1st Saturday at Emporium 61

Emporium 61 on its first Saturday's trading. It will look more "RSPCA-like" once we've got planning permission for the permanent sign to replace the rather weedy temporary one and finished the displays inside.

Until we've recruited more volunteers and a deputy manager, opening times will be:

Monday: closed

Tuesday: 10.30 — 5.30

Wednesday: 11.30 — 6.30

Thursday: 10.30 — 5.30

Friday: 10.30 — 5.30

Saturday: 10.30 — 5.30

Sunday: 12 — 4.00

Andrew and his team have now got the back room into shape and would be delighted to receive incoming donations. If you need to drop off something by car, please phone the shop on 01223 312 802 and they will arrange for you to unload at the back of the shop (from Paradise street). Good bric-à-brac, ornaments etc. are all very welcome as well as clothes.

Please, please DO NOT use dog flea treatments on cats

Ten minutes to midnight and wide awake after taking a call from the emergency 24 hour vet who has a client with no money whose cat is having seizures after being treated with over the counter flea powder intended for dogs. Treatment costs are likely to amount to several hundred pounds, all from an attempt to save the £10-20 it would have cost to get a safe and effective anti-flea preparation from a veterinary pharmacy.

The video below is from the Vetstoria site and gives more information about permethrin insecticide poisoning in cats.

Stray cats again: MICROCHIP!

Some of the most difficult situations we face happen because we don't have any way to find out the medical history of animals brought in because they appear ill or injured. Obvious traffic accidents are relatively straightforward, but it is much more difficult where the animal found is ill rather than injured. Even apparent injuries may not be what they seem, as it is possible for a bleeding tumour to appear like a partially healed and infected wound.

These are the other side of the debate about euthanasia; if you trawl the web you will find lots of people accusing the RSPCA of putting down animals who might have been saved, but very little discussion of the potential for suffering if we wait too long.

Nowadays, many vets don't have their own facilities for keeping inpatients over weekends and it is difficult and expensive to keep a terminally sick animal brought to us on a Friday for a reasonable length of time to give their owner a chance to locate them. If an animal has obviously hopeless injuries such as a broken back, there's no doubt that euthanasia is the right decision; the cases that keep us awake at night are the ones that might have a long-term condition that's normally controlled by medication.

My own cat, Fern, is a perfect example of what might have happened if she hadn't been chipped. She is epileptic, but her seizures are well controlled so long as she has tablets morning and evening. A couple of years ago, she wandered off and, after two weeks without medication, she was continually fitting. She was very fortunate that someone saw her and took her straight to a vet, who was able to scan her chip, identify where she lives and what medication she needs.

If we're asked to help a stray having fits with no knowledge of any previous history or way to find their owner, then the prospect is much more bleak. Seizures are a symptom that can be caused by a variety of things, some treatable, some hopeless, and it's difficult for a vet to make a sensible treatment plan even without the problem of providing long-term hospitalization if that's what's needed. (If an animal with an owner has a fit at least the vet will usually know whether the animal ever had one before and how old it is).

If you have a cat or a dog with a long-term health problem, please treat this as an urgent reason to get them chipped.

Some pics from the preview evening

The carrier bags were actually hand-printed by some of the volunteers to a design by Andrew, our shop manager.

 

 

 

 

Opening date for Emporium 61

Emporium 61: our new charity shop at 61 Burleigh Street, Cambridge CB1 1DJ will open for business at 10.30 am on Friday 21st August. We hope you will think it has been worth the wait.

E61 will focus on high-quality vintage/retro fashion, kitsch, collectibles and accessories. A veritable Aladdin's cave.

Raising funds and awareness for the RSPCA Cambridge & District Branch.

The phone number for the shop is 01223 312 802.

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Our bookshop at 188 Mill road will continue to improve its offerings of second-hand and antiquarian books, prints and music now that more of its storage space is available to dedicate to shelving.

If you live closer to Newmarket, why not visit our wonderful shop at 156 the High Street.

Very nearly there...

The map below shows how to get to our new charity shop: "Emporium 61". Burleigh street is pedestrianised, but there's ample parking in the Grafton Centre car park if you're coming from outside Cambridge.

If you're planning to drop off donated items and need to unload from a car, you need to go to the unloading area in Paradise Street which runs parallel to Burleigh Street. If you're using a satnav device that uses postcodes, entering CB1 1DR should get you into Paradise street. At the moment we are still fitting out the shop, so it would be very helpful if you could wait another couple of weeks before bringing your donations.

We will be announcing the definite opening date very soon now...

View RSPCA E61 in a larger map

Building bridges with other charities?

