Cutest Critter 2010 Calendar Contest

Enter your pet’s photo for a chance to be on the cover of our 2010 Cutest Critter Calendar. Entries are only $5 per image and you may enter up to three times. Vote as often as you like for $1 per vote. The top 13 entries will receive a professional photo session for their pet and will be featured in the calendar.

Visit The website for the Humane Society of West Texas-->THE CONTEST for more details on how to enter

Also the Humane Society of West Texas is looking for Sponsors!
Would you like to help the animals of the HSWT but don’t have room in your home for another pet? Consider being a sponsor! Sponsors help to cover the cost of caring for our animals by donating money to pay for regular vaccinations, spay/neuter procedures, emergency surgeries, and food. If you are interested in being a sponsor, please contact us for more details at HSWT.org@gmail.com.

Need foster or permanent homes for rescued dogs . . .please help

Camp Wolfgang, a German Shepherd rescue facility in Ennis (an hour north of Waco) is closing its doors on October 31st.
Many rescued dogs need homes, foster or permanent. Please be sure to forward to family and friends who may have law enforcement, military or animal handling experience as they may have a special place in their hearts for German Shepherds and some of these other dogs.

Current dogs (approximate): 120 German Shepherds; 2 Akitas; 1 Anatolian/Great Pyrenees; 4 Purebred Rottweilers; 1 Great Dane/Lab; 1 Boxer/Mastiff; 1 St. Bernard/Akita; 1 Wolf Dog; 45 Other mixed

All the dogs are vetted, spayed/neutered, micro-chipped, well cared-for and many have had training. There are approximately 200 dogs that must find homes, foster or permanent, before October 31, or they will have no choice but to euthanize them. Please forward this information to everyone you know...if we all forward this to everyone we know, chances are good that many of these dogs can be saved! They do not need or want donations, they simply MUST place all of the dogs. Adoption fees are $75.00, but no charge to verifiable rescue groups.

If you know anyone who can adopt, foster or accept a dog into a current rescue group, contact Neisha Livengood, Kennel Master at Camp Wolfgang.
Neisha Livengood --> windigo1966@yahoo.com
wally@campwolfgang.com
campwolfgang@yahoo.com
phone: 214-755-1627

Camp Wolfgang
6234 FM 879
Ennis, Texas 75119

LOL CATZ and Average Cats

Here are a couple of amusing websites/blogs. The LOL CATs is a fad that has really taken off where people add their own captions to photos of cats. This has been done with dogs and humans and every other photo imaginable. In case you don't know, lol stands for "lots of laughs" in "texting language"

Here is an example from http://www.thelolcats.com/

Another site is http://icanhascheezburger.com/ and this site allows you to write your own captions.

In a kind of opposition to this caption writing is http://averagecats.com/ which changes these captions to what the cat may be doing really and explains that cats can't really do the things which are claimed in the captions. I thought this was a simple but witty idea - stating the obvious, but pretty funny.

I hope you enjoy

Fostering kittens

Here are some young foster kittens. They are playing outside.

repost: Bring Delilah Home!

I am posting this again since they have another month to reach their goal. This is from the blog, Project: Bring Delilah Home





Hello everyone, As many of you know, my brother-in-law is serving his second tour overseas and we are trying to help him raise money for a very special and personal project.

While Matt and his unit were walking through Jagori, (a small village in the mountains) Afghanistan he noticed a small white puppy on the side of the road. The puppy promptly fell into line and has been with Matt and his unit ever since. Everyone has been working with Delilah (on her basic puppy manners) and she's doing really well. My brother loves her and just can't imagine leaving her behind.

To say that animals have a hard life overseas is unfortunately a huge understatement. We have started researching all the red tape involved in this process and now we are grateful to say we have received direction and help from the Tigger House (in Kabul , Afghanistan ).

The Tigger House is a shelter and rescue for cats and dogs in Afghanistan . They provide veterinary care for animals and provide a safe place for them for to be adopted.The Tigger House has also been helping transport animals out of Afghanistan for a number of years with great success and they have responded to our request for help with Delilah.

