Taily Mail Autumn/Winter 2021

Autumn/Winter 2021

Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home

Taily Mail What's New?

Celebrating a combined 160 years of service

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e bout th Pg. Read a Home’s 10-11 e to s n o p s re nge Challe Week Poverty

THEY WON’T BE LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS SEE PAGES 14-17

Welcome

Oh hello there, it’s Ziggy here to present you with a fresh issue of Taily Mail for the Autumn-Winter of 2021.

It’s almost Christmas time and I cannot wait to roll around in the snow with my little sister Issey, oh and we will definitely try to stay awake for Santa this time!

We have some super exciting updates for you ranging from how the Home is working towards solutions to prevent separation anxiety in pets and how you can get involved in our brand new Christmas Appeal (see pages 14-17).

Don’t forget to check out our online shop for your all your Christmas stocking filler needs, we have personalised T-shirts, hoodies, stationary, tea towels and so much more. Make sure to check it out at retail.edch.org.uk.

On a final note, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and safe and happy New Year. We are so thankful for all your support this year, we simply couldn’t do what we do without you!

Ziggy

We are cutting down our carbon footprint by sending digital copies of our Taily Mail news. However, if you would prefer to receive a printed copy through direct postal mail, please get in touch at info@edch.org.uk

Follow us @edindogcathome for more pupdates.

Thank you! edch.org.uk

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Romeo is looking for an experienced owner who has had an anxious dog in the past and can commit to helping him reach his full potential.

He would suit an adult only home where he will have company for most of the day. He would like to have his own private and secure garden, and needs a main door home so he doesn’t have to pass neighbours to get inside. He needs to be the only pet in his new home and needs to live away from the city or other busy area, where there are quiet areas he can go for exercise.

He travels well in the car and is well behaved when at home. He is very friendly with the people that he knows and can be very affectionate when he wants to be. He is an energetic boy who loves running around and playing with his toys, and he enjoys going for quiet walks.

Romeo would benefit from working with a behaviourist and needs an owner who is financially able to commit to this.

To find out more about Romeo you can fill out a rehoming form online at edch.org.uk/pet-profile/ romeo or call us on 0131 669 5331.

To make a regular donation to help dogs and cats like Romeo text ROMEO to 70085 to donate £5 per month.

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What's New?

Celebrating a combined 160 years of service A dedicated group of our female staff at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home have been awarded Long Service Awards as they celebrate a combined 160 years of work. Recipients include Nonnie Kent (25 years), Jeni Anderson (30 years), Angie Gerrard (30 Years), Wendy Mullen (35 Years), and Fifi Smith (40 Years). Their awards recognise their outstanding contributions to animal welfare at the Home over significant periods.

Lindsay Fyffe-Jardine, CEO at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, said: “Each and every one of these women deserve recognition for the services they have provided to dogs and cats in need over the last four decades.

Every day they inspire me with their stories of the past and the way they continue to innovate to make the Home a better place – both for the animals and for the colleagues they work with.”

Rehoming Moves Online Over lockdown we made some changes to our rehoming process, which have been overwhelmingly positive for our dog and cat residents. We have ended our open-door policy to rehoming clients, instead offering a rehoming application process that begins exclusively online, with visits booked once a match has been set up by our rehoming team. We have discovered that this has not only helped us make better matches between pet and new owner, and therefore sped up the rehoming process, but also by reducing footfall in our kennels and cattery, our animals stress levels have noticeably improved.

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Dangerous Dog Act As a team of dedicated animal lovers committed to the welfare of the dogs in our care, the Dangerous Dogs Act has put us in situations we never dreamed of having to be in. Over the years we have cared for some amazing animals who have unfortunately met criteria that has determined them to be banned breeds. We can’t put into words the heartbreak that this has caused the staff who have cared for these dogs. It has felt unfair and immoral.