There's a discussion on Petstreet about one member's experiences after winning a day shadowing an RSPCA Inspector. Also, see her fuller diary of the day. It's very interesting to see how we appear from "outside", in particular how difficult it is for other people to understand how the RSPCA's somewhat chaotic structure grew as the result of the decisions of local branches over a timespan of more than a century.

In our case we have a clinic, but no animal home purely because the branch committee of 50 years ago identified a welfare need for low cost pet care and negotiated a deal with Cambridge University to get cut-price treatments in return of use of the clinic for training new vets.

In the case of Stubbington Ark in Hampshire, the branch committee presumably decided they wanted a shelter and raised funds for one. HQ animal homes tend to be more strategically placed in that HQ will realise that there´s a problem with finding placements for animals in a particular region and build a home to fill that need.

Cambridge branch uses a combination of care at private boarding kennels, fostering by individuals and transfers to Block Fen which is our closest HQ funded shelter. The advantage of using private kennels is that (if we have the money!) we can increase the number of available spaces "overnight" rather than having a building with fixed limits. The disadvantage is that private kennels are not usually geared towards rehabilitating animals with behaviour problems etc.

Where there's a long-established HQ run home there is a tendency for the local branch to wither away because all the public interest — donations, volunteers etc. — tends to come to the home rather than the branch. In the long run that tends to mean that the branch can't afford to supplement the places provided by the home with fostering or spaces in boarding kennels. I suspect that having an active branch also improves relationships with other charities because they're more likely to meet us day to day. I certainly don´t get the degree of antagonism the Maidstone inspector seemed to find and we regularly come to arrangements with the local ferret rescue, Cats Protection, Blue Cross etc. if we have facilities & they don't or vice versa.

I´m afraid at the end it does come down to money. We've never yet been in a position where we were telling our inspectors to put down healthy animals, but a year ago we were very close to the point where we'd have had to. This is why it's so vital that we make a success of our new shop.

Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters

Filling the Ark by Leslie Irvine is a thoughtful discussion by one of the "new wave" of animal advocates. The author is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder and also a volunteer with her local humane society who took part in the efforts to save pet animals following the devastion caused by Hurricane Katrina. She documents the huge suffering and loss of life which took place in livestock and research animal facilities and which received very little media coverage and argues that we should be pressing for effective risk reduction efforts for these animals. Intensively farmed animals are often much more vulnerable in emergency situations than dogs, cats or horses because they are closely confined and unable to make any efforts to save themselves. Leslie Irvine argues that emergency preparation should be part of welfare standards for farm assurance schemes for food production animals and of animal care and use standards for animals used in scientific research. This is an important book which should be on the shelves of anyone involved in campaigning for improved conditions for animals.

Incidentally, anyone interested can view the emergency preparedness sections which are part of the Freedom Food welfare standards.

Rejoicing over shop slightly premature

As we weren't allowed to transfer the initial rent payment at the same time as paying the rent deposit and paying for the fixtures & fittings, I'd rather hoped we would be able to pay the landlord by cheque, which is a straightforward process that can be done by post.

Sadly, like everything involved in the never-ending Burleigh Street Shop saga, that would be too easy, so Kit and Janine will be turning up in person to initiate the payment at the branch of Cambs. Building Society which opens on Sundays.

With any luck this will be the absolutely final step before we can get the keys and we will be able to make a start on cleaning and decorating next week.

The banner above is Andrew's absolutely inspired design for the shop frontage. Note that the phone number is only a dummy as we've not got a line installed yet.

If you are interested in volunteering to help with setting up the shop, please ask Andrew or Ffiona at 188 Mill Road. If you would like to drop off donated goods by car there is vehicle access and a parking space at the back of the shop from Paradise street, but for the moment, please still take donations intended for 61 Burleigh street to 188 Mill road as we'd like to do a thorough clean before moving in any stock.

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Careers working with animals

This is something we're often asked about, and the truthful answer is that most animal-related work is fairly poorly paid and there is a lot of competition for the available posts. There is now a government-sponsored website: CAVE (Courses in Animal and Veterinary Education) which has been developed as a resource to offer information about courses and careers related to working with animals. If you are thinking of a career working with animals, the section of case studies where a variety of individuals tell their own stories about what their careers really involve may help you to make up your mind.

