The stories and pictures below are just a sample of what Kingston Community Animal Welfare has done over the last 6 months. Every day, Deborah and her network of helpers and fellow rescuers feed, check on, give attention and love to street cats and dogs, and pets owned by poor people and get them s/n'd and vet care, when needed. Without KCAW and our AKI donors (the only outside funding that KCAW receives), none of this would be possible.
In early March, while on her Saturday rescue/feeding rounds, Deborah saw a dog that was limping so she stopped to help. When Deborah opened the back of the car and the dog smelled the food, the dog approached and Deborah put a leash around her. She was starving. But worse, Deborah now saw why the dog was limping-part of her paw was missing. Deborah rushed the dog to the vet (2 pics below), where she had surgery to save as much of her paw as possible. The vet debrided the wound and folded the skin over to create a stump the dog could put on the ground. She stayed at the vet's office for a few days to recover before she could be moved to KCAW's pens. She had lost so much blood, her gums were white! Her name is Ella, after the road she was found on, Elleston Road.
One of the security officers at Deborah's work place told her about a little kitty who was hiding behind the building. He would run out like a bolt of lightning from stacks of wood, grab scraps from the canteen floor, and bolt back under the lumber. Deborah started to leave food and in no time they became friends and he stopped trying to rip her finger off! The 1st picture below is of Earsey when Deborah rescued him in early January. The next 2 pictures of Earsey, taken in March, are at Deborah's house, where he likes to observe the world from the top of the cupboard and also likes lounging on the bed. He has a forever home at Deborah's. The first day Deborah saw him, his ear was crimped and wouldn’t straighten out, hence his name, Earsey.
One day in early March, Deborah was driving through a depressed area and saw a dog who was barely able to walk; she was so weak. Deborah followed her into a car repair garage, which seemed to be her "home," but no one there seemed concerned about her. Finally, one guy came forward and said she was one of several dogs who stayed around the area. He said she was bleeding and had a bad wound. That explained why she was so weak. It turns out, she was quite wild and Deborah would need her catchpole to capture her (picture below).
It took almost an hour as nobody would help, but finally the same man assisted. They were forced to further restrain her after she bit Deborah-a bad bite. So Deborah had to strap her mouth and legs and went to work. Deborah gave her a bath (3rd picture below), cleaned her ears which were soaked in car oil and muck, removed the maggots and dressed her wound. She was so happy after that. She also got a really nice meal! Deborah returned a few days later and dressed her wound again. It was healing nicely. And yes, this group of dogs at the garage (1st pic below) are now on Deborah's feeding list.
Deborah was at her credit union when someone told her about a feral cat and her son living in the drainage channel just outside the office. When Deborah went out to check, it turned out the kitty was far from feral. She put a trap out, the cat wandered in, and Deborah brought the kitty to be spayed. Then, Deborah returned mama kitty to her son, who will be neutered, as funds allow.
Deborah has been trying to catch the mama dog (in the background in the 2nd picture below), who lives on the grounds of a school, but she's vicious and strong-and smart. Deborah found permanent homes for 2 of her 4 pups. The 2 remaining pups (below, picture taken in June) always sleep hugging each other under their favorite tree. Deborah's working on finding a great home for them too.
Around mid-March, on her drive to work, Deborah stopped to feed her usual Wednesday dogs and noticed a skinny, sad looking black dog standing on the corner, watching her. At first, she didn't think anything was odd-often new dogs come over to join her regular groups. But she then noticed a familiar scent in the air....maggots. The smell becomes stronger when the infestation reaches an advanced state-and this was a strong smell! So there was Deborah, in her work clothes, getting ready to try to catch this dog. But then, he just walked over and sat under her car (picture below)-like he was asking for help and wanted to spare her the trouble of chasing him down in the searing morning sun.
Still, Deborah was alone, the dog was bloody, and she needed help to get him out from under her car, but nobody was around. Until....ta-daaah! The same school kids who happened to pass by last year when Deborah was trying to catch a wild dog-also with maggots-who lived at a car repair/parts garage, and had to use the catchpole to catch him--came walking around the corner!
Deborah handed out gloves and they put their school bags down (picture above) and proceeded to help. At one point it smelled so bad one of the boys said " Miss, yuh going have to kill him. De whole ear eat aff." Deborah told the boy that this dog is going to make it! They got him out from under the car, sprayed the ear, and off Deborah went to the vet (pictures below). He-now named Rambo--lives with Pam and is very happy and beautiful!
On one of Deborah's feeding routes, she saw this very hungry dog (pic below), and couldn't just pass by. So she stopped and the dog ate 3 helpings of food! She has mange, and before Deborah could get the Triatix and gloves out of the car, the dog ran off.
These 3 little girls (pic below) live on the street with their mama. Deborah used food to catch them because they were too afraid to approach otherwise. They all went to the same home with Simone in Rockfort, Kingston, just this past Saturday, June 10! She named them Justice, M, and Trigger. Before going to their new home, Deborah had them spayed.