We take our legislative responsibilities very seriously, including compliance with the Dangerous Dogs Act. However, we believe that any animal welfare legislation should ultimately protect dogs from irresponsible owners who put their health or wellbeing at risk, and promote good breeding and training practices. Of course, legislation should ultimately protect the public and other animals from potentially dangerous dogs, but in our experience, this does not correlate with banning specific breeds of dog.

We welcome the parliamentary motion brought by our Animal Champion, Christine Grahame MSP, which calls for a review of the Act, and instead to focus on the deed, not the breed.

Animal Champion, Christine Grahame MSP with CEO Lindsay Fyffe-Jardine

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Cleo's New Home

In July, Cleo had been brought to the Home after being found as a stray. She had been roaming a neighbourhood close to a railway line for a few days, until a kind local resident decided to help her.

After arriving at the Home, it wasn’t long until she was rehomed and since rehoming, Cleo and her new owner, Rachel have been enjoying creating special memories together.

“Cleo has settled incredibly well. She is a very friendly, affectionate, playful and curious cat and is a welcome addition to our household. It’s been a while since we had a cat and our teens (15 and 17 years) are enjoying having her around. We’d been looking for a cat for a few months without any success before we spotted Cleo on the Home’s website. Cleo loves being outside so the first 4 weeks were quite difficult for her as she was desperate to venture out and spent a lot of time sitting on window sills watching the world go by. One night she managed to escape out the kitchen window but thankfully she returned home with the lure of cat treats.”

- Rachel, Cleo’s New Owner

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Cleo, enjoying the comfy sofa in her new forever home.

Events Are Back!

We’re very excited to have our fundraising events back in action from 2022 and look forward to sharing updates with you on these very soon!

All Year

Spring

Golf Day Sept

Jog With Gobi Oct

Paws By The Prom

A Dugs Dinner

Also keep a look out for our Quiz Night, Comedy Night, In The Dog House, and Car Boot Sale events coming soon!

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Fundraising Update Thanks Dion Leonard

Dion Leonard is an Edinburgh resident, and Sunday Times best-selling author of the book ‘Finding Gobi’. In 2016, while running a 155 mile multi-stage race across the Gobi Desert, a little stray dog started following Dion, and this ended up changing both of their lives forever. Their story, Finding Gobi, has been printed in 21 languages and is being made into a Hollywood movie with Sony & Tencent Pictures for a 2022 release.

On 19 July 2021, Dion took part in a gruelling 135 mile trek in California, USA, while raising funds for East Scotland’s dogs and cats in need. We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Dion himself and all those who supported throughout his journey, you are amazing!

Golden Oldie winner

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This year’s Best Buds winners

Virtual Dog and Cat Show In June, we hosted our second Virtual Dog and Cat Show which was another great success.

Thank you to everyone who took part and helped us raise £1,721 through ticket sales and donations. With new categories including ‘Prettiest Eyes’, ‘Then and Now’ and ‘How Did They Get There’, our guest judge Marc Abraham (OBE) had a very difficult time choosing the winners. A huge shout out to Bonnie Biscuits who kindly supplied our top prizes, and to Marc for judging and donating signed copies of his book, Lucy’s Law. Keep your eyes peeled for next year’s dates.

Events October saw the return of events at the Home, and oh, how we missed them!

Our first thanks goes to the business leaders and influencers who took to our kennels to compete for the crown of Top Dog and Best in Show. Marc Abraham OBE, Larah Bross, Anthony Drew, Sarah Crossley and Heidi Caroll fundraised their way out of their kennels using only their phones and laptops, raising over £5,000.

Congratulations to Top Dog, Marc, and to Best in Show, Heidi.

Next, eleven brave supporters walked over hot embers to raise an incredible £1,500. A huge thank-you and well done to everyone who took part in this year’s firewalk, including our mascot, Hamish.

se 2021 Team

In The Dog Hou

The Home’s br ave firewalkers !

Corporate Partners The innovation and generosity we have seen from our corporate partners this year, both new and long standing, has been very admirable. We have worked with some amazing businesses to bring creative partnership strategies together, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the vital funds that are donated as a result.

