Pets in Spain

Pets In Spain are pleaing to anyone that can help and offer support for this upsetting time.

These pictures show the same horse that sue jenkins bought from the stud.

A rescue mission is being launched for the starving horses in the Spanish town of Medina Sidonia by a Herefordshire breeder who bred a number of Sue Jenkins horses.

Sixteen out of 50 pure-bred Trakehners have died from neglect on the farm owned by Sue Jenkins in Medina Sidonia.

Marleen Fewtrell owner of Singing Stud in Herefordshire which bred many of the horses involed in this cruety case were reported to a local animal welfare group as being severely under-nourished.

She still owns a significant number of the beleaguered Trakehners and is to travel immediately to the Andalucian town to try to retrieve the horses she once knew.

Sue Attew, also owner of Holme Park Stud in Bedfordshire, who also bred some of the horses, has started a fund to save them.
She said: “We’ve received hundreds of emails of support offering homes for the horses and we’ve started a fund to support CACMA, the Spanish animal welfare group that is trying to keep the horses alive.

“Sue Jenkins is allowing a vet in but no one else, so it’s very difficult. Everyone is walking on eggshells as there’s no RSPCA here in Spain and Andalucian law requires the horses put down if the authorities have to remove them.”

Sue Jenkins is already being prosecuted by the RSPCA for cruelty to horses and is due in court in Gloucester in October.

Sue Attew also said “We sold several horses some years ago to The Singing Stud for their breeding herd and they have onward sold a number of our “babies” in a large batch of horses to Sue Jenkins about 3 years ago who at the time she lived in Gloucestershire.  She subsequently moved all the horses to Spain where this dreadful neglect has happened.”

“We have been in tears about this dreadful suffering and are trying to make contact to see if we can bring any surviving Holme Trakehners in the group back to UK and nurse them back to health.”

“I am informed by Marleen that the Spanish authorities will not release any of the horses to return to UK.  The ILPH and RSPCA are involved and the biggest thing they need to secure is that the Spanish authorities will allow the surviving horses to live as the normal procedure in cases like this is to put all the horses to sleep!  When I get more news I will let you know.”

She also wants to say “thank you so much to everyone who has emailed me with offers of support including offers to transport horses or give them a home.  Believe me if there is anything that can be done we will do it.”

She added “For those of you out there who wish to help we would appeal to you to send a donation.  Every pound will help !  If you are not sure how to transfer just a small amount , I know it would be easier for you to transfer funds to a UK account and I am therefore in the process of trying to set up a charitable account in UK with LLoyds TSB and will hope to publish the bank details very shortly.”

“If we are successful in getting the horses returned to the UK (Have no idea how long this will take or even when the horses would be well enough to travel)  the next project will be to find loving homes for the horses where they can be cared for and returned to full health.  This re-homing will probably be done under the control of the RSPCA but this is all still in negotiation.”

If you wish to send your comments or offers of support then please email Sue at SusanAttew@holmetrakehners.com

For more information on this horrific matter go to: www.holmetrakehners.com

A five year old boy was attacked early Saturday night in the garden of his home in Urbanisation La Alquería, Alhaurín de la Torre, by a dog. The rottweiler which was loose with another dog, bit the child’s face, legs, back and even his neck.

The child’s father heard the noise and managed to get the dog off and call the ambulance which took the little boy to the Materno Infantil Hospital in Málaga.  Málaga Hoy newspaper says he is in a stable condition.

The child is now in the Materno Infantil Hospital in Málaga recovering from the attack.

The Cats Sense

-Cats are said to have a sense of smell that is 30 times better than humans.

-Cats enjoy the smell, and the effects, of catnip, but only if they’ve inherited the gene for it. For other cats, the smell may be intriguing, but catnip will have no effect.

-Cats are born with their sense of smell functioning, and it is highly developed by about three weeks of age.

-Their sense of smell means that felines are extremely sensitive to tainted food, and perhaps this has contributed to their finicky reputation. Cats are hunters, and in the wild, would rarely eat stale meat.

The Cats Sight

-The night vision of the feline is legendary. In order to see, they need only one-sixth as much light as a human. They cannot, however, see in total darkness. When enough light is not available, they use their whiskers to feel their way around.

-Your kitty’s eyes offer her almost 285 degrees of sight in three dimensions. Ideal peripheral vision for hunting.

