AN ANIMAL shelter has laid bare the "trauma" they have to deal with on a daily basis. 

Posting on Facebook, North Clwyd Animal Rescue, based in Trelogan, near Holywell, said they usually try to keep things "upbeat" and "postive" with their post but felt compelled to tell users that the reality of rescue at the moment is some what different. 

The statement said: "Recently, a staffy with a broken leg came in, because her owner couldn't afford the vet bills and we have had a sharpei cross with a horrible skin condition and covered in lumps and bumps and a mastiff cross, emaciated and covered in sores. These are just a few of the cases we see. It seems to be every other day at the moment!

"We have been inundated with kittens and kitten season seems to be never ending this year, this is only going to get worse as sadly veterinary costs are increasing and neutering figures are declining, which will lead to many more litters in the future."

Over the weekend, the animal welfare charity, said it received a call about a breeder who had died suddenly. 

"His dogs had nowhere to go," the statement added. 

"His family pleaded for our help. We went out and collected as many as we could fit in the van, 17 in total, then we returned the next day to collect the remaining two dogs, we weren't prepared to leave any behind.

"We have had to make up some temporary kennels and be creative with space, but honestly... the next few months are going to be tough on the staff having so many extra dogs to look after."

Vets have given all 14 dogs and five puppies a full health check and all 15 are said to be  "fairly healthy".

The statement said: "Thankfully, some have minor skin issues but these can be easily managed by our on-site vets. Sadly two of the pups have severe heart murmurs and they will need specialist veterinary treatment and further tests, which will lead to extra costs for the charity.

"However, we are asking for your help. We need funds to help the charity to continue the vital work we do for our animals. We need fleecy blankets to keep the animals warm as we are heading into the winter months and with energy bills continuing to rise this is going to become something we will need more.

"If any registered volunteers can help us between the hours of 8-11am and 3-5pm to help walk the other residents this will enable us to spend more time with these dogs. When they have been fully assessed, we will be looking for foster homes and forever homes. Before you apply to foster or adopt, please bear in mind that most of these dogs have lived their lives in outside kennels, so they do not know how to be in a home, they will not be housetrained and will need help encouragement and training in all ways - but we will do an update post to request for foster or forever homes when we have assessed them and know a little bit more about them all. For now we know they are happy, safe and enjoying life at NCAR.

"We don't often like to share these stories. But we are already struggling with the amount of cases we are getting in at the moment, and we really need your help.

"Thanks as always, for your ongoing support. We really couldn't help these animals without our amazing supporters."