NCAR is a privately run charity, started by Anne Owen, in 1979. It now cares for over 1000 cats, rabbits and dogs every year, providing sanctuary, shelter and care for animals who have been abandoned, picked up as strays, or signed over by owners no longer able to keep them. It has a 'non destruction' policy, which means, however long it takes to re-home them, unless the animal concerned is just too ill to help, no animal that passes through he centres doors is ever put to sleep. It receives absolutely no Government Funding, relying totally on donations, gathered through a variety of means, and the support of volunteers, to meet the needs of the hundreds of animals that it cares for. When you find out that it costs around £850 a DAY to provide for the creatures, then you begin to realise just how much work and devotion the staff involved actually put into the place.
The centre is situated in the most beautiful Welsh countryside, in Trelogan, Flintshire. You approach the building down a longish winding drive, with rolling fields either side.
Then the centre itself comes into view . . . lovely stone building, looks like it was once maybe a farm house or cottage, fronted by a large courtyard, with various buildings dotted around it, and to the rear of the main building.
Situated inside the building, as well as offices and the reception, is a small shop - I was really surprised by the amount it stocked, and as a dog owner, very pleasantly surprised by how competitive the pricing is. The shop generates a small profit - of which every penny goes towards meeting the animals needs and running the centre. Here we were introduced to Karen Weed, the Animal Welfare Officer, who had very kindly agreed to show us round.
We started off in the cattery section, with the kittens - OK, this was going to be every bit as bad as I thought - 30 seconds in, and I was fighting the urge to offer a home to every one of the fur babies we encountered! Karen explained that at the moment, they are struggling for some reason, to find home for the black kitties - poor things aren't as popular as their tabby and ginger counterparts, when it comes to re-homing. It was hard to see why - I found them every bit as endearing, just as playful, just as loving, as all the other kittens. Heart strings were tugged, as we were told about the pair of little grey kits, who possibly have a form of feline leukaemia, and because of that, may be difficult to re-home - but at the same time, listening to Karen's passion and obvious devotion, and seeing that the cats were well fed, that their 'runs' were regularly cleaned and that, despite the sheer numbers of them, the staff and volunteers clearly care deeply for each and everyone of them, you find yourself being 'heart warmed' and incredibly impressed by the standards that NCAR adhere too in the care of the animals.
We were shown the 'accommodation' for the older cats, and the isolation unit, where new cats are kept for a week, whilst their health is assessed and checked. Karen explained that they are hoping to start work soon, on some new buildings, that will improve the size of the cat facilities, and also provide even better space for the bunnies - who were next on our list.
Then onto the dogs. There is a constant background noise, of barking, louder sometimes than others, as soon as you get near the centre - now we were to meet the hounds behind the sound. I had a quiet talk to myself, reminding myself that DH had threatened divorce if I came home with a 4 legged addition to the family, and hardened my heart against any pups we would meet - 'hardened' - yeah, right - stepped through the door into the first of the kennels - and I melted, like a popsicle !
Run after run, filled with dogs - big dogs, small dogs, excited dogs, shy dogs - so many . And again, it was the sadness to see so many lovely animals needing a home, running alongside an ever increasing admiration for how well cared for they all were. Masses of warm bedding in every 'stall', and Karen told us that in cold weather, every kennel is heated; Dogs had toys and chews, the kennels were obviously kept clean, they looked well fed and well looked after, and as they responded to Karen, it was again reinforced how 'hands on' this centre is - she constantly was able to give us anecdotes about individual doggies. And we encountered this throughout the day - every member of staff, and the volunteers we met, knew each dog - it was extremely impressive .
Eye opener of the day for me, were the number of staffies - a massive percentage of all the dogs there. Now, when I lived at home (many moons ago) we had a staffie as a family pet - Winnie - and I know them to be a fantastic breed when it comes to a child friendly dog. I was just so shocked to see so many of them . . .
As a side note, the lighting in the kennels is kept quite low, to avoid stressing the dogs - as a result, I think it makes their environment look a little 'grim' on these photographs - the staff will be the first to tell you that the kennels are no substitute for a loving family home, but I can assure you that the stalls are a pretty good size, they are clean, warm and that these animals are clearly well cared for :)
I asked Karen why so many of this breed - she explained its partly down to just bad press - although staffs are actually the top recommended breed to have as a family pet, the media tend to portray them as vicious, and as fighting dogs, and sadly, few people look beyond the press. Secondly, she described a situation that I had no idea about - and which left me angered, saddened and disgusted, on behalf of this fantastic breed. Early in the year, a certain type of enterprising individual buys/obtains a young staffie bitch, and breeds her - once any pups are old enough, they are sold, and the proceeds used to finance a holiday, for example - and rather than pay boarding fee's, the mum is dumped - because after all, its easy enough to pick up another bitch, next year, isn't it ? These unscrupulous people are not fussy who they sell to, either - and staffie's are seen - by some simple minded few - as a 'status' dog, more of a fashion accessory, something on the end of a lead that says how 'tough' an individual is, rather than an animal that needs care and training and love. And they are big, solid, boisterous dogs when they grow - and like any dog, without the care, the love and the training, they don't behave well - so often the pups end up being dumped too . Utterly, utterly, disgusting.
