nikmurphy

Hi

I'm still in my 30's (just), have a rescue Lurcher/Staffie cross and four cats (three of which were rescue). I visited RSPCA Lincoln Oct 2008 offering a home to a cat that nobody else wanted and ended up with two old black and white moggies . . . instantly doubling our cat population. Hubby was not impressed with my adoption when I didn't confess until it was a sealed deal so he got to name them. In true blokey style our new family members became Terry and Barry. Terry has had to endure three dentals due to very severe gingivitus and now has only two teeth left and has never been able to meow. Barry turned out to be very deaf and is a house cat and also canot meow.

After visiting the foster Mum for RSPCA Lincoln I was upset by the number of cats in their care and offered my help. To cut a long story short I ended up photographing their dogs in the boarding kennels they use. Scunthorpe RSPCA share the same kennels so I started photographing their dogs and cross posting on various websites.

I then started to visit a second kennel used occasionally by both rescues and also used by Boston RSPCA and Grimsby RSPCA and ended up doing the same work for these two rescues as well.

The more I did the more I wanted to help. When I heard Doris Banham saved the lives of dogs due to be put to sleep in the dog pound I offered to do the same work for them and started volunteering for them early 2009. This led onto working for other rescues who share the same kennels including Bullies in Need and Lincoln Greyhound Rescue. Also the kennels occasionally take on a dog themselves so I also help rehome these dogs too.

I therefore photograph mainly dogs but also cats, rabbits, guinea pigs in addition to the odd mouse, hamster, gerbil, rat, parrot, chinchilla amongst other small furries!!

I do have a full time job and a family but love my rescue work which takes up free time at weekends and evenings either visiting kennels and photographing or cross posting and sharing my info with the various rescues for their own websites. I've also started to do more hands on work with finding rescue spaces and occasional cat fostering in emergency situations but don't have the time to do much in this area.

My volunteer work brought me to our Lurcher/Staffie cross. Something I am really proud of . . . through my help RSPCA Scunthorpe have rehomed all of their dogs on more then one occasion and have increased their dog pound runs (I think they only previously did the dog pound run at Xmas). On one occasion they brought in a Staffie cross, our Lurcher/Staffie cross and a JRT all under a year old. We ended up bringing the Lurcher cross home and naming her Tess. We were dogless for three years prior to her coming home and we had forgotten how wonderful it is to have a pooch in the family again. We love her to bits and since then I've been trying to persuade hubby to add another one to the family