The little protég ofF
We asked some Farplace volunteers for which animals in the shelter they have a soft spot.
Laura Fox, Animal Care Volunteer:
On my first day volunteering at Farplace I instantly fell in love with Casper the resident Rottweiler- who is resident because he suffers from Neuron axon disease. He scares yo u half to death with his deafening bark and comes across as fierce, but it's all for show, he loves nothing more than a big cuddle, he's a big softy really.
Sam Ireland, Animal Care Manager: Binks
attention, and he WILL get it. He's absolutely adorable, and just when you think he's at his cuddliest, he bites you.
Secret
Binks is a very special resident cat at Farplace who was handed to us by our vet after he was found wandering the streets. He is a black cat, about a year old, and very friendly. The best thing about Binks is that he simply doesn't understand how to be a cat. He tries so hard, but he's just not very good at it. He falls off everything. He has no spatial awareness or balancing ability. In his honour, every time anyone (animal or human) falls over, we now call it 'Binksing' or 'doing a Binks'.
Mort
Mort is a beautiful big ginger boy who lives in our FIV unit. He's really friendly and cuddly and he loves to purr to people. You can't walk around the unit without him trying to get your
Secret the feral cat was found wandering around outside Farplace (he obviously knew where to go!). We brought him inside and took him to our vets - he was very dirty and hadn't been eating properly. The only health problem was that he is FIV+ so he went to live in our FIV unit. The first time I ever had any real dealing with him, he was a hissy, angry ball of fury and I had to use a broom to try to coax him off his perch so I could clean it. It didn't work very well and he scared the living hell out of me. Within a few weeks, though, the change has been incredible. First he got used to me going in and out of the room. Then he got used to me feeding him up on his perch (he likes to stay away from the other cats at the moment). Then he occasionally ventured from his perch while I was in the room, and we have now got to a situation where he will actually let me stroke him and he has cleaned himself up and is brighter and happier. He loves to be fussed, as long as he can't see your hand. He's such a confused boy; he so wants to be loved but he doesn't quite know how. We're getting there though, and he's very, very special.
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