Sunday, 15th of September

It has been a busy day today for the Last Hope team. As well as the every day tasks like kennels shifts, foster duties, admin etc we have our sponsored dog walk on Tara Hill and the hen rescue. 

When we looked outside at the weather this morning, our hearts sank, what a change from yesterday, wind & rain was not what you wanted when visiting Tara Hill as it's windy on the best of days. Although we knew it would effect the turn out, the dog walk was to go ahead regardless, even if it only meant our Last Hope dogs got a good walk on a "fresh" day.


It was an early start for the guys on the hen rescue, a convoy of Last Hope volunteers set off for Laois to meet up with the team from Little Hill Animal Rescue. 150 hens were loaded into the cars, van & horsebox in boxes and crates and driven back to Navan, where they were collected and headed off to their new homes. These hens have never seen the outside world, never felt the sun shine, or pecked their way through a grassy field. We knew they would adjust to a free range life in no time and I'm sure will be laying eggs in their new homes in no time. We do still have some hens needing homes if anyone is still looking to get some. 

Hens being packed up and heading for a new life

One of the rescue hens in their Last Hope foster home

A big night last night for the kittens Pip, Bella & Meg. Pip & Bella are sisters and Meg was a stray found wandering in Dunshaughlin and was taken in by one of the volunteers. They had so far been kept separated at night in their foster home, with slow introductions during the day and last night they finally slept in the same room. Gillian came down to find Pip and Meg fast asleep curled up together in the same bed, while Bella was already up for breakfast. The three kittens now play happily with the resident cats and it is lovely to see the hard work paying off & them making great progress over a few weeks.

Meg & Pip

The dog walk was taking place at 2:30pm and the volunteers were meeting there at 2pm. Much to our surprise and delight the weather had cleared and although the wind was blowing, the clouds had passed to leave us with beautiful blue skies. Mother nature must look favorably on animal rescuers :) and we were delighted to see it wasn't just the volunteers that turned up but some of our supporters too. A big thank you to those that came out to support us and for all the donations we received. 

Hilary & Harley ready to go

Beautiful Day on Tara Hill

The dogs thoroughly enjoyed the walk and meeting lots of new & some old friends. Many of the dogs in foster & from the kennels were there with the volunteers along with their own dogs. And with a lot of us being part of the "Failed Fosterers Club" it's great to see ex-Last Hope Dogs and catch up on how they have settled in to their forever homes. We were delighted to raise a total of €524 for the afternoon and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had two very quiet dogs sprawled in front of the fire for the rest of the evening.

www.lasthope.ie

www.idonate.ie/248_last-hope-animal-charity.html

Clockwise from top left: Bella. Chrissy an ex-Last Hope dog came to say hello. Last Hope @ Tara Hill. Wilma. The adorable little Mari who is also looking for her forever home