Lucky black cats?

Ruby and Bella

Today is National Black Cat Day! ‘Why do black cats need their own day? What about the other cats?’ I hear you ask. Well, it seems that rescue centres have found that black cats take significantly longer to re-home than cats of other colours. No one knows why this is the case, but to try and combat it, Cats Protection have come up with a special day to honour these overlooked felines.

Library workers seem to have a special affinity with our feline friends (not all of us, but most of us do love cats!), so this was all the excuse we needed to pull out some lovely books and make a feature of black cats. You’ll find Six Dinner Sid, Slinky Malinky, Mog from Meg and Mog and many others on display in the Teaching Practice area of Townhill Library. Black cats do have an association with witches (is that why nobody wants them?), so they fit in quite well with all the Halloween books that are also on display! Do call in and have a look.

Socks

 If you’d like to find out more about National Black Cat Day, there’s information on the Cats Protection website. There are lots of resources and links to local branches if you’d like to adopt your own moggy.

National Pet Month

Hank the rescue cat in his new home

The special occasions seem to be flooding in thick and fast at the moment! We are currently in the middle of National Pet Month, which this year runs from 7^th April to 7^th May. You can find out more from the official website which has lots of resources and a “National Pet Month in a Nutshell” link to explain a bit more about the cause.

Since next Monday (30^th April) also sees the start of RSPCA week, we at SMU Libraries thought this was a perfect excuse to indulge our love of animals and point you in the direction of Swansea’s RSPCA centre, Llys Nini. The centre takes in unwanted or abandoned cats, dogs and smaller pets such as rabbits and ferrets, looking after them until a new home can be found. The Llys Nini website has details of the work they do and how you can help through donations, volunteering and visits. You could have a look at the RSPCA’s main website too, where you’ll find information about national campaigns and links to educational resources for use in schools.

If you’re looking for a pet to bring some furry companionship into your life, why not consider adopting one from Llys Nini? You can visit in person (details on their website) or have a look to see who catches your eye on their dog blog, cat blog, or small animals blog. Each blog has pictures of the pets in need of a good home, as well as some background details. So it doesn’t get too sad, there are also links to success stories where you can read about pets in their new homes!

Lest we forget, there is also plenty of information about pets available from your SMU library service. A search for pets on our library catalogue will show you just how much we have to offer! We have resources ranging from junior fiction books about animals (I can recommend The world according to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney) to photography books with a pet theme (try Pets by Sue Packer). Come in and take a look!