Update on Pinky and Perky

Hello everybody!

I thought I'd take the opportunity today to give you a brief update on our two friends Pinky and Perky who have been with us at Animal Tracks for quite some time now.

These two pigs were reared as babies by a couple living in Goa but they were forced to give them up owing to circumstances beyond their control and brought them to the centre in the hope that a new home could be found for them. Well, more than one year has passed and they are still with us and have become part of the team here. They have had their very own pen built for them where they laze about all day and visitors love popping over to say hello.

As time goes by it is going to become more and more difficult to say goodbye to Pinky and Perky and all the staff and animals here have become so attached to them that I doubt we’ll ever agree that another home is good enough! Their health is good, they are well cared for and get lots of attention from everybody and they’ve often told me how happy and lucky they feel to have ended up here as opposed to being surrendered to an unknown fate.

Lots of love,

Olive x

Fallen Fish Eagle recovers from fracture

Dear Friends,

Alongside the daily work of looking after and treating all us domestic dogs, cats and cattle, the vets at Animal Tracks frequently encounter cases involving wild animals that are in need of help. Numerous reptiles, rodents and birds pass through our gates every year and each one benefits from the special expertise of our highly qualified veterinary team.

Take this young Fish Eagle for example. He was found fallen from a tree, unable to fly because the fall had resulted in a fracture to his leg. He was brought to the centre and it was quickly assessed that orthopaedic surgery was needed. As you can imagine this was going to be a very delicate operation on such an animal! The surgery was successful and the eagle now has to recover before any attempts at releasing him are made.

Being very young the process of releasing the eagle will be gradual and carefully supervised. He needs to learn to fly again and his ability to survive in the wild has to be assessed. The Fish Eagle is a protected species in India and it is common that they use the Western coast surrounding Goa as their nesting area. If all goes well this handsome chap will make a full recovery and fly off to his natural habitat in the next couple of months.

Love from me,

Olive x

Dr Astrid gets the point after cat Mitsy swallows a needle!

Hello everyone!

After my last shocker of a story I think it's time for something a little less heartbreaking and with an instant happy ending. It is about another cat which ran into a bit of misfortune. Gosh, I'm so glad I’ve been born a dog! These cats just seem to be followed around by bad luck these days!

This cat, Mitsy, was unlucky enough to somehow manage to swallow a needle! No one knows how the needle got into her throat but luckily she was brought to the centre before it had done too much damage. Dr Astrid was on duty and she immediately took an x-ray of Mitsy's throat to assess the injury. Her initial assumption was that the needle would have to be surgically removed so she got herself ready to start the procedure.

Mitsy was sedated and before commencing the surgery Dr Astrid put her fingers inside Mitsy's throat to see if she was able to reach the needle. As she did this she actually managed to catch the needle and pull it out without causing any trauma to Mitsy's throat and Mitsy has now made a full recovery without having to have an operation. Lucky for Mitsy - that must surely have cost her one of her nine lives. Let's hope she's not as careless with the rest of them!

Bye for now!

Love Olive x

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