I have absolutely no words, but a picture is worth a thousand so I'll let the photos of today tell the story.


I woke up this morning and saw the snow, and my heart sank as I worried that it would put people off coming. But the atmosphere among the volunteer team setting up at the shelter was bouncy with excitement, and the snow just seemed to add to the Christmassy feel! We were happy and nervous, worried that not many people would show up... we needn't have worried!



Our supporters were out in force, at times the shelter was so packed it was hard to move! We had hand knitted and crocheted items for sale, cakes and cookies, beautiful hand made jewelry, and some gorgeous art pieces donated by local gallery shop Beautiful Things. We had a tombola, guess-the-lion's-birthday, a champagne raffle, and of course lots of lovely pets to feed and cuddle and snuggle.




It felt like a real celebration - of Christmas, of Paws Here, of our volunteers and foster homes and helpers, of the work we do and the things we stand for. What hit me most was how much our work affects so many people, as well as so many homeless animals.




The day was made extra special by the adoption of Charlie, our very oldest resident bunny. Charlie is such a sweet, gentle soul and we will all miss him so much, and at the same time be so happy for him that he's finally found the forever family that he deserves. Good boy, Charlie. You deserve this happiness.



I hope everyone who came had a fantastic time, and appreciated how special they are and how much they've helped the rescue animals this Christmas. You're all more wonderful than I can express, and there were tears in my eyes by the time I got home this evening. I'm in awe of your generosity. Thank you.






And in the end, when all was counted up, we raised £442.45 today. Incredible!



This means we have smashed our target. Today was the day that we saved the shelter.

But what does that mean? The work that we all do, the effort we put in, the tireless, thankless hours we work and worry and hope - what's the true value of it all?






The real value of our work goes beyond pennies raised or words on a blog.



Their lives are in our hands and, with your help, we won't let them down.


Thank you!

Thanks to all the hard work and generosity of our wonderful supporters, we have now raised £650 towards our target of £900 by the end of the week. Incredible!

Special thanks go to supporter Louise who held a bake sale to raise £189 for the shelter - a fantastic amount, thank you so much.

We're now just £250 short of the target.

This is an amazing result and a testament to the great work that Paws Here does in helping sick, abandoned and mistreated pets, and to the kindness of our friends and supporters.

Thank you thank you thank you all!

Just one last push and I'm sure we can reach our target and save the shelter!

Ways to help:

-please follow us on twitter (yes, something this simple really can help!)

-if you're a knitter or crocheter, check out our raffle on ravelry where you can win scrumptious yarny prizes

-come along to the Christmas Fayre this Saturday 10th December, at the shelter from 12-4pm! Entry is free, and the more people who come the better the event will be. Please please attend - I promise it will be a lot of fun!

-order a Paws Here 2012 calendar or other winter gift here

-tell everyone you know about Paws Here's situation and the work that we do - and the ways they can help!


Thank you all again, so very much! I know that they would want to say thank you too, if they could.

Thanks to everyone who donated we have now raised just over £300 towards our target of £900! This is a huge feat and I want to say thank you so very, very much. Your help could prove pivotal in the fight to save Paws Here.

We are still struggling, however, to find the £600 still left to raise. We have until this coming weekend. It's a terrifying feeling - like falling without a net to catch you. The future of the shelter hangs in the balance. We need your help!

Paws Here is a small animal rescue that strives to find new homes for rabbits and rodents who have been abandoned, abused and mistreated. We receive no government funding and rely on donations to survive. We are strictly a no-kill shelter and we go above and beyond to give sick and injured animals a fighting chance, and it is this policy which has led to our current situation. Please help us to continue giving them a second chance at a happy life and a forever family.




How can you help?

-by blogging about the shelter's situation, or linking to this or our previous post.

-by coming to our Christmas Fayre next Saturday at the shelter from 12-4pm and bringing your friends and family along with you!

-by shopping at Paws Here for your pet products

-by ordering a calendar or other winter gift

-by making a donation

-by following us on twitter @Paws_Here and encouraging others to do the same

Please help us to continue to help them!



Thank you.

Hey folks, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the start of the holiday season!

