CARING FOR GLASGOWS STRAYS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23223, 22 June 1937, Page 15

CARING FOR GLASGOWS STRAYS

WOMEN WHO KEEP AND TEND ANIMALS I have been spending a day with (he women who pass their lives caring for stray animals (writes a reporter in the Glasgow Herald). One looks after boarders and cares for strays which may be claimed, either direct or through the police, and the other provides free veterinary advice and treatment. _ T i , The work at the Glasgow Northwestern Refuge for Destitute Animals is in Windsor terrace. Mrs Mars, who looks after the strays, has been there for 10 years. Wherever Mrs Mars moves there seems to go a bevy of cats and dogs. I had not talked to her for more than a few minutes before I , felt something rubbing against my sleeve. He was a little black fellow, a sinuous feline. I stroked him and ho chewed playfully at my finger. “Is this a boarder?” I asked Mrs Mars. , „ , ~ „ „ “ Oh. no. that’s Dick,” she said. He came in last year lost, and as nobody claimed him, and I liked him, I thought I’d just keep him.” Two other cats strolled up to me. They belonged to Mrs Mars also. And I could see in the room, in pens, several boarders. I suppose one more or less wouldn't worry her, and if Dick had brought a friend he might also have been there still. As we went through to the dispensary to wait for the arrival of Miss C. L. Ingrain, who attends to patients on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mrs Mars opened a door, and I was in the middle of a canine deluge. Actually she has only two dogs, taut after the gentler approach of the cats there seemed to be more. I patted the dogs and cast a hasty eye at -Dick and his friends, but beyond the raising of a catty eyebrow there was no interchange of animal opinion. From a cage by the wall came an indignant yowl. I went over and looked inside. “ Letme-y-out,” said the big black tabby. “You stay where you are, said Mrs Mars. “ for you’re better off than when I found you.” , “A victim of the Easter holiday, I think,” she explained. “ I found her wandering lost about the street, trying to attract attention, and so I took her in after inquiring whether anyone in the district knew who she belonged to.” . , “ She looks a well-kept cat. so she is no ordinary stray. Probably the people wont away for Easter, and left her to look after'herself as best she could. It is remarkable how many people there are very fond of their cats, but who think that they can do quite well in the streets for a few days, and do not realise the agony they suffer.” Just then Miss Ingram arrived, and behind her came the first of her patients. It was a lady with her little Pekinese, suffering from some slight trouble and too much kindness. Scarcely had it been attended to and I had started a conversation than in came another lady with a dog. She called it a Heinz, and I should think she couldn’t have been more than two varieties wrong. The Heinz was suffering from a slight skin trouble and a bad attack of jitters. It looked as if it would have nothing to do with anyone but its mistress, to whom it clung like a child, but after a few preliminary pats it allowed Miss Ingram to make her examination. There wasn’t much wrong with the skin, but for 6d the mistress got tonic powders which would do much to help the poor animal’s nerves. And it needed them, for when the stray cat in the cage decided to protest again against captivity, the poor dog reached the door in one jump. The next case was a puppy, barely nine weeks old. Something of the collie type, it was iust a little brown ball of fur. Its young mistress was obviously distressed, and said that the pup wasn’t eating its usual. What was she to do? An examination of this midget, who seemed ver- lively despite his lack of feeding, brought to light puppy lice and worms. He lay on his back and wriggled while he was examined, and seemed to enjoy himself. But on the face of the young mistress, who was watching these mysteries of diagnosis, was a look of acute distress. It is usually the owner who suffers more than the dog. for if they did not feel deeply for their pets, these people would not come to the clinic. Most of the patients wore dogs, and seeing one meant seeing most of them. When I was there, no animals were brought' in for destruction, but the painless ending of life is one of the duties which (he Refuge undertakes. In this way cats which would otherwise wander homeless until death met them in a cruel guise arc given release, and old and suffering animals are always destroyed on request. Last year, Mrs Mars told me. 3464 animals' passed through the Refuge. Painless death was given to 509 pet dogs 607 pci cats, and 2364 stray cuts. There were also 642 clinic patients, and many animals were also restored to their owners or homes were found for them. , .. , The clinic also dealt with animals which had been found injured in the streets and brought in by the police or the public. Lethalling is performed free in the necessitous cases, and there is never any charge for the destruction of litters of puppies and kittens. The Refuge is supported entirely from funds obtained from subscriptions and similar sources and from any small charges which arc made for lethalling and medicine. Another source of income is the facilities available for the boarding of cats during holidays or at other times when owners are away from home. Several cats were in over Easter, but the Refuge is usually at its busiest in the summer. Among the boarders there at present arc a tabbv and her infant kitten. The tabby preferred the attention of a nursing home" and came in for (he happy event. Near her is an expectant mother, and the event is anticipated in a week's time. Both mother and child, by the way, are doing very well, but mother is none too fond of seeing anyone approach her offspring.