Path to Cherry Hinton last night

Took this on my way back from dropping off some pet food to one of our fosterers. It was even more spectacular looking back up the hill from the railway bridge end, but by then the wind had got up too much for photography.

Please remember that cats and rabbits can cope with this kind of weather provided they have food, dry shelter and their water is kept unfrozen, but guinea-pigs come from South America and need to be brought indoors—either into the house or at least inside a shed or outhouse where their hutch is protected. Avoid bringing animals into your garage because of the danger from fumes.

Wild Animal Casualties

Statement from the national RSPCA:

"There is no truth whatsoever in the alarming rumour that the RSPCA has changed its policy regarding wildlife animals and that due to the credit crunch it automatically puts every animal it picks up to sleep.

Wildlife counts for a huge proportion of calls made to the RSPCA every year. Our inspectors and officers regularly respond to calls regarding injured or sick wild animals and birds. Every effort is made to ensure that these are taken to one of our own specialist wildlife centres, to a vet or one of the independent organisations that we work with and that they are rehabilitated and released where possible.

The RSPCA takes the decision to euthanise wildlife on a case by case basis, with the welfare of the animal in mind and to alleviate suffering."

On the current situation concerning non-native wild species, see DEFRA's review and the government's non-native species website (neither of these is controlled by the RSPCA).

Webshop newsletter

Last chance to buy your Christmas gifts Christmas is just around the corner, but if you haven’t bought your gifts yet you still have time to buy them through our online shop. Use any of the links in this page and RSPCA Cambridge & District Branch will receive a percentage of what you spend. Alternatively take a look at our online shop. Find the last order dates for Christmas delivery below, please use our webshop whenever you can. Last Order Date for Standard Delivery Last Order Date for Nominated Day Delivery Clothing, Homeware and Beauty Midday December 20th Midday 22nd December Wine Cases Midday December 20th Midday 22nd December Gift Cards & Vouchers Midday 18th December Midday 22nd December Hampers 17th December 19th December Flowers Not available 5pm 22nd December Postcode exceptions apply see M&S for full details. Last Order Date FREE Super Saver Delivery December 18th Express delivery 2pm December 23rd One day delivery with Amazon Prime 2pm December 23rd See individual sellers at Amazon for other options. UK First Class Express Delivery Midday 21st December Midday 23rd December Midday 21st December Midday 23rd December UK 1st Class UK Courier 3pm 19th December 3pm 21st December Other Popular Retailers Last Order Date for Standard Delivery Mothercare 20th December The Hut 18th December Sendit.com 18th December Zavvi 18th December Chipsworld 18th December Games4u 18th December Play.com 19th December Republic 22nd December Additions Direct 8pm 23rd December Choice 8pm 23rd December Empire Stores 8pm 23rd December Great Universal 8pm 23rd December Kays 8pm 23rd December Littlewoods 8pm 23rd December Marshall Ward 8pm 23rd December Very 8pm 23rd December Woolworths main site 8pm 23rd December Kiddicare.com 23rd December All Saints 17th December Visit www.buy.at/RSPCA.Cambridge for more great offers from over 150 top retailers.

Purchases made through www.buy.at/RSPCA.Cambridge are made according to the information and terms provided by the company making the sale to you. Further details on using the buy.at shop are provided on the site.

Christmas closing dates

The Cambridge RSPCA Animal Clinic will be CLOSED on Wednesday 23rd, Saturday 26th and Wednesday 30th December. Other times open as normal.

Shops will stay open until about 3 pm on Christmas Eve, then close until 4th January (5th in the case of E61 which is always closed on Mondays anyway).

The National Control Centre will be open throughout as usual: 0300 1234 999

Our branch emergency contact number will be answered, but please remember it is staffed by volunteers: 07742 658 086

If your pet is on medication PLEASE make sure you order enough to get you through the holiday.

Deputy Shop Manager Post Available

Our present deputy manager at 61 Burleigh Street is moving away from Cambridge in the New Year, so we are recruiting a replacement.

The post involves working a total of 24 hours per week, with some additional cover for the manager's holidays. Starting salary is £6.21 per hour (review after 6 months).

As Emporium 61 works at the vintage/retro end of the charity shop market any applicant will need an interest in fashion and willingness to learn.

You can download a full job description from our website.

Get your organic Christmas decorations here!

Many thanks to the kind donor of a load of mistletoe at our bookshop at 188 Mill Road. It's adding a wonderfully festive element to the shop and is a nice addition to our stock of Christmas cards, mugs, pictures and bags.

Roll up and get your bio-degradeable decorations!

After Christmas, have a go at propagating the seeds—mistletoe is an important native plant with benefits for wildlife.

Christmas Hat Tree

If you can't think what to get your mum, why not try a nice, warm hat from 61 Burleigh Street? Smarter than the average bobble.

Argghh!

Completely disastrous clinic session on Saturday. For security reasons we don't leave internal keys on the premises — which would have been fine except that the nurse due to bring them in broke down just outside Mildenhall, which is a 45 minute drive away.

Animals who needed to be admitted as inpatients could be sent up to the Veterinary Hospital as normal, but anyone who just needed medicines had to be content with a prescription to take to an ordinary chemist. Clients who'd phoned in advance to order repeat prescriptions were really out of luck, because all of those had been pre-dispensed and were sitting with the nurse in her ominously smoking car.

Everyone was impressively philosophical about this, and the only really angry client was a new referral from the PDSA who had been told treatment would be free and hadn't brought her £7 consultation fee.

So — thank you to everyone attending on Saturday for being so understanding. We're going to be discussing with the Vet School how to set up some better emergency arrangements without compromising security.