Nothing unusual for Mbwa wa Africa, the months of August through December, 2018 were busy ones at MwA's shelter. And thanks to AKI donors, they had the funds to keep up with all the cats and dogs that came through their gate. Here's how your donations helped the MwA shelter and some of the animals that benefited from your support.
From August through December, MwA spent about US$2600 from AKI, on cat and dog food, feeding 34 dogs and 2 cats, the average number of residents at the shelter during those 5 months. From August through November, your donations covered the salaries of 5 shelter staff. Thanks to you, the flow control switch for the water pump was repaired (the water is pumped to the rehab pool, used for dogs with spinal injuries). MwA used AKI funds for a long list of vet care needs, among them: Silla's amputation and sterilization, several blood tests and urine tests, Ilvy's toe amputation, Rozi's vet care, vet consultations, and more! And as you're aware, shelters have more mundane needs as well: MwA used AKI funds to purchase shelter supplies, such as washing powder, cooking fuel, diesel, vehicle diagnostic and repair.
Now for the important information, here are some of the animals helped by MwA and AKI (from Sandra).
Ilvy found her way to us as a tiny, half-dead 4 month old pup. It took her a while to recover, but she grew into a real beauty! A limp of her hind leg left us puzzled for a while. With the assistance of Animal-Kind International and their wonderful supporters we finally - and luckily! - decided to amputate a misshaped toe and found that it was broken! Since then she has become a happy, playful, loving sweetheart!
But Ilvy is particularly special: Ilvy is an Invisible dog. She's invisible because somehow nobody seems to see her. That's the only reason we can explain that she is already living at Mbwa Wa Africa since more than one year. Other dogs have come and gone, but visitors don't see Ilvy. They just see a yellow dingo dog who barks at strangers; they don't realize how very special she really is. Once she gets to know you though, she's just a dream!
Silla was brought to us by some children when she was only 6 weeks old. They told us that they found her that morning, but the little dog couldn't walk (see 1st picture below). Her hind legs were stiff and strangely deformed. Swimming and physiotherapy couldn't change her condition. The more she grew, the more her legs got in her way. Nonetheless Silla was a very happy and playful puppy! However, by 4 months, Sillas legs stood at a 90 degree angle up in the air when she was sitting and her backbone started to twist dangerously. An x-ray confirmed what we already suspected, Silla was born with a bad deformation. Actually it was worse than we thought. Her kneecaps pointed to the back, her bones were twisted and her hips rotated inside. It is never an easy decision, but we had no choice but to amputate her legs. The operation went very well and the next day we could take our girl home again (2nd picture below). Within a day, she seemed happy that the useless legs weren't in her way anymore and she even learned how to use a wheelchair! A big thank you goes out again to our amazing partner Animal-Kind International! They covered the cost of Silla's operation - and so much more over the last years! With Silla we now have five dogs in wheelchairs, 3 with amputated legs, 2 with paralyzed hind-legs, quite a sight when we go on walks.
During the 1st week of November, Godwin brought his dog Rozi on a motorbike to our gate. The previous day he found her with paralyzed hind legs and she couldn't stand up anymore. We brought her to Merlino vet clinic, where a check up found no obvious injuries, so she got kennel rest and we started treatment for nerve damage with vitamins. Friendly Rozi was clearly a well kept dog. At the evening we even got a message from Godwin who thanked us for " taking care of beloved dog Rozi" and asked for permission to visit her! We love to help if possible and to help so lovely people and dogs is a real pleasure! Especially because Rozi's condition improved every day! After only five days Godwin was able to take her home again and we don't know who of the two was more happy about the reunion. We can take care of dogs like Rozi (and Arnold and Kari... because of the support of our amazing partner organizations Friends of Mbwa Wa Africa and Animal-Kind International. Without them nothing of this would be possible - Thank you! From Rozi, Godwin, and us!
