Joanna Gravett meets the self-funded animal rescuers who are saving everything small and scaly from negligence and neglect.
Cause of death: severe malnutrition, one broken wrist, one dislocated hand, a three-inch burn and severe spinal curvature. In fact, the skeleton is so malnourished that it doesn’t even appear on an x-ray scan. What’s disturbing is that the ill-fated list could be continued for another paragraph. What’s even more disturbing is that it didn’t make the scandal-loving headlines of the Daily Mail.
Instead, it’s sitting quietly in the August archives of a Facebook page, the one sorry reminder of how Storm the bearded dragon lost her life.
Sadly, neglect and negligence are all too common when it comes to small pets, as Cardiff’s army of self-funded animal rescuers know only too well.
“Only last week a snake was rescued after its owner threatened to chuck it in the freezer,” sighs Ceri Richards, the busy mum of three who started the South Wales Reptile Rescue Network (RRN) in February.
Run via Facebook, it was the RRN team who were given Storm by her previous owners, nursing her until she had to be put down.
The hardy volunteers are located in their own homes across different areas of South Wales, rescuing and rehoming everything from sickly snakes to lost lizards.
In Rhondda Cynon Taf, Ceri has 20 animals already but will never say no to a scaly creature in need.
“The lack of research regarding basic care requirements needs to stop,” says the 32-year-old forcefully.
“People impulsively buy a cute, tiny creature without realising it needs specialist care and soon it’s several feet long, requires a bigger enclosure and will live up to 20 years or more!”
And that’s when baffled owners turn to the Ceri.
The volunteers have home-nursed more mistreated animals than they dare remember, making it sad to hear that there has never been a reptile related conviction in the UK to date, while in contrast there were 297 convictions in Wales for other animal species in 2013.
Chow mean: Casper was saved by Sarah after he was an unwanted Chinese New Year gift. After lots of love and care he is now very mischievous.
The fall of the fluffy
However, poorly pets who arrive with garish neon bedding also need help.
Meet the Cardiff samaritans, Sarah Perryman and Molly Lewis, who are single-handedly taking in the capital’s tinier waifs and strays with the help of Facebook.
“I don’t think the council would appreciate it if I got any more animals,” laughs Sarah, 32, the bubbly blonde founder of Jack Rabbits Rescue & Rehoming.
As the busy Roath band manager rehomes bunnies in need, 17-year-old Molly juggles Nyx Hamster Rescue with being a full-time student.
Molly has rescued 20 hamsters since starting in January, turning one of her St Mellons bedrooms into a mighty metropolis of cages, while Sarah began in 2011 and keeps six pet rabbits, rescuing and rehoming up to four other abandoned bunnies at a time.
People adopting her rabbits sometimes give £25 donations to foot hefty bills, as shocking cases often see trips to the vet.
Sarah’s rescue bunny Casper arrived in a urine-soaked box after his previous owner threatened to eat him, while one of Molly’s first hamsters appeared in a cage so dirty it made her feel physically ill.
Hot down hamster in the city: The tall towers of cages are currently home to seven hamsters. The RSPCA recommends a minimum cage size of 75 x 50cm, which Molly adheres to.
A growing problem
But what drives this influx of maltreated creatures?
“Someone I knew was breeding hamsters that were sick and wanted to keep raising more,” says Molly. “I was even more worried when she said she could not afford a vet.”
“There’s also an ongoing debate about whether breeders should be licensed,” adds Sarah. “Jack, my late rabbit, who inspired me to start my rescue work, was owned by a breeder who neglected him after he was deemed to be no use.”
Overstretched and overworked
Yet, when talk turns to big animal welfare charities, the response is somewhat shocking.
“None of my friends use the RSPCA,” says Sarah. “In my experience, if you find an animal in distress and call the helpline, you’re expected to take it to the vet yourself – not because they don’t want to help, but because they are too overstretched.”
But if the RSPCA does face challenges, it is no surprise. The charity receives 1.3 million calls to their cruelty line each year and has a 24 hour helpline.
“If someone would give us a million pounds, of course we’d love to open more centres,” says Gillian Roberts of RSPCA Cymru. “But we are a charity and we only exist because of public donations.
“As we have just 321 inspectors covering the whole of England and Wales, we might occasionally have to ask people to take animals to a vet if we are not able to get there straight away.”
And that’s the beauty of Cardiff’s grassroots movement. There’s always someone there to help. But as the RSPCA receives a phone call every 30 seconds and the rescuers’ houses are full to bursting, it suddenly becomes clear how many animals are in distress, and in the case of Storm, how many slip through society’s net. So, while the daily newspapers are too busy to notice, let’s raise a toast to Cardiff’s pet rescuers, who are doing their bit to save all creatures great and small, no matter how squeaky or scaly.
RSPCA Cymru
The charity are involved in campaigns, advising the Welsh Government, decision making on animal welfare law, shaping the future of animal welfare through education and rescuing animals from cruelty and neglect.
RSPCA Cymru said, “We are committed to the welfare of all animals and we work in partnership with the public and other agencies.
“Animals rely on us to rescue them when they need us most; to rehabilitate them wherever possible; provide them with the very best veterinary care; and to give them a second chance, either through rehoming or release.
“We only ask people to take animals to a vets where it is safe and practical for the member of the public to do so.
“Any complaint we deal with is on an individual basis. We have a complaints procedure and we aim to ensure that any complaints are identified quickly and dealt with in accordance with our complaints handling procedure.”