Here are some of the new businesses we have worked with this year, visit our website to find out more about how they support the Home.

Thank You!

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Challenge Poverty Week The Home’s Pack In Pet Poverty campaign was part of Challenge Poverty Week from 4-10 October.

This week was led by the Poverty Alliance highlighting how low incomes, high costs, lack of decent work, and lack of access to help and services that people need are affecting thousands of local households.

The Home is supporting their call for wide-ranging government action, including delivery of the Minimum Income Guarantee,

doubling of child benefit payments, increased investment in fuel poverty solutions and ensuring all employers are paying the real Living Wage.

Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home Animal Champion and Lucy’s Law Campaigner, Marc the Vet (Marc Abraham OBE), joined the team during Challenge Poverty Week to lend his support for the campaign.

Paws Pantry Pet Foodbank The Pack in Pet Poverty campaign highlighted a 77% rise in use of the Home’s pet foodbank, Paws Pantry, between 2020 and 2021. This vital service has now expanded across East and Central Scotland in response to the demand. The Home works with 52 foodbanks and community groups and provides essential pet food, collars, jackets, bedding and other care items to pet owners in need. Over 1,300 animals per month are now being cared for through this service.

munity Hub

Com Paws Pantry at Tamforthhill

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“It’s great to see such awareness of pet poverty being raised in this way, to help prevent pet abandonment, and keep pets with their families if possible. This sets a whole new example of empathy, kindness, and compassion, to both pets and people, and makes me extremely proud to be Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home’s Animal Champion.”

Colin Beattie MSP campaigning to Pack In Pet

Poverty

- Marc Abraham (OBE)

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Recently, our education team has been sharing helpful information on the topic of separation anxiety. Over a two week period, we covered what separation anxiety is, what signs and symptoms to watch out for, what a worried pet owner can do about it, and we shared several helpful resources to support pet owners dealing with this issue.

Why Is It Important?

Some surveys suggest as many as 4 out of 10 dogs experience separation anxiety.

We worry that this number will continue to rise as a result of lockdowns and many of us spending more time at home with our pets.

Learn more at: edch.org.uk/separation-anxiety

What Can I Do About It? Our team have put together some helpful resources for worried pet owners. These include: Articles with in-depth advice and actionable steps you can start to take Helpful advice in small, bite size videos on our YouTube and Instagram channel A virtual education workshop to help young people identify a stressed dog A corporate education workshop for pet-friendly businesses

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Taily Mail Mail Taily

Visit retail.edch.org.uk *Images for visualisation purposes only, actual products may differ slightly.

As we come to the end of another rollercoaster year, we are reflecting on the many challenges and highlights of the past 12 months. The multiple challenges this year has been tough on everyone, but it has been an absolute delight to see so many dogs and cats get their second chance. For every abandoned animal that has come through our door, we have watched another prosper and go on to their forever loving home.

At Christmas, our work does not stop. Over the coming weeks, our dedicated team gear up for another busy season of surrenders, reunions, and rehoming. The stray and unwanted pets across East and Central Scotland will continue to need us in 2022. Providing love, a safe place, food and veterinary care, until their new owner can be found; or supporting owners to be able to keep their pets when they are facing financial difficulties. As the New Year bells ring, we prepare to do it all over again for hundreds more dogs and cats.

One particular case from last Christmas had a huge impact on the team. On 18 December an owner walked through our doors with two beautiful, but terrified and underweight dogs called Dixie and Jackson. They were just two years old, and deemed to be litter mates, surrendered on the basis that they were struggling to get along with another pet in the home.

They were both very wary of strangers, and we knew we would have to work closely with them to get them used to people and other dogs.

During their routine assessment from our vet, both dogs were given vaccinations, worming and parasite treatment. At this time, we also discovered that Dixie was around eight weeks pregnant. It was important to get both animals settled in and prepare for the arrival of their puppies. Four weeks later, Dixie gave birth to five strong, healthy puppies.

