Our fundraiser to help Uganda SPCA purchase land for a new Haven-the only animal shelter in Uganda-continues. Meanwhile, the USPCA needs our support to continue their daily rescues and care of Uganda's cats and dogs. When you read the stories below, you'll see why they need and so deserve your help.
I dedicate this post to Alex and Muscle, who was rescued on January 6. Muscle had been doing well until early April, when his back legs became weak. On April 2, Dr. Singh examined him, and then Dr. Gibson provided a 2nd opinion. On April 13, Muscle was put to sleep when Dr. Gibson found that the problem was with Muscle's back and was getting worse and nothing could be done.
Miriam (USPCA board member) said it best: "Alex, Remember how he was when he was first brought to the shelter, and what a miraculous recovery he made. Be proud of what you did for him, and take joy from the friendship he gave you in return. His time at USPCA may have been short, but it was well-lived. And at least he ended his days comfortably amongst caring people, not lonely and unloved like so many of his kind. Bless you for what you did for him."
Will 2018 be the year that the Uganda SPCA will finally be able to purchase land for a new Haven sanctuary? https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/transform-ugandas-only-animal-shelter-the-haven/
Knowing that so many have joined in this effort with us to raise money to help the Uganda SPCA purchase land, we hope that soon we'll be able to report that our dream has come true. Wouldn't it be wonderful if by December 31, 2018, we could report success and all of us could have such a good reason to celebrate a new year? As the USPCA's sterling reputation keeps growing, with more and more people seeing first hand the USPCA's contributions to Ugandan society and how the organization meets the growing demands for their services, I feel confident that we'll reach our goal (and if not by the end of 2018, I am not giving up hope!)
Here, we report on some of the rescues from January-April 2018 and how the USPCA used the last AKI disbursement of 2017 (sent in December). (We've since sent the 1st AKI disbursement of 2018, which we'll report on in future posts).
The 1st rescue of the new year was a dog who showed up outside the office of one of Uganda's daily newspapers, The New Vision. The caller said the young male had first appeared one week earlier (on December 28) and people at the office were giving him food and water, but they were worried that this gentle soul wouldn't fare well as a street dog, especially in that difficult part of town (the Industrial Area). They had named him Peace (a good name for the start of a new year). For his safety and to give him a chance to find a real home, the USPCA team picked him up and brought him to The Haven (picture below of Peace and Alex outside the New Vision office).
Andrew rescued a beautiful little brindle puppy (doesn't he look like a boxer?) on January 24, when he saw her on the road in Kansanga with an injured leg and eye. He brought her to The Haven, where Dr. Josephine performed successful surgery. She's now called Jicho.
On February 22, the USPCA received a message about a mama dog who had a litter of puppies in downtown Kampala. The USPCA team rushed over there, where they saw mama and found her pups safely tucked away in a pothole (see 1st picture below)! They were told by standers-by that the mama dog had puppies on a regular basis, some were hit by cars, some were taken by people to their homes to be pets. This litter was already old enough to wander off on their own, and with so much traffic in the area, the team knew they had to bring mama and her puppies to The Haven, where they'd be safe (mama would be spayed and not have to endure more litters) and they could find loving homes. Alex: "It was so interesting to some people seeing how we are handling street dog which we don't even know and it was good for me to have time with them and tell them what USPCA does in the country." (See 2nd picture below)
On February 25, Tiger's owner brought her and her 5 puppies to The Haven (picture below)-he said he was moving and couldn't take them with him! Of course, the USPCA took them in (who knows what would have happened to them if the USPCA was unable to accept them!)
On February 26, Lindsay found a mama dog and her 9 babies on the road! She rounded them all up and brought them to the USPCA. She named the mama dog Bella (below with her puppies, comfortable at The Haven).
Remember Market? This sweet guy was rescued from Jinja Market on November 11, 2016, when a friend of the USPCA notified them about Market's condition. All the children at the market were terrified as they watched as Alex approached the dog....it turned out he was so friendly and gentle! The children were taken by surprise, and Alex used this opportunity to explain to them about dogs, dog behavior, and kindness to animals.
One of the dog's legs was badly infected and he couldn't use it. At The Haven, the USPCA vet assessed the leg and decided it had to be amputated, it couldn't be saved. Surgery was successful, and the dog, now named Market, adjusted to life at The Haven. So many people opened their hearts to Market over the 1 1/2 years he was at shelter, but no one came forward to adopt him. At one point, we thought we'd lose him to a nasal infection that proved very difficult to heal-but Market recovered. And finally, just the right person came along who loves Market. Thank you so much, Rebecca for adding Market (picture below) to your family.
