Middlesex NW & S Hertfordshire Branch - Charity No 208331 - RSPCA Middlesex
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Middlesex NW & S Hertfordshire Branch
Charity No 208331
SUMMER 2021 NEWSLETTER
We started 2021 back in lockdown with our shops closed for
nearly four months, but we've bounced back thanks to our
fabulous supporters, volunteers and staff, and have plenty of news
to share. Most excitingly, we finally opened our own small cattery,
which is currently full with everyone from kittens to elderly street cats.
We've recently had an explosion of rabbits with 25 currently in our care,
and we've continued rescuing and rehoming throughout lockdown, helping
hundreds of local animals.
Welcome to our Cat Cave!
After many years wanting our own cattery, we were
fortunate enough earlier this year to find a suitable
12 pen unit. With support from the HQ licensing
team we were able to welcome our first guests in
April, now affectionately known as the 'Cat Cave'.
Our generous supporters donated the funds
needed to upgrade the pens, install heaters and
lighting, and kindly bought the cats everything
from cosy bedding, toys, scratching trees, and even
pots of home grown cat grass!
Our daily socialising volunteers keep the cats
entertained each day, getting them used to people,
and playing with those who crave attention whilst
waiting to be adopted.
Norma, a pretty but very grumpy stray
Chinchilla cross, was one of our first
guests. Numbers soon grew when she
gave birth to two kittens Ned and Nora.
The kittens are now bouncing around in
their foster home until they are old
enough to be adopted. And in the
meantime, our socialisers are helping
Norma work on her 'bad manners' while
she is waiting to find a forever loving
home.
BUNNIES GALORE Meet Paddy, Shamrock, Guinness, Celtic, Emerald and Blarney. Just 6 of the 25 rabbits currently in our care. Most were born to unsuspecting owners whose rabbits weren't neutered. Overnight they find their rabbit family suddenly grows from two to ten! Rabbits can breed from three months old and can have up to 11-12 litters each year so its vital to get your bunnies neutered. If you could give a loving home to a pair of rabbits, visit https://cutt.ly/Xm9srl7 SAVED FROM THE STREETS Percy, O'Malley and Joey are just three of the older street cats we've rescued this year. Straying for a long time, they were all looking pretty sorry for themselves and had a range of medical issues. O'Malley had a dental to sort out sore teeth, and both he and Joey have FIV so will need a spacious indoor home. Joey and O'Malley quickly became firm friends and are looking for a new home together. Despite their age and issues, we ensure they get all the treatment they need, before beginning the often lengthy socialising process to help them trust people again and find them a new forever loving home. If you would like to help more cats like Percy, O'Malley and Joey, you can donate to our Street Cats Appeal at https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/14141
CAT CHASE
Our new animal welfare officer was thrown
in at the deep end trying to catch a group
of six cats after receiving a call from a
member of the public concerned about
their welfare. We discovered the cats were
owned but soon realised the owner was
struggling with their care and they were
mainly living outside, and the owner
agreed the best option was to sign them
over in to our care.
Catching them proved fun, we managed to
get five relatively quickly but the final one
took another five weeks to track down!
Thankfully the cats weren’t in too bad
condition, and after a full health check,
neutering and vaccinations, two quickly
found their forever homes. The remainder
are very shy so we are building their
confidence around humans, food definitely
seems to be helping! We’re hoping they
will be off to a new home soon.
Like many businesses
OUR SHOPS & EBAY
we suffer from a lack
Our shops, which are our main of storage and space
source of income, finally reopened at most of our sites.
in April. We were overwhelmed by Superheroes Shurgard stepped in to help us
the generosity of our supporters with six months free storage in their Ruislip
who had been clearing their houses store. This has meant we have been able to
and donated lots of items. During store out of season products and will have
lockdown we set up our ebay plenty of lovely goods to sell come the Autumn.
operation and that continues
alongside the shops. Some of the A very big thanks to the Shurgard team!
more interesting donations have
included a 7 foot sushi table, a
church hymn board and a
Grenadier guards ceremonial tunic.
