My New Animal Friends

We went to Brinsley Animal Rescue Christmas open day on Sunday. It's a wonderful sanctuary run on vegan values (yay!) and twice a year they open their doors to the public in order to raise some dosh for the animals. They're usually all out roaming free but for the few hours twice a year they chill out indoors so people can meet and greet them. These were the highlights of my day...

Boris the blind bull. He was too difficult for the farmer to look after (yuck) so the folk at Brinsley adopted him and gave him a loving home for life. Never has the term 'Gentle Giant' been more apt. Such an amazingly enormous and powerful fella, yet he chooses to do nothing but love with all his might. What a gent.

Beautiful.

 This naughty little pair of squawkers took a real disliking to Dan haha, they tried their best to chase him off their field...what the camera missed was them actually catching up with him and biting his ankle! Haha!

Look how furious he is the little stinker!

 These little baby beauties don't have names yet, they've just arrived at the sanctuary. I dread to think what happened to their friends for whom there wasn't enough space at Brinsley.

You think dogs are playful and full of character? You ain't seen nothing until you've played tug of war with a piglet! Such little scamps, so funny and mischievous! 

And the chubbiest, laziest resident of all, Rocky. This chap was all about the belly scratches - just lay there grunting away demanding a fuss from every passer by! I fell head over heels in love with him and was more than disgusted to hear people talking about bacon and sausages in front of him. I had to try to not think about it too much or I literally would have had a nervous break down - what is wrong with people!?!

Volunteering At The Dog Shelter

This afternoon we spent a few hours at the local dog shelter...

 Lord Wallace and Cecil donated lots of their toys, leads, collars and blankets to the homeless poochies who are sure to appreciate them a lot more than they do. 

There are over 40 dogs in at the moment, and it's very difficult to watch them all in their cages, desperately in need of their own home, trying to hypnotize me with their big gorgeous eyes, and bewitch me into taking them with me. 

I need to think carefully first though, and make sure that if we do adopt one, that they're the right fit for our family. Especially because Cecil is so fragile and nervous, and during the day our Frank and Delores (the bunnies) have free rein of the garden (it's so cute seeing the dogs and the bunnies together!).

The dogs there are well looked after though, and fortunately this shelter has all the staff it needs to clean out the kennels etc. So all that's left for us to do is to make a fuss over the little tykes, take them for walkies, and make sure they know they're loved. If my furry friends are anything to go by, then there can literally never be enough fussin' and belly scratchin'!

 This is Summer. A very energetic young pup. They told us she is friendly but pulls quite a lot on the lead when you take her for a walk...

 So Dan decided to let her have her way, and she took him for a run instead :-)

We took her for the longest walk as she was in most need of being tired out!

 This little scruff bear was only found yesterday so didn't have a name yet. We named him Ernie. He looks like an Ernie don't you think?! He's quite timid but loved getting a fuss and had a lovely time on his walk. He really captured Dan's heart and was his favourite pooch of the day.

Prince is not in very good shape at all. The poor little angel has mange :-( I dread to think what his life was like before he arrived at the shelter. He has the sweetest of sweet hearts, such a lovely nature, but he doesn't have much confidence at all. 

He's so itchy and scratches himself constantly - so much that the fur on his tummy and legs has gone and has been replaced by painful sores. Thankfully he's getting all the help he needs and there are a few people who are dying to give him the loving home he deserves as soon as he's better.

 This little lunatic was so bouncy and jumpy! I LOVED her. She's called Star, and indeed she lives up to her name. Such a little diva, she was so excited on her walk that she kept charging at us and jumping up with joy! Best feeling ever :-)

 Little Tye is the most laid back, easy going little dude ever. He loved getting kissed and cuddled and was so content to just be near us.

As you can understand, it's extremely time consuming to take each pooch for a walk, which means many of them don't get one, and as I'm sure most of you will know, it's essential to their happiness that they do. So next time you have some spare time and you're in need of some fluffy snuggles to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, go and give your local shelter guys a fuss and a walk. You won't believe how much they'll thank you!

Favourite Animal Friends and My Hopes for The Future

Considering I was terrified of animals for the majority of my life, it's really astonishing how utterly in love I am with every single creature now. I mean that, every single one. Totally besotted. Even the ones I'm still scared of, like spiders or earwigs, I still love them. It took me many years to realise that they all have their own little personalities, it was when this really sunk in that I begun to appreciate each and every single being and became vegan. I mean, I sort of knew before, but it took lots of meetings with lots of animals before I really got it.

Here are some of the ones who left a lasting impression on me that I'll never forget...

An absolutely breathtaking moment with a family of elephants with their brand new born calf at a sanctuary in Sri Lanka. About a year before I became vegetarian, no doubt in part due to these magnificent animals.

 I really fell for this little guy! The silliest little person I've ever met - his name was Finicky and he was a teeny tiny goat, so full of beans; he kept jumping on my lap and eating my hair. The tragic part, which brings me to tears even now, and what I didn't realise at the time, was that this place that I used to visit to play with the animals, was actually a working farm. I can't believe I was so naive. It literally breaks my heart to think about how this little angel has probably suffered a brutal death by now.

