£1,000 ops help Colin to bounce back

THINGS looked grim for Colin the bunny after he was attacked in the garden of his home by a neighbourhood cat.

The nine-month-old pet was left with cuts to his face, scratches to his ear and a subsequent ear infection and abscess after the mauling.

But now the Netherland dwarf is bouncing with health again after undergoing £1,000 of treatment, which included a rare brain operation.

Colin is the much-loved pet of sisters Rebecca and Rachel Hampton, aged ten and eight, of Markham Street, York.

And after the attack he was referred to a rabbit specialist in Harrogate, vet Frances Harcourt-Brown, where he underwent a series of operations.

They included a complicated procedure called bulla osteotomy, which involves drilling into the skull.

The girls' mother, Dr Liz Wilson, said Colin's resilience had amazed even the vet.

She said Ms Harcourt-Brown planned to use the case as a teaching example and added: "It was definitely worth the money.

Wanted: names for two Dolly babies

VISITORS to a museum celebrating the North-East's early medieval era are being invited to name its two latest attractions.

Bede's World, near St Paul's Monastery in Jarrow, South Tyneside, features an Anglo-Saxon farmstead.

The farm's resident Hebridean sheep, Dolly, gave birth to two male lambs on April 10, and now museum bosses are inviting visitors to suggest names for them.

Like the farm's other animals, the sheep are rare breeds similar to those that the Venerable Bede and other early northern Christian saints may have seen in the region more than 1,300 years ago.

After last year's foot-and- mouth crisis, farm manager Christine Fitzgerald was particularly pleased to welcome the new arrivals.

"It's fantastic to see the farm thriving again and the new lambs are sure to become one of the farm's favourite attractions," she said.

The competition to name the lambs runs until May 6, with the winners receiving a special prize, as well as the honour of naming the twins.

Entry is open to anyone visiting the site.