And there were more dogs - from little pups like Tinks and Dash ...
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| Tinks |
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| Dash |
Through to a blind staffie, who despite his handicap, was incredibly playful and who loved nothing better than destroying his bedding ! His run had been cleaned less that half an hour before we met him - but since then he had got hold of a feather pillow - and oh, boy - he had some fun with it - feathers everywhere, covering the run, floating in his water bowl - and he looked so damn pleased with himself!
And even more dogs . . .
Once the tour was over, we split into groups to film - once the editing has been completed, and the work handed in, I'll return to this part of the day in another blog, with the finished film included - suffice to say it was one of the most enjoyable, educational, interesting days I have ever spent - I want to give a huge Thank You to Nicky Owen, the media relations officer who kindly arranged for us to spend the day at NCAR, and to every single member of staff and volunteer, who took time from their hard working and busy day, to talk to us and show us round.
I have to just detail one particular encounter of the day, though - meeting Del !
Adam, one of the volunteers who specialises in helping the dogs who have 'issues' was in the courtyard, with the most gorgeous staffie on the end of the lead. I began talking to him, and he explained that he was just standing there with Del, to let Del get used to people passing by - because Del was incredibly fearful of anyone/every one he encountered, when he was out being walked. He would move to the end of the lead, to keep as big a distance between himself and any thing he saw as a potential threat - and if anyone, or any dog got too close, he could react badly.
Trying not to stress Del, I sat down on the ground, hoping to appear less of a 'threat' to him, as I talked to Adam. Del, true to form, moved as far away from me as the lead would allow. But then, he suddenly gathered up a whole lot of courage, and whipped past me, having a quick sniff as he passed, before retreating to the end of the lead again. A couple of minutes later, and he did it again. Adam told me this was an encouraging sign.
And then, for no particular reason that I could fathom, Del decided I was actually OK - he came up to me, sniffed, snuggled, and within minutes was climbing all over me, licking, excited and happy, eventually tail wagging like crazy and doing those little 'darting runs' that signal 'Hey - come and play with me' - he was absolutely adorable, such a change in such a short time. Adam told me that he had NEVER behaved with anyone like that before, and staff were walking past looking completely stunned. I have to re-iterate - I did nothing more than sit there, and I honestly believe that I was just very lucky that I happened to be there when all the patience, attention and work the staff have put into Del (and countless others like him) paid off, and he suddenly realised that maybe these humans weren't so scary, after all!
Adam explained that if Del can interact like that with one person, then he can probably form bonds with others, too - and it makes his chances of finding a permanent home so much better. And this experience gave me just the slightest inkling of how the staff and volunteers there must feel when they see a break though like this, with one of the animals - I felt 10 feet tall, absolutely elated that Del had been able to make contact like that, and as I said - I really hadn't done anything - but the staff had, so how much more satisfaction and delight would they feel? Maybe it goes a little way to explaining the devotion and commitment I'd witnessed all day !
So, I'm going to end with a link to NCAR , and an unashamed session of begging - NCAR do an absolutely amazing job, and all paid for from donations. There are lots of ways that they can be helped, aside from the donations though. They are absolutely desperate for volunteers - volunteers who can walk the dogs, bath them, clean the kennels, look after the cats or the rabbits - even volunteers who can do odd DIY jobs around the place - because these volunteers then free up the staff to work with dogs like Del, and vastly increase the chances of re-homing these gorgeous animals.
They also welcome donations of food for the animals, and especially bedding - old duvets, blankets, cushions, fleeces - though there is heating in the kennels, come on folks - how nice is it to snuggle down into something soft and warm, when the weather is horrible and cold? A visit to the web site will tell you about all the other ways you can help - from the club 200 to sponsoring a kennel. Please go and look, if you think you would like to help:) Oh - and if you think that you might be able to offer one of the beautiful animals there a home, please don't just turn up - to keep the dogs as stress free as possible, they don't allow visitors to just wander around the kennels - details of how you can find out more about adopting the dogs can be found on the web page:)
An absolutely fabulous day :)
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