-Cats do see in color, and can distinguish yellow, blue, and green hues. Their eyes are best, however, at detecting movement, and shades of grey.

-The feline eye has a third eyelid. Called the nictating membrane, or haw, it is designed to remove dust and dirt, and lubricate the eye. If there is illness or injury, the haw will show. Ironically, content and sleepy cats have been known to show haws as well.

Pet owners from all over the world are feeding their animals an astonishing diet of junk food, including scones, chocolate, pizza and burgers, a charity has revealed.

We want to warm people that the trend is fuelling an epidemic of over-sized pets, ranging from dogs and cats to hamsters, gerbils, rats, rabbits and budgies. The charity estimated that over the past year alone there has been a 10 per cent rise in the number of overweight animals - weighing in at half a million pets.

Animals that pile on weight are increasingly suffering from diseases associated with obesity in humans: from poor energy levels and breathing problems to painful and sometimes fatal illnesses such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes, liver and heart disease and breeding problems.

Some of the most common problems are fatty and sugary human treats such as cheese, chips, scones and avocado.

Pets are often being fed by several different family members with people underestimating how big a ’small’ treat should be for a smaller-than-human sized animal: A single biscuit is like a packet of biscuits, or a single crisp is like a packet of crisps.

Some foods also contain substances that are safe for humans but dangerous for animals: chocolate has a stimulant called theobromine, which can cause heart failure in dogs and avocados contain persin, which can cause heart failure in small rodents and stomach upsets for cats and dogs. Many pet owners are ‘literally killing their pets with their kindness’.

One report from an inspector found a dog so grossly fat that it could not move out of its own urine. The owner, a pensioner, was banned from keeping pets for life after admitting cruelty for overfeeding his dog with a diet that included cooked English breakfasts. Then there was a 10-year-old cat called Ginger that was so fat she could not get through a cat-flap.

The Guinness Book of Records has also dropped listings of heaviest animals because of fears that owners were deliberately overfeeding pets to qualify.

If you think your pet is overweight you should take your pet to the vet for a check-up in case there is a medical problem and seek advice on a diet and more exercise.

The best treats for animals involved attention - from a walk in the park for a dog to playing with a cat. If owners really wanted to treat their pets with food, they should reduce their main meal and use the same dog food as treats.

There has been three new bird flu stories that are in the headlines. While a terror attack is considered more likely, it is believed that a flu pandemic would have a greater impact, killing up to 750,000 people in the UK alone. Experts say that a worldwide flu pandemic is now overdue and could come either from a mutation of a normal human virus or a bird flu.

A reminder comes from Indonesia, which this week has suffered another outbreak of bird flu. One person – the country’s 137th victim – has succumbed to the disease.

Also a Suffolk chicken farmer, who was at the centre of a flu outbreak in November is in court today, charged with illegally moving and storing poultry carcasses during the crisis. His actions – including a reported lack of biosecurity – are alleged to have helped the spread of the virus from farm to farm, and led to the culling of more birds.

In its natural state, the influenza virus has existed for millions of years as a harmless, intestinal infection of aquatic birds such as ducks and swans. In poultry, bird flu has gone from a rare disease that occurs once a year to a far more lethal condition that is striking more and more frequently. Broiler sheds are perfect breeding grounds for the new, deadly viral strains and there are any number of ways that they can spread across countries and continents – not least through transportation of chicks and poults, poultry products, feed and equipment.

We are campaigning to get people to have their pets fitted with a microchip to cut down on the number of strays.

Placing a microchip in your dog or cat, can essentially save his or her life. A microchip is simply a small chip, that is painlessly inserted under the skin, between the shoulder blades, most commonly in dogs and cats.

It is now common practice for animal shelters and police to scan each stray pet that comes through their doors. Countless animals have been returned to their owners through this process. These pets would have otherwise only been kenneled for a limited number of hours. Some shelters only hold a stray pet for 72 hours before they euthanasia them. The shelters just do not have the funds, nor the space, available to hold pets longer. I think many people are unaware of how little time these dogs and cats are given.

As an ex-veterinary nurse, I have seen first hand the number of dogs euthanized every week. Pets that had to have been somebody’s pet. We have seen purebred dogs and cats with collars on, but no ID tags. (Don’t think your dog’s id tag is enough, those often times come loose and fall off). It is a devastating number, but it is a number that with some effort, we can reduce.