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News / Events
21/5/10 - Sometimes Your Best Is Not Enough .. The past few days here have been a time of great sadness, exhaustion, soul searching and even a moment which should have been happy & joyful was overcast with worry, doubt, fear and pain ........
Estimated to be around 19yrs old, Faith, who was full of love, trust and gentleness despite the cruelty and neglect she had suffered prior to her arrival here on the 27th of April full of lice, worms, infected rain scald and completely emaciated we knew it was not going to be easy to help her recover but we had to at least try. The day of great sadness soon arrived despite us doing everything we possibly could .... it was just too late for Faith and Mother Nature called her home to the endless fields of green last Sunday morning, the 16th of May;o( On Tuesday the 18th, Polly, the 5-6yr old mare that had arrived with Faith, was missing from her field and we presumed that the loss of her friend led her to ‘wander off’ whilst no one was watching. When we found her she was lying down in a wooded area and upon investigation it was noted that she had a flesh wound on her leg and side and appeared to be unable to get up. A call was made and soon two kind males arrived to help with getting Polly back on her feet ... it was soon discovered though that we were not going to succeed and the vet was called. Whilst awaiting the vet’s arrival we found ourselves witnessing and assisting with the ‘arrival of new life’ .. Polly gave birth to a handsome colt .. clearly unable to assist her foal it was up to us to step in and help her carry out her role. The vet duly arrived and was quick to administer the necessary injections to Polly and confirm that her inability to rise was not due to her wounds nor were any sprains or breaks evident and that it was put down to sheer exhaustion, long-term malnutrition and that it was clear that she had given all the benefits of the food we were feeding her to her foal since her arrival and she appeared to have kept nothing in reserve for herself. After getting the colt down beside his mum to see if we could get him to suckle some essential colostrum from her we left them alone to give them some time alone and see if she would manage to rise by herself now that she was obviously carrying even less weight.
Despite the medication administered by the vet and follow-up medication which was prescribed for her, high nutrition feed & fluids, the fact that she weighed less, turning her every few hours, massaging her, providing supplementary feeds for her foal and lots of rest, etc we were devastated to discover that sometime between 3.30am & 7am on Thursday (20th) Polly left our world to join Faith at the Rainbow Bridge ;o(( So the original ‘fight’ to help two mares regain their health and learn that not all humans are the same has turned into hopefully rearing a strong healthy foal ... certainly not what anyone expected and definitely not the outcome anyone wanted but it is the ‘hand we have been dealt’ and we must now strive to do the best we can with the little orphan that Polly has entrusted to us. To Two Angels Who Deserved So Much More It was a busy day when you came to stay Just a quick look at your bodies’ told us your tale The lice, the scald, the bones, the gums so pale Life to you both had been so unkind No care you were shown, no one’s heart in yours entwined For over two weeks our best efforts we gave Nothing was deemed too much in trying to save Two special girls such as you The love and nourishment we showered was not enough The battle to live became for you too tough First to bid farewell was sweet old Faith The patience she showed each time her back we did bathe It was an ease to us to see the peace with which she went Clearly as she slept her body decided her life was spent With Polly still here give up we could not In foal we knew she was but not that she was ready to pick her spot Her body was not given sufficient time to get strong Without a thought for herself her son she brought along We tried all we could to keep her with us, specially as she was now a Mum But just as with Faith the damage was long done and too soon her end did come With broken hearts and tired souls we say goodbye To raise an orphan now we must try We light a candle for you both to guide your way Your hearts’ in ours entwined to stay
RIP Faith 1991 to 16-5-10 & Polly 2004 to 20-5-10 Run Fast & Free And Eat Plenty At The Rainbow Bridge ____________________
9-5-10 Information Appeal Do You Know This Mare ???
We are actively seeking information on the above mare who was dumped on a farmers land in the Liscannor area between the 4th/5th of May last. If you know who her owner is or have seen her grazing or ridden around the County recently you can either contact Sheena on 0871315904/0868587142 or the guards in Ennistymon on 0657071020 as we intend pursuing a cruelty & neglect case due to the following untreated extensive injury to her left rear leg which you can see is very obviously completely infected.
It is not yet known whether this mare will be ‘savable’ due to the severity of the above injury and the delay in her receiving appropriate essential medical care. Any donations towards the costs of her medical care would be very welcome.
________________ February - April 2010 After what will be referred to for generations as ‘the worst Winter’ in decades we have gotten lots of new arrivals between February and April. Some obviously worse than others and some that we cannot give details on due to investigative processes.
December 2009 - January 2010 Well I’m sure it will be of no surprise to many of you that this prolonged ‘Big Freeze’ we are experiencing is having a large affect on the amount of work we have to do daily in order to ensure that all the animals here have sufficient food and water ..... Have not yet remembered to bring the camera to take photos of the sheep or goats during this weather but here are a few of the equines that have been taken from the 22nd of December right up to yesterday, the 10th of January. All these equines, 14 in total, are getting extra hay and ration at the moment so if you feel you would like to sponsor any of them then please just contact us by email, text or phone and we will gladly discuss the various methods you can do so by.
Needless to say we have also been getting an increased number of calls from members of the public whom are concerned about the welfare of animals they have seen. Unfortunately we have not been mobile to check any of these yet due to the dangerous road conditions both where we are and where the animals are located. Please be patient as we have not forgotten and we will get to each and every one of the locations as soon as we can do so safely.
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Site Last Updated 21 May 2010 Armargos Animal Sanctuary 2010 © |