The process for bringing Delilah home with Matt is expensive. We estimate the basic cost to be approximately $3,500.00. This will cover her mandatory shots, customs paperwork, crate and shipping supplies and a plane ticket to the New York (The ticket to Austin , TX will be anadditional cost). We know money is tight for everyone, but if you are able to chip in a little we would be sincerely grateful. Any additional or unused funds will be given to the Tigger House as a small you for all that they do. So in short, Matt is a good person who is trying to do a good thing and provide a (much) better life for this puppy; he just needs a little support. Please chip in what you can.

With many, many thanks, Laura O. Fleming (Please continue to pray for the safety and well being our troops and their families-worldwide.)

Some unbearable videos

More cute videos

Save America's Wolves

Below is a plea from the Defenders of Wildlife

Starting September 1st, Idaho could host the greatest wolf massacre since the 1930s -- with as many as 70 guns trained on each of Idaho’s estimated 1,000 wolves.

Please help us STOP THE DEADLY WOLF HUNT.

This could be the worst wolf massacre in the Lower 48 United States since the 1930s. Hundreds of defenseless wolves will be shot, with many surviving wolf pups left to starve to death. Unless we stop it.

We’ve won the fight for wolves in court before, and we can do it again. Last year,Defenders of Wildlife and our allies convinced a federal judge to stop wolf killing in Wyoming and secured a reprieve for wolves in the Northern Rockies. Now we need your help to win again for our wolves.

Idaho’s wolf hunting season is scheduled to begin in just 14 days. Please make a tax-deductible donation right now to help fund our legal fight and national mobilization campaign to save wolves in Idaho and Greater Yellowstone.

With the lives of so many wolves hanging in the balance, Defenders of Wildlife needs your support to prevent the worst wolf massacre in decades. I hope we can count on your support.

For the Wild Ones,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. These wolves don’t have much time -- the Idaho wolf hunting season begins in just 14 days. Please make a secure donation online today to support our legal fight and other efforts to save wildlife or call 1-800-385-9712 to contribute over the phone.

The Animal Rescue Site

Here is an easy way to help animals (and humans, too). Go to the animal rescue site and click on the button. You can do this every day. There are some other tabs as well for the rainforest, literacy, breast cancer, child health and hunger. You can make money for each of these organizations by clicking on the tab and then the button every day! It's an easy way to help!

Cats VS Printers

They learn this at an early age

ALthough some are eaten by printers

Rescued

There are so many wonderful stories about people rescuing animals. It is always touching when animals return the favor. This is a very wonderful account of an adorable puppy that was rescued and ended up helping his new human.

House Cats Know What They Want And How To Get It From You

This is an article in ScienceDaily (July 13, 2009) . . .the original is at this link

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713121348.htm

Anyone who has ever had cats knows how difficult it can be to get them to do anything they don't already want to do. But it seems that the house cats themselves have had distinctly less trouble getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in the July 14th issue of Current Biology.

The rather crafty felines motivate people to fill their food dishes by sending something of a mixed signal: an urgent cry or meowing sound embedded within an otherwise pleasant purr. The result is a call that humans generally find annoyingly difficult to ignore.

"The embedding of a cry within a call that we normally associate with contentment is quite a subtle means of eliciting a response," said Karen McComb of the University of Sussex. "Solicitation purring is probably more acceptable to humans than overt meowing, which is likely to get cats ejected from the bedroom." She suggests that this form of cat communication sends a subliminal sort of message, tapping into an inherent sensitivity that humans and other mammals have to cues relevant in the context of nurturing their offspring.

McComb said that she was inspired by her own cat, who consistently wakes her up in the mornings with a very insistent purr. She learned in talking with other cat owners that some of their cats too had mastered the same manipulative trick. As a scientist who already studied vocal communication in mammals, from elephants to lions, she decided to get to the bottom of it.

It turned out that wasn't so easy to do. The cats were perfectly willing to use their coercive cries in private, but when strangers came around they tended to clam right up. Her team therefore had to train cat owners to record their own cats' cries.