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“Having a birth on site puts huge pressure on our resources, particularly at Christmas time, to look after the health of a new mum and raise so many puppies until they are ready to go on to new homes. Suddenly we had five more mouths to feed, five more sets of vaccinations, five more spaying and neutering surgeries to pay for, and most importantly, five more forever homes to find.”

– Wendy Mullen, Kennel Manager.

During their time with us, we spent each day preparing Dixie, Jackson and their puppies for their new lives. Once trust was established, their confidence with people and other dogs grew too.

s story and Jackson’ To read Dixie e visit as le support, p or show your s a /Christm edch.org.uk

After finding wonderful homes for the puppies, Dixie was spayed and Jackson was castrated to prevent any future unwanted litters. And in August 2021, eight months after they were brought to us, both were successfully rehomed together.

“Jack and Victor (formerly Jackson and Dixie) are now part of our wee family and all of us are bursting with happiness, pride and love. Thank you Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, you’re changing lives with your work and not just the lives of cats and dogs” – Dixie and Jackson’s new owner By making a donation today, you will be changing lives too. With your support pets like Dixie, Jackson, and their puppies won’t be alone this Christmas.

Dixie and Jackson enjoying life in their new forever home

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can buy a 12kg bag of dog food

Scan To Donate

could feed four dogs for a week

can spay or neuter a dog in our care

Ways To Donate: Visit edch.org.uk/christmas Call 0131 669 5331 Text DIXIE to 70450 to donate £10* *Texts cost the donation amount plus one standard rate message, and you’ll be opting in to hear more from us. If you would like to donate but don’t wish to hear more from us, please text DIXIENOINFO to 70450.

Complete this form and return in the freepost envelope enclosed by Sunday 9 January

Your Details: Title

Last Name

First Name

Address City

Postcode

Mobile Email

Home

I’d like to give a one-off gift of: £25

£50

Payment Method:

£150

My Own Donation Of Card

Cheque

Card No. Valid From

Expiry Date

CVV

Card Holder Name (As printed on card): Signature

Date:

Yes, reclaim Gift Aid on all my donations so that each £1 is worth an extra 25p to Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home. This declaration is valid for the current tax year (6 April to 5 April), the previous four tax years and all future years. I confirm I have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for the year of a donation that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) that I donate to will reclaim on my gifts for the current tax year. I understand that other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. You must be a UK taxpayer and understand that if you pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax in the current tax year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all of your donations across all Charities, it is your responsibility to pay any difference. Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home reclaims 25p for every £1 you donate from the tax you pay for the current tax year. If you change your name, address or tax status, do let us know.

I’d like to become a Companion and give a regular contribution by Direct Debit I’m happy to give the amount of: £8 Direct Debit Start Date: 1st:

6

2

1

8

Your Direct Debit:

£20

(per month)

other

15th:

Instruction to your Bank or Building Society

1

£12

9

Please pay Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home Direct Debits from the account detailed in this Instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my bank/building society.

Bank/Building Society Name: Address: Postcode: Account Holder Name (s): Account Number:

Sort Code:

Contact Preferences We would love to keep you informed of Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home’s vital work to rescue, reunite and rehome stray and unwanted pets across Edinburgh and the Lothians. If you have supplied us with your postal address or phone number, we may use these details to communicate updates on our dogs and cats, events, campaigns and services that we think you might be interested in, unless you have told us not to. If you would like to hear from us via email or SMS please let us know below. With all of your contact methods, you have the right to opt out of receiving these communications at any time. If you would prefer we did not contact you by post or phone, or would like to change your contact preferences, you can do this simply and easily by emailing dataprotection@edch.org.uk or calling us on 0131 669 5331.

Would You Like To Receive Communication By: SMS

Yes

No

Email

Please send back a Christmas wish for the animals at the Home.

Yes

No

Dear dogs and cats of the Hom

e...

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Thank you for all your support.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year from all the team at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home.

To find out more about how you can support the animals in our care and make a donation, visit edch.org.uk/support-us Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home T: 0131 669 5331 E: info@edch.org.uk

Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home is a Scottish Charity SC006914, regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).