Brinsley Animal Rescue

Myxomatosis – The Importance of Vaccination

Jon — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:18:29 +0000

Many people purchase their pet rabbits from pet shops, where they are offered little if no advice and the pets are certainly not vaccinated.

Each year thousands of wild and pet rabbits die a painful death from what is a preventable virus, myxomatosis

Myxomatosis was originally introduced by fa rmersto control the wild rabbit population. It is a species specific virus that causes the eyes, ears, mouth and anus to swell. The rabbits eventually die from starvation as it is in too much pain to eat or from secondary infections like pneumonia.

All this is preventable, for around £15 a rabbits can be vaccinated. This needs to be repeated annually. We always vaccinate, this is our first task when rabbits are rescued by us.

Myxomatosis normally lies dormant over winter and becomes present in the spring as blood sucking insects such as fleas and midges transfer the virus from animal to animal. Despite the harsh winter we have already had 4 confirmed cases of myxi rabbits in the area.

We are urging everyone to vaccinate and keep it up to date for your rabbits sake. ALL BUNNIES FROM OUR RESCUE CENTRE ARE MYXI VACCINATED. Please don’t go to breeders, pet shops or petting farms as bunnies from these awful places are NEVER VACCINATED. Vaccinations can now also been done on a 6 monthly basis which we are now urging people to do. We have never seen myxi so early in the season and we are predicting that the cases of myxi this summer will be sadly very high.

Cookie (male)

Jon — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:07:34 +0000

Age : 10 Months
Breed : dwarf Lop
Bonded : No
Neutered/Spayed: yes
Rescued: Jan 10

Cookie was given up by his previous owner as he did not get on with his male companion. Cookie is very friendly, he’s litter trained and will make an excellent outdoor or indoor rabbit.

Cookie is looking for a female partner, rabbits are very sociable animals and should not be homed on their own. He desperately needs a friend that he can enjoy the rest of his life with.

Lilley Rehomed 1 March 2010

Jon — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:00:49 +0000

Danny & Donny (male pair)

Jon — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:56:12 +0000

Age : 5 months
Breed : Otter markings
Bonded : Yes
Neutered/Spayed: Not yet
Rescued: Jan 10

These two brothers are adorable they have beautiful markings. They were given up as unwanted pets but are friendly and handleable.

These guys needs a home where they will be fussed and have a cage and run large enough to house these medium size bunnies. They are due to be neutered on 17th March and will then be looking for their forever home. They have already been myxi vaccinated.

Start of the Chick Season

Jon — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:36:00 +0000

Springtime is a very busy time for us as we receive lots of orphaned baby animals, that need to be hand reared and cared for.

In particular we rear a lot of baby birds, yesterday we received our very first of the season, a young collared dove.

As they receive a lot of human contact, the birds become quite tame. It is the Charities Policy to release wild animals back where they belong, so we have to undo any imprinting. As soon as the birds are feeding themselves, we break all human contact apart from cleaning them out and feeding once a day.

They will then be moved to an aviary in preparation for release.

Cockerels, cockerels, cockerels !!

Jon — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:44:19 +0000

The phone rings and ‘can you rehome my cockerel’ is what we hear time and time again.

Too many people breed hens, buy chicks or hatch out fertilised eggs and seemed shocked when some are cockerels, male hens! Its a basic law of biology, for every female there is statistically a male but this is news for some people.

Unfortunately very few people want male chickens because they don’t lay eggs and they crow.

We currently have 5, and receive calls almost daily asking us to take more on. If you can offer a cockerel a home, please let us know.

If you are considering breeding hens, please don’t unless you are prepared to take on the responsibilities that go with it (and that includes schools too!!). We are infuriated that so many schools incubate a clutch of eggs in order to teach children something (we aren’t sure what) and then so many schools ring up the local rescue centre to take on the cockerels or simply dispose of the males. The only thing the school has taught children, in our minds, is how to irresponsibly breed unwanted animals.

Gary the Goose rehomed 9 Feb 2010

Jon — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:34:15 +0000

4 Male Ducks -rehomed 9 Feb 2010

Jon — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:17:03 +0000

The boys were kept in a suburban house garden where they caused a mess and were given up by their owners. This is a story we hear far too often, people not doing their research before buying pets.

We always offer advice and carry out home checks, to ensure that people know exactly what they are taking on. These boys all need a good home. They are a delight to have around and currently live on the front lawn. They have decided to befriend 2 hens that squeeze into the duck house with them at night. They all look so snug on these cold winter nights.

Prudence & Matilda Rehomed 31-1-10

Jon — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:53:17 +0000

Age : 3 years
Breed : Large Dwarf Lop
Bonded : Yes
Neutered/Spayed: No
Rescued: November 09

These two sisters are so sweet, they are friendly and love food, they are quite large ladies so any new owner will have to keep a check on their food intake and make sure they get plenty of exercise.

Can you offer these beautiful girls a great home for life? Poor old Prudence and Matilda have been with us for quite a while now and deserve a forever home. They could even be part of a bunny family if you have a lonely neutered buck.

Female

Jon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:29:06 +0000

This little lady came to us with a rabbit. Unfortunately the rabbit was too boisterous for her so we split them up. She needs to be rehomed with either a neutered male piggy or another female. She is a little timid at present so needs a special home where she can have lots of fuss.

3 Male Guinea Pigs

Jon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:22:34 +0000

These three guys have come in together, we think that they are all brothers. They are still only 6 months old. They all get on fine, squeak like mad when they are being fed and all need to be rehomed together. They will need to be kept indoors until the Spring time. When the weather gets warmer they will enjoy going outdoors in a run and munching on grass. These little guys lov to snooze in hay but also have mad half hours when they ‘popcorn’ excitedly round in their cage.

Blue Rehomed Jan 2010

Jon — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:54:31 +0000

Age : Approx 1 year
Breed : French Lop
Bonded : No
Neutered/Spayed: No
Rescued: May 09

Blue is a bit grouchy but she is a beautiful bunny. She loves to dig very large tunnels and likes hiding down them when it is time to go in at night. She needs a buck who is willing to let her be the boss! She is adorable but growls quite a lot and doesn’t like being handled. We are sure that in time she will become friendlier and with a neutered male friend she will become a lot calmer and approachable.

Motsy Rehomed 9th Jan 10

Beth — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:39:06 +0000

Motsy was found wandering around a local country park all on her own. The poor girl may have been turfed out or may of just gone wandering.

Motsy found the best home ever with lots of room and 2 neutered male companions. She was a bit aggressive and liked to box peoples hands but we are sure that she has found a fabulous home and one where she will be loved and can have a new start in life.

A Review of 2009

Jon — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:33:28 +0000

2009 was the second complete calendar year that Brinsley Animal Rescue existed and our first complete year as a charity.

We have had many challenges, many low points and many successes which have helped us carry on with the thankless task of rescuing 600 animals each year.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped us. Thank you to all of our volunteers and donors, and thank you to our vets and suppliers.

This year we have rescued over 600 animals and we have had to raise £15,000 to run the sanctuary.

We generally look after approximately 150 animals at any one time.

In 2009 we have rescued 151 pets, 304 farm animals and 142 wild animals. This includes 83 rabbits, 27 guinea pigs, 3 ponies, 280 chickens, 30 hedgehogs and even a blind bull.

Please click on the links below to read about some of the successes of 2009;

January - Brinsley Animal Rescue became a Charity

February - We took in our first rescue pony Coco, one of three ponies we took on in 2009.