Animal Highlights:
Tiny Triumphs: Chihuahuas get a new start!
After things got out of control for one Devon resident with their chihuahuas, we worked with them to help find homes for most of the dogs in the home, which numbered around forty, and helped with neutering arrangements for those remaining at the property.
Ducky found his purrfect match
Ducky came into our care needing eye surgery, which was successful. However, with some specific requirements on his list for his new home, Ducky was taking his time choosing his purrfect people. We were delighted to wave him off to enjoy the rest of his life with a lovely couple, who we understand he has trained exactly to his liking!
Princess finally got her ‘Fairy-Tail’ ending
Despite various media appearances showing her super soft and sweet nature, Princess’ wait for her prince charming home was taking much longer than she deserved. After six months in our care, she finally got a castle of her own and has been settling into her new home since the end of October.
Team Development and Learning
At Little Valley, we embrace a culture of continuous learning and improvement so that we can continue to do the very best we can for those animals who need us. On that basis, across the past twelve months members of our team have undertaken a variety of training: microchip implanting for dogs and cats, International Cat Care’s Foundations of Cat Friendly Homing–followed by a Cat Friendly Homing coaching programme (which all nine participants passed with Distinctions no less!), Dog and cat welfare and behaviour through Battersea Academy, dog training and supporting their own mental health through Grisha Stewart’s online platform; one of the team attended the DogX Conference at the University of Winchester, another the more local Dog Geeks Conference here in Devon; two small groups from the Shelter each also attended the Rabbit Welfare Festival in Nottinghamshire; and the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) annual conference to learn from other rescue charities sharing best practices.
Collaboration is key
We are delighted to work in collaboration with other animal welfare charities, both locally and on a national level, to achieve the very best outcomes for as many animals as possible. To that end, we were very excited to be accepted as full members of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which will support us in helping even more animals moving forwards, by being able to learn from the experiences of ADCH’s other membership organisations, and giving us access to additional training and funding opportunities.
For their help and support this past year we also thank the teams at Hector’s House, Blue Cross Devon, Cats Protection’s Devon Cat Centre, and RSPCA Cornwall, as well as Woodside Animal Welfare Trust, Animals In Distress, Margaret Green, and Parsleys Warren Rabbit Sanctuary.
