Issue 56 July 2019

Hector, “Britain’s loneliest dog” and media star, has settled really well into his new home with his new

family.

RSPCA Little Valley Animal Shelter, Black Hat Lane, Bakers Hill, Exeter EX2 9TA

Tel: 01392 439898 www.rspca-littlevalley.org.uk

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Shelter News By Jo Evans, Shelter Manager

All this lovely weather we are having seems to be making time fly by and we find ourselves already in July. As promised I would like to introduce you to new staff members Rachel and Millie who joined us in March. Both are settling into the dog team and Millie has already adopted a dog from the shelter! We have also filled our part-time Receptionist role and Ant will be pleased to answer the phone or deal with any queries. Becki has also returned from maternity leave. Sadly, my Deputy Rachel has joined another RSPCA centre in Wales. Suzanne, our Branch Manager, has also moved on. I wish them both all the best. Rebuild update—later this month I hope to have the third block of eight kennels back in use. Please see pictures of how it is coming along later in the newsletter. I can’t finish without mentioning Hector. As you can see from the front cover he has settled in well to his new home!

LITTLE VALLEY ANIMAL SHELTER RSPCA South, East & West Devon Branch Black Hat Lane, Bakers Hill, Exeter EX2 9TA Registered Charity No: 205154 Telephone: 01392 439898 Email: info@rspca-littlevalley.org.uk Website: rspca-littlevalley.org.uk Facebook: facebook.com/rspcalittlevalley Twitter: twitter.com/rspcaexeter Instagram: rspcalittlevalleyexeter Just Giving: justgiving.com/rspcaexeter Shelter Opening Times Open 6 days a week (closed Wednesdays) 11.00am-4.00pm (Last entry: 3.30pm) 24 hr Cruelty/Advice Line: 0300 1234 999

SHOPS 1 Market Street, Brixham TQ5 8EU Tel: 01803 859695

46 High Street, Budleigh EX9 6LJ Tel: 01395 442349

31 Cowick Street, Exeter EX4 1AL Tel: 01392 213847

91 South Street, Exeter EX1 1EN Tel: 01392 494113

150 Sidwell Street, Exeter EX4 6RT Tel: 01392 210691

49 Courtenay St, Newton Abbot TQ12 2QN Tel: 01626 330716

Brutus Centre, Totnes TQ9 5RW Tel: 01803 866597

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Young Fundraisers Charlie (right) made milkshake cones and sold them at his school, Hazeldown Primary School Kingsteignton and raised a fantastic £100 for us—well done Charlie. He is pictured here at the Shelter with our Animal Care Assistants, Charlene and Adam. Lily (below) popped into the Shelter back in April and had brought loads of donations and goodies for the animals! Thank you Lily.

Molly, Holly, Lacie and Isabel (below) raised money for the shelter by holding two car boot sales and a cake sale back in April. They raised £426.43 but with Gift Aid the total became £533.04—well done girls and thank you! Photo shows the girls with Acting Deputy Manager, Anna.

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Friends of Little Valley By Jill Brush, Membership Secretary

We are now past midsummer's day and it looks like summer has finally arrived! There is no Summer Fair at the Shelter again this year due to the kennel rebuild, which is now nearing completion. It has been decided not to have a Summer Draw but a Grand Draw will take place at our Christmas Fair which will take place on Saturday 16 November—venue to be confirmed. So keep the date in your diary and we’ll let you know the venue in the next newsletter. I do hope I shall meet many of you there. Jill Brush, Membership Secretary. Email: jillandphilb@aol.com or 01392 422070 / 07773 343551.

Long Service Volunteers The Shelter can’t run properly without volunteers and some of them have been with us a very long time! In recognition of this, some of our long-term volun-teers—Fran, Dave and Suzanne—received a certificate and a badge to say thank you for their commit-ment to volunteering at the Shel-ter! We hope you’ll be with us for many more years to come.

