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A mother and an animal lover, 43-year-old Donna Gicquel-de Gruchy is a busy lady.
She runs the Peachy Days Boarding Cattery in St. Martin - known by some as a five-star cat hotel - 365 days a year. For the past 10 years, she has been the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) Jersey coordinator. Working closely with New Era Veterinary Hospital, her team helps rescue seal pups washed away from their mothers in the storms, as well as dolphins and whales.
In her spare time, Donna, her husband Andre and their children (pictured) are always on or in the sea, whether its boating, kayaking or stand up paddle boarding. And all of that comes despite being diagnosed with degenerative disease Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2011. But after years of crippling pain, she now has the condition under control.
"I am very lucky to lead the life I live and I appreciate every day that I can move around without pain," she told Express.
Here are the five things Donna would change about Jersey...
When will the law be changed to insist that if a cat is injured in a road traffic accident, it needs to be reported, so that these cats are not left to suffer and their families heart broken, not knowing what happened to their family fluff ball? If a dog is in a road traffic accident, it is against the law to not seek medical help from a vets or the police, yet a cat can just be left.
Pictured: Equal rights for cats are not about penalising drivers but about doing the right things, says Donna.
I used to drive for the JSPCA animal ambulance and would get out of bed at all hours in the night to help with cat accidents. Unfortunately, this would also involve a call from a member of public in the morning when it was too late, and they had passed a dead or dying cat on the road. I know some people are squeamish but at least report it, look for it and try and do everything you can for that cat not to suffer. It's not about penalising the car driver - accidents happen - its about doing the right thing.
2. Animal cruelty and wildlife rehabilitation
The JSPCA is the perfect place for a permanent and accessible cruelty officer to be stationed - the name says it all! The Jersey Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed with the Jersey Animal Shelter back in the 1930s, yet there appears to be a very grey area of who to turn to these days with a cruelty complaint. I am aware that cruelty cases are sent to the States Vet at present, since it was stopped at the JSPCA. Yet the JSPCA is the perfect place to have a dedicated position, that can work along side the States Vet and take a lot of the pressure off the States department.
Pictured: The JSPCA would be the perfect place for a cruelty officer to work from. (Google Maps)
Whilst we are on the subject, it would be great to not have to send the rescued seal pups off-island and have some sort of marine rehabilitation here in the island, especially now that the seal rescues are sadly increasing annually. This way, we know we could release the rehabilitated pups back into local waters. Watch this space!
Although I understand why there was previously a no-dogs ban on the beach for the summer months in the 80s when tourism was huge, it still didn’t need to be everywhere on the island! This law is most definitely outdated now and needs reassessing with public opinion being of major input. I agree that some of the busier hotspot beaches like St.Brelade should remain dog-free between 10:00 and 18:00 in the summer months, but other beaches MUST be agreed where a dog can be ran off-lead and enjoy cooling down in the sea in the heat of the summer.
Pictured: Dogs should be allowed on the beach in the summer, and not just early in the morning, says Donna.
I loathe rushing to get to the beach in the mornings in the summer months before the ban time in between working and the school run, yet the South East coast will be pretty much empty of beach goers a lot of the time. No people or dogs - I suppose the wildlife gets a break! In the summer, my Labrador Peppa loves to swim with me and its great for cooling her down for the rest of the day.
As a local child of the 80s, my era was Fort Regent. In the summer holidays, my mum would drop my friends and I off early in the morning and we would go for a swim, usually for the whole morning. The afternoon would either be roller skating or playing in the fairground and on the cable cars and ramparts. Venturing in and out of the Aquarium, and the 20 Leagues Under The Sea were favourites of mine, as I believed we really did go out into the harbour and under the sea. A Friday night would be roller disco night and I would be back up there again.
Pictured: There is still hope for Fort Regent for Donna.
What happened to this place? I do still think something similar could be reconstructed again and the Fort be saved. There is even space to make a little tourist self-catering village. The skate park news last month? There’s plenty of space there for that. A safe place with plenty to do, discos, a skate park, a fitness centre and, most importantly in my mind, a proper swimming pool! It’s not too late!
Why aren't the Jersey government doing more to resolve the problems with the loyal RNLI ex-crew, now the Jersey Lifeboat Association? It is hard to know what to believe as a member of public and we know good hard-working people from both sides of the crews, but it seems pretty clear that there are massive conflicts of interest at the helm of an inquiry moving forward presently.
Pictured: Donna wants "the honest and open facts" on what went down between the RNLI and the former crew.
An independent Committee of Inquiry is surely the only way forward if the public are to have any faith in a fair outcome. States Members with conflicts of interest have no business here. I want to go to sea knowing I will be safe with loyal volunteers crewing our lifeboats and certainly not choosing who should and shouldn't save me from all this hearsay. Let's have the honest and open facts, and have it done fairly and independently.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not those of Bailiwick Express.
Lead picture: View of St. Ouen's Bay by Robbie Dark.
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