In its 11-year history Ramshaw Rescue Centre has taken in thousands of needy animals including a few unusual characters that have appeared in The Northern Echo. Here are just a few:

* Buster the melodic bull mastiff was taken to the sanctuary in 1994 when his owner could no longer keep him. Mrs Wilson fell in love with the dog and kept him as a family pet, to later discover he had a cracking singing voice and liked a good old sing-song.

* Dixie the daft donkey baffled Mrs Wilson when she started to talk backwards - bellowing out haw-hee instead of the familiar donkey call hee-haw. Animal behaviour experts put the muddled neighing down to a lonely life for the rescued animal believing she hadn't been around any other donkeys to learn how to bray.

* Bud a young border collie became affectionately known as 'the bionic dog' after a road accident left him with a wired jaw. Veterinary surgeons patched up the pet, which made a full recovery at the centre before it was found a new home.

* Canine brothers River and Dodger, a pair of Chinese crested dogs with just a tuft of hair on their heads, grabbed readers' attention with their striking hairstyles. The centre found a loving new home for the siblings with an experienced owner where they are still happy today.

* Chatterbox Pepe, a babbling blue and gold macaw parrot, was lost for words for the first time in her life after she was accidentally given away by a volunteer at the centre who mistook Mrs Wilson's own pet for a homeless red-bellied macaw.

After five days away she was tracked down to a man in Sunderland and returned to her home at the centre.