You can visit our shops in Watford,
Rickmansworth, Eastcote, Ruislip,
Ruislip Manor, Pinner and Kenton
or our ebay store by visiting
ebay.co.uk and search RSPCA
Middlesex.
OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS
OUR VOLUNTEERS OUR CORPORATE SUPPORTERS
We celebrated National Volunteers Week
(1-7 June), and the invaluable contribution
that volunteers make to our Branch, by
featuring a different volunteer role each
day and many of the personalities.
We are incredibly grateful to Pets
Barbara has been a at Home in Ruislip and the Pets at Home
volunteer in our Foundation. As Charity of the Year, we
Watford shop for five benefit from financial support, vouchers
years. "I wanted to to use in-store, and regular supplies of
volunteer after I retired food, litter and bedding.
from my last
employment. It had to This year, we were very fortunate to be
be an animal rescue awarded a grant for £11,000 to
charity. What I enjoy contribute to our vet bills. Our street
most about working cats Percy, O'Malley and Joey can run up
in the shop (apart vet bills of hundreds of pounds and are
from dealing with the typical of the types of cats who come
books) is the companionship and working into our care. This generous grant
with a great team of wonderful people." makes a huge difference to our Branch
and means that more animals can get
We have a range of roles available in both the care and treatment they need.
retail and animal welfare, so if you can
spare a few hours each week, then we'd “RSPCA Middlesex North West & South
love you to join us. We're also looking for a Hertfordshire is a worthy recipient of our
trustee with a background in fundraising to grant. The funds will allow the rescue
join our board. Find out more about our centre team to continue their excellent
volunteering opportunities at www.rspca- work with the pets in their care, and
middlesex.org.uk/volunteer help to pay for the ongoing vet bills
which make an incredible difference to
OUR FUNDRAISERS the rescue pets’ quality of life before
they are adopted and rehomed. RSPCA
On Sunday 3rd October,
Middlesex North West & South
Luke, Jo and Jose are
Hertfordshire is also partnered with the
running the gruelling
Ruislip Pets at Home store through our
26.2 miles of the London
annual Charity of the Year programme,
Marathon to raise money
which helps maintain a stream of
for us. They have been
donations from the charity and local
training hard through all
community all year round.”
weathers and we will
Amy Angus, Pets at Home Foundation
continue to report their
charity manager.
progress on our
Facebook page.
You can sponsor them at
https://cutt.ly/tm9s2TA
ABOUT US
As an independent branch of the RSPCA, we are responsible for raising all of our own
funds. So far in 2021 we have rescued and rehomed 102 animals, including Tim the
budgie (below). We have supported a further 150 animals to stay healthy with their
owners and get the medical care they needed through our voucher assistance scheme.
We can have upwards of 130
animals in our care at any one time.
In the last year we have spent over
£40,000 on veterinary care for our
rescued animals, covering
everything from routine neutering,
dental work and vaccinations, to
major life saving operations. Food,
care and accommodation was a
further £70,000.
We raise this money through our
shops, our adoption fees, at events,
and through the generosity of our
donors.
GIFT IN WILL
One of the ways in which you can
support us is to consider leaving us a gift SUPPORT US
in your will. There are so many ways in which you can
support us.
We are in the process of partnering with
two will writing companies who can By making a regular or one-off
assist with preparing a will. For more donation either online, by cheque to
information you can call us on 0208 966 114 Field End Rd, Eastcote, HA5 1RL or
9688 or visit https://www.rspca- in any of our shops.
middlesex.org.uk/support-us/gifts-in- Try out one of our easy fundraising
wills/ ideas
Every time you shop online at a whole
range of retailers
Consider leaving us a Gift in Your Will
Donate your good quality unwanted
items to any of our shops
And best of all, for every donation you
Gift Aid, we will receive an additional
25% at no cost to you
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