10:54am Thursday 10th January 2008
By Richard Harris
THE NEW year always sees a boost in Britain's love affair with animals, as thousands of cute and cuddly critters invade homes across the land over the Christmas holidays.
Last week our sister paper the Bucks Free Press brought you the story of the AA patrolman who thought he was the victim of a wind-up when he was called out to Penn to rescue a hamster from behind the dashboard of its owner's Honda.
The story, from the you-couldn't-make-it-up department, told how mechanic Stuart Smith spend several hours dismantling the car last Wednesday in a bid to free the family's furry friend.
Eventually he managed to retrieve the runaway rodent, much to the delight of eight-year-old Moo Hart, who had spent two days in the car trying to coax the hamster out. Her mum, Sharon, had taken out AA membership at £170 in order to rescue the pet, since named Houdini Doodle, who she had bought on New Year's Eve.
The hamster's tale highlighted the lengths that Britons will go to for their pets.
And it's not the first time a hamster has made a bid for freedom.
Last year, six-year-old Alexander Wallis-Banbury was out riding his bike in Wooburn Green when he came across a hamster rolling down the street in an exercise ball.
Houdini's vanishing act came as no surprise to one person with experience dealing with animals. Carmen, manager of Animal Magic pet shop in Marlow Road, High Wycombe, said: "We do hear a lot of stories about people losing their pets - often they turn up in kitchen cupboards and behind fridges and televisions."
But despite the attention that doting animal lovers dole out to their miscreant mammals, each year thousands of pet-owners decide they can't look after their animals and send them to an RSPCA centre. According to RSPCA Blackberry Farm Animal Centre in Aylesbury, the problem is particularly bad just after Christmas as many parents buying pets for their children underestimate the commitment involved.
Sue James, cattery supervisor at Blackberry Farm, said: "We do get a lot of people bringing animals in at this time of year. We've had everything - dogs, cats, gerbils, rabbits, rats, hamsters - a real mixture.
"People buy the animals on a whim and don't realise what a big commitment it is in time and money."
She urged people who were having second thoughts about keeping an animal to be patient: "You can't always phone up the RSPCA and have it collected straight away. Please, please, don't dump them - they will suffer."
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