Topic: Thorneywood Persian rescue may close down, please help ! (Read 9873 times)

maryas · « **Reply #24 on:** May 21, 2012, 16:27:49 PM »

I do home checks for my local RSPCA rescue and re-homing centre. I attended a 3 1/2 hours course. Really enjoyed the course and love doing it. As I said in my earlier post on this thread I too think there are people out there that would want to do it and if they saw adverts in vets or post offices or newsagents etc. would apply to help out.

Mary

sheilarose · « **Reply #23 on:** May 20, 2012, 23:40:44 PM »

Just seen this. I'm miles away too so am pretty useless for Pauline, but I have a question about home checking...well.... what exactly do you need to know to undertake homechecks?

I'm a confident, streetwise woman with independent transport and would be willing to help my local rescues by doing home checks, but isn't there some kind of training I would need to go through before I took this on?

Where do I go and who do I speak to about this? Is there a support network - people to tell where I'm going, and when, and to check back in with when I'm finished? Or is it all based on trust (this is the bit that worries me - East London can be a nasty place).

If I'm struggling with the answers, you can bet there are others out there (perhaps in Thorneywood's catchment area) who are thinking the same thing?

thekittensmittens · « **Reply #22 on:** May 18, 2012, 00:10:04 AM »

can they register on do it.org as looking for volunteers? lots like pdsa do

babyloveya3 · « **Reply #21 on:** May 17, 2012, 20:34:56 PM »

Everyone I am already registered with support adoption for pets but will look in to the internet phone it sounds a good idea

Angiew · « **Reply #20 on:** May 17, 2012, 17:28:34 PM »

Quote from: maryas on May 17, 2012, 13:29:01 PM

Angie's idea of the internet phone sounds good and you know how you love your gadgets Gill, you could help Pauline set it up

Mary

and then tell us how to do it properly!

bunglycat · « **Reply #19 on:** May 17, 2012, 17:19:11 PM »

Thanks everyone , will pass it all on to Pauline .
She does check so much herself and does ring the potential adopters vet as well .

Liz · « **Reply #18 on:** May 17, 2012, 14:32:51 PM »

RHU does have a lot of requests but most are done by folks who have a network of folks and all have been homechecked themselves before they get to do anything

I am a homechecker for dogs on RHU for this area!!!

Angiew · « **Reply #17 on:** May 17, 2012, 14:08:14 PM »

also does rescuhelpersunite have lots of requests for home visits?

as we know, home visits by 3rd parties are not always reliable. we normally home locally but in the past, on the odd occaision of homing further afield we have always asked for a vet reference or arranged a talk to the vet practise on phone. In my book, thats a lot more reliable than getting someone you've not met to do a home visit. or of course a local rescue may be willing to help if contacted.

and thats not forgetting google earth which is the very first tool!

maryas · « **Reply #16 on:** May 17, 2012, 13:29:01 PM »

Angie's idea of the internet phone sounds good and you know how you love your gadgets Gill, you could help Pauline set it up

Mary

Dawn F · « **Reply #15 on:** May 17, 2012, 13:14:24 PM »

so her rehoming isn't necessarily in Nottingham?

Angiew · « **Reply #14 on:** May 17, 2012, 13:01:02 PM »

Phone calls - in order for Judith to co-ordinate we changed the cat phone to an internet phone (keeping the number!). we have to pay a bit for it and judith is happy to man our helpline.

The reason i mention it, is because there are advantages in using an internet phone provider.

The phones can be diverted almost immediately to another line via their website, so it is easy to put someone else in charge of taking calls. If the call is missed then the system will record the meassage and email it to whoever you want. And of course you can set it up to just record and email. That might be an option for her to consider as it can make life a lot easier if you want it to. the company is called alexvoip if you want to have a quick look.

We also use a internet company that provide a free online form service. people who want to adopt a cat are asked to fill that in and again the thing can be set up so that the form is emailed to whoever. It also means that you get some of the basic details you need when considering adoption. the site is called 123forms.
Again, it may make it easier for someone else to help co-ordinate and organise for her remotely. if you go to our home page that features daisy and try the email homing co-ordinator link you will see what our form looks like ( http://www.coventrycatgroup.org.uk/ )- there is a restriction on the number of fields a form can have and the number of submissions per month but as we are below it is entirely free. Again it can be configured to send the details to one or more email addresses. (For us currently Judith).

By using some of the tecgnology out there, once the hassle of setting up is overcome, it may be possible to make life a bit easier (certainly a whole lot more flexible!). It can also enable people to offer help who are less local.

bunglycat · « **Reply #13 on:** May 17, 2012, 12:22:09 PM »

I think it's the physical help and home checks that's the problem. People keep letting her down especially with the home checks.
She lives in Nottingham and some home checks are down south and with her health she can't drive 100s of miles to do them , she does a lot of local ones .
Also the phone is ringing constantly for her to take cats in , people complaining and giving her abuse if she can't take them , and people keep asking about the cats and wanting them and then having a go at her when she can't get the home checks done.

She won't come back on here due to a certain person having a go at her for the fact she mainly takes pedigree cats and then it all got an nasty and she left Purrs.

Liz · « **Reply #12 on:** May 17, 2012, 11:50:31 AM »

Found this maybe worth a look and may ease some of the pressure with the food bill

http://www.supportadoptionforpets.co.uk/how-we-can-help

thekittensmittens · « **Reply #11 on:** May 17, 2012, 01:41:04 AM »

It is such a shame im not closer as a persian rescue is just something i would love to be involved with. i love all the grooming etc ...i hope we can get some help..i know at my daughters college the animal care students are allways in need of placements but again wrong area

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #10 on:** May 17, 2012, 00:20:13 AM »

Nowhere near me either I'm afraid

How about an advert on a pet shop noticeboard? That way any prospective candidates would be animal lovers. I really hope she gets the support she needs, just from reading on here alone you can see rescue is hard enough without being totally on your own

Angiew · « **Reply #9 on:** May 17, 2012, 00:00:28 AM »

I'm afraid this is going to be a common problem for small rescues in the future. There seems to be a complete lack of volunteers coming "up through the ranks" and current rescuers are getting older and more tired.

Whether its due to people having to work harder to survive or selfishness or disinterest in animal welfare or whatever, and I'm not accusing or being judgemental here.

The generation above me kept going until they dropped or got to their mid-80's.

I can't speak for others in the group, but I really don't want to be doing this that long, though I think the dropping option is more likely in my case.

As well as educating school children about animal welfare we should be trying to get them interested in this side of things. I say 'we' but again its something that is not done for lack of time. With good young'uns on board, perhaps in between education and work they might want to get more hands on.

I'm sorry Thorneywood are struggling so much and I hope they manage to get some help.

maryas · « **Reply #8 on:** May 16, 2012, 23:45:55 PM »

Pauline does such a brilliant job on her own and it's a shame she has nobody just willing to take the time to help.

If there are any vets or pet shops nearby maybe she could put an advert in their window/notice board asking for people to do the home visits. When I do them for the RSPCA people are always saying that they wished they had the time to do it or know someone who would like to do it. If the advert is staring them in the face she might get a phone call off someone. Even if they can only do 1 now and again it's a big help.

Good luck to her.

Mary

mad_lilli · « **Reply #7 on:** May 16, 2012, 20:46:55 PM »

Unfortunately its nowhere near me or I would have loved to help out. I do hope something comes along to prevent the closure. X

Liz · « **Reply #6 on:** May 16, 2012, 20:21:05 PM »

Does she have any colleges nearby doing animal care qualifications she could contact them and offer the cats as a practical skill set

Can she link up with the likes of Kelly Joys team who are reliable and are vetted homecheckers, can she get help from any CP branch or other local rescues for homechecks

bunglycat · « **Reply #5 on:** May 16, 2012, 20:06:45 PM »

At the moment she is adamant, but still hoping to change her mind!
You can contact her through the website if you want to donate , but in all honesty I think it's the physical help she needs as much.
Thank you .
It's Thorneywood cat rescue .

cazzer · « **Reply #4 on:** May 16, 2012, 20:03:37 PM »

it would be a crying shame if it does close. Sadly i think I'm too far away to be able to do home checks and in any event don't have any transport so it would be difficult. Hoping that something can be sorted for her though

angelinajolly · « **Reply #3 on:** May 16, 2012, 19:43:10 PM »

Are there any other way's we can help, donations etc?

bunglycat · « **Reply #2 on:** May 16, 2012, 19:36:26 PM »

No comments ?

bunglycat · « **Reply #1 on:** May 16, 2012, 14:07:10 PM »

Pauline runs this rescue on her own entirely ,she is not in good health and constantly in pain .
She is completely full up , but is being let down by people promising to do home checks then not going or even letting her know what's happening .
She is having calls from people complaining they are still waiting for a home check and then some of the cats that have potential homes can't go until the home check has been done .
This is a fantastic rescue and really doesn't need to close , but with all the emails ,constant phone calls and all the cats to look after on her own is just getting on top of her .
I don't think it would be so bad if she could get reliable people that actually did the home checks when the do volunteer and let Pauline know what's happening.
Please if anyone can help , get in touch and otherwise more cats are going to suffer with nowhere to go .
It's mainly Persians and there is a lot of work involved and she has had some really bad. Axes in.
One after being shaved ,had all gangrene in leg and skin had come off, one after being shaved had a piece of wood well embedded in its skin and had been there for god knows how long.
That's just. 2 examples .
If anyone can help , please contact the website Thorneywood cat rescue, or pm me for more details / Pauline's phone number.
Please don't let this happen .
Thank you

Author Topic: Thorneywood Persian rescue may close down, please help ! (Read 9873 times)