Sunday, May 30, 2010

sponsorship of 24 dogs and Sonna and Wesak




Hi, We now have sponsorships for 24 of the 34 dogs now, in less than a month of our call for support.

Given below are the full list of sponsors and the details of the sponsored dogs. Some of you may have got parts of this list earlier, but I felt it would be good to share the full details one last time.

Thanks to you, we are left with just 10 more sponsorships!! We are hopeful of securing sponsorships for these 10 dogs as well.

Our heartfelt thanks to all of you.

I would like to share with you all a few pictures of Sonna, the blind dog with me and Nihal, taken a while ago, today, on Wesak Day. Sonna gazed at the Wesak lanterns that we lit in the front veranda of our house, as if asking for some of that light from the lanterns . . . I thought, however, even though he cannot see, he really can and that he has all the possible "light" (and freedom) in the world now with me and Nihal, along with his 34 shelter inmates thanks to dear people like you.

If only we can ensure the same for all the others outside our care . . . We do have a solid opportunity for that via representation in the advisory committee for the National Spay Programme of the Government set up to ensure that the programme provides sustainable and humane dog population management, which if successfully done, will leave no more room for the emergence of destitutes such as Sonna or the likes of the 34 KACPAW dogs that you very kindly help us to care for.

Best regards, Champa

*****************************************

1&2: Nihal and Brigitte Alagoda: 2 dogs: Ano (m; light brown) and Ajo (f; black, white and brown)

Ano was paralyzed after perhaps a road accident and abandoned by his owners and was found by Piyaseeli (President, KACPAW) in the drain in front of the owner's house in an affluent area in Kandy. We just could not leave him there. Although he is paralyzed he does walk on all four legs at times. He has a pair of beautiful eyes, full of love and gratitude. He is 3.3 years old.

Ajo could never be rehomed as she kept on getting a skin rash. With treatment, the skin rash improves, but never quite fully. She is 3.2 years old. We hope to cure her now that she will get individual care.

3&4: Manomi Tennakoon (US): 2 dogs: Bega (f; a biscuit brown) and Tiggy (f; brown)

Bega was a pup who did not get the required quota of calcium during her puppy days and as a result both her hind legs are deformed. She gets about fine, but cannot walk like a normal dog. She was picked up by me in Kandy from a beggar (a woman) who was caring for her. Her legs could not be corrected, despite the calcium syrup we gave her a for a while. She is 3.8 years old. Full of vigour, Bega prances about happily.

Tiggy was okay when we got her, but at the shelter she had twisted one of her hind legs and it could never be corrected. We still do not know what happened to Tiggy, who was an absolutely normal dog, ready to be grabbed by anyone. This mishap rendered her a somewhat deformed dog and hence she was not sought after by those who came to the shelter looking for a dog to adopt. She is 5.8 years old.

5. Sandya Wickremarachchi: 1 dog: Minno (m; black and white)

Minno was picked up from Minipe, where I had gone for a spay programme. At some place in Minipe, suddenly I saw this black and white pup running/limping across a paddy field with a huge bandage on its foreleg. I picked him up and he was smelling like a flower, after a bath (lux??), and he had this huge ayurvedic medicinal bandage tied around his little leg tightly. Obviously someone was caring for it, but not the right way as his leg had to be amputated the very next day when I brought it to Kandy and showed him to a vet. Minno is a cheerful little dog. He is 5.8 years old. He has a bit of a skin problem which gets better off and on.

6. Nayana and Lal Fernando (Canada): 1 dog: Tania (f; brown)

Tania was a mere two or so months old when she was brought to our shelter by a set of medical students from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Peradeniya with one of her hind legs amputated; she is a train accident victim. The students had cared for her and brought her to the shelter as they could not keep her in their hostel. Tania has a skin infection that come and goes. She is 5.7 years old.

7. Eileen Petiyagoda (Patron, KACPAW): 1 dog: Dimples (f; back, white and brown)

Dimples was brought to our shelter by some workers of the University of Peradeniya, when she was hardly two months old. They said she was run over by a lorry. There seemed to be no major injuries and Dimples grew up to be a very handsome dog. However after about two years at the shelter she started getting epileptic fits. She is on drugs for the rest of her life to prevent getting the fits. She does not like to be touched too much as she we believe is sensitive. We respect her wishes. Dimples is 7.6 years old.

8, 9, 10, 11&12: Chang Thashou: 5 dogs: Podi (; white), Asha (f; black and tan), Mandy (f; black and tan), Gloldy (f; brown) and Puppy (f; white and brown). Chang deserves a special mention as she has been continuously sponsoring five dogs for so many years now at 2000 per dog per month. She would increase her sponsorship now to 2500 a dog per month so she could sponsor the following five dogs.

Podi has been suffering from a chronic skin condition and gets better from time to time. She is 7.9 years old.

Asha too has been suffering from a chronic skin condition, which gets better off and on. A couple of years ago she ran to the road from our shelter and was knocked down by a motor cycle and was paralyzed in the hind quarters. I applied an ayurvedic oil and massaged her while giving heat treatment and did physiotherapy for her and today mercifully she is walking again. She and Mandy are inseparable. Asha is 8. 2 years old and is one of our earliest inmates.

Mandy is Asha's friend and companion. Mandy too suffers from a skin condition which gets better sometimes. She heads the list of our inmates and is 9.4 years old. Mandy is such s cheerful dog.