Here at Paws Here we've had some wonderful news - Paws Here bunny Basil has won the Burgess Wetnose Rescue Story of the Year Award! It's a huge recognition of the work we do to turn around the most hopeless-seeming cases of neglect and abuse, and a testament to how hard we work to never put an animal down if there's an option to give them a fighting chance.

However, right now the shelter is struggling. This season is always difficult for us, but this year we are stretched almost to breaking point. Due to the staggering costs of vet treatment, coupled with the demands placed on us of being beyond maximum capacity thanks to several recent emergency cases, we have reached a point where the future has become uncertain.

In recent weeks we have had emergency surrenders brought in where the owners have refused to pay our rehoming fee, which they had previously agreed to donate, meaning that the cost of feeding, housing, vet checking, vaccinating, neutering etc has had to be entirely met by the shelter. These people have no problem with deceiving and depriving of money a struggling animal rescue at Christmas. At times like this it feels like it would be easy to give up, to lose faith in humanity all together. But I know that there are good people out there! I know that we can continue to make a difference!

We now need to raise around £900 or Paws Here will be unable to continue. This feels like a truly staggering figure, however if every one of our supporters contributed £10 we would be there!

I know this is a difficult time for everyone, but if any of you can spare anything, even a pound, it will massively help the shelter to stay alive.

We want to continue with the good work we're doing. We ourselves are putting everything we have into making this work.

Please help us. 

 You can make a donation to the rescue here.
 
Thank you.

I'd like to start off with some good news - Bella the rescue rabbit who recently needed surgery to remove a mammary tumour is finally recovering and doing well.



Bella has had us worried, as an allergic reaction meant her stitches and staples holding the wound from her operation together came away, and the wound opened up and became infected. It's taken a lot of nursing, a lot of care and love, and a lot of vet treatment, but after some very precarious days Bella is finally on the mend. We hope she'll make a full recovery and find a wonderful forever home.

More good news is that Basil continues to improve!

Not so long ago Basil had major surgery to remove a sizeable section of his jaw where the bone had become infected. We weren't sure if he would be able to eat on his own, however within hours of the surgery he was trying to nibble on his veg, and after many gruelling weeks of syringe feeding and pain management he is now eating well on his own. This boy has a spirit that won't be kept down!

The more difficult news to go along with this is that the vet bills for these two rabbits have reached well over £800, and are still rising. We have been fundraising to pay these off, but as it stands we are still £646 short. If anyone feels able to make a donation, however small, it will be a great help in raising the money to pay these vet bills. You can donate here, and currently all donations are being used exclusively for vet treatment unless you specify otherwise.

Another way you can help is by ordering one of our Paws Here 2012 calendars. These are due to be posted out soon, so hurry to be sure you get yours!

And yet another way you can help is by supporting our next fundraiser event - the Christmas Fayre. The Fayre will be held at the shelter on Saturday 10th December from 12-4pm. There will be stalls, games and of course the chance to meet all the rescue pets! If anyone has anything that they can donate for the Fayre, such as tombola prizes, hand made goods from jam to knitted scarves to baked goods, or if anyone can help out by spending some time helping us put up posters, please get in touch either by email at pets@pawshereedinburgh.co.uk or by phone on 07982 502972.

Thanks in advance and we look forward to seeing you all there!

Greetings All! Some Paws Here news:

We have a St. Andrew's Day Ceilidh Celebration coming up in a couple of weeks.

Date: Friday 4th November

Place: Liberton Kirk Halls

Time: 7pm

Tickets: £5, to include a Scottish supper

Hop along to our St. Andrew's Day celebration in support of Paws Here Animal Shelter, where you can bounce along to live folk music, highland entertainment, ceilidh dancing, a Scottish supper, and much more!

All proceeds go towards paying vet bills for rescue bunnies Eliot, Thyme, Basil and Bella. Eliot, our beloved wee white rabbit, had his leg amputated in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of a deadly infection. Thyme came to us with a badly infected jaw which required removal of much of the bone. Basil has such a long medical history that it would be impossible to relate it all here, but his latest surgery was for an abscess in his chin. And Bella is currently undergoing surgery for a suspected tumour in her abdomen.