Deborah finally caught this wild cat (named Ginger), who she tried unsuccessfully to trap so many times. He's 1 of many stray cats that converge in the KCAW yard, where Deborah feeds them. This past Monday, he must have been so hungry, he finally entered the trap. On June 13, he was neutered. Deborah had noticed that he seemed to be in pain, licking his tail often. When she trapped him, she could see he had a growth under his tail. The growth was checked out during his neuter appointment (results not yet available). In these 2 pictures below, Deborah's cat, Mr. Honey, wanted to get in the picture too!
Samson is a 2 year old Shih Tzu, who was living in a dangerous place. He was being kept in a chicken coop 24 hrs a day! He even had feathers in his fur! Samson's owner, Annette (in the pictures below), had lived in a back room at the house, and owed back rent. The landlord said when she paid the back rent, she could take the dog and he put a padlock on Samson's cage! Samson's owner would feed him tin sausages through the wire but couldn't get inside the cage to clean it-the cage and Samson were filthy! When Annette was finally able to pay the back rent, the landlord still refused to free Samson! Samson endured this life in a chicken coop for 1 1/2 years.
And then Annette found Deborah. They made a plan and they got the poor dog out of that horrible place (wire cutters came in handy). Once free, they could see he had a wound under his neck and plenty of ticks and fleas. Annette agreed to give Samson up since she was unable to properly care for him.
Then Cindi, who often steps in to help find forever homes for KCAW cats and dogs, put her magic to work and found a wonderful home for Samson! He now lives with Jean and her husband, had a visit to the groomer, and spends his days in jean's lap (below pic)!
Cindi recently visited Samson, Jean, and her husband, and sent this message: "Samson is really coming into his own. He is now wagging, wandering around the house on his own, barking at the front door, and generally preparing himself to be head of security for the household. His favorite place is the kitchen – that’s where the food is. Samson still can’t quite believe how lucky he is. His new sister Sadie is 6 years old and gorgeous. On June 5, Jean took him to the vet (she said everybody there fell in love with him), and you know Debbie you got him out of there in the nick of time. He had an open wound on his scrotum but no maggots yet, also infected anal glands. But . . . . tested negative for heartworm – yaaay! He’s on antibiotics for a while, but settling in beautifully. Cindi"
Deborah caught this boy (pic below) after about 10 attempts! Maybe more! He was so hard to trap. He was living on the street, had bad mange, and was so scared. He now lives with Petula, a colleague of Deborah's, and she named him Hercules. Petula treated his mange and she says he's still afraid but making progress.
When ever she can, Deborah enlists her friends to help with rescues. To get this wild dog the care she needed, Deborah get Debra, a physician, and Gill, an ENT surgeon, to help out. They had to sedate the dog first because this girl was seriously wild. And then the doctors went to work to repair her ripped ear, which had been the result of a dog fight (picture below). The vet had given KCAW an estimate of J$20,000 (US$156) but with Debra and Gill doing the work and using some AKI supplies, the cost was only US$30; they saved US$126. Thanks Debra and Gill! The 2nd picture below shows this "wild" dog relaxing at the KCAW kennels.
Earlier this year, Sheba was found in bushes along with her 6 new born pups. A fellow rescuer asked Deborah to keep her and the pups for a few weeks because she had no place else to keep them. Of course Deborah said yes. Everyone who meets her seems to fall in love with Sheba! Deborah said, "What a darling! And her pups...wow. beautiful. So, thanks to AKI, I ( KCAW) was able to help another doggie family. They all went to great homes."
These are a few of the 100s of downtown Kingston dogs that KCAW has gotten sterilized, regularly feeds, checks on, and gives pats and love to!
AKI is thrilled to be supporting renovations of KCAW's kennel area. The 1st picture below is the "before" picture. As you can see, the pens really needed to be repaired.
We'll also fund construction of a quarantine pen. Deborah said, "I always wanted to have a designated quarantine section in my kennels as I was forced to close the kennels for long periods to allow whatever virus was lingering there from sick dogs to disperse. Sometimes even scrubbing the concrete wasn't enough."
In phase 1 (below), the pens were stripped of the roof and all the old wood.
Then the rains began and didn't stop for weeks. But finally, there was a clearing and work started again just a few days ago. By the time the work could resume, Deborah had to find a new contractor. Here they are (below) delivering material.
Next, the frames were cut and installed. The roofing has started and should be fully on by the end of this week. One door is already hung. The others are assembled and ready for installation. Most of the support wood is up and will be fitted with hurricane straps before the work is completed.
Just today, June 15, Deborah reported: "The guys are working well. I am very happy, after all the delays. The doors are installed, and the full door to the right (picture below) is the Quarantine Room. In one section of a kennel I had them build a treatment table for minor surgeries and any other medical procedures for when Doctor Debra and Doctor Gillian help me with severe cases and I can't afford to go to the vet like the time they stitched the dog's ripped ear in the driveway!"
The rusty rotted fence will come down next week and the new fencing will be installed.
The flooring of all kennels will be sanded this week. Then the new structure will be painted, 2 coats plus primer. They've still debating where to put the runoff for the quarantine area as that will be toxic waste and it has to be carefully handled. The contractor would like to run pipes, but that may get too expensive.
All I can say is WOW, if not for Deborah and KCAW, the world would be a much sadder place! Thank you Deborah, we hope AKI will always be there to support your non-stop, never-give-up, never-pass-a-needy-animal-by efforts!