Given this is last ManxSPCA article of 2018, we will look back at the ’animals of the year’ as chosen by the staff at the society.

We will start with the small animals unit, which has looked after a diverse range of animals including bearded dragon, snakes, terrapins and frogs, as well as ferrets, guinea pigs and rabbits - with almost 50 rabbits rehomed during the year.

Rosie

But it’s a particularly unusual and fascinating creature who steals the limelight - Rosie the axolotl. Axolotls are not only rare, and of great interest to conservationists, they are also the subject of much excitement in the scientific world. They never complete the metamorphosis into adults and, in effect, they stay ’forever young’.

Scientists are not only interested in the axolotl’s ability to control the aging process, they are also keen to find out more about the creature’s ability to regenerate limbs. An axolotl can re-grow a leg, or a tail - it can even regenerate parts of internal organs and certain areas of its brain. Scientists have even transplanted damaged organs from other animals into axolotls and these have re-grown, and it’s hoped that this research will eventually benefit human medicine.

Orphaned ducklings and hedgehogs

And now to the aviary where the four ducklings who cheated death stand out from the many beautiful birds that have come to us during 2018. Their mother was run over by a speeding car, with witnesses stating that the driver had acted deliberately. The ducklings were rounded up by members of the public and spent a few weeks with us, before being released onto a private estate (well away from main roads).

We keep rescued hedgehogs in our aviary, too, and this year we’ve had to help many more than usual. The long, dry summer meant that the hedgehogs’ staple diet of worms, slugs and snails were in short supply, and so they had to roam further in search of food. This led to a higher than usual number of road deaths and to hoglets being orphaned and brought into us. Most survived, after a few weeks of TLC and a ready supply of cat food, and went on to be released back into the wild.

Domino

The cattery has rehomed literally hundreds of cats and kittens in 2018 and it is difficult to pick just one to highlight, but Domino definitely used up at least one of his nine lives when he went missing from home for five weeks. Domino hails from Derbyshire and he used to sail regularly around the UK with his owners on a boat, but while it was berthed in Peel he disappeared. His owners were distraught and they extended their holiday in the hope that he would turn up, but in the end they had to sail home without him. Domino eventually turned up in Patrick, where a kind lady realised that he was lost, and she brought him to us for a ’chip-check’.

In less than 10 minutes the cattery team were able to call his owners because their contact details were on the microchip company’s database, and they travelled back to the Island to collect him. That same week we were also able to reunite a tabby cat called Keri with her owners because she was microchipped - it turns out that she had been missing for a whole year.

Please make sure your cats are microchipped. It’s such a simple and painless procedure and the cattery team here at Ard Jerkyll can do it for you for a minimum donation of just £15.00. Please call them on 851672, option two, and make an appointment.

Casper

The kennels has rehomed more than 100 dogs during the year, from tiny Chihuahuas like Timmy to enormous German shepherds like Toby, but the last word must go to Casper. He’s helped to make Christmas so much fun - he just loves people and he’s a delight to be around. And as you can see he’s also incredibly handsome. We’re confident he’ll be off to a new home in January, but his kennels pen won’t stay empty for long.

Please ’adopt don’t shop’ for your next pet. Even if we don’t have the animal that’s right for you at the moment, please fill out a home finder questionnaire (available on our website) and let us know what you’re looking for.