The sickening attack on Storm, the German Shepherd puppy, has highlighted the wonderful work the RSPCA does in rescuing sick or abandoned animals. STEPHEN LEWIS visited the charity's animal shelter in Landing Lane, York.

PEGGY the Staffordshire bull terrier peers up at us out of soulful brown eyes.

She is tied up to a railing that runs the length of the RSPCA animal shelter in York's Landing Lane, where she can get plenty of fresh air.

She had been sick this morning, explains shelter manager Elaine Murdoch - something to do with eating too much grass.

She's looking much more cheerful now, though, especially when Elaine kneels down in front of her, scratches her ears, and gives her a sloppy kiss.

"Wos you upset?" Elaine says, in that voice people use only with pets and very young babies. "Wos you upset?" She scratches Peggy's ears again, and the staffie thumps her tail gratefully.

Peggy is just one of 62 orphaned dogs being looked after by Elaine and her team at the shelter.

She was a stray, brought in by the dog wardens. Some of the dogs here were brought in by owners who could no longer cope with them - that often happens, Elaine says, when they reach about six months old and "start chewing things". Others were simply abandoned - or even left chained up to railings outside the shelter at night.

There is a lovely German shepherd dog, that the shelter has named Brandy, who was recently left tied up outside.

"She was distraught when the girls found her in the morning," says Elaine. "God knows what time she had been left there. How do people do that? How do people drive away and leave a dog tied to the railings, crying?" Her voice thickens with emotion. "It's so sad."

Many of the stories associated with the dogs here are sad - most are former pets which somehow ended up unloved and unwanted.

None, however, can compare with what was done to Storm.

In what RSPCA inspectors have described as one of the worst animal cruelty cases they have seen, the eight-month-old German shepherd puppy was repeatedly stabbed and left for dead in a garden in Acomb.

She was found bleeding and in desperate need of treatment, and was taken to the vets.

RSPCA inspector Hannah Bryer said she was covered with deep stab wounds in the neck and chest, and "absolutely petrified".

"She will recover from her physical injuries, but mentally I don't know how she will stand up because she's very traumatised," Hannah said.

Storm is still too sick to come to the animal shelter.

But that doesn't make Elaine any the less appalled at what was done to her.

"Words fail me," she said. "How can anybody do that? Why don't they punch the wall instead, rather than take it out on an animal? It does really shake my faith in people sometimes."

What Elaine and her 13 staff at the animal shelter do is to give the unwanted orphans in their care a fresh start in life.

The shelter has room for 75 dogs - though there are only 62 there at the moment.

There are also 40 cats and 12 rabbits, as well as assorted guinea pigs, pet rats, hamsters and gerbils.

The aim is to make all of them comfortable and happy - and then ultimately to find a new home for them.

The shelter has a non-destruction policy, Elaine stresses - which means none of the animals here will be put down.

The dogs are fed and walked at 8am - and then, throughout the day, are regularly taken out of their kennels to be taken for short walks, sometimes just around the shelter compound itself, sometimes for longer walks.

The shelter has an army of volunteer walkers who take the dogs out regularly, often alongside the River Ouse nearby. "They love it!" Elaine says. There is always something going on at the shelter - the dogs kennels being cleaned out, new arrivals being settled in, animals being let out to stretch their legs - and staff never shout at any of the pets.

So the dogs are happy at the shelter, Elaine says. Especially the greyhounds. They are usually retired racers, who are brought to the home when they get too old to be of any use.

"They make lovely pets!" Elaine says. "They love their stay here - it is probably the best time that they have ever had. One of them, when he gets put in his kennel, lies with all his paws up like that" - she demonstrates, mimicking a dog lying contentedly on its back with its legs sprawled in the air.

But even so, Elaine says, the shelter is no substitute for a proper home.

The aim is to place all of the pets here one day with a new, caring owner. The shelter is open at weekends for people to come and visit. If you spot a pet you like, the RSPCA will arrange for someone to visit your home. That is both to check that you will make a good owner, Elaine says, but also to make sure the right pet can be found for you. "If someone is out at work for more than four hours a day, for example, they will need an older dog," Elaine says.

Once you have been home-visited, and have become an approved owner, you can visit the shelter during the week, too.

But be prepared: it is an emotional experience.

You will be greeted by a chorus of barking and yelping as the excited dogs greet a new visitor. And walking around to visit some of the orphaned pets will break your heart.

Each of the dogs' kennels has been fitted with a short life-history of the dog it belongs to.

Dogs like Blossom, another German shepherd, who was brought in on April 24.

Not openly - so many owners who abandon their pets don't have the courage to hand them over personally, Elaine says.

Instead, the owner kicked open an old kennel outside the animal shelter and abandoned Blossom there.

After having been betrayed by one owner, she's badly in need of another to give her the care and love she needs. Just like the other 61 dogs here. And, hopefully one day soon, Storm herself.


Grand a day to run shelter

IT COSTS about £1,000 a day to keep the RSPCA animal shelter at Landing Lane going.

All that money has to be raised by the animal shelter itself: none comes from central RSPCA funds.

As well as donations and bequests, the shelter also does fundraising, and has its own shop in Gillygate, York.

It is always in need of more money, however.

If you can help, phone the shelter on 01904 654949.

Volunteer dog walkers and home visitors are also desperately needed. Call the same number if you are interested.


New hope for Storm

STORM, the eight-month-old German shepherd puppy left for dead after being repeatedly stabbed in a savage attack on Sunday night, is continuing her recovery.

"I saw her yesterday and she was doing much better," said RSPCA inspector Hannah Bryer.

"She came up to me in her cage and seemed to be quite bright."

Storm's vet bills will be paid by the RSPCA.

Typically, in cases like hers, the cost can be up to £1,000, Hannah said.

You can make a donation locally to the RSPCA animal shelter in York's Landing Lane by phoning 01904 654949, though money donated there won't go towards Storm.

You can also make donations to the RSPCA nationally, by post or online.

To find out more, visit www.rspca.org.uk