At Paws Here we are a no-kill shelter and we never put an animal to sleep if our vets believe they can give them a fighting chance. Please
help us to meet the costs that this incurs by coming along to our St. Andrew's Day Event and celebrating the work we do to save the lives of homeless animals.

To book tickets or for more info contact Marie MacGill on 0131 2589052/07595 973367 or email marie@pawshereedinburgh.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you there!


Also, our Paws Here 2012 Calendars are now available to pre-order. Please note that, after difficulties with the UK post last year due to the weather and the Christmas rush, calendars can be pre-ordered any time from now through October and November and will be posted out on November 30th to allow plenty of time for delivery. Orders placed after this time will be rushed to you as quickly as we can, but there will be no guarantee that you'll receive your calendar by Christmas.

Well folks, there's been some good news and some sad news lately.

The sad news is that one of our bunnies, Beauty, has died. She developed a lump on her jaw which, when x-rayed, turned out to be an infection in the bone that couldn't be cured without removing too much of her jaw to allow her to be able to eat afterwards.

Beauty came to us as an emotionally damaged bunny who would cower and bite at anyone who approached her. With a lot of patience and work on behalf of our volunteers she gradually learnt to trust people again, accepting food and gentle strokes from her favourite people while remaining shy of strangers. She was always so friendly with other bunnies, and we were in the process of trying to match her up with a friend just before she died. Although she never found her forever home, I am happy that Beauty overcame her difficult start and enjoyed those final months of friendship and trust here at the shelter. We will remember her.

We have also been desperately worried about Eliot - many of you will remember our gorgeous wee white bunny Eliot, who badly broke his pelvis several months ago. Eliot had been recovering well, but was still under weight and still could not use one of his legs. This leg eventually became infected because he just couldn't keep it from dragging along the ground. We took him in to the small animal hospital, where we were told that the prognosis was bleak. Eliot was so skinny still that surgery would be very dangerous, and yet he was unlikely to gain weight without surgery to remove the infection. We were told to prepare for the worst. I spent a devastating night agonising over what to do - whether we had indeed reached the end of the line for Eliot. For me, personally, it was awful to have to make this decision, having spent so many months working round the clock to save his life while he stayed with me at home.

But the morning came and we had a call from Jo, the vet looking after him, to let us know that Eliot was doing a little better and she felt that it would be worth risking surgery. We agreed, and that same day Eliot's infected leg was amputated.

He is a fighter. He never stops fighting. Within hours of the surgery he was eating and moving about. Within 48 hours he was at home. Within a week, he was running around the place and actually binkying. He continues to fight and to do well - the wound is healing and he is bouncing around on 3 legs freely. Please, please keep him in your thoughts as we continue to nurse him.

And, as sad as I am to have to ask it, his surgery and hospital stay cost the shelter just over £770. If anyone can donate to help us meet that cost, please do so here http://pawshereedinburgh.co.uk/page_27 . Even a small amount will help us. Thank you!

Now for some really good news! Lots of people know Jonah, he's an English Spot/Lionhead cross that's been with us for over a year now. Jonah has recently been adopted! He has gone to live with a female bunny called Amber. Well done, Jonah! Finally you've found your forever home.

Also, we have an exciting fundraising event happening next Saturday (the 13th August) - the Paws Here Picnic in the Park.

On Saturday 13th August we will be meeting at the shelter and walking down the road to nearby Braidburn Valley Park with some of our rescue pets for fun and games in the park. Bring a packed lunch and help us to feed the animals their lunch too! There will be opportunities to learn about pet care and about rabbits and guinea pigs specifically, and lots of chances to cuddle and play with the animals.

We will be meeting at 12pm and returning to the shelter at 3pm. The cost is £10 per family and places are limited so please do book in advance by emailing us at pets@pawshereedinburgh.co.uk

This would be a great way to help us fundraise for Eliot's recent surgery. Please tell all your friends, anyone who you think might like to come along!

