Boxer Fred is down but not out thanks to IAR!

Dear friends,

What is it with humans?? There seems to be no logic or thought behind some of their actions. They start wars and kill each other, they destroy our planet and they hurt the defenceless and innocent animals without a second thought. I know, you are not like that. If you were, you wouldn't be reading this. I am grateful that there are humans like you around to help us when others don't.

Fred here was rescued from the village of Camurlim where he was seen roaming aimlessly around for days without food or drink. It was obvious that he was not a stray dog because first of all he's a pedigree (a boxer) and second he was too distraught and stressed out by being on his own like that. Local villagers were worried that he might do something crazy in his desperation and they could see he needed help so they called IAR.

Two boys went out to catch Fred and they had no trouble getting him in the ambulance. He was weak and wounded and emaciated and only pleased to see a friendly face. When the party arrived back at Animal Tracks Fred was examined and the vets discovered a maggot wound on his paw and they established that he was malnourished and underweight. Whether this was because he had been on his own for too long or because he had been neglected by his owner remains unknown. One thing is certain though. The owner did not look after his dog and he is responsible for Fred's state through and through. Perhaps Fred got sick and the owner abandoned him to save the vet bill. Perhaps the owner was a foreigner who left Goa without a second thought for the animal he was leaving behind. Who knows? The main thing is that Fred is in good hands now and he is being treated for all his ailments. He has already put on some weight and a member of staff is going to adopt him once he's well enough to be discharged.

In the meantime Fred is enjoying lots of attention from staff and volunteers and he likes playing with us too.

Woofs from me, Olive x

The curious incident of pup Penelope and the plastic jar

Hello everyone!

The season in Goa is slowly drawing to an end and although there is still around one month left till the last charter flight takes off from here there is a noticeable drop in tourists now. It's getting hotter and more humid every day and it's harder to find a place to cool off. I've still got my designated spot in the visitors' toilet reserved for me so I'm ok.

We see a lot of peculiar things at Animal Tracks but some things are more odd than others. Take this little puppy for example. She was named Penelope and was brought to the centre with her head stuck inside a plastic jar! The report came from a local man called Sakshi who had seen Penelope running around distraught and trying to get the jar off her head. He did not know how the jar had ended up on her head, only that she was unable to get it off.

When our staff arrived on the scene, catching Penelope proved to be a more challenging task than first anticipated. She was running like mad but the boys knew that leaving her in that state was not an option. She would no doubt eventually suffocate from the heat combined with the stress and the restricted supply of oxygen.

In the end Penelope was too exhausted to keep running and the boys caught her and brought her to the centre where the vets removed the jar. You would have thought she would have welcomed this effort but she was kicking and yelping like there was no tomorrow. I tried to explain to her that she was in good hands but she was having none of it.

Once free of her plastic prison Penelope settled down and took some time to eat and rest. She was kept in for a couple of days for observation to check that she hadn’t suffered any trauma from her ordeal. Sakshi, who had been around to witness the whole story unfold, had become so attached to Penelope that he came to visit her and in the end decided to adopt her as his pet. We were all so happy for her and felt that her bad experience had served some purpose after all. If she hadn't ended up with her head in the jar Sakshi may have never noticed her and she may never have found a loving home to grow up in.

Love,

Olive