Feathered friend pronounced fit and healthy

Hi there!

It had been a while since we’d had the pleasure of a visit from a feathered kind of friend. We’ve had a new aviary built on top of our surgery to accommodate all the birds that are in our care and that certainly is a step up from having very limited means to cater for them. Sadly this means I don’t get to mooch around and look at them as much as I used to. I’m not agile like some of the centre dogs so I can’t get up on the roof like they can.

This owl was brought to the centre from a resort in Calangute a few days ago. It had been sitting on one of the balconies and the occupier of the room had started to wonder why it wasn’t leaving. Maybe it had been injured? So she called us and the rescue team had no problems catching the fella and taking it to the centre for a check up.

When the vets had finished a good all round examination of the owl the diagnosis was... absolutely fit and healthy! They even tested the owl’s flying capability and nothing pointed towards physical or mental distress. After a good lunch and dinner the owl was therefore released into the woods in the evening.

Who knows why it had been sitting on the balcony for so many hours? Perhaps it liked it there... perhaps it had lost its way…or maybe it was just looking for a different kind of company, of the human kind, for a change. The main thing is that he is back where he belongs and hopefully happy to be able to settle somewhere else.

Love from Olive

Lucky pups find a loving home together

Dear all,

First I want to wish you all a very happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the festive season. I hear from our volunteers that you have got lots of snow in Europe... brrrrrr... I'm happy to be here in the warm sunshine.

I'd like to tell you a little story about two lucky little souls who were brought to our centre recently. As you probably know International Animal Rescue runs an adoption programme in Goa for orphan pups and kittens. Over the years more and more people have come to recognise the benefits of owning a local breed dog, hence more and more puppies find a home.

Spot and Sparky are two such puppies. They were found wandering along the N17, the busiest highway in Goa, without a mother and obviously frightened and distraught. Whether they are brothers remains uncertain but they were spotted by our drivers and picked up to save them from being run over or getting into trouble with other dogs. Being young makes them unable to fend for themselves and their chances of survival would have been slim.

Sadly for a pup of only five or six weeks old Animal Tracks doesn't offer an entirely safe haven. Owing to the volume of pups and kittens being admitted - some of which may be carrying infections - it is impossible to prevent germs from spreading completely and some animals fall sick and never make it out of the centre again. The staff and volunteers do their very best to minimise the risk and ensure that the animals are well cared for during the time they spend here with us and it's a cruel and sad aspect of life out here to witness some of these poor babies succumbing to illness.

Luckily this was not the case for Spot and Sparky. They both found a home within 24 hours of being admitted and put up for adoption! And do you know what the best thing is? They both went together to their new home. A local family from the town of Mapusa had come to adopt just one puppy but could not decide which one was the cutest so they took both. I wish them a long and happy life with their new family and I look forward to meeting them again when they come back for vaccinations and sterilisation.

Love from Olive