WESC Foundation Katie, along with her support worker Lisa, came to do work experience with us from the WESC Foundation. She has done fantastically well and has been a pleasure to work with. Good luck in the future Katie and thank you to WESC for the lovely certificate. Here is Katie with Acting Deputy Manager, Anna, and one of our bunnies in the rabbit compound.

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Exeter Living Awards 2019 We were very proud to be one of the charity finalists at the Exeter Living Awards this year. Sadly, we didn’t win but huge congratulations to the winners, Balloons, a charity working with bereaved children, young people

and their families in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.

Dot’s 10 Years A massive thank-you to Shelley and her friends Laura, Donna, Sinead, Chrissy and Jane who, back in April, walked from Budleigh to the Shelter to raise money for the animals in our care! They had Dot with them who they adopted from the Shelter 10 years ago and raised £140. Thank you everyone and to Dot.

Waitrose Community Matters We were very lucky back in March to be nominated as part of the Exeter Waitrose Community Matters Scheme, where shoppers can put a token in their chosen charity box. The scheme raised us a fantastic £326! So thank you to all those Waitrose shoppers who chose to support us by putting their tokens in our box! Here is Shelter Administrator, Maria, collecting the cheque from Waitrose Exeter.

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In Memory of Gordon Gooding 1940-2019 It came as a great shock to all who knew Gordon when he passed away so suddenly and unexpectedly in March. Gordon was born and spent his early years and schooling in the Exeter area before embarking on a very varied and colourful career. He started as a Redcoat with Butlins at several locations before moving on to other jobs around the country. Gordon loved the theatre, especially the old Music Halls, and as a member of the Magic Circle he was a natural entertainer. On returning to the Exeter area, Gordon married his lovely wife, Beryl, in 1975 and they together embarked on many activities in support of the community. For a while, he ran a sweet shop in Exmouth before moving on to various sales roles. For some years, Gordon was a local Councillor and he was a very active

and well-respected member of the Freemasons, playing an active role in their good works. An honest, loyal and cheerful character, Gordon was a good and helpful friend and neighbour to so many of his fellows; nothing was too much trouble and many had reason to thank him for his advice and time. A very sociable man with a great sense of humour, Gordon's other great love was animals, especially those which had been mistreated or had an unfortunate start in life. He was a Trustee of Animals in Distress in Ipplepen and he and Beryl supported the local Cats Protection. Over the years, several cats in their locality, either left behind in a move or no longer wanted by their owners, found their way to Gordon and Beryl who gave them a 'forever home'. Little Valley Animal Shelter was to play a large part in Gordon's life. He would be seen at all the Shelter events helping to set up and manning a stall on the day and

always had a poignant question or two at the Shelter's Annual General Meetings. A very active member of the Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton Little Valley Supporters Group (formerly the RSPCA Exmouth Auxiliary), Gordon organised the annual Flag Days and collection volunteers. At the various sales and fayres and Skittle Matches held by the Group during the years, Gordon became known as “Mr Raffle”. His affable and persuasive manner brought in thousands of pounds in support of the shelter. On many occasions, when collecting in town or at Exmouth Tesco, Gordon would bring his puppet dog Patch with its front paws around Gordon's neck and it would sing “Close To You” to the delighted kids or ladies. If they hadn't already put coins in the tin, they certainly did afterwards! Such was Gordon's respect for animal life, he carried a shovel in his car while travelling around. If it was safe to do so, he would stop when he saw road kill and move it out of the road or gutter to a hedgerow or field where he felt it could have a little dignity. The contribution Gordon made

throughout his life to his fellow man and his beloved animals can only be marvelled at. He will be much missed by all those who knew him.

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Staff Awards The Adrian Donno Award is an opportunity to recognise and honour those who help to make the lives of animals better through kindness, courage, determination and exceptional contributions to animal welfare. Animal Care Assistant, Kerry Dustan, was presented with The Adrian Donno Award back in April in recognition of her outstanding dedication and initiative in furthering the cause of animal welfare. Congratulations Kerry! Photo (top) shows Glenn

Mayoll, RSPCA Regional Operations Manager (South & South West) with Kerry and Branch Chairman, Carol Allan.

