A Brief Newsround - Week Ending 14/3/21

Bliss on Sunday morning came in the form of a delicious lie-in till 5 a.m. with blind cats Yanni and Kolio purring in my arms. My usual rising time is 4.30 a.m. but that's not difficult most mornings because my old body clock still seems geared to tropical island hours. In the South Seas people born there rise early to catch the cool hours for fishing or feasting. When I was there I used those hours for writing. Here, on the LIFE home site in rural Bulgaria, there's the caravan I share with nine rescued cats to clean, then 11 horses and 44 outdoor  cats to feed before breakfast. 

Kolio

Yanni

Sunday continued happily with lots of walks for our rescued dogs.

Tsanke, with Terence and Benji

Later there was a high spot when former Roma owned worked horse Barcelona was backed by Daniel for the first time and seemed to enjoy the experience as much as Daniel did.

March 8th, Women's Day, is marked in Bulgarian villages like the one I live in by men presenting the women in their lives with flowers. When I first came, 14 yrs ago, the flowers were usually real - tiny bouquets of snowdrops or sweetly scented wild hyacinths. Nowadays plastic single roses are more common. Mothers, aunts and shop staff receive them as well as wives and girlfriends. I've been given them by our local male employees before now. On Monday I was with Ilia when he bouqht his wife, Tsanke, a boxed mug decorated with the words Perfect love.

Ilia & Tsanke, two of LIFE's regular helpers, with Vincent

On Tuesday LIFE's little car was crammed with dogs for pre-travel checks and final deparasiting.

Terence & William, with Mr. Blossom posing like a pro!

While at the vets we caught up with Dancho, a cat found with his back legs shattered by shotgun pellets. He's had successful surgery on one leg already and will soon have another. The vet bill so far is over £300, if anyone would like to pitch in a little, donations can be made here.

 

Back home, I took advice about an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus, which could hit local Roma workhorses hard. But our own much loved rescued and recovered horses also need protection. Vaccines are being ordered and we pray they come soon enough to prevent an epidemic. Little Kirichko, still in equine hospital, needs to be vaccinated too, but even the healthiest horses are at risk. . 

Daniel with Boshko & Bexlyin the Broad

Little Kirichko

Wednesday was meant to be a big day for LIFE, with no less than 10 dogs leaving the Haven and home site for new lives in the U.K.. But the transport was delayed by the drivers having to queue for Covid tests, so departure of the dogs was moved to early on cold and windy Thursday. Ace volunteer Suze Crane drove miles to get to LIFE's home site by 7 a.m. to fill in passport details in a fairer hand than mine, while Daniel and Ilia brought dogs down from the haven through sleet, and fitted harnesses at the home site. My role was to keep normal routines going as far as possible for our equine and feline resident rescue cases and to help Suze and the lads marshal the dogs for travel when the time came. Behind the scenes, other team members were checking the route and ensuring all adopters were advised about how to first handle a rescued dog who's travelled far to a place that will be strange and maybe scary to him or her at first.

It's always a moving moment when dogs I've known for years, in some cases, are loaded one by one into a van which will take them thousands of miles to the kind adopters waiting for them. A mix of trust, hope and something akin to prayer hovers in my heart as we finally wave them off.   

    

Off to their Forever Homes

Tiny Babichka left this week, too, a sweet old lady rescued after we found her nearly bald and suffering from a massive growth locally. 

Sonia with little Babichka

For more on the dogs now arrived in the U.K., and how they’re settling in, see here.

Outreach work this week was enhanced by the presence  of former show jumper Joanna Heeney, who gave valuable tips on treatment of injuries and endorsed LIFE's frequent advice to local owners to rest their horses while wounds heal. Joanna also helped rescued horses Boshko and Arap learn what s required of them on a lunge line and encouraged Daniel to learn how to guide them, too.

Last but not least for this week, Mr and Mrs Prince, both rescued when tiny, wish to share the happiness of their sixth chaste wedding anniversary with LIFE's friends and followers.

 

If you've enjoyed reading this blog and approve of the work we do, please consider making a small donation to LIFE.

Thank you, and I hope to be back with another catch-up next Sunday, 

Lucy Irvine 

!Stop Press!

As I wove my way through cats and horses back to my caravan, tired but happy, bad news came: 

Our van load of beloved rescued dogs heading for adoption in the U.K. was stopped in France at the inspection check point. All but two of our dogs were to be held in Calais. No more detailed information was given.

To find out what happens next, follow the LIFE page as news comes in.  At the time of writing we're waiting with baited breath for any indication of why our dogs can't cross the channel....

For daily updates on all aspects of life at LIFE, go to my page.