 per night whereas other family members who poo pooed the idea, paid nearly £200 per night in an hotel ! The only slight problem I had was that one night, alone on the houseboat (the owners were working) I watched an old episode of Taggart which was about a murder ……..on a houseboat !!
Whilst I was away, very good friends ran the second hand clothes stall for me at the Montcuq Vide Grenier. I have told them I’ll go away next year too, they raised more than we ever had before, 860 euros !!!! So, so welcome as a grant we used to receive every year from a charity has been withdrawn because Poorpaws is not an official organisation. Thank you, thank you so much to all of you who donated all the fab clothes, it is only thanks to you that we did so well.
Love,
Sue x