In a series of playback experiments with those calls, they found that humans judged the purrs recorded while cats were actively seeking food as more urgent and less pleasant than those made in other contexts, even if they had never had a cat themselves.

"We found that the crucial factor determining the urgency and pleasantness ratings that purrs received was an unusual high-frequency element—reminiscent of a cry or meow—embedded within the naturally low-pitched purr," McComb said. "Human participants in our experiments judged purrs with high levels of this element to be particularly urgent and unpleasant." When the team re-synthesised the recorded purrs to remove the embedded cry, leaving all else unchanged, the urgency ratings for those calls decreased significantly.

McComb said she thinks this cry occurs at a low level in cats' normal purring, "but we think that cats learn to dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans." In fact, not all cats use this form of purring at all, she said, noting that it seems to most often develop in cats that have a one-on-one relationship with their owners rather than those living in large households, where their purrs might get overlooked by poorly trained people.

In those instances, she said, cats seem to find it more effective to stick to the standard meow.

The researchers include Karen McComb, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.; Anna M. Taylor, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.; Christian Wilson, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.; Benjamin D. Charlton, Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, GA

The Incredible Journey

I am reposting this from another blog http://houndsgood.com/2009/06/22/the-incredible-journey/

If you can help, please do! Go to THEIR website and respond if you can be a part of this journey.

Last week, a pair of dogs, who had been together from a very young age were dumped off at animal control. Their elderly owner had bladder cancer, and their family refused to take care of the man’s beloved dogs. They felt like taking care of the man was enough as it was. For me, it was hard to believe a family wouldn’t come to the conclusion that having his pets around him would keep him upbeat.

Death seemed imminent, as owner turn ins are the first to be euthanized. After all, the shelter need not hold them to give owners a chance to find them because they are not looking for them. “Pairs” are sometimes a tough sell on rescues or adopters as people feel badly not being able to keep them together, so opt for another dog. It seemed like there was no hope for these two, until a kind woman named Mary spotted Hennesey on petfinder from over a thousand miles away, and knew that she would fit in well with her two existing dogs. Having a three dog limit where she lived, she could not take on Jack. We were thrilled, of course, when the sweet black and white lady was chosen, but feared that her buddy would be left behind to die. Even though he was neutered, so the main adoption expense would not have to be paid, black labs are a tough sell because there are so many at the shelters.

Jack was to be euthanized today. He was held over from Friday, and given one last chance. Over the weekend, a miracle happened. Mary was at a family function and mentioned her sadness over not being able to save both. Lo and behold, a relative - I believe the sibling of an in-law - overheard the tale of the two tails, and was interested in adopting Jack!Now, instead of being euthanized together, one making it and one not, or being split up and going separate ways, these dogs will be able to live the rest of their lives seeing each other from time to time! They will live just about an hour apart, and their owners are connected through blood and marriages, so the happy reunions will happen for these dogs not just once for old time’s sake, but regularly.This would seem like a Hollywood ending, but there is just one more element that has to come together and that is their transport to freedom. There is a legged transport organized to get them from a kill shelter in Georgia, to their new homes in upstate New York.Do you live a long the way? Can you help? If you have ever taken a drive with your dog somewhere before, you are definitely well qualified to assist these kids get home.

SATURDAY JUNE 27TH, 2009 ~SUNDAY JUNE 28TH, 2009~

FRANKLIN, GA to Jordan NY

Passenger is coming from kill shelter to New Approved home waiting. :)

Transport Coordinator: Kathi

Phone: 603-475-3806

Email:

kathi@dontdumpthatdog.com

Passenger List:

Hennessy~BORDER COLLIE MIX FEMALE

Jack~ Black Lab Neutered Male

Coming from~

Heard County Animal Control Center

11818 Ga Hwy 100

Franklin, GA 30217

Phone: 706-675-3570

Going to New home

Mary Hunnicutt ~Jordan, NY 13080

**All Passengers travel uncrated with leash and collar

****Paperwork accompanies all passengers

All legs flexible

SATURDAY JUNE 27TH, 2009

Leg 1- FILLED~THANK YOU EMILY

Depart: Franklin GA 8:00 am

Arrive: Atlanta GA 9:10 am

1 hour 10 min

Leg 2 - NEEDED~

Depart: Atlanta GA 9:25 am

Arrive: Commerce GA 10:35 am

1 hour 10 min

Leg 3 - NEEDED~

Depart: Commerce GA 10:50 am

Arrive: Greenville SC 12:05 pm

1 hour 15 min

Leg 4 -NEEDED~

Depart: Greenville SC 12:20 pm

Arrive: Gaffney SC 1:15 pm

55 min

Leg 5 - NEEDED~

Depart: Gaffney SC 1:30 pm

Arrive: Charlotte NC 2:30 pm

1 hour

Leg 6 - NEEDED~

Depart: Charlotte NC 2:45 pm

Arrive: Jonesville NC 4:00 pm

1 hour 15 min

Leg 7 - NEEDED~

Depart: Jonesville NC 4:15 pm

Arrive: Austinville VA 5:10 pm

55 min

Leg 8 - NEEDED~

Depart: Austinville VA 5:25 pm

Arrive: Hanging Rock VA 6:40 pm

1 hour 15 min

***OVERNIGHT NEEDED IN ROANOKE VA AREA***

~SUNDAY JUNE 28TH, 2009~

Leg 9 -NEEDED~

Hanging Rock VA - Fairfield VA

8:00-9:00 am

Leg 10 - NEEDED~

Arrive: Mount Jackson VA 10:30 am

1 hour 15 min

Leg 11 -NEEDED~

Depart: Mount Jackson VA 10:45 am

Arrive: Martinsburg WV 11:50 am

1 hour 5 min

Leg 12 -NEEDED~

Martinsburg WV- Carlisle PM

12:05 pm-1:20 pm

1 hour 15 min

Leg 13 -NEEDED~

Carlisle PA -Tremont PA exit at rt 209 (81)

1:20- 2:45 PM

61.64 mi 1 hr 6 min

1 hour 15 min

Leg 14 -NEEDED~

Tremont PA exit at rt 209 (81)-Hazleton PA (81)

2:45-3:45PM

38.23 miles 44 mins

Leg 15 -NEEDED~

Hazleton PA (81)

edwardsville PA

3:45- 4:30PM

30miles 44 mins

Leg 16-NEEDED~

Edwardsville PA -Hallstead PA

4:30PM - 5:50PM

67.19 miles 1 hr 17min

Leg 17- NEEDED~

Hallstead PA - Cortlandville NY (81)

5:50PM 7:00PM

54.22 1hr 3 mins

Leg 18- FILLED~THANK YOU MARY

Cortlandville NY - Jordan NY (Home sweet home)

7:00PM- 8:12PM

68.32 mi 1hr 12 mins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Passenger #1:

Hennesey

Breed: Border collie mix

Color: Black & White

Age: young/adult

Weight: 40-50lb

Sex: Female

Crate: No

Leash/Collar: Yes - provided

Vaccinations: UTD

Altered: will be done by rescue/Adopter

Health Issues: None - Health Certificate accompanies passenger

Behavior Issues: None

Passenger #2:

Jack

Breed: Black Lab

Color: Black

Age: young/adult

Weight: 50-55lb

Sex: Male

Crate: No

Leash/Collar: Yes - provided

Vaccinations: UTD

Altered: Yes

Health Issues: None - Health Certificate accompanies passenger

Behavior Issues: None

*~INFO NEEDED ~*

Leg willing to drive:

First & last name:

Location:

Email:

Home:

Cell:

Vehicle description:

Tag state and number:

PLEASE CONTACT Kathi at Kathi @ dontdumpthatdog.com if you can drive one or more legs!

Why I do it

This is a guest post by Ashlee . . . one of our dedicated volunteers.