Rescue Me: My Life with the Battersea Dogs

Rescue Me: by Melissa Wareham is an inside account of working at Battersea Dogs Home. It's extremely readable, and also a very useful explanation of many aspects of animal rescue work which can lead to friction with members of the public. The prospective adopter who was "turned down" after regaling staff with the disaster of her dog owning history (dogs variously lost, confiscated by police etc.). The elderly gentleman with slightly sub-standard housekeeping skills but endless devotion to his dogs who was accepted with open arms. The offended couple who really couldn't in conscience be allowed a Battersea dog because both were at work all day. All of these will be familiar to anyone who has been involved in rehoming dogs, and Melissa Wareham explains why dog rescue organisations make the decisions they do.

Battersea is possibly the only completely open-access rescue centre in England and they manage to combine this with a strict policy that they do not put down dogs unless hopelessly ill, injured or dangerous.

Harry Potter Books at 188 Mill Road

Heffers books generously donated a stock of Harry Potter books to us when they closed their old shop in the Grafton Centre. If you've seen the film and now want to buy the book, why not support us at the same time? If you don't live in Cambridge, you can also buy online.

Update on new charity shop - FINALLY!

Claire and I signed the last batch of papers yesterday and Kit transferred the payment over to our solicitors' account so it really looks as though light is finally appearing at the end of the tunnel. The last-minute hitch turns on our potential liability for the rent increase which would have been paid by the people selling the lease during 2008 if the landlord hadn't delayed reviewing the rent until the year end.

It seems crazy, but February 2008 was the review date specified in the terms of the lease, so the tenants are liable to pay the increase for the whole period even though the landlord didn't set the new rent until nearly a year later. If we don't ensure that arrangements have been made before we finally complete the lease purchase we could become liable to pay it.

Fortunately our solicitors seem to be confident that the sellers will lodge the payment with their solicitors without more delay because they're wasting money paying rent all the time that nothing is progressing and they must be as anxious to see an end as we are.

We're now very tentatively thinking of 21st August as the target opening date, and starting to order equipment. The basement at 188 is full-to-bursting with wonderful donated stock, so as soon as we have the keys it will be a frenzy of activity.

The shop will need lots of volunteers to give it a good clean before we can start setting up. If you could spare a few hours in the next month, please email camshop@rspcabookshop.co.uk

Missing Cat

Last seen Tuesday 7th July.

Intact male, Wears a blue collar and red name tag, answers to the name of Dexter and is very vocal. Went missing from Moor Close area of Little Shelford.

Please if you have any information as to his whereabouts or have seen him please call the number below. He is much loved and much missed.

Any information, please email Lorna webbl@rsc.org

Please sign the petition for effective regulation of greyhound racing

We believe that large numbers of racing greyhounds are suffering every year because of a lack of effective regulation. Now we have the chance to protect them for the whole of their lives. But that chance expires in just a few days, on 22nd July.

The RSPCA has set the target to get at least 20,000 people to send a letter to the government by 22nd July to push them to introduce special legislation for racing greyhounds under the Animal Welfare Act. After that, the consultation period closes for good.

Take Action Now and visit www.giveanimalsavoice.org.uk/greyhounds

If we lose the race, so do greyhounds.

Every year at least 10,000 greyhounds are retired from racing. The fate of many of these greyhounds is unknown and huge numbers simply 'disappear'.

Show the Government that people care about greyhounds.

We need the Government to know that the public is unhappy about the uncertainty around racing greyhounds.

We need them to know that thousands of people support legislation that will protect each and every racing greyhound, by law, from cradle to grave.

And we need to let them know by 22nd July so that we don't miss our chance. Please sign the campaign letter now, then forward this email on to other animal lovers so we can reach as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.

Visit www.giveanimalsavoice.org.uk/greyhounds to join the most important greyhound race
of all.

It's the one they can't afford to lose.

Stall at "Summer in the City" Big Weekend

Sat 11 Jul Sun 12 Jul 2009 12 pm - 6pm

Parkers Piece, Cambridge (map)

We'll be having a second-hand book stall on Parkers Piece as part of Cambridge's "Big Weekend"
Please look out for us. Lots of bargains! We also need volunteer helpers. Email camshop@rspcabookshop.co.uk if you might be able to help for a few hours. We particularly need drivers to ferry books from our shop to Parkers Piece and strong people to help with setting up and clearing the stall.

Missing dog

Waiting their turn at the clinic on Saturday

Very busy Saturday (which was why Nicola ended up waiting so long with Neville.) The pic shows Izzy the lurcher, back in for a re-check of the surgery on her neck. She's lucky to be alive as her jugular vein was punctured when another dog attacked her (hence dramatic pink bandages round her throat). Nice to see her looking so well now.

