Remember National Pet Month runs from 5th April - 5th May, this means you've only got a few days left to take advantage of our extra special prices!

National Pet Month’s aims are to:

Promote responsible pet ownership. Make people aware of the benefits of pets for people and people for pets. Increase public awareness of services available from professionals who work with animals. Raise awareness of the role, value and contribution to society of working companion animals.

Again this year Friends of the Animals will be doing our bit to promote responsible pet ownership, and if you can reach any of the following areas within the West Midlands: Walsall, Brownhills, Quinton, Darlaston, Lye, Dudley, Halesowen, Oldbury, Sedgley, Coventry, Stechford, Hopwood, Nuneaton, Northfield, Cradley, Edgbaston... we are offering huge discounts towards the costs of spays and neuters of your dogs and cats!

Various vets are available throughout the West Midlands.

Also available in the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.

The Charity may also be able to help with other veterinary treatment and the cost of spaying and neutering other pets such as rabbits and ferrets.

Please contact us for more information.

PLEASE do not use Slug Pellets!

Slug pellets are pieces of cereal soaked in Metaldehyde or Methiocarb which act as bait, attracting the slugs with food and then poisoning them.  It is a little known fact that these pellets also have devastating effects on other animals... There is no antidote for slug pellet poisoning, and it usually leads to a slow and painful death.

Not only does it affect our pets, we are also losing our precious wildlife to this poison.  Birds and many other creatures which naturally eat slugs – such as hedgehogs and frogs (which are some of the gardener’s best allies in the battle against these pests), may also be harmed if they eat a slug which has fed on the bait – effectively taking the poison themselves.

Please look into pet friendly alternatives such as beer traps, or perhaps you could try an even more natural approach such as encouraging frogs into your garden to eat them.  There are many alternatives out there, for example "Just Green Just Slug Killer", which once watered into your garden releases millions of tiny nematodes into the soil.  These microscopic worms seek out and attack slugs, releasing a fatal bacteria that kills them within three days.

Visit the Just Green website www.just-green.com for more information, other methods of slug control, and further help with Organic gardening!

It is estimated that 400 billion slug pellets are sprinkled every year on British gardens alone... this MUST change!

Friends of the Animals has been awarded with the Pet Community 'Pet Rescue' award!

"The Pet Community 'Pet Rescue' award is handed out to special pet rescue websites who go above and beyond the call of duty to help abandoned and homeless pets in their local communities.  As most people know, all pet rescue centres are made up of hard working, dedicated volunteers who give their valuable time to this great cause, this award is to say your hard work is appreciated and acknowledged by pet lovers within our own online pet community."

Congratulations:

Congratulations to Joan Bancroft from Portsmouth, who won the £300 first prize of our 2008 Friends of the Animals raffle.  

Joan very kindly donated £150 back to us!

Once again, a HUGE thank you to everybody that bought or sold raffle tickets, and to all who very kindly donated prizes! We raised in excess of £3,700!!

Please Spare a Thought: 

We see some sad looking animals and it always amazes me that they still remain loving and trusting of us humans when we have treated them so poorly. Buster was lucky enough to be spotted and saved by David Hackett. Buster's case had been reported to one of the large charities but he still remained with the owner & in terrible condition...

As a contractor David found himself working on a neighbour's home and fed the dog through the fence using the sandwiches he had taken for his lunch. When David got the chance to work on Buster's home he took the opportunity to sneak dog food into him. The happy day arrived when David was finally able to convince the owner to let him take the dog. His first stop was to call in and see us at Friends of the Animals - We arranged for him to see one of our vets.

A good diet and plenty of TLC was the first order of the day, sadly his tail was so badly damaged that it could not be saved and had to be amputated; a costly but necessary use of our funds.

If everybody reading this article pledged just £1 we could improve the lives of so many animals like Buster! It's food for thought isn’t it?

Can you help us? 

We are currently looking after a Collie bitch who was the victim of a very nasty attack.  This took place near the Pershore Road end of Balsall Heath park, and occurred at approximately 8am on Friday 23rd of April.

The 11 year old defenseless victim's leg and groin were so severely injured that she was kept in overnight at the vets.

The perpetrator was a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the young woman with it did not have a lead with her (this is actually an offence under the "Dangerous Dogs Act", and other relevant legislation!)

We are currently trying to trace the owner; a woman probably in her early 20s.  We feel sure that this dog will have attacked before and will go on attacking.

Calls in confidence to 01983-616-144 or 0121-420-4201 

Thank you for your co-operation.

Foster Carers Save Lives: 

Below are just a few of the dogs we have had in our care recently. Dogs come to us in all shapes and sizes, and for many different reasons; marriage breakdowns, loss of homes, sickness and loss of a loved one are but a few - we even had one dog whose owner was remanded in custody after taking on burglars caught in the act of robbing his home!

Often elderly people who need to go into hospital will not go in for desperately needed surgery until their cat or dog is safely teamed up with a foster home whilst they are away.

Could you foster? Please help us to help others.

Please Contact Us Today!