The people around me all think I'm crazy for spending so much of my time working with the humane society. As you all know, it isn't a Saturday and Sunday job, it gets to a point where it consumes every waking minute, I go to bed thinking about it, I wake up thinking about it. I've loved all animals my entire life, I could almost say I've learned more from animals than I have humans, I've definitely learned more about life in general by working with animals. I grew up out in the country where people frequently dumped their animals like garbage. They showed up to my house and, against my parents suggestions, I always fed them and took care of them. Most had been abused and all had been neglected. These animals didn't have any reason to trust me or love me but they did. That was probably the first thing I learned from an animal and the resilience still amazes me and brings me to tears.

I still don't understand how or why they would ever want to look at another human after being treated they way they had been treated. I realized that forgiveness was a real thing. I got my first dog of my very own (not a family pet) when I was in the third grade at which point I learned responsibility and unconditional love. I knew my family loved me no matter what, but having that little head come rest on my lap right after I had yelled at him for chewing my barbie's legs off showed me what the meaning of unconditional was. I learned patience when that same dog chewed up my favorite shoes that I had saved my own money up for three months to buy in middle school. The day after I graduated, when I had to rush that same little guy to the vet after he had been attacked by dogs, I learned what it felt like to truly have my heart broken when I received the call that he didn't make it.

I don't do it for people. I don't do it to feel important. I don't do it for power. I don't do it because I like being at Petsmart every weekend. I do it because I want to help, because no one else will, because at the end of the day when the world has beaten me down, my Tigger hops up beside me on my bed and tells me that it will be okay, and mainly I do it because I truly believe that animals deserve a return on the love that they give.

I think about this often because some days it just feels hopeless and like I'm not helping at all and I have to remind myself why. I'm not doubting anyones reasons for being involved..... okay, yes I am, but I just think that some days we lose sight of things and we need to stop and remember why we do it.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy the world around you while you can, we aren't promised tomorrow, we barely have today, and yesterday is gone and should be left in the past.

Stop Puppy Mills

Here is an easy way to help dogs . . . sign the petition "Stop Puppy Mills - Five Things You Can Do". The ASPCA is asking you to sign this petition to help them reach the goal of 25,000 signatures. We at the HUmane Society for West Texas, care deeply about this cause, and we hope you will support the ASPCA efforts.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/747817839

A few thoughts on cat baths...by The Cat:

Here is a visual treat someone sent me in an email.

'But You Said You Loved Me!'

'You will pay, as God is my witness, you will pay.'

'Jesus, you call this water warm???'

'I don't think I like you anymore.'

'You Lied !!!!!!'

'E.T. Phone home......quick!'

'No, I'm not your Good Little Kitty anymore.'

'Traction....I'm losing Traction!'

'I want my Mommmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!'

'No, no, no, no.....NOOOO!!!!'

FIV: Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Here is an article about FIV from this website

FIV is one of the fairly common cat viruses, that is much misunderstood....

We have a number of FIV cats in our sanctuary, some of which have been with us for several years and are, in general terms, both healthy and happy and living a full (but protected) life.

We know that FIV is a much misunderstood virus, which leads to many otherwise healthy cats being euthanased - in our view, unneccessarily.

The FIV virus reduces a cat's immune system, slowly (over several years) this can leave it more vulnerable to other feline infections,

that is all - in itself FIV is not life threatening.

FIV CANNOT be transmitted to humans

What is often misunderstood, is that a cat with FIV will usually have a strong immune system for several years after infection, it is only with time, that the effects of the virus may start to show, and even then, most infections can be handled by appropriate medications.

The FIV cats that do suffer, are those that are long-term strays, who have survived on a poor diet

.

and probably been involved in fights, with subsequent injuries going untreated - this is the scenario that leads to the suffering that is wrongly thought to be common to all FIVs.

In our experience, FIV positive cats can have, and deserve to have, a long and healthy life. They need careful attention to their general health and diet, but this is no more than any cat should receive. A properly cared for FIV cat need not have a shortened life expectancy. The effectiveness of all cats' immune systems reduce with age. Not many would recommend euthanasia just because a cat is getting elderly, so why so with FIV?

