Volunteer student vets give full marks to Goa

Hello hello!

It’s been a while, so here’s a lovely message from Stephanie and Jo, two new friends I made recently when they came and helped out at the centre. Come again soon girls!

Olive x

My friend Jo and I spent two weeks volunteering at Animal Tracks in August. We are vet students at the London Vet School, now in our fourth year, and came out to do work experience. It was a fantastic placement for us and we really enjoyed it. As well as walking dogs and playing with countless cute puppies, we were allowed to watch all the operations, help the nurses with their duties (placing IV catheters and giving injections etc), and we also got daily responsibility over several of the kennel blocks - checking wounds and giving treatments. Our practical skills improved immensely, and we saw so many things we'll never see working with animals in the UK. It was very eye-opening! As well as spay and castrate operations, we watched some orthopaedic surgery, which was fascinating.

We were made very welcome, and it was just a shame we were only there for a fortnight. We definitely want to return! (And maybe not in the monsoon next time!)

During our trip to India we also visited the monkey sanctuary and in Bangalore we went to see the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre, where many of India's dancing bears now live their lives in peace. These were both more great examples of IAR's wonderful work with animals in India.

Thank you very much to International Animal Rescue for letting us experience the amazing work you do.

Paulin protects his family from Sweetie protecting hers!

Hello all,

I hope that what I bring you today will turn out to be a little sunshine story but as yet this remains unknown. In any case what ever happens there are good parts to this story.

Say hi to Sweetie. She's a young bitch who recently had a litter in the garage of a man called Paulin. Although Sweetie is a stray dog, Paulin didn't mind her taking care of her pups in his garage, so he let her be and even brought out a little food for her every day so she could stay strong and fit. Everything was fine until the pups started moving around. Sweetie became very protective of her little ones and started biting Paulin whenever he approached her. With children in the house Paulin didn't dare keep the little family in his garage so he called International Animal Rescue and asked us to come and remove them.

Sweetie and her pups were brought to the centre and were deemed to be in good health. As the pups are only a few weeks old they cannot be put up for adoption straight away but have to stay with their mother until they're a bit older. Sweetie has already been sterilised and as soon as her pups are ready to be adopted she will be released again. I'm sure Sweetie is happy not to have to endure any more births and Paulin is probably equally happy not to have to worry about finding her in his garage with a new litter!

Bye for now,
Olive x

Clara the cow is treated after terrible cruelty

Hello hello,

It has happened again! I can't believe how some people simply have no heart and no understanding for the pain they cause. Every time I see a case like this my tummy turns and I pray I'll never have to see it again. Alas, my last prayers have not been heard and I have a feeling I'll have to endure such an experience again in the future.

The office at Animal Tracks received a call recently from a local resident in Candolim regarding a cow that had been in a road accident and had become badly injured. I've named her Clara. There were already drivers in the area and although they did not have the cattle equipment in the ambulance they went to assess the situation. They found Clara in a bad state and wondered straight away about her injuries. They didn't look like road accident wounds. They immediately called for assistance from the centre and luckily the cow was friendly so the staff had no trouble loading her into the ambulance.

When Clara arrived at Animal Tracks the vets immediately went to examine her and this is when the horrible truth became known: she had not been in a road accident but had had acid thrown all over her body! Do you remember from one of my previous stories how I told you that some people use this despicable means of torture to get cattle off their property? We have seen several cases where cattle have been brought in to us in such a state that they had no chance to survive.

We all hope that this case will have a happy ending. Clara's wounds, although bad, have a good chance of healing providing the vets can keep any infection at bay. She's receiving heavy antibiotics and the wounds are cleaned and dressed regularly. As always I make sure to pop round the cattle pen daily to give the patients a little pep talk and although I’m not convinced they all understand me I’m sure it help anyway.

Love from me,

Olive x

Pepsi is so sweet he's bound to be to someone's taste!

Dear friends,

We have entered the second half of the monsoon now and this means that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We're a bit funny over here you see. Just before the beginning of the monsoon we are all so fed up with the heat that we can't wait for the rain to come but at the end of the rainy season we are all dying for some lovely dry days with plenty of sunshine. I have a feeling this attitude is shared by most species.

We have encountered yet another classic case of abandonment. We see this way too often and it breaks my heart every time. This time it was this lovely dog - we've named him Pepsi - that was left outside our gates because obviously whoever owned him didn't want him anymore. At first our little centre dog gang gave him a rather chilly welcome. We don't like uninvited intruders so we tried to chase him away. Then we discovered that he was actually a helpless soul who had been dumped through no will of his own. A member of staff discovered him and realised that this was a situation where the poor fella needed help. He was not so easy to catch though. It took several attempts and methods of persuasion before he agreed to be caught.

Pepsi was in good health and spirits and he is now in our kennels waiting for a new home. Meanwhile our volunteers take time to exercise him and play with him. Needless to say he'll have to put up with the minor ordeal of being sterilised and vaccinated before he can leave us but I've made sure to tell him that it's not so bad.

Promise me you'll all keep your fingers crossed that we find a family for Pepsi. I hope to be able to bring you the good news soon that he has gone to a lovely new home where he never has to live with the fear of being abandoned again.

Love from me,

Olive x

Goa gets a glowing reference from Garrett the volunteer

Hello hello,

We're so lucky in Goa to have a large band of animal-loving volunteers helping out with all the many tasks involved in running the centre and the clinic. One such was Garrett Smith from the US, a lovely guy who apparently liked us as much as we liked him! He wrote a glowing reference for all you others out there toying with the idea of volunteering. Now please just take Garrett's word for it and get on over here!

"My name is Garrett Smith. I am a 21 year old student from the United States. I volunteered at the IAR center in Goa for six weeks, shadowing the vets and helping look after the animals in the shelter. I am a vet student, and spent a lot of my time watching the surgeries and assisting the vets around the shelter, watching how they care for the injured animals. My experience with the organization has been nothing but excellent. Everyone cares so much about every animal that comes into the shelter. One dog had been caught in a wire and had it wrapped around its body, and one cow had a tin can stuck to its foot and required surgery. Every animal is given the love and care that it deserves. Not just from the vets, but from the kennel staff, the office staff, and the countless volunteers who come to help out.

Everyone is so friendly. I had trouble getting around the first couple of weeks, but the staff was more than willing to help me out. They also had great information about what to see and do in Goa. There are many hidden gems in this state alone that I never would have had the opportunity to visit if it were it not for them. I also traveled around for three weeks after my stay in Goa, and the staff had so much information about where to go, and what to see.

I was scared at first, I had never been in a foreign country alone for that long, and I really did not know what to expect from the organization. I had been talking to Tanja for about four months, planning my trip and making sure everything was in place before I got there. After six weeks, I can safely say that I got much more out of the experience than I expected. I am amazed at just how great this organization is. The people there look after the dogs, cats, cows, monkeys and any other wildlife that has no hope, and that is really something special. As an animal lover, and someone who wants to help stop the suffering of animals in any way possible, I have truly been touched by the dedication of International Animal Rescue in saving injured and abandoned animals."

Thank you Garrett for giving up your time to come and help out. Please be sure to come and see us again soon!

Bye for now,
Olive x

Betty the cow gets a clean bill of health

Hello everyone!

Do you remember Betty? The cute white cow that somehow managed to step on a metal tin and get the ring stuck on her foot causing a bad wound. Well, check this out. Betty has practically recovered thanks to the care and treatment provided by the team at Animal Tracks. She's walking around fine and without pain and now and soon her ordeal will be a thing of the past. I hope she tells all her friends about us when she is reunited with them.

Betty had to stay at Animal Tracks for quite some time because she could not be released until the wound on her foot had healed.

It would have been too dangerous because of the ever present risk of infection if flies lay eggs in an open wound. I think she's had a good time with us though. She's met new friends in the cattle pen and all the centre dogs have stopped by every now and again to say hello and cheer her up.

Let's all wish Betty the best of luck for the future and keep our fingers crossed that she doesn't get injured again.

Love from me,

Olive!

The cow with no name that was quickly cured

Dear friends,

I hear from trusted sources that the summer has been wonderful in Europe this year. Can't say that I can imagine what it's like over there but what I can say is that here it's wet, wet, wet!

Animal Tracks has turned into mud and although it is wonderfully refreshing with some water and a cool breeze the monsoon does bring with it a few problems too. The vehicle cannot access remote and rural areas as easily as during the dry season and it becomes more hazardous to move about for the staff working in the field. They are used to it though and are doing a great job.

Like with this cow that they brought in and saved recently. It is great to be able to say that she did not stick around for long enough for us to get properly acquainted so I don't even know her name.

The office received a call about a cow in Mapusa town that was lying down unable to get up and move about. The caller guessed that she might be pregnant and about to go into labour. Fortunately an IAR driver was already in the area and he went to investigate the matter. Upon seeing the cow he immediately informed the office that she must be brought in for treatment. He went back and collected a vet and one of the boys and without too much trouble they managed to bring the cow back to the centre in no time. She didn't need sedating because she was already weak and unable to move.

It turned out that she was not pregnant but suffering from an internal infection which was not too serious and could be treated with a course of antibiotics. Already the next day the cow was showing an improvement in health and within a few days upon ending her course of medication she was fit to be released and is now back home where she belongs.

Lots of love,

Olive x