Thanks to Redhouse volunteers

What would we do without you?   A big thank you to the wonderful Redhouse Team of animal lovers who come to the sanctuary every week in all weathers to walk the sanctuary dogs.  These lucky dogs also get taken out for jaunts in the country which all helps to socialize them.   There is a lot of fuss and love shown to the dogs which is just what they need.    This wonderful group of volunteers are versatile in the help they give us and have recently had a go at the weeds in the chicken run – we can see the hens and turkey now!      The Redhouse team are also helping us to pick the ragwort from the fields.   This is a job that comes round every year – ragwort (it’s a tall plant with small yellow flowers) is poisonous to horses so it has to be pulled out, root and all.   Horses aren’t likely to eat it when it’s green and growing but once it’s died down it becomes more palatable and that’s when they might decide to have a mouthful or two.   They don’t drop dead when they eat ragwort, it’s a slow poison and damages the liver and causes them to waste away.   We can’t leave the pulled up plant in the field, every leaf has to be carted away before it goes to seed.   We try every year to eradicate from the land but there’s ragwort on all the roadside verges so the seeds just blow back on to us.   Thanks Redhouse people – you are fantastic volunteers!