Goldy is paralyzed in the hind quarters. She was dumped at the shelter barely 3 months old. Goldy has a marvellous way of getting about lifting her hind legs ensuring her legs do not get wounds.

Puppy is another train accident victim. She was brought to the Vet Faculty of the University of Peradeniya by a kind worker in the railways department after the accident to amputate her leg. Puppy was a bare two months old and it broke my heart to see this wee pup with her little leg gone (front leg). I told the person who brought Puppy to hand her over to us after her wound gets healed. And that is how she ended up at our shelter. She is 7 .8 years old.

13. Harindra Ameratunga (US): 1 dog: Hari (f; brown and white)

Hari was handed over to the shelter by Harindra in 2006. If I can remember right Harindra had picked her up when he visited Kataragama. She was about 1 or 2 years old then. Or perhaps even older. She must be around 8 or 9 years old now.

14. Champa and Nihal Fernando: 1 dog: Buster (m; brown and white)

Buster was found by me in the town of Kandy, unable to move. He was an accident victim, all skin and bone and smelly as he had two huge wounds. All credit should go to my sister Anoma for curing Buster by coming to the shelter regularly and applying medicine. The wounds have healed, but Buster is incontinent and his sphincter muscle in the back does not work owing to the accident, so sometimes faecal matter is passed by him involuntarily. He is aware of his debility and looks so apolegetic at times, especially when we clean his enclosure. Otherwise, Buster is in good health and is a happy dog. He is 9.3 years old.

15&16. Patricia Butenis: 2 dogs: Kalki (f; black); Kiki (f; black)

Kalki was picked up on our way back from a spay programme in Kadugannawa several years ago -- she had a sort of an owner and we told her that we will be taking Kalki with us to have her spayed and that she would be returned. Kalki had a bit of a skin problem which I thought we could cure soon. That was not to be. Her skin condition improves at times and then degenerates. I did not want to send her back like that. So Kalki is with us now, even at this last stage of the closure of the shelter. She is a sprightly dog and is 3 years old.

Kiki was brought from the University of Peradeniya premises to be spayed and released. We often do such spay programmes for the University. We did release Kiki and she chose to come back to the shelter!! The skin problem she had at the time she was picked up could never really be cured. Again, in her too, the condition improves and degenerates. We hope that the change in habitat would have a beneficial effect on them, curing the skin problem. Kiki is a short, sausage-like dog; she does resemble an extra small pigmy hippo!! She has folds of flesh just above her tail. Kiki has a great appetite. She is about 8 or 9 years old.


17, 18, 19, 20&21. Rivi and Lashoonika (Dubai): 5 dogs: Bindi (f; chocolate brown); Pongo (m; white); Satty (f; brown); Benji (f,; brown); Ribbo (f; brown)

Bindi, Pongo, Satty and Benji have a chronic skin problem. We are treating it and they seem to be getting better. Except Satty, the other three came to us when they were pups of about 2 months old. All four dogs suffer from a skin problem that comes and goes.

Ribbo came to us from the Vet Faculty as an adult and she is an amputee.

22. Chandi Ameratunga (US): 1 dog: Mammy (f; brown)

Mammy was adopted by a villager and seems to be very happy at her new home. One of her hind legs is stiff and she came to us with a litter of pups. She looked after the pups so well despite her disability. All her pups were found homes, but we could not find a home for Mammy in the normal fashion as she had this debility.

23. Sue Marsh (UK): 1 dog: Chuti (f; brown)

Chuti came to us when she was about 8 months old, in September 2001, when a distemper epidemic was raging at our shelter. In less than a few days after coming she got distemper, but with treatment we managed to save her life. For several years after that she had a nervous twitch, but today she shows no signs of it. She is 9.8 years old and is one of the longest staying inmates of ours. She was adopted by a poor villager, a woman, and seems to be very happy at her new home. Sue, her sponsor, is yet another person who deserves special mention, as she has been steadfastly behind KACPAW since its inception and has been promoting KACPAW in the UK.

24. Sujatha Fernando (Canada): 1 dog: Geetha (m; brown)

Geetha was brought in to the shelter from the University of Peradeniya in 2007. Geetha came in with 45 other dogs; when a suspect rabid dog was found in the University premises, the University authorities requested us if we could keep all the dogs found in their premises for observation at our shelter. In order to safeguard both the canine and human populations of the University, we took in the 46 dogs to the shelter, but we did not release a single dog. We were able to re-home all of them, except Geetha, after observing them for three months. All of them got booster anti-rabies vaccinations. Geetha could not be found a home as he had a problem of drooling after contracting distemper. Today he is with a carer from the village and has settled in well in his new home. His new owner says that he does not drool much. Geetha is much older than we attributed him to be at the time of his arrival at the shelter. He must be around 8 or 9 years old.

Apart from the above 24 dogs we have part sponsorship for Demi (f. blackish brown) from Piyaseeli Wedisinghe (President, KACPAW). Demi is a beautiful dog. Unfortunately she is a nervous dog, and therefore we could not find her a home. She was dumped at the shelter, skin and bone, with a brood of pups. The pups were all re-homed and Demi remained. She was adopted twice, but was returned to the shelter as she was not very manageable. Hopefully, and eventually, we will be able to make her a friendly dog.