Stray cats again

Neville's a perfect example of why a rule that we should try to treat sick stray cats for at least seven days before giving up is worth having even if most of them aren't claimed by their owners. He was taken to the vets in Soham late Tuesday last week, at which point he was very thin, vomited any food he was offered, and was dehydrated. They examined him and thought he was probably a very old, hyperthyroid cat whose kidneys were failing. Over the Wednesday he got worse and stopped showing any interest in food. They tested him for kidney failure and for hyperthyroidism and FIV/FeLV, none of which came back positive, but it really didn't look as if he was going to "do".

We didn't have a volunteer driver available to transfer him to the RSPCA clinic on Thursday, so I asked them to put him on a drip to try to keep him going until Saturday - the next available clinic session.

Over the Thursday he perked up, started eating and keeping it down, and by Saturday (after poor Nicola had queued for nearly 3 hours with him), the University vet's opinion was that he'd almost certainly been trapped somewhere without food or water (which would cause the dehydration and vomiting because his gut couldn't cope with suddenly being fed again). The irritating thing about this was that he probably didn't need to be seen at the clinic at all & it would have been a lot simpler for Nicola to take him straight to the kennels - but there you are.

I've now got him at home, eating six meals a day until he's back to normal weight.

He's probably only three or four years old, and the moral of this story is that, if we'd been very pressed for funds, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for us to put down a very elderly, very sick stray, and even if we'd asked to wait the seven days, the vet might have decided to save our money by not recommending a drip.

When they're treating owned animals, vets are working with some knowledge of an animal's previous history; at least a vague idea of actual age and anything unusual that led up to the illness. The strays we take in have to be treated "blind" with nothing but the visible signs.

If you live in Soham and lost a black cat with a white star on his chest several weeks ago, Neville may be your cat.

Lessons Learned

Firstly I should stress that the following are my own thoughts about the distressing case of Luna, reported to the RSPCA as an injured stray and subsequently put to sleep because there was no available holding accommodation for her. I am sure HQ will be holding their own review and seeing what changes should/can be made.

On policy:

1. The current policy that we will not normally remove healthy adult stray cats from their current location needs to be re-affirmed.
2. We need to clarify that cats who are reported to be sick or injured, but are found on capture to be perfectly well will be returned to their original location.
3. The 7 day holding period for sick or injured stray animals who are not homeable, but don't need immediate euthanasia on welfare grounds needs to be added to the branch Minimum Animal Welfare Standards and made mandatory.

On practical issues:

1. We need to recruit more foster carers as a cost-effective way of increasing holding spaces for animals.
2. We need to plan what can be done in a situation where no kennel or foster space is available or the animal is not suitable to go to a foster home. This will cost money. Usually the only solution at weekends would be to transfer the animal to the veterinary surgery which is providing 24 hour cover for the district. Reasonably enough they will charge a substantial amount if an animal has to take up an expensive emergency care place.

Education

1. Microchip identification is not perfect, but the more we can encourage, the better the chance that a cat picked up as an injured stray will be reunited speedily with her owners. It's particularly important to chip cats who have some disability or condition which makes them likely to be reported as sick or injured (for example a permanently stiff leg following an injury).
2. Educate the public that a cat in good body condition, with no obvious injuries or illness, who is "hanging around" is normally perfectly capable of returning home without help.
3. Educate vets that we're not simply "putting off the decision" if we ask for an obviously terminally ill stray to be held the full 7 days so long as it can be kept pain-free.
4. Educate branch members and volunteers that when they signed up to the RSPCA they effectively signed up to an open-ended responsibility for animals collected by ACOs.

The most practically problematic of these is likely to be number 2 of the first group. Legally we probably can't insist that a cat removed from a particular garden is returned there if the owner of the garden refuses permission. Returning as close as possible to the original site is probably the best that can be guaranteed, so once an animal has been collected it's probably safer held until claimed by an owner if it can't be returned to the exact site.

Number 4 of the last group is a real consideration. The RSPCA is an extremely complex organisation dealing with issues that would take several inch-thick manuals to describe properly. Normal people don't, won't and can't assimilate anything like this before they join up as helpers and this does mean that quite a lot of the time they're being asked to do something and really don't know why — or at least not why it's their responsibility when they're already doing as much as they're comfortable with and they're genuinely short of funds.

The money aspect is a genuine consideration. Money spent keeping an unhomeable cat for 7 days is money that's not available to help with another animal's veterinary treatment.

Further thought

I think we should ban the phrase, "he'll find his way home" when we're talking to the public about cats they want to report as strays, because it implies that the cat is lost and has to search for home. I don't have to find my way home from the shops — I know the route, and so does the average cat who's visiting a garden a few doors down.