Animals' stable future

Plans for celebrations to mark its 21st anniversary earlier in the year were dampened by the arrival at the centre of the bacterial infection streptococcus zooepidemicus.

There were to be only two confirmed cases among the horses at the centre since the first animal showed flu-like symptoms in May.

But with strep zoo, as it is known, capable of causing pneumonia and lung abscesses in horses — with a form of the disease that can be passed from horses to humans — the impact on the equine section of animal adoption centre was immediate and long-lasting.

The equine centre has remained closed to visitors, although thankfully it has been business as usual when it comes to finding homes for hundreds of dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs and countless other small animals.

A birthday party in June, which would have seen staff showing off their skills with horse riding displays and canine training sessions had to be postponed. Far more painful for staff, however, was that their mission of finding good homes for unwanted and neglected horses and donkeys came to an abrupt stop. Horses were neither allowed to come in or leave the centre until the shadow of infection had lifted.

“It was the first case that we have ever had of it,” said Gemma Taylor, the equine rehoming superviser. “We had 70 horses on the site when we shut down. Before we closed we had been rehoming about 10 horses a month.”

Staff have had to wear masks, overalls and wellingtons. The use of disinfectant foot dips for some no doubt stirred memories of farms in west Oxfordshire during the national outbreak of foot-and-mouth.

But Blue Cross in Burford has just announced that its equine centre has just reopened and is rehoming horses once again.

Everyone remains cautious. But there was certainly a spring back in the step of staff when I visited the centre, set in 110 acres of countryside off Shilton Road, on the outskirts of Burford.

The Blue Cross has in fact been championing animal welfare for more than 100 years, beginning life in 1897 as Our Dumb Friends League. It can proudly point to the fact that it worked to help animals employed on the front line in the First World War, providing horse ambulances and medicine.

Burford was chosen as the location of a new animal adoption centre and headquarters, previously located at the London Victoria animal hospital, as part of the charity’s expansion plan in 1990.

Made up of redundant farmland, the site in west Oxfordshire provided space for horses, a small animal centre and office buildings.

It is now as busy as it has ever been, rehoming hundreds of animals to Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire.

Some of the animals are delivered by loving owners — who perhaps through family break-up, age, illness and redundancy — find themselves no longer capable of looking after their pets and horses.

Leanne Macey, an animal welfare assistant, suddenly appeared with two beautifully groomed long haired chihuahuas in her arms.

The dogs did not belong to the growing number who end up at the Blue Cross after being bought as fashion accessories by young Paris Hilton wannabes.

Ms Macey explained that the two clearly nervous-looking chihuahuas had lived with an elderly woman and were used to altogether more tranquil surroundings.

“They will require an owner who is at home for the majority of the time as they are not used to being left and form strong bonds with people,” she said.

But other animals arrive in appalling condition. I’m shown one cat fresh from an operation to have a large cyst removed from its forehead. The cat arrived very ill. Its owners had apparently been living in the back of a car.

The staff at Blue Cross now talk about being engulfed in a kitten crisis. Over the past years they have received 92 kittens, compared to just 59 in the previous 12 months.

My guide around the site, Joanna Toscano, said: “The problem is that cat owners are failing to neuter their cats and they are mating prolifically and from a young age, leading to thousands of unwanted litters which results in a huge animal welfare problem.

“All animals who come to us are neutered and microchipped. We always urge people looking for a pet to consider a rescue animal first, before a breeder, as there are so many unwanted animals.”

The conditions of many horses brought in continue to appal staff. While many people assume horses maintain value, they are often sold at markets for as little as a pound.

Ms Taylor introduced me to Poppy, a four-year-old mare. “She had been left in field in the Leighton Buzzard area with no grazing or water — just lots of rubbish and scrap lying around. She had become very under-nourished due to her foal taking all her nutrients. She was found with another mare who had a dead foal by her side.”

You begin to see how, even before the arrival of strep zoo, that the vet bill for the horses exceeded £21,000 last year. It is estimated the average vet bill per horse each week comes to about £80.

The ongoing challenge remains to find each animal a home as quickly as possible. A new rehoming scheme, Home Direct, has just been introduced at the Burford Blue Cross Centre.

Dogs and other animals adopted under the scheme go directly from their old home to a new family without having to be admitted to the centre. As well as freeing up vital kennel space, the scheme is also an advantage for dogs that are likely to become stressed in a kennel environment, while giving peace of mind to owners who could be upset at the thought of leaving their pet at the centre.

“More people need our help than we can help. If an animal can stay at home for two or three weeks longer while we find a new home it will help,” said Ms Toscano.

Three dogs have so far been rehomed under the scheme with animals on the scheme undergoing the same assessment by Blue Cross staff and matching procedures as any other animals at the centre.

It has added to the sense of optimism towards the end a birthday year that has proved one of the hardest since the Burford became one of the UK’s best known homes for homeless pets.