The main problem is that the virus can be transmitted to other cats (only cats - no other species). In the vast majority of cases, it is transmitted through biting. Cats fight for three main reasons: food, territory and mating. By providing a regular food supply and neutering, the need to fight is dramatically reduced, making the transmission of FIV far less likely. We believe that euthanasia of FIV cats is a vast over reaction.

There are many unidentified FIV cats everywhere, and most cats will come in contact with ones carrying the virus at some point, but, without fighting, there is no reason for them to become infected.

Eradicating the virus is not currently a realistic objective; and, putting to sleep a few individuals, identified with the virus but otherwise healthy, seems to us to be a futile reaction.

Correcting some of the basic misconceptions about FIV:

1 FIV is not in itself a life-threatening disease

2 FIV is not 'Cataids'

3 FIV does not necessarily shorten life expectancy.

4 FIV cannot be transferred to other species (animal or human)

FIV is a virus that affects the cat's immune system, it acts very slowly, and it is often several years before the cat shows any signs of a damaged immune system, - many never suffer at all!

FIV can make a cat more susceptible to other infections, which means they need care and protection.

It is like when humans are 'one degree under'. When 'run-down' we tend to pick up colds and suffer from minor sores, mouth ulcers etc, more so than when in top condition. It can be the same with FIV cats if they are not cared for.

In any animal (and human), their immune response varies in effectiveness from time to time depending on their general health. When we get run-down what do we do? - We take a tonic, get more sleep, have better food, take a holiday, we then regain our strength. The same is true of FIV positive cats - with good care, good food, and security, and preventing stressful circumstances, they seem to recover from most secondary infections just like non-FIV cats.

The FIV cats that have problems are the strays who have no-one looking after them - these can fall prey to all the other infections around, usually brought about through fighting for food, territory or females, and without treatment, these can escallate. It is mostly the un-neutered toms that fight, and therefore pick up and spread the virus. When one of these gets captured and taken to a vet, suffering from all manner of secondary infections, it is often too late. These cats are the ones that have led to the undeserved fear about FIV. It is the nature of a vet's work, that they will see many more ill cats than healthy ones, whereas in fact, there are very many more healthy FIV cats than ill ones - they just don't need to see the vet! - take a look at the photos of the FIV cats in our sanctuary (on the sanctuary page) and decide for yourself whether they look healthy or not - most have no need to see a vet from one end of the year to another.

Visitors to our sanctuary often express surprise "We expected to see loads of ill cats, but they all look so happy and healthy!" - Yes, that's because they are!

FIV is not the terrible thing it is made out to be, it is no more than a weakness!

This is Patrick.

Patrick came to us in 1999 in a poor state, very thin and with little fur on his back

Patrick on arrival

Patrick needed nothing more than good general care; he soon recovered and turned into a truly remarkable cat

Patrick the following year

NICK

Nick was diagnosed as FIV at one of the national 'rescue' organisations. As he was also very frightened, and in a generally poor state, he was destined to be put to sleep - until we were told about him, and he came to us

Nick on arrival in 2004

Nick, like Patrick, needed nothing more than basic good care - no special medications or suppliments, just good, regular food, and general care.

Nick in Feb 2007

The Story of Jasmine

In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog.. It had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had clearly been abused.

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing haven for Animals abandoned, orphaned or otherwise in need. Geoff and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims: to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved.

They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.

But Jasmine had other ideas. No-one remembers now how it began, but she started welcoming all Animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn't matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or hurting Animal, Jasmine would peer into the box or cage and, where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.

Geoff relates one of the early incidents. "We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when they arrived at the centre and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them."

"But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits. She takes all the stress out of them and it helps them to not only feel close to her but to settle into their new surroundings.

"She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose."

Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.

And one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, 11 weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into the full foster mum role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the Roe deer with affection and makes sure nothing is matted.

"They are inseparable," says Geoff "Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary.

It's a real treat to see them."

Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.

From left, Toby, a stray Lakeland dog; Bramble, orphaned Roe deer; Buster, a stray Jack Russell; a dumped rabbit; Sky, an injured barn owl; and Jasmine with a Mother's heart doing best what a caring Mother would do.