Woodside RSPCA

On Saturday the 23rd of February, I decided to go to the RSPCA animal rescue centre on Scudamore road to write a feature about a few of the dogs that they had there. Recently, the RSPCA have been working very hard to fight deliberate animal cruelty, as the number of animal cruelty cases rose by a shocking 50% just between 2004 and 2005. On top of all the animals suffering neglect, abuse and misuse there were also many strays and dogs that had been given up, or who's owners had died leaving them to fend for themselves.

I always find kennels an upsetting scene; all of the dogs in the shelter just wanted a fuss and a loving new home, and you always feel guilty when passing by the kennels knowing that you cant take any of them home with you. All of the dogs have their own stories, none of them happy or pleasant; all that you can do is hope that their new home is not far away, and picture them happy and loved with their new families.

As I was walking past the kennels, the first dog that I noticed was an Old English/Collie cross called Bonnie. She really looked like she had been through the wars; her back was covered in scars and much of her hair was missing; I read her information leaflet and found out that she was a neglect case. Her previous owners had let her hair get so matted that they had to shave it off after her rescue. When they did this, to everyone's horror, there were many maggots under her shell of matted hair eating away at her skin. A member of staff told me that the scars would probably never fully recover, and because of this not many people would be willing to provide her with a new home. I found this quite upsetting, because she seemed to be a very well behaved, quiet yet affectionate dog.

I moved on to the next kennel that caught my eye; it belonged to a female tan Staffordshire Bull terrier called Cassie. This was not the first time I'd seen her - I recognised her from quite a few months ago when I last went to the RSPCA. I thought it seemed like an awful long time for a bouncy, friendly, relatively popular breed of dog to stay at the RSPCA shelter without being adopted, then read that she had been back two times since the first time I had met her! When she was brought in for the first time she was put down as a stray; it was similar the second time, but her owner was found. They did, however, refuse to reclaim her so she went to another new home. The third time, she was given back to the shelter because she had been destructive and chewed the kitchen surfaces, and could also be very hyperactive. She needs a new home where she can stay forever - she's a very loving and playful dog!

After seeing Cassie, I noticed a German Shepherd in isolation with seriously bad hair loss and scarring all over the body. A member of staff told me that this Shepherd was a female called Ivy, who had arrived at the shelter on the 16th of December 2007 after being found tied to a tree. On collection she was almost completely bald due to a serious case of mange, and so had no protection against the harsh winter cold. She also had very long claws and many other traits that can only be put down to neglect. She has obviously never had a loving family and is not toilet trained but is sweet, friendly, loving and non-destructive. She is still in isolation and will be for a while, but it is in my best interest that when she recovers, she finds a home that could give her enough love to replace the years she's been without it, as she deserves it and is bound to return it!

- Report by Shinyshelgon