In time honoured tradition, as this is last ManxSPCA article of 2017, we will look back at the highlights of the year, as chosen by staff at the society.

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

It is a wild rabbit, called Sweet Pea, who must receive a special mention.

She came to us at just a day old, along with four siblings. Her mother’s nest had been disturbed and the kittens, as baby rabbits are called, seemed to have been abandoned.

Sadly, her siblings did not survive, but Sweet Pea showed incredible resilience and never gave up on life. She was bottle fed every two hours during daylight hours (mother rabbits do not suckle at night) for five weeks, and then she was gradually weaned on to chopped carrot.

The rule of thumb with wild animals is to handle them as little as possible so that they can be returned to the wild, but Sweet Pea needed so much care that she became tame and she was eventually put up for adoption. She is currently going through a bonding process, which the small animals unit staff coordinate.

And now to the aviary where the black swan who cheated death stands out from the many beautiful birds that have come to us during 2017.

The swan had been shot by a pellet gun in one of his legs and, although he was disabled, he could still evade capture - so it took many hours before our welfare officer could get close enough to pick him up and take him to a vet. The vet removed a pellet that was 70mm in length, but miraculously it had not damaged any bone and so the swan eventually made a full recovery. He is now back in the lake where he came from, and the landowner has put in place extra security measures.

The cattery has rehomed literally hundreds of cats and kittens in 2017 and it is difficult to pick just one to highlight, but little Gwen stole a piece of everyone’s heart. She was found as a small kitten by some builders with her belly and feet completely stuck in black tar. When she arrived the odds were against her - she was so small and thin, and 50% of her body was covered in the tar.

She endured hours of bathing and allowed her carers to gently rub away the tar, but rather than go into shock and give up she, too, fought for her life. She now has a loving home and, despite her ordeal, she is one of the most affectionate cats you could ever meet..

The kennels has rehomed more than 100 dogs during the year, from tiny chihuahuas to enormous mastiffs, but it’s Snowy who stands out. Snowy isn’t his real name. He was called this because we didn’t want his owner to be able to identify where he was being kept, and to try to spirit him away, before the police were able to secure a conviction for animal cruelty.

His owner actually received a custodial sentence, despite pleading ’not guilty’ in all his court appearances, and we were then able to find Snowy a new, loving home.

Snowy was with us for almost 18 months but, like our other ’animals of the year’, he never gave up and he is a fabulous example of a rescue dog - rescue dogs aren’t broken, they’ve simply experienced more of life than other dogs. If they were human, we would call them wise.

They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write, the ones dealt a bad hand who responded with courage. Don’t pity a rescue dog. Adopt one.

The kennels has rehomed more than 100 dogs during the year, from tiny chihuahuas to enormous mastiffs, but it’s Snowy who stands out. Snowy isn’t his real name. He was called this because we didn’t want his owner to be able to identify where he was being kept, and to try to spirit him away, before the police were able to secure a conviction for animal cruelty.

His owner actually received a custodial sentence, despite pleading ’not guilty’ in all his court appearances, and we were then able to find Snowy a new, loving home.

Snowy was with us for almost 18 months but, like our other ’animals of the year’, he never gave up and he is a fabulous example of a rescue dog - rescue dogs aren’t broken, they’ve simply experienced more of life than other dogs. If they were human, we would call them wise.

They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write, the ones dealt a bad hand who responded with courage. Don’t pity a rescue dog. Adopt one.