Here's a doggy Valentine's Day Story. Back in 2017, Banjo was rescued from the street and brought to the Mbwa wa Africa shelter. After a close up examination it was certain that his leg was either hacked off by someone or torn off, after a bad fracture perhaps. He must have used it as a crutch for quite a while, the bones were flattened and compressed, the wound was still bleeding, how he survived that?!?!....There was no other option, again MwA had to take a dog to the vet to have his leg amputated. It wasn't easy, Banjo didn't want to be approached, let alone touched. But for sure, after the surgery, he was happy about no longer having this painful limb (photo below, before surgery). Banjo fully recovered and he greatly enjoys the company of the other dogs. It took about a year for him to begin trusting humans again.
And now in 2019: Sometimes our dogs develop really strong bonds and it is always beautiful to watch how former mistreated street dogs, who were too scared to play or even move and too cautious to trust humans, become big, jaunty puppies again with happy faces! Mona and Banjo definitely belong to that category and it is safe to say that after a hard time on the street they found the love of their lives in each other! When Mona was discovered trying to raise her litter on a garbage dump, we brought her to the shelter for safety. But it took her a while to gain enough trust to let us touch her. Now she enjoys cuddle sessions with people she knows, long walks and is in general a very easy going Lady! They both don’t ask for much, they just want to be together. So of course we won’t separate them again and we are looking for people, who would give these beautiful dogs a second chance and a safe home together.
One morning in mid-October, Bandit's owner woke up and found Bandit was unable to move, had no strength in his legs, would only lie on his left side and was spastic. Bandit's owner brought him to us to see if there was something we could do. No one knew what had happened to him, but obviously something had affected his brain. He had bite-marks on his head and throat and was also full of worms-the cause could have been either or both. He needed assistance with eating, would only drink from a syringe, and he didn't like to be alone. At MwA, he was on round the clock nursing care. To our surprise and relief he slowly improved! After two weeks he could stand on his own again, made wobbly steps, fell over all the time, but was unstoppable. His left legs were still a bit spastic, but we put him with the puppy gang, playful and cheeky like all the others. We can't say yet if he will totally recover, or maybe a little limp will stay with him for the rest of his life. So we agreed with his owner to find him a new caring home.
This beautiful and highly pregnant cat was found and brought to our shelter, where she gave birth to seven!!!!!!! gorgeous kittens! Congratulations Mama cat, you did very well! The little fur-balls will grow up now in safety, we will make sure that the mother won't have to raise more kittens and will try our best to find them all wonderful homes!
I can safely say I've met loads of wonderful dogs in my life so it's safe to believe me if I tell you this is a very special guy: meet Marco! Marco is a dog of some age. He struggled his whole life to survive on the streets. Around October 15, we received a call from a concerned and caring person. He had a chips mayai stand in Usa River (why that is important you will find out soon!) and told us that one of the dogs used to hang around his kiosk had been hit by a car - actually he was under the car when it took off.
Jens went to check on him and found the poor dog couldn't walk due to a dislocated hip and had an extensive swollen lower abdomen. We put him on a drip and took him later to Merlino Vet. He was bleeding and leaking urine. But he was such a sweet and patient guy! The torn ears, a blind eye and scars all over him told us the story of his life, still he was the friendliest dog you can imagine!
Of course he was too weak to be with the other dogs, so he moved into our new office (as always, every corner at Mbwa Wa Africa is filled with dogs).
It was a slow process. First he stood up, than he took some wobbly steps before laying down again, than some more.... His wounds were drained and treated and he livened up more and more. Only he didn't want to eat whatever nice chicken soup or other goodies we offered him. But then we remembered where he was coming from...the chips mayai kiosk (french fries in an omelette) we had the breakthrough! We fed him his favorite food, finally he ate and gained strength. He is the most easy going dog, good with all people and other dogs. The only thing he asks for is a place to rest his head and some love and attention, which he will pay back a thousand times! Now, he can even make a little use of his leg again and is eating the normal dog food.
And then, in mid November, only about a month after Marco arrived at the MwA shelter....he was adopted!
These are just a few of the rescues during the last months of 2018. And lastly, this is our Amoni, one of the most kind people we've ever met, with Smutje and Ajabu, who takes such good care of the Mbwa wa Africa cats and dogs. Thank you to Amoni from Mbwa wa Africa and AKI (we at AKI are happy to be able to provide a salary for the kindest person, Amoni!)
