The sad tale of the cow, the calf and the c-section

Hello,

First a piece of very good news: it started raining yesterday! You may not think that's a big deal but when you've been toasting in temperatures soaring above 100 degrees F it's the biggest relief when the first storms hit us. The air instantly cools down and we can all breathe again.

Last week we were visited by a mother in great distress. It was a cow who had been in labour for two days but was unable to get her calf out. The owners put her on the back of a small truck and drove her to Animal Tracks. It was obvious that she was in great pain. Her eyes were wide open with fear and distress and the vets went to work on her straight away. It turned out that the calf was breach, meaning it was turned the wrong way inside her, hence she couldn't push it out. The neck of the calf was twisted back and without bringing it around there was no way it was going to come out.

Sadly the calf was already dead inside the mother when she arrived for help but still, it had to come out. The vets worked relentlessly trying to bring it into a better position but without luck. At one point it looked like the only option was to cut off its head inside. You can imagine things looked pretty bad for the vets to consider such a hideous option!

After a bit of debating it was decided instead to perform a caesarean section on the mother and bring the calf out that way. First the owners had to agree to leave her behind for recovery and post op treatment, which luckily they did. The cow was anaesthetised and the c-section went smoothly. It broke my heart to realise that the poor mother was going to wake up to nothing but an empty belly and no baby to love and care for at the end of this horrible experience. I hope the other cows in the pen look after her and cheer her up. I'm not allowed in the cattle pen, otherwise I'd do it myself. I'm happy though that mother cow is recovering well and hopefully she'll be able to return home soon.

Love,

Olive

Puppy Prince lands on his paws

My recent stories may lead some of you to think that we have completely stopped rescuing stray dogs at Animal Tracks. Stories of goats, kites, rabbits, pigs, cattle etc. almost takes the focus away from what takes up the vast majority of our resources here: sterilising, vaccinating and treating stray dogs. Do not be fooled. Hundreds of dogs continue to be brought in to the centre and most of them leave us happier and healthier than they were when they came in.

This story is about Prince, a stray that was abandoned as a pup but rescued by IAR supporter Tracey. She has an apartment in North Goa and contacted the centre because a very large number of unsterilised strays were roaming the area and causing problems for the residents. IAR managed to catch and sterilise 19 of these dogs using trap cages. Tracey watched the trap cage and informed the office every time a dog went in. It was a very successful project.

Prince was only a few weeks old when his mother abandoned him outside Tracey's apartment and she took him in and cared for him. She was unable to keep him as she was going back to the UK so work began o find a suitable home for him. With the help of local residents a home was found in South Goa so when he was around eight weeks old Tracey and Prince said their goodbyes and off he went.

I didn't meet Prince until he came to Animal Tracks for sterilisation. With his pink nose and cute face I can imagine he was a lovely little fluff ball when he was small. I went out to greet him on arrival and to reassure him that nothing bad was going to happen to him. He was sterilised and vaccinated and went straight back home after the surgery. I always catch myself thinking what fate these puppies would have met if they hadn't been lucky enough to find a loving family to look after them. Given Prince's circumstances I doubt he'd still be in this world had it not been for Tracey, IAR and his new family.

Our feathered friends join the family

Hello!

Do you remember our two magnificent kites? I told you their story recently. I remember ending the story by making a wish that they would come back and tell us stories from the big world once they had been released. I was somewhat sceptical back then though because I expected that they would simply rise to the sky and disappear when they got the chance.

How wrong I was! The kites were released a week or so ago and guess what? They are still right here with us at Animal Tracks. They simply refuse to stray far as this has been their safe haven since they were so young they barely had feathers. They have remained tame and spend their days lazing around on the various walls surrounding the centre. They must have observed us centre dogs when they were in their cage and thought 'Well, they seem to have it sussed' and decided to live almost like we do.

We share our food with them and even put up with them hovering very close waiting for their turn to eat. The staff are able to go right up to them without them feeling the slightest bit threatened. They consider us family and we are happy to welcome them among us. In the end my wish came true. They decided to stick around. Who'd have ever thought we'd end up not only with centre dogs and cats but with centre kites as well?

Love from me, Olive!

Mickey the mini chipmunk makes himself at home

Hi everyone!

Today I want to tell you about the smallest resident at Animal Tracks. His name is Mickey and he's a small chipmunk rescued by our team when he was found on the ground unable to find his way back to where he was meant to be. He is only young and getting used to being handled by humans has been a big challenge for him. Generally rodents are shy, timid animals and they are easily stressed and even traumatised when they are taken away from their familiar environment.

