It's a pity they can't rescue more. (Pet Rescue (BBC))

Member Name: mikeb

Product:	Pet Rescue (BBC)
Date:	06/02/01 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The appeal helps find animals home, hopefuly will educate the public.

Disadvantages: Sanitised version of what is really happening.

As I had taken a couple of days off from work, I had the chance to see Pet Rescue which is screened on Channel 4 at 5PM weekdays (I've included this op here even though it says Pet Rescue BBC on the category - as far as I'm aware there isn't a Pet Rescue on the BBC). The main presenter is Wendy Turner-Webster (Anthea’s sister) and the show follows the ups and downs in the lives of animals at various sanctury’s.

Yesterdays programme started off with the story of a lovely all white cat called Crystal who had been lucky enough to have been adopted by a young couple after a stay at one of these animal sanctury’s. Unfortunately before they took Crystal home they had her tested to see she was OK and these preliminary results showed she may have had feline leukemia. This affects the white blood cells and is fatal in eight out of ten cats within three years of it being diagnosed. Because it can be passed on to other cats, it is standard policy to put cats to sleep if they have this condition. It was going to be a tense seven to ten days wait for Crystal’s prospective owners before the results of the final blood test would be known. We would also have to wait, but only until the second half of the programme.

The show then moved on to the work of one of the vets who had to look after a horse called Biscuit from a local stable. Biscuit had a foot infection but was soon back to normal thanks to the prompt attention of the vet.

After the break there was more work for the vet as he had to identi-chip some ponies from one of the local pony clubs. This chip could be used to identify a pony should it become lost or even stolen and is similar to ones which are used for cats and dogs. The chip is injected into the body of the pony, just below the neck, using a gun. It was not an easy thing to do because of the violent reaction of the ponies to the injection but the vet took it all in his stride.

Then it was back
to Crystal for the test results. Since she had been diagnosed with the possible leukemia, she had been in an isolation unit at the sanctuary to make sure she didn’t come into contact with any other cats and infect them too. Good news, the tests proved negative and Crystal was able to go to her new home.

After a brief item about a rabbit called White Bunny who needed to have his teeth cut the programme finished, as usual, with an appeal for a home. This one was for a three year old mongrel dog who had been waiting for a home for over a year. He seemed a nice dog and I’m sure he will have no trouble finding a new home, thanks to the appeal.

The above description of yesterdays show is typical of the type of things you could expect to see any night of the week on this show. On a bad day poor old Crystal's results would not have been good but they do try to balance out the good news with the bad.

This programme is not unlike the BBC’s Animal Hospital with Rolf Harris. The viewer is swept along on a rollercoaster of emotions with the fate of the featured animals being played out in a story condensed into less than half an hour. You get the feeling that Wendy Turner-Webster and the other presenters genuinely care for the animals and the show is compassioante throughout. The appeal at the end of the programme is an excellent way to give an animal a new chance in life and they don’t usually feature cute puppies or kittens who will probably be re-homed without the assistance of a TV appeal. It is not uncommon for this part of the show to have large animals like horses or goats on it and for some of these it is probably the only way they can hope to get a new home.

Though this is a good show, it can be a bit upsetting when things don’t work out well for one of the animals. It could be argued that both Pet Rescue and Animal Hospital do not show the harsh reality of thousands of animals being put to sleep ev
ery year simply because there are not enough places to keep all the unwanted animals in. This is for the obvious reason that it would be too upsetting and not make good television. On the plus side, many animals are re-homed as a result of the appeals and it also highlights things that can cause suffering to animals, such as Swans being affected by fishing lines, and will hopefully help to educate people to behave more responsibly as a result.

Summary: