To supporters of Animal Concern Advice Line, Animal Concern and Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society.
Dear Supporter,
As if you didn't have enough to deal with here's another email from Robins the Ranter
I'm afraid I'm going to be talking about the virus that's going about. I'm not paid for product placement, so I'll just call it the American Beer Bug.
Forgive me if I sound a bit flippant but there are enough people taking the Private Frazer approach to this without me adding to the doom and gloom.
Having said that I realise that many of you are in the high-risk category through age and/or medical infirmity. I'm above average risk and my wife, Mary, is in the high-risk category. That risk might go up to very, very high if we are forced to self-quarantine together for four months. I might hide in my wee workshop making bird feeders.
Several supporters and members of the general public have phoned me for advice on various aspects of this virus. I must tell you of course that I'm neither a vet or a Doctor and can only pass on what I've been able to find from other sources.
One recurring question is: “Can I catch this from or give it to my pet?
” The answer is most probably not. The virus may have evolved after crossing from bats to humans via someone in China eating undercooked smoked bat bought from a bush meat market but, apart from one reported case in Hong Kong, there is little evidence that pet animals harbour the virus or that infected humans can pass it to their pets.
The second most asked question is: “Who will look after my pet(s) if I become very ill, have to go into hospital or do a bit of earlier than anticipated bucket kicking?
”
That is a very difficult one to answer. Ideally you should discuss this with your family or friends if you have any. That's not flippancy — I know many of you are on your own. Those who are younger and therefore more resilient, might consider talking to older relatives, friends or neighbours about their fears and, if you can, arrange to care for any pets on a short or long term basis if needed. Just taking a dog for a walk or ensuring a cat is fed, watered and has fresh litter could make a big difference. Knowing someone is there for your pet can greatly reduce stress and help in the recovery process.
What if you don't have someone who can foster or, if the worst happens, adopt your pet? I thought about setting up one of those social media page thingamajigs to put pet owners in contact with volunteer fosterers but then I remembered there are already organisations out there who know how to do this much better than I could.
North of Hadrian's Wall there's a national group called Pet Fostering Service Scotland. You can find their contact details and more on: http://www.pfss.org.uk/index.php?p=1_8_Contact-details
This is a fairly small organisation (run by volunteers it has circa £57K in total funds). This lager lurgy will stretch their resources so, as well as people who might need their help, I ask those of you who can offer to foster animals in Scotland to contact them and volunteer. I'll ask our Board to make a small donation to Pet Fostering Service Scotland to show our appreciation of what they are doing at such a difficult time.
For those in England and Wales there is The Cinnamon Trust. It's a much bigger organisation with 75 employees, 16,200 volunteers and around £38M in funds. The Cinnamon Trust might not need your donations but I'm sure they are going to need a lot more fosterers and adopters. Their website is on: https://cinnamon.org.uk/
We have also had two supporters contact us regarding leaving money to ACAL or Animal Concern in their Will. That reminded me that I've put off updating my Will for seven years and later today I'm going to write up a codicil and email it to my lawyer to ensure that, should Mary and I end up prematurely counting Bellis perennis roots, our grandson does not inherit his share of our pension fund until he is at least 21! If you haven't written your Will or if it needs amended, now is as good a time as any to do so. If you don't want to risk getting too close to any witness you could email it to your lawyer who will file it as a record of your intent until it's safe to go and sign it in front of witnesses. If you have identified someone willing and able to look after your pets, send those details to your lawyer and, just in case, leave a letter or note with those details in a prominent position in your home. If you need further advice feel free to email me.
Please also be aware that some people will be using this virus crisis simply to part you with your money. Be wary of petitions and other appeals connected to the current situation. Unless you have proof that money is being spent directly on helping people and/or their pets don't donate. I've never heard of a virus that responded to a petition.
One sliver of good news: a couple of months ago I wrote to Dundee City Council expressing my concern over the Radio One Roadshow holding a very noisy weekend festival with circa 50,000 visitors to Camperdown Park which also has a zoo. The event would undoubtedly disturb and stress the animals. Due to the ale ailment that concert has been cancelled and the animals will get some peace and quiet.
That is a very difficult one to answer. Ideally you should discuss this with your family or friends if you have any. That's not flippancy — I know many of you are on your own. Those who are younger and therefore more resilient, might consider talking to older relatives, friends or neighbours about their fears and, if you can, arrange to care for any pets on a short or long term basis if needed. Just taking a dog for a walk or ensuring a cat is fed, watered and has fresh litter could make a big difference. Knowing someone is there for your pet can greatly reduce stress and help in the recovery process.
Talking of cancelled events. The Animal Concern Board decided not to call an EGM over the proposed Constitutional changes to gain charity recognition for the organisation. Nothing to do with a clamp down on meetings of more than three people and a budgie but because of the time specifications needed to convene an EGM it was going to mean holding an EGM and the AGM within just a few weeks. The Constitutional changes will now be put to the AGM. Animal Concern Members wishing to vote at the AGM should, if they have not already done so, send me a completed specimen signature form ASAP. If you need a form, let me know. The AGMs will go ahead in June, but will be conducted by postal vote. More info will be sent out in due course.
Forty years ago I wrote a joke about a nuclear disaster. It was about turning on the BBC Scotland News and hearing the newscaster say, “A fifty megaton nuclear warhead has accidentally detonated at the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde. More on that after news about the team selections for the Old Firm match this Saturday.
” I don't think many people in Scotland were taking the virus seriously until yesterday's Celtic v Rangers match was cancelled.
My very best wishes to you all. Do your best to stay safe and well and, while you're in self imposed isolation, see if you can come up with a cunning plan to make politicians take global warming, mass pollution, overpopulation and the other threats to the very survival of our planet, as seriously as they have the American Beer Bug.
I'm off now to try and do something about bats on a building site and yet another back-garden bird killer.
Cheers4now,
John
PS On 12th March the Scottish Parliament debated the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill. I wonder how much further it will be diluted before becoming law? Animal Concern and many of you made submissions to the consultation on the Bill. The debate makes interesting reading: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=2020-03-12.30.0&s=animal+seal#g30.25
PPS Please distribute this email as widely as possible to try and encourage more people to come forward as pet fosterers and adopters.