Mickey was brought in about one month ago and, with no injuries, the main task at hand was to keep him fit and healthy so he could be released when he was a bit older and able to look after himself. He currently lives in an enclosure in the vets' office and he's doing great. He's become such a lively and friendly character and has learned to trust the staff at the centre. He actually loves the attention and is not even the slightest bit fazed when we centre dogs pop our heads in to say hello.

Mickey's favourite person in the whole world is Abby who tends to his every need. It is unusual for animals like Mickey to adapt to an environment so different to their own but with Abby's love and reassurance he has got used to his caged existence. I imagine it's a bit like staying in a fancy hotel. Food is served and pampering sessions are given and no work is required to get this.

Hopefully it won't take too long before Mickey can be released. The vets will have to assess if he's capable of surviving in the wild and if not he needn't fear for anything. We'll look after him for as long as it takes and make sure that he stays happy and healthy.

Love from me,
Olive x

Rescued kites will soon be flying high

Dear friends,

It always makes me so happy to tell stories when I know they have a happy ending. With some of our patients it is hard to tell how they’ll fare because some are very sick or badly injured, hence occasionally we end up saying goodbye to friends because they could not be saved. I hate that!

You must forgive me but these two magnificent creatures have not got names so I shall leave it to you to decide upon your own names for them. They are kites and were brought in very young because they appeared to have been separated from their mother and lost their nest. Their chances were not good because when young these birds rely heavily on their mother to teach them the ways of the world like flying, hunting etc.

Initially they were put in a smaller cage to reduce the stress of being in our big outdoor aviary. They were examined by our vets who found no physical problems with either of them and the staff then proceeded to do all they could to make sure that these birds would grow and become fit to be released. Later on they were shifted to a large cage in the centre's back compound and gradually the kites became bigger and stronger. I am so happy to know that they'll be released soon. Would be nice if they would come back now and again to tell us stories of the big world outside. I don't think that's likely to happen but you never know...

Love from me, Olive!

'Girlpower' in Goa as female pups become more popular

Hello everyone!

Today I want to tell you about an exciting new project that is in the process of being fine tuned at the Animal Tracks centre. As you know we see a lot of orphan puppies being admitted and a lot of energy is put into trying to finding loving homes for them. Although many people do come and adopt puppies, there are also many who don't find a home and some fall very ill and end up not making it beyond the centre walls. I nearly ended up like that and I cannot express my gratitude enough to the people who saved me.

Last month 25 puppies found a new home and I am so pleased that 17 of these were female. The reason for this is that just a few years ago local people believed that female dogs were useless as guard dogs and that all they do is attract male dogs and give birth to pups. Luckily the sterilisation programme has changed the attitude of many and likewise they have discovered that female dogs make excellent guard dogs, so many people now choose a female dog for their new guardian and friend.

To reduce the number of pups who end their days at Animal Tracks the vets have embarked on a trial sterilisation programme for pups aged between 3 and 6 months.

Earlier dogs would be sterilised no sooner than at 5 months but with this new procedure we may be able to send some pups back where they came from, thus giving them a chance to make it as strays. 'Why', I hear you wonder, 'when you are trying to reduce the number of strays are you allowing puppies back like this?' Well, once sterilised and vaccinated the dogs cannot multiply and it helps to create a stable stray dog population in any given area. This way there is less chance that new unsterilised strays find their way into the territory and the numbers in the particular areas will be easier to control. Therefore there are no disadvantages in releasing young dogs back into their territory.

I hope you'll all join me in wishing our team of vets and nurses good luck with this new project which hopefully will save even more lives.

Olive x

How IAR tamed Roger rabbit

Hello again!

Well things are heating up here in Goa. By this I don’t mean that there is any major drama happening, only that temperatures are soaring higher and higher and the humidity is getting almost unbearable. Thankfully no one has challenged me to the spot in the visitors toilet yet, so I’m cool.

Say hi to Roger Rabbit. He comes from Saligao and was brought by Jason who told the staff at the centre that Roger was either let loose or escaped and that he was found hopping aimlessly around the area.

Either way no owner could be found hence Jason picked Roger up and brought him to Animal Tracks. Roger suffered from terrible mange and had to have lengthy treatment before his fur looked healthy again. Now he's fit to go and the staff here are looking for a good home for him. First however he must be castrated because we do not want to be responsible for a possible situation where numerous rabbits end up in homes where they are not properly cared for. I shall let you all know as soon as Roger has found his new home.

Bye for now!

Olive x