Bits for Pets Blog

Randy toads are being killed in their thousands as they search for their dream partner.

And animal lovers are now setting up a toad lollipop crossing brigade to try to save the creatures.

Amorous amphibians go looking for love at this time of year but vast numbers end up getting squashed under car wheels in the process.

Volunteer patrols are helping the creatures cross roads in safety and wildlife campaigners have pleaded with motorists to stop the courting carnage.

Trevor Weeks, founder of East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service, explained hundreds of thousands of toads in the UK cross roads to reach their spawning grounds.

As the ground temperature warms up and the land becomes wetter, loved-up toads come out of hiding and hop across roads looking for a date.

They typically start moving at night when it is damp but not too cold for them.

Male toads often sit on the warm road surfaces and wait for females to hop on their backs and be carried to water.

Mr Weeks explained the problem of toads getting run over was having a major impact on their populations.

One of the danger toad spots is the Litlington and Exceat road near Seaford where hundreds cross from the forest to the flood plains of the Cuckmere River.

Mr Weeks said: “I’ve been doing toad patrols since the early 1990s and when I first started it was estimated that over 10,000 toads cross the Litlington to Exceat road every year.

“However, now the numbers seem to be a lot smaller, probably less than 2,000, but it is difficult to tell.

“Every year thousands are killed on our roads by motorists who probably don’t even notice they are there as they are so small, it is not like they are the size of a fox or badger.”

The East Sussex Wildlife and Rescue Service has joined people from other organisations, including the Sussex Amphibian Reptile Group, to form a toad lollipop crossing brigade.

Mr Weeks said: “Our rescuers will join other volunteers to spend some time helping to pick up and move some of these toads out of the roads to stop them from being run over.

“There is little which can be done to stop them or help prevent them from being killed on the roads, apart from rolling up your sleeves and physically moving them.”

Villagers from Lytlington are going out nightly in Wellington boots, armed with torches and buckets to move the amphibians.

They have also made safety signs warning car drivers of the toad road invasion.

East Sussex County Council has some warning road signs at crossing spots.

Mr Weeks asked motorists to slow down if they see a toad sign, take care and try and avoid killing them if possible.

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A SPATE of cats going missing in a Northampton housing estate could be linked to a growing trade in feline fur, according to pet charity workers.
Worried cat-owners living in Longford Avenue, Little Billing, have contacted the Chronicle & Echo after their pets went missing one by one.
Andrew Phillips, 26, told how he lost his cat, Smokey, last Tuesday and soon discovered he was not the only one.
He said: ” I thought it had just been lost until I asked my neighbours to see if they’d seen her and they told me they had had the same problem.”
Four other microchipped cats have gone missing from the small street and adjacent Twyford Close since the summer, leaving the owners baffled.
A worker for feline welfare charity Cats Protection said she believed the animals could have been taken for their fur.
In a series of Hollywood films, the evil character of Cruella De Vil is bent on capturing a large litter of dalmatian puppies and using their fur for garments.
Sarah Hadwin, who compiles the Cats Protection charity’s lost cat register for Northampton, said: “It is extremely unusual for so many to go missing together like that.
Cats being taken for their pelts is something many people who deal with animals have heard about.”
Cats disappearing together has been an ongoing phenomena in the UK.
In 1995 in Luton, Bedfordshire, for example, seven cats vanished from a single street in one afternoon, while 21 cats vanished from a nearby village and 200 cats vanished over a three-month period.
Other animal charities in Northampton are adamant the disappearances are more then just pets run over by a car or locked in a garage somewhere.
Annette Gudgeon, of Animals in Need Northamptonshire, said: “There are so many cats going missing that they must be going to these fur traders.
“You just need to look at the notices for lost cats on our shop window and on vets’ notice boards to see what a problem is has been.
“We have looked into the issue before but not come up with anything. These people are obviously being very clever about it.”
Cat and dog fur is sometimes used legally by manufacturers to make faux fur clothing and is renowned for being decent quality at a low price.
The European MP for the East Midlands, Chris Heaton-Harris, has launched a website campaign backing an EU proposal calling for a total ban on the importation of cat and dog fur.

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ANIMAL rights activists are seeing red after a scheme to breed pink rabbits was unveiled by a South Cheshire firm.

Richard Kirkup and David McHugh, the men behind OCPRS - Orkney Celebrity Pink Rabbit Suppliers - breed Orkney Pinks on the Scottish islands.

They say they stumbled across a formula for the new breed of rabbit after a mix-up in food supplements.

Realising its business potential, the two, who are based in Winsford Road at Wettenhall, fed rabbits with a vitamin supplement which resulted in baby pink bunnies!

They were officially launched at the Marriott Hotel South in Speke at Liverpool on Thursday with the help of ex-Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona.

But animal rights campaigners were thrown out by hotel security before the official launch and the venture has been slammed by the RSPCA. They say there is nothing in a rabbit’s natural diet which would turn it pink.

A spokesperson added: ‘It is totally unacceptable these rabbits are being sold purely as a fashion accessory. They need lifelong care and committed owners.

‘This sets an atrocious and worrying example to fans of celebrities who are endorsing them as a fashion accessory.

‘Our inspectors are looking into this and we will ensure the welfare of these animals is not compromised.’

Described by the firm as ‘must have’ celebrity pets, they come in three different types and are priced between £550 and £700.

But despite the accusations, OCPRS says the rabbits are handled with utmost care and attention throughout their lives, and receive regular veterinary care.

Spokeswoman Andrea Winders said: ‘Our pink rabbits make the perfect house pet. They are delivered in air conditioned cars - pink of course -are house trained, and well handled.

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