And if you can put up any posters or give out any flyers then please email at the address above and let us know.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you all for your support and your generous response to my previous post - we have today booked Thyme in for the surgery she so desperately needs! We are not out of the woods yet and your continued support is much needed http://paws-here.livejournal.com/27972.html

We have some great things coming up over the next few months at Paws Here organised by our wonderful volunteers - please come along and help us to make them a success!

The first is this coming Saturday 2nd July - The Paws Here Pocket Pet Show!

Is your hamster the cutest? Your guinea pig the fluffiest? Your gerbil the friendliest? Bring them along to the Paws Here Pocket Pet Show and see if they win! There will be fun and games, as well as the chance to see all of the adorable pets in the show and meet the rescue animals.

Please bring your pet along either in its cage or in a suitable escape-proof travel container, with food and either water, or vegetable such as cucumber to provide moisture.
This is a competition for only small “pocket” pets, no bigger than a rabbit. So no cats and dogs please, as they might scare the other contestants!

Do come along even if you don't have a pet to enter - you can cheer on the contestants and take part in the rest of the fun!

Date: Saturday 2nd July
Time: 1pm-4pm
Place: Paws Here Animal Shelter, 135 Comiston Road
Cost: £1 per pet – all proceeds go to support the rescue

Animal Experience Day Courses

Paws Here Small Animal Shelter will be running day courses for young people, the perfect thing if you’re considering a career involving animals or if you’re just an animal lover! The course will be run by one of our experienced volunteers and during the course you will be taught many important things about animal care and handling and have the opportunity to handle many of our animals. The courses will run from 11-5 and there will be courses on Monday 4th July, Monday 11th July and Tuesday 12th July.

They will take place in the shelter which is at 135 Comiston Road. The cost of the course is £10. The courses are open to anyone over the age of 12.

Places are very limited. For more information or to book call 0131 4477 464 or email pawsherebooking@gmail.com .


A message from Rachel:

As many will know already, I've been away on maternity leave since my daughter, Audrey Beatrix, was born on the 13th April. I'm starting to ease back into working one day a week for now, but please bear with us while we ease back into things. Audrey and I will both be at the shelter on Saturday for the pet show, and I can't wait to catch up with all our fantastic supporters and introduce her to you. I've missed you guys! - Rachel x

A little while ago a new bunny was brought in to the shelter. As with so many bunnies, she was a once-loved family pet who was now sadly being largely ignored in a hutch in the garden. Fortunately for Thyme, the grown up daughter of her owner noticed the rabbit languishing under a lack of attention and brought her in to Paws Here, where she is now in one of our special long term foster homes.

Thyme is so very lucky. Unbeknownst to the woman who brought her to us, a vet check revealed that Thyme has a large tumour which has ulcerated and is potentially cancerous.

We can only hope that we’ve caught it in time.
If the tumour is cancerous then it may already be too late to do anything except make Thyme more comfortable for the months she has left. However we are hopeful that we have caught it in time for her to make a good recovery.

But we need to act quickly now. The shelter has been bogged down by a massive influx of rescue rabbits and vet bills. We are down to our last resources, and so we are faced with an awful choice. Thyme’s life saving operation costs £200. An order of fresh supplies, hay and food for the rescue animals at the shelter, costs £200. We cannot afford both. We have fundraising events coming, but not in time.

Do we save Thyme’s life or do we feed 20 other rabbits in desperate need? What would you choose?It is clear that we need to do the impossible. We need to choose both. There is no other option.

We need your help.

If everyone reading this donated even a small amount, I am sure we would be able to fund Thyme’s operation and feed our homeless pets. Please, please consider donating anything you can. Donations can be made here.

We also welcome donations of small animal food and bedding, and hay, which can be brought in to the shelter during opening hours.

Young volunteer Alice is organising and running a stall at her school fair this weekend to support Paws Here. She would like to display information about the shelter and wonders if anyone has a display board which she could borrow?

Also, due to illness and exams, we are very much understaffed at the moment and in desperate need of more volunteers. If anyone reading this can help out, even for a few hours, or knows someone who might be interested, we would all be so grateful. You can contact us by email at pets@pawshereedinburgh.co.uk or by calling Rachel on 07982 502972.

Thank you!