States-house ‘zoos’ cost animal charity a fortune

karma wrote:I do not believe for one minute that Animal aid would be guilty of such a practice........when I had the Imperial Tearoom (many years ago) we had so many feral cats it was heartbreaking - but the worst bit was that most of them had problems with their blood (like lukemia) so when they were rounded up they had to be humanely put down.....not nice, but necessary as they would have died anyway, but slowly and painfully!

There are several colonies of feral cats on the south coast cliffs that have leukaemia hence if your puss lives near the cliffs he/she should have a jab to resist the infection.
Who rounded the cats up from the Imp' area was it AA or someone else. If it was someone else then the arguement above is invalid as regards to AA. Ross intimates that there is a shortage of cats and there has been however feral cats can not be tamed, well not unless you have oodles of time and patience and thick skin resistant to cat claws.
But getting back to the original point should AA be given funds to house unwanted parrots. I would suggest that if they are not being housed or bought in to provide and attraction then AA should pay for the aviary.

Thistle I must be missing something but why would someone want to stir things up. It is a brave statement to make and can be disproven. But because staff are nice at the sanctuary it does not mean that they have not rounded cats up and put them in a nicer rural location without thinking of the ecological implications, ie no food for the amount of cats placed.
Graham, I believe is Sue Vidamours partner, but I stand corrected if wrong. I know Graham from way back and he was always a nice enough guy.

The only difference in the way that AA and the Animal Shelter operate is that one is voluntary and the other is paid for - so guess you do not volunteer to be cruel to animals - IMO it would not make sense giving up your time to do this.....

So they do relocate by trapping and releasing, so what has been said could well be true. The contentious part would be "most were found dead because they were used to ripping open binbags or were killing pheasants that were being bred"
I have heard of feral cats in Petit Bot killing pheasants and I think they had been neutered and released. I would be more intersted to know how the cats are monitored after release before I believed either account. This would include times attended, cats seen and state they were in. My reason being that a land owner will see the cats more often than an AA monitor visiting every now and again so his version may well be true. However seeing one or two doesn't make it that most are starved.

Animal aid do have animals best interests at heart, I think but some things they do just dont make sense, like rounding up cats and chickens and passing the problem on to someone else. Ferrel cats should either be kept in a cage or put down because they will only spread desease, not let to roam someone elses property and to kill their animals. Also, bringing in problem dogs from the UK that can be dangerous, unfortunately there are idiots that breed dogs for profit and dont care what hereditary deseases they are passing down or who they sell them to, the dogs get mistreated or neglected and become nervous and unstable, I dont think its a good idea to bring these dogs over here and there have been ocasions where dogs from animal aid have been put in to unsuitable homes, or telling some one that a dog is much younger by about 10 years for the new owner to be told by a vet that the dog is basically on its last legs and has diabetes and had to have all its teeth taken out.

I may be mistaken but the property owner im talking about lives behind the prison, he did breed pheasants and may still do, I took it that he meant at his home address, it could have been down south? But he deffinitly said they were rounded up and dropped there and were either clever enought to kill the pheasants and be a nuisance or starved to death.

Also, I didnt say anything about "Grahams" character, I just said that it was a "Graham" that told me I couldnt rehome the Parrott because Animal Aid wanted to keep them as an "attraction", that was the actual word he used and also, yes they have bought (paid for) Parrotts in whithin the last few years.

There used to be pheasants bred at the Castel end of Track Lane in an old vinery. That is not too far from the back of the Prison when people are talking.

I realise that "Also, I didnt say anything about "Grahams" character," I just added it in as an aside.

During the foot and mouth crisis animal aid smuggled some goats in to the island

They are breeding Guinee pigs at the moment

ross wherre is your proof.if you insist on saying things without the appropriate eveidence you could damage the reputation of animal aid and this forum

When I lived in the Island I had a ferel colony of cats that lived on my propery. I had assistance from Animal Aid who trapped the cats and neutered them before being released back onto the property. They offered to relocate the cats, but I was quite happy for the cats to live on the property. Animal Aid offered to come and feed the ferels everyday, but I said I would do that for them, but they still supplied the food.

