Mopping Up!

The shelter completely flooded after the recent storm

The shelter staff who braved the thunder, lightning and torrential rain to turn up for duty on Thursday 24th November were greeted with a depressing sight - the whole area of the kennels under water. The river bed near the front gate was in full spate, cutting off the normal route to the shelter and access for cars was only possible by a series of lanes at the back.

"It was a terrible day," said acting shelter manager Yvonne Tromp. "It took us the whole day just to mop up and get rid of the water which was lying - but even then it was just a sea of mud. Every time we started to make some progress it started to rain again!.

"We tried to find somewhere at least partially dry to move the dogs - the office was full of dogs, they were in the food room, the laundry, the treatment room, everywhere. It's really difficult because many dogs have to be kept separate, particularly those in quarantine, and some dogs don't get on with each other. It really was a nightmare day."

The ordinary volunteers were sent home after the dogs had been fed because of the risk during the constant thunder and lightning, but Yvonne, Eliane and Natalia stayed until it became too dark to do any more and some kind of normality had been restored.

The problem wasn't just the volume of rain which fell. Many of the kennels leak, and in a year of crisis and trying desperately to keep costs down there has been no money for repairs and to concrete the exercise areas. Worst affected is the quarantine section on the edge of the area, where a backwash comes up from the drains. The need for urgent repairs to shelter will be discussed by the PAWS committee in a year-end review before the Annual general meeting in January.