Animal Care Assistants Adam Harris and Jenny Andrew received their certificates to say they had passed their RSPCA Standard Procedures. Well done Adam and Jenny!

Kate Smith and Charlene Archer, Animal Care Assistants, received their long service awards. Kate has been with the Shelter for 15 years and Charlene has worked here 10 years! Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work!

Michelmores

A team from Michelmores Solicitors, Exeter, came in to us in June to spend a day doing some painting around the shelter—thanks for all your hard work!.

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Happy Endings!

Fern

Jessica & Joey

Binky

Barry

Spot

Jelly Palmer Mr Matey

Strudel

Frazer

Heath

Peach & Daisy

Ellie

Bluebell

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Tyrion

New Homes Required! From our last edition, only Tinks & Nibbles the degus are still with us—all the other have been rehomed! We have a few degus here waiting for new homes, so do please get in touch if you fancy a degu in your life! All the animals for adoption are on our website: www.rspca-littlevalley.org.uk.

Jessica

Poppy

Finlay

Mavis

Fleur

Rocky

Smurfette

Daenerys

Atticus

Bruce

Molly

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Sitel Exeter We have been working with Sitel in Exeter as their supported charity this year. They have helped us at charity events and been raising money for us. We recently took Missy the dog in to see them at their offices to say hello and to thank them for their help and support. Also Jelena and Scott from Sitel raised a fantastic £548 for us by doing a sponsored slim back in March.

Thank you to all at Sitel for your continued support—it is much appreciated.

Scott Richards Solicitors

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East Devon Pet Supplies A huge thank you to the folks at East Devon Pet Supplies, Dinan Way Trading Estate, Exmouth for their regular donations for the animals here at the Shelter.

Volunteers’ Week—1-7 June To celebrate Volunteers’ Week, all the volunteers who come to help us each week at the Shelter were giving a certificate to say thank you. Here they all are—we couldn’t do what we do without out them!

Amanda Liam

Georgia

Dave

Branch Chairman Carol & Ann

Kirsty

Chris David & Katie

Lisa & Amber

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Home Instead Senior Care By Vanessa McGlade, Director—Home Instead Senior Care

Home Instead Senior Care is the area’s premium provider of home care support for people living in their own home. The Company has a staff of over 100 who work in the office and community throughout Exeter and East Devon. Our office in Budleigh Salterton is located right around the corner from the RSPCA Little Valley Animal Shelter’s Budleigh shop and we have built a lovely rapport with the shop’s staff. We are all ardent animal lovers and familiar with the work and mission of Little Animal Valley Shelter. Each year at Christmas the staff come together to support a charitable cause with donations of goodies being donated to local homeless shelters, the church, or local elderly folks who would benefit from a little extra at Christmas. While planning our seasonal charitable focus last year a member of staff suggested RSPCA Little Valley Animal Shelter and there was instant, unanimous support for the idea. We had been touched by the plight of Hector when he was looking for a forever home and it was with him in mind that the suggestion was made. Staff quickly started bringing in goodies, the shop kindly provided a large dog bed into which the donations could be placed, and it was quickly filled with further donations spilling into decorated boxes and bags! One staff member brought in two bottles of Baileys, the thought being the staff at the Shelter deserved a little Christmas spirit while tending to the furry inmates! Another staff member made donations in memory of her much-loved Sheltie who had recently passed away and the Directors took their Papillon, Lily, shopping at a local pet store to choose donations! Home Instead Senior Care is staffed by exceptional, caring, empathetic caregivers with a

great love of both people and animals, supporting the Shelter seemed a perfect extension of our passion and ethos as it spoke to so many staff on many different levels. The event was so popular we fully anticipate the Shelter being our chosen focus for this year’s Christmas donation.

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Kennel Rebuild Update The kennel rebuild continues but we are getting there. We are already using two of the new blocks whilst awaiting completion of the next two blocks. We hope to be handed over the next block by the end of July—fingers crossed! Here are photos of progress so far...

