Cat in a trap

Dear friends

I know it has been a while since I've been in touch but rest assured that it has not been because we haven't been busy here at Animal Tracks. Countless animals are continuing to receive help and treatment and the number of dogs who walk the streets with a clip in their ear to identify that they have been sterilised and vaccinated is rising every day.

I am not going to write to you about dogs today however. I warn you now because this story is not for the faint-hearted. It does however tell you something about the nature of some people and how lucky it is for the animals that IAR is around to help.

This story is about a call which came in one morning from a local resident in the town of Mapusa. He told us that a cat had been caught in a leg trap and needed help. All drivers were out attending other calls but fortunately IAR Chairman John Hicks was in the office when the call came in and he immediately drove off to respond to the message. What he found on arrival is almost unbearable to describe. The poor cat in the trap turned out to be owned by the person who notified IAR! He himself had set the trap (for reasons unknown) and the cat had been caught in the trap the evening prior to him making the call! One can only try to guess what thoughts had gone through his mind when he failed to rescue the cat straight away. He even admitted that he only made the call to our centre when the cat's screams had begun to annoy him too much!

The trap was immediately removed by John Hicks and the cat was brought to the centre with severe injuries. It is still undergoing treatment and I shall do my best to update you of its progress. In the meantime the owner of this poor darling has called up the centre to ask to have the trap returned to him. I am not going to recite the reply of John Hicks but I can tell you that the leg trap is still here at the centre. It has been hung on display in our information centre along with photos of the cat and a message urging people to stop using these barbaric instruments.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this little cat makes a full recovery so it can enjoy the rest of its life happy and free from danger and pain.

Love from me,

Olive x

A pig and a python both have a lucky escape

Now here's something you don't see every day! My story today is one where several animals and humans could have been seriously harmed but as if by miracle everyone escaped with none or just minor injuries.

The staff at Animal Tracks received a call one day from an officer with the Forestry Department, Sainath, who had rescued a python which needed medical treatment. Among many other things the Forestry Department rescue local wildlife and they often consult with the vets here at the centre so sometimes injured wild animals are brought to us here in Assagao.

This python had decided to have a medium sized pig for lunch but forgot to take the pig's owner into consideration when attacking it. As the python attempted to devour the pig the distraught owner was looking for any means to scare the python away and rescue his pig.

The only thing he had to hand was a knife which he stuck in the python's head! Startled - but alive - the python let go of the pig (which ran off alive but shocked) and the owner then quickly called the Forestry Department to have the injured python removed. Since the python needed treatment for the wound inflicted by the knife it ended up here with us where it is still undergoing treatment. Once recovered the python will be released back into the wild away from local villages and built up areas.

As you can see this story could have had a much graver ending. The pig could have died from the python's attack, the python could have died from being stabbed, and the owner of the pig put himself in a dangerous position by approaching the big attacking python. Phew! I'm glad this story had a happy ending for everyone.

Bye for now,

Olive x

Bonnie the dog survives to see in the New Year

Hello friends!

Merry Christmas! Hope you are all enjoying the festive season. I speak for everyone here at Animal Tracks, staff and animals alike, in wishing you all the best for the New Year.

Bonnie the dog will definitely have a very happy Christmas this year. She came dangerously close to not even surviving that long when she accidently ate some rat poison. Rat poison kills numerous animals all the time and the vets here at the clinic see many cases where pets are brought in with poisoning. Depending on the size of the animal, the amount of poison consumed and the period lapsed since the consumption, poisoning can be very tricky to cure.

Luckily Bonnie's owners actually saw her eating the poison and took swift action. They called the centre and were told to bring Bonnie in immediately for treatment.

Doctor Manik was ready to receive her when she arrived and started treating her straight away. She was given intravenous medication and her owners were asked to bring her in every day for two weeks for follow up treatment.

It was much to Bonnie's advantage that she is a young, fit dog because she responded to the treatment fast and recovered over the two week period. After the ordeal Bonnie's owners brought her in for vaccination so no doubt Bonnie will be tucking in to some lovely Christmas treats this year to comfort her after her ordeal.

Love from me,

Olive x

Capering cow gives rescuers the run around

Hello everyone!

I guess by now you are all dazzled by tinsel and fairy lights in the run up to Christmas. That means that you are probably wearing warm scarves and hats to keep out the winter chill. Can't say that we're struggling to keep warm here in Goa. Surprisingly though we are still seeing a few monsoon showers which is very unusual for this time of year.

Say hi to Julie. This madam has certainly given the staff at Animal Tracks a challenge right from beginning to end. A message came in from a regular supporter who had spotted Julie running around with an in-grown horn. The horn was digging deep into the flesh and she was in urgent need of medical attention. It was not easy to help her though because she refused to be caught. It took four attempts before our staff had any luck. On the fourth attempt our vet Nikhil, nurse Myla and driver Shivnath went to the rescue.

Julie had them running around for three hours before she let herself be caught. Since it had already been established on previous attempts that this was not going to be an easy task, it was decided to dart Julie to sedate her. Only Julie didn't plan on giving in without a fight, so she ran up a hill and into the wilderness. During the attempt to catch her Shivnath fell and incurred serious injuries while he was trying to prevent her from escaping yet again. Even though she was sedated she still managed to shake the vehicle almost to pieces when she was finally on her way to Assagao.

The team returned to Animal Tracks at 9pm in the evening, exhausted but pleased that they had managed to catch Julie. She was treated the following morning and the horn was cut off. She stayed at the centre for a few days for follow up treatment but has now been released. At least she can now run around like a mad hatter as much as she likes, healthy and free from pain!

Love from me,

Olive x

There’s no place like home for Jackie and Joan

Hello again!