Mzee's is another wonderful story. In July 2017, Mzee (means "old man") was rescued from a taxi park. He was an old guy with really bad manage and if he didn't get off the street, he wouldn't have survived much longer. He recovered and is retired at The Haven. But it's important for people to see that dogs can recover physically and emotionally with a little care. So it was a special day for Mzee and the people who work at the taxi park when Alex took him back to his former home to see his friends again. The people there couldn't believe their eyes when they saw how healthy and happy Mzee is. Some had thought that when the USPCA had come for Mzee that he was being taken away to be killed, and they were happy to see that was not the case. They understood that the taxi park was not a good home for Mzee and they asked Alex not to leave him there to suffer again.
On February 22, the USPCA received an email from a friend reporting a sick dog at a home in Namirembe who needed help. The USPCA team went to the house and found the old guy suffering with a very bad case of mange and full of fleas. The owner told the team that Roony had lived with them for 7 years and only started losing his fur last year. The family seemed to care for the dog, so the USPCA team brought Roony to The Haven for treatment and continued to help (including with a neuter, which you can see in the picture below was needed!) while Roony continued to live at his home.
As we say, when it rains it pours. Here's Alex performing another pit latrine rescue, 1st picture below (About 1 year ago, Alex had rescued a puppy from a pit latrine, who was later adopted to a great home). This time, 2 tiny kitties were stuck in a latrine for 2 days. The USPCA team performed a successful rescue and brought the 2 kitties to The Haven, where they were bathed (2nd picture below) and recovered from their unpleasant ordeal!
Lexi, who was found as a tiny puppy walking on a busy road in October 2017 and now, a teenager, is ready to be adopted (before/after pictures below):
Bisikwa Chriscentia had been living with her 6 dogs in Seeta, but sadly, her landlord sold the plot and the new owner told her to leave the house within 7 days. Bisikwa was shocked and had no idea what to do about her "6 babies and yet am still in college." She called the USPCA pleading for help. Of course she couldn't face putting them out on the street, where they'd suffer and might be poisoned. Can you imagine if the Uganda SPCA wasn't there for Bisikwa and Nina, Poppy, Jack, Harry, Smith, and Ford (below picture with Bisikwa at The Haven)?
Besides pit latrine rescues and razor wire rescues (reported in previous AKI Blog posts about the USPCA), there have been a number of drainage ditch rescues. Kristie contacted the USPCA on April 6 about 5 puppies in a drainage ditch in Luzira. Alex crawled into the ditch (1st picture below) and rescued all 5 (2nd picture below).
And a few days later, Alex rescued another litter of 5 from a drainage ditch in Bukoto.
Sara found a dog that a drunk man had tied under the tree in Bukasa. She untied the poor dog, who had wounds all over his body, and brought him to The Haven on March 10. Sara named him Simba (below on the day he was rescued). Alex: "Few weeks after he was rescued, Simba is doing very well, he is a very happy and friendly dog."
This sweet mama dog (picture below) was rescued on April 18 at the Sheraton hotel compound with her 4 new born puppies (2nd picture below). Her name is Sherry.
The Haven has also seen some heartwarming adoptions in the last few months (stand by for the next AKI Blog post). But as always, the number rescued and brought to The Haven always exceeds the number of animals adopted. I don't think that the USPCA Haven has ever had a month where adoptions exceed rescues. And that makes it even more important for our land purchase fundraiser to be successful.
Will 2018 be the year we transform The Haven into the sanctuary that we've dreamed about for more than 10 years? We sure hope so! And we--Animal-Kind International-- are going to make a big fundraising push to help make it happen.
Besides at the GlobalGiving link above, you can donate here to help the USPCA with their day-to-day work and/or to purchase a plot of land for a new Haven: https://www.animal-kind.org/uganda-aki
Here are details of how the USPCA used AKI funds raised from September-December 2017/sent in December:
Feeding 20 dogs @$1 per dog per day for 60 days (posho, meat, mince, bones)
Puppies / kittens special food for 2 months (silver fish, rice, milk)
Rent for 2 months
Transport for rescues for 1 month: Kisazzi, Tyaba, town, golf course, Makindye, Lubowa
Taxi to bring a dog from Jinja
Special hire to bring a dog from RBI
Fire wood 1 month to cook food for dog
Electricity for 1 month
Airtime rescues 2 months
Medicine for 2 months:
Unicristine inj 1ml x5
Kahangi sea butter
Shampoo
Rabbies vaccines
Sevin dudu dust
DHPPL
Catheter
Parvo vaccines
Coctail vaccines
Hydrogen peroxide
& others
Litter for cats for 1 month
Salaries, Alex supplement salary from December 2017 to February 2018
Salary Alex December 2017
Salary Alex Jan and Feb 2018
Alex bonus December 2017
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT-FROM THE CATS AND DOGS OF THE USPCA HAVEN