Front of both blocks Outside fourth block

Inside fourth block

Underfloor heating in fourth block

Outside third block Inside third block

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Please consider sponsoring a dog kennel, cat pen or rabbit run for as little as £3 a month through our Safe Haven scheme. An application form can be found on our website.

If you shop online, please use Easyfundraising to help us raise even more money. Lots of well known retailers are on there and it’s free to register. Sign up at: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/rspcalittlevalley Join the Pets at Home VIP Club to get great

discounts. Select your home store as Exeter, Exmouth, Torquay or Newton Abbot and you can opt for Little Valley as your chosen charity so we can receive benefits as you shop! Register at: http://vip.petsathome.com

Giveacar raises money for UK charities by scrapping and selling old cars. They provide a

nationwide FREE service which: - Arranges the collection of the vehicle from your home; - Depending on its age and condition, recycles it at an authorised facility or sends it to auction. To arrange donation of a car visit www.giveacar.co.uk or call 020 7736 4242, quoting “RSPCA Little Valley Animal Shelter” as your chosen charity.

A legacy to us will provide crucial funds. We could not carry on our work without such gener-ous support. Please visit our website to find out more about leaving a legacy to us.

We have wishlists for our dogs, cats and small animals. They list lots of items that our animals really like, such as treats and toys. You will need an Amazon account to do this but it’s really easy to set up and it’s free. Go to www.amazon.co.uk. Log into your Amazon account and type into the search box “RSPCA Little Valley Wishlist” and our wishlists will come up! It’s a great way to help out the animals in our care!

You can now donate to us whilst you shop via Amazon Smile! Go to

https://smile.amazon.co.uk, login to your Amazon account. Under "Or pick your own charitable or-ganisation" type 'RSPCA Little Valley', click "Search" then “Select” and you are set up. Any eligible purchases you make when you go via Amazon Smile will benefit us!

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Events 2019

The kennel rebuild is still ongoing at the Shelter and will be for most of this year, which means that events at the Shelter will be limited once again. But here is a list of events that our Exmouth/Budleigh Supporters Group have organised. All events are also on our website and our Facebook page.

Saturday 27 July—Summer Sale (10am-12pm, 50p entry) Venue: All Saints Church Hall, 2 Church Road, Exmouth EX8 1RZ Stalls include bric-a-brac, toys, linen, cakes, ladies clothing/accessories, books, jewellery, refreshments and raffle.

Wednesday 14 August—Coffee Morning (10am-12pm, free entry) Venue: Littlemead Methodist Church Hall, Roundhouse Lane, Exmouth EX8 3BZ

Wednesday 11 September—Coffee Morning (10am-12pm, free entry) Venue: Littlemead Methodist Church Hall, Roundhouse Lane, Exmouth EX8 3BZ

Saturday 21 September—Budleigh SaltertonFlag Day

Wednesday 9 October—Coffee Morning (10am-12pm, free entry) Venue: Littlemead Methodist Church Hall, Roundhouse Lane, Exmouth EX8 3BZ

Wednesday 6 November—Coffee Morning (10am-12pm, free entry) Venue: Littlemead Methodist Church Hall, Roundhouse Lane, Exmouth EX8 3BZ

Saturday 16 November—Christmas Fair Venue: [TBA]

Saturday 23 November—Christmas Fayre (10am-12pm, 50p entry) Venue: All Saints Church Hall, 2 Church Road, Exmouth EX8 1RZ Stalls include cakes, bric-a-brac, toys, books, jewellery, linen, gifts, cards, Xmas decorations, refreshments and raffle.

St David's Veterinary Hospital is a modern, well equipped veterinary hospital in the city of Exeter. As a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) certified Veterinary Hospital our outstanding facilities include digital X-ray and ultrasonography, a fully equipped laboratory, air-conditioned kennels and operating theatres, along with 24 hour on-site vet and nursing care. All of this ensures your pet will receive first class modern treatment.

St Davids Station Exeter EX4 4NT Tel: 01392 271221 hospital@stdavidsvets.com referrals@stdavidsvets.com