I know this is going back ten or so years, but I was told at the time that they were trying to move colonies of feral cats to different locations, but Animal Aid were going back at least once a day to leave food for them. I really dont believe that Sue Vidamour would do anything that would cause suffering to animals, she's done to much good.

I have the upmost respect for Animal Aid, and I dont believe for one minute that they would do anything to the detriment of ANY animal.

i mdont either mischas it seems ross may just be stirring things up.as yet he has only opened his mouth but has not supplied any proof.so ross put you proof on here please .either that or keep quiet .

it is a shame that proof cannot be put here as these comment will like thistle says damage the charity..they do a great job for nothing .

How much more proof do I need than for people whov helped and worked up there and people who seen the things iv mentioned, I believe them, I dont care whether you believe me or not, go up there and see the baby guinee pigs that have been bred up there, the black headed caique they wouldnt give to a decent experienced home and see the macaws and conurs they payed for, or ask anyone that shoots pheasant over here about the cats.

Everyones heard these things its only you lot that dont seem to have. I also know people who whov heard all the same and have stopped giving money as they dont agree with trips around the world to bring in other peoples problems, they do want to help the animals at animal aid though, so now instead of a direct debit they buy and donate food.

Ross - I actually 'heard' that 4 people were 'found' dead over the last weekend! but so far no proof of that......and .... what is wrong with breeding Guinea Pigs? never heard that was a crime......so please explain why that appears to be the case in your books..... Sue Vidamour is a member here - so why don't you ask her direct (via private mail) I am sure she would be happy to put you straight! instead of relying on rumour? I had friends who worked at the animal shelter (as volunteers) and their stories were a bit hairy as well - but until I can do their work - as an animal lover (vegetarian to boot) I think I will reserve my judgement as I urge you to do until you have more than second hand proof!

i agree karma.ross you appear to have sue on a hitlist.having met the lady on several occassions i am telling you that she would never ever condone the ill treatment of any animal.go to the sanctuary see it for yourself and speak to the staff who work there.it is a wonderful place where all the animals are cared for brilliantly.

karma wrote:what is wrong with breeding Guinea Pigs? never heard that was a crime

People are giving money and food for animals that need help, not animals that were paid for by animal aid to be an attraction or bred because they let the males and females mix, is it a sanctuary or a petting zoo?

As I said before - ask Sue I am sure if you have and 'open mind' she will tell you! As to Guinea Pigs - they have a very short life span and if they do breed them it is because they require a constant supply as they are most children's first pet - which teaches them to look after something in their lives!!!! they would not just breed them for the love of it when they go around a neuter feral cats!!!! Your adding up seems to be as bit on the 2 + 2 makes 5 side....just because you 'know' something and don't understand it - it does not automatically make it wrong......there is a reason for most things and if by selling s few Guinea Pigs helps to bring in food fo the other animals - well good on them!

karma wrote:As I said before - ask Sue I am sure if you have and 'open mind' she will tell you! As to Guinea Pigs - they have a very short life span and if they do breed them it is because they require a constant supply as they are most children's first pet - which teaches them to look after something in their lives!!!! they would not just breed them for the love of it when they go around a neuter feral cats!!!! Your adding up seems to be as bit on the 2 + 2 makes 5 side....just because you 'know' something and don't understand it - it does not automatically make it wrong......there is a reason for most things and if by selling s few Guinea Pigs helps to bring in food fo the other animals - well good on them!

Why would they sell them? With enough pet shops on the island, why would they saturate a market only to have to rehome them again, if they stuck to helping and rehoming local pets and livestock no one would moan but to bring in other counties problems, taking donations to feed local animals and spending it on trips to shri lanka to bring over more animals isnt what the donations were made for, also taking a "colony" of ferel cats and for that matter chickens from one part of Guernsey and dumping them in another still leaves guernsey with the same amount of strays, if your going to round them up, euthenise them, im sure you wouldnt welcome a load of stray cats to kill your chickens, rabbits or whatever or rip open bin bags.