Another of my Sri Lankan friends and certainly my favourite. Little baby Lucky. I would play with him and snuggle him and he'd have a little snooze on me and a cuddle and I'd feed him bananas. By the end of the trip when I'd met him a few times, he didn't want to leave me and clung on to my belt and wouldn't let go. I was distraught! It wasn't until recently I realised that this poor baby had probably been taken from the wild and was being pimped out to tourists for money. Horrendous. I really just had no idea. I worry about how he is doing now and just pray that he's treated kindly.

The moment I met this cuddly little cloud on legs was when I discovered how wonderful sheep are. He was so sweet and I when I looked at his angelic little face I could just see how innocent and pure and good his heart was. Now when anyone dares to say that ''sheep are just stupid'' they feel the full wrath of a devoted sheep lady - and it ain't pretty let me tell you! Sadly, this little darling was from the same farm as Finicky. 

These horrific realisations helped me make the connection between animals and meat, and their incredible and individual personalities strengthened it. It's so important that these connections are made, without them, even the nicest people can wander through life naively playing a massive part in animal exploitation. My goal is to open a rescued farm animal sanctuary, which I'll use to educate people of the horrors that these delightful beings are continuously suffering. I'm putting all of my efforts into making my current business a success which I'm going to use as a not for profit organisation to fund the sanctuary. It might take me a while, but I'll definitely do it. Better get a move on then...more work, less talk! *Heads back to the grindstone*

Feeling The Love

Isn't it just wonderful when you're in a place full of animals or animal lovers and as cheesy as it sounds you can just feel all the love and goodness in the room? Warms my cockles. I get that whenever we go to our local vegetarian restaurant (we only have one). It's mainly vegan but with a few dairy bits, dammit, so close but yet so far! But it just feels so lovely and I physically cannot be sad in a place where I'm surrounded by people who genuinely care.

I've been a bit blue the past few days, hence my lack of posting, work's been really stressful, I run my own business and sometimes things just get on top of me. Thankfully, today I ended up at one of those very places, that is full to the brim with compassion and overflowing with love - which came just in the nick of time to save me from resorting to my back up plan of giving it all up and drowning my sorrows with a life of partying, booze and gambling.

So today, we had a meeting at our accountants home, which just so happened to be a farm! And not one of those evil murderous farms, a wholesome, happy, loving, friendly farm that's sole purpose is to care for rescued beauties. So after a few hours hugging and playing with the sheep, horses, ponies, rabbits, guinea pigs and dogs I can safely say there was enough love and goodness on those fields to restore me to my perkier self. It was such a beautiful place I just couldn't have stayed grumpy if I'd tried. 

Jeremiah Von Blue Sky

A few months ago, while on holiday in Spain, my sister (Nade) and I were sat in a cafe overlooking the beach when we spotted a dog, wandering on his own in the blazing heat. He settled down in some shade in the sand and I could see he was really thin, his ribs were showing.

I had a horrible time earlier this year when my boyfriend and I tried to catch a stray dog but he got away, so I was really nervous of frightening him and then being no help at all, or worse still, driving him into the main road, which was less than 2 feet away. Ugh!

I told Nade to keep an eye on him while I went and bought some food and water. On the way I asked a cafe owner if she knew anything about the dog. She told me that people had tried to catch him before but that whenever anyone gets close, he runs. They didn't seem to care and I couldn't understand much of what they were saying apart from that he sits in that same spot every day.

I went over slowly and made sure he knew I was there so he didn't get scared and run. I put the bowl of water a few feet away from him and left him some food. He gobbled it all up.

I was really panicking and didn't know what to do for the best, so I called my boyfriend at home in England and asked him what he thought. He did a little investigating and found that the local policy for strays was to euthanise them if they weren't claimed in 14 days. I just couldn't bring myself to call them and risk it, I knew that it was dangerous, him being out there on his own, and that his family might be looking for him, but I know how many strays are never claimed, so I just couldn't. What would you have done?

I was so upset and just wanted to do the right thing and make sure I didn't cause him any harm. We couldn't get anywhere near him and didn't want to agitate him, and we knew he liked to flee when people came too close, so we all decided that the best thing to do, would be to leave him to sit safely in his spot, come back soon with more food, and earn his trust by feeding and watering him until we could catch him safely. We decided we'd name him Jeremiah Von Blue Sky, he'd come home with us and we'd love him forever.

So we left, but when we came back, he wasn't there. I was devastated, and kicking myself for letting him out of my sight. We searched up and down the beach. I hoped maybe he slept somewhere else and he'd be back the next day.

I went back to the hotel to have a sulk. No fun to be had on this holiday while Jeremiah's out there on his own, not a chance. Nade dragged me out to a restaurant and tried to force me to have a good time. It wasn't really happening because I couldn't stop thinking about him and felt so guilty wondering had I done the right thing - should I have tried to grab him and risk him running into the road? Should I have called the dog warden?? They might run him into the road themselves anyway, let alone the fact they might kill him in two weeks! Had something happened to him now because of me??

I was grumpily eating my dinner, when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye...

''JEREMIAH!!''

I was elated at an opportunity to help him, petrified of doing something wrong.

Then, I noticed he was attached to a lead and wearing a collar...and from around the corner came, literally, the happiest looking man you have ever seen, roller blading behind him! He was positively beaming, and so was Jeremiah. This could only be the face of a man who had just been reunited with his best friend after who knows how long.

We whooped and cheered and hugged and perhaps I cried, I think I did, I probably did. My dreams of Jeremiah Von Blue Sky and I sharing a life of love and walkies together were over but he was safe, and he had his Dad back; they made such a good team :-)