Yesterday was the first day of ‘freedom’ for our new friends the Collins sisters.

Volunteers Jan and Nigel let them out of their pen and the pair meekly followed them to the information centre. They have gradually been getting used to the sights and sounds and spending time with the rest of us. But this time, for the first time, the gate was left open so that they were free to wander around.

All went very well. Jan stayed close by to observe how things were going and from time to time the two girls came over to reception and had a good sniff around. I made a point of staying with them all morning, just to help them settle in. And even Peggy was helpful and introduced the girls to the smells and characters around them.

At lunchtime the gate to the information area was closed so they would not follow Jan and Nigel when they left and made their way back home. But only minutes later Krishna, our lovely head of kennels, was on the phone to them to say Joan had run off.

Six members of staff were tracking her through the jungle but she would not allow them to get near.

Nigel and Jan arrived on the scene. Krishna thought their smell might entice Joan to come home. But even with Nigel in hot pursuit through the jungle Joan wandered further and further out of reach.

Eventually the search party had to give up and return to the centre. But Jan made one last walk around the paths nearby and within a few minutes she spotted a little white face peering at her through the undergrowth. Joan was indeed making her way back to IAR and was beside herself with joy to be escorted back. Jan and Nigel settled her in then set off back home.

Two hours passed and a crazy storm came from nowhere, torrential rain, rolling thunder and cracking lightning and the daylight disappeared. And during the ensuing downpour, suddenly it was noticed that Jackie was missing...

So the team returned through the rain. Some of the boys were out looking but there was no sign of her. The search party split up and set off calling Jackie's name but fearing the worst as she was out lost and alone in a storm.

Then in the distance Nigel spied a brown form heading through the bushes in his direction... Yes Jackie was returning.

To everyone's relief she meekly toddled into reception and Abby wrapped her in a towel and welcomed her back.

The staff could only speculate about what we dogs already knew - that the girls had both felt the need to go and check out the location in order to realise that their new home was the best place to be. And so they had returned after getting their bearings and familiarising themselves with their surroundings.

Jackie and Joan were both exhausted but happy to be back – and we were all so relieved too that they were safe. Let’s hope they don’t scare us like that again, now they realise that there is no place like home, particularly when your home is with International Animal Rescue!

Bye for now,

Olive x

Meet Mongi the mongoose

Hello dear friends!

Here's a short tale about one of the more unusual visitors to our Animal Tracks centre - a mongoose who was brought in as just a tiny scrap of new born life.

No one thought Mongi would make it but Manik and Abbey, two of the brilliant Animal Tracks team, dedicated themselves to saving the little guy. He needed round the clock attention, so Manik took him home in the evenings to feed him through the night.

Against all the odds he thrived and grew to adore his two surrogate mums. Mongooses are very intelligent and inquisitive and Mongi loves nothing more than to play, fight and interact with his human friends much like a kitten would. He has been raised mainly on a diet of cat food but will be snacking on insects, lizards and snakes when he goes back to the jungle.

So it is with mixed feelings that we have to say goodbye to Mongi, but he is a wild animal not a pet and will have an excellent chance of survival and meeting a mate now thanks to everyone at the centre.

He left us yesterday and is now living in a safe transitional house where he will gradually be allowed more and more freedom and the opportunity to find his own food and choose when he's ready to make his own way in the big wild world.

More from me soon,

Olive x

Celebrity sisters stay together at the centre

Hello hello!

Here’s a sweet story with a 'happy ever after' ending that I’m sure you'll enjoy.

When UK volunteers Jan and Nigel came back to Goa in August they noticed that there were two additional dogs on the 'patch' where they walk their own dogs near to Vagator beach.

One of them - they called her Joan - had a burn to one entire front leg and looked like she had had hot fat or water thrown over it. The other, Jackie, obviously her sister, had a large maggot infested mammary tumour so Jan and Nigel did the right thing and brought her to the centre for treatment. They treated the burn injury themselves with medication and advice from the vets, but first of all they took photographs to show them so that they could prescribe the right treatment. This carried on for two months but the wound was not healing properly. By this time Jackie's tumour had been removed and she was healthy and ready for release.

They asked around locally and heard that both dogs had been seen being dumped from a car during the monsoon. They are very old and as both were sick they were probably too much trouble for their callous owner.

The other established beach pack dogs had given the old sisters a hard time and they were far from welcome. So it was with heavy hearts that Jan and Nigel took the recovered Jackie back to the beach and brought Joan in for help to heal the burnt leg.

But Jackie was frightened and hated being back without Joan and cried so pitifully that a tourist called the centre suspecting she had rabies, so within a couple of hours both sisters were back together at the centre!

Of course Jan and Nigel  immediately recognised Jackie and knew she wasn’t ill at all. So it was decided that they could stay together and share a pen until Joan was also fit to go.

Weeks later the couple prepared to take them back, but with great misgivings about their fate, as they had no status with the other dogs and would be in danger every day, apart from having to rely on Jan and Nigel for food. But at the last minute, as they were getting ready to leave, John Hicks noticed the pair with the two dogs and offered them a lift in his car (two dogs and two people on a scooter can be awkward!)

But when they told him the story he also instantly fell for the old girls and so now it has been agreed by everyone at the centre that Joan and Jackie Collins, as they are affectionately known, will become centre dogs and spend the remainder of their days as part of the resident IAR family.

So all that remains now is for the old girls to get to know the rest of us dogs and settle down to life with the gang. Obviously there is a limit to how many of us are lucky enough to stay forever at Animal Tracks, but these two old ladies couldn’t be more deserving candidates to join our happy family.

Don't you just love a happy ending!

Olive x