Pet owners left stranded by flooding in the north-east have been given much-needed supplies of food by a beloved Deeside animal sanctuary.
The Scottish SPCA centre in Drumoak is acting as a modern day equivalent of Noah’s Ark as the region recovers from horrendous water damage.
Karen Hogg, animal rescue officer at the Aberdeenshire facility, received a call from the barracks on Sunday and headed out to Ballater for two days to hand out food to hungry animals.
She said she was determined to provide what assistance she could and was amazed at the community spirit in the town.
She said: “I was contacted by Gillian Inglis at the barracks in Ballater and Liz Robinson from Cats Protection in Deeside and I said I was prepared to do anything to help.
“I took a van from the centre in Drumoak and headed to Ballater on Sunday and Monday.
“On the first day I took food for small animals like hamsters and rabbits, but I found there were cats and dogs with no food so I returned with a van full of food for them on Monday.”
She added: “There’s a great community spirit there, everyone had a place within the barracks.
“In the whole town there has only been one cat reported missing, which is pretty amazing if you think about the amount of damage done.”
The centre has also been swamped with Aucks, small seabirds which are the size of a starling, who have been displaced by the weather.
John Carle, area chief inspector, said: “Since the weekend we’ve had between 30 and 40 Aucks who had been blown off course by the storm.
“Normally these birds would only come in as far as the cliffs, you very seldom see them in any further.
“We’ve got nine in at the moment but there’s only a 50% chance that they will survive any longer.”
The centre has been unable to provide assistance to animals in Braemar as a result of the damage done to the road towards the town.
Mr Carle added: “We can’t access Braemar at all. Our centre in Perth is now the point of call for people there as it’s quicker for them to get there.”