colombopetrescue

Save a tear for this crocodile

2012-02-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Did you see the headlines last week?
Monster crocodile caught, killer crocodile trapped, youth catches murderous crocodile.
Sensational. And the photographs: about 3000 people with one animal which was tied up very tight , humans laughing and pointing and sitting on it. For some of these sad people this must be the culmination of their human mission, the high point in their blasé lives, the story they will tell their grandchildren someday…which will be counter questioned with such queries as “what is a crocodile? What is an elephant? What is a tiger?” since by that time there won’t be any around, except as wind up toys imported from China

Perhaps media too is to blame for attitudes. Let’s just examine those words “killer crocodile” . Crocodiles kill, its what they do, they are carnivorous reptiles evolved over millions of years to catch living prey and kill. Unlike humans who can eat plants, or chose to go vegan, a crocodile MUST kill to survive, unless it can scavenge. Which again this one had supposedly been doing, since there was an outlet nearby which had been dumping a lot of meat remains into the river at that point. Not mentioned in the media I read.
Then there is media which totally distorts facts to the point of ridiculous “The MURDEROUS crocodile that TERRORISED people in Wanathe at Ragama has been caught in a trap set up by a youth in the area. The crocodile is about 19 feet long.” says a website called Lankatruth. It sounds as if the death toll from this serial killer must be in hundreds, but googling further Im surprised to find it is one. Murder by definition is the “unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice” so how can a crocodile be murderous? the definition of terrorism is trickier but still dosnt seem to fit ” “Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public” Did the crocodile set out each morning with a thought of terrorizing people? According to SrilankanMirror “Since its capture last morning (Feb. 08), more than 50,000 people had come to see it.” So fifty thousand “human” sri Lankans came to watch a rare and precious wild animal tied up in torment, misery and sheer terror, suffering with its throat cut with bait, and some of them sat on its back in rows, to have their photos taken, but no one had any real idea about saving it, no one thought that perhaps the crocodile wasn’t really wrong to eat animals, since it was a carnivore…no one really wondered what it must have felt like…I have to pause and wonder, who was more cold blooded…
And I have not read the vernacular papers on the subject but Im sure they have splendid headlines too.
“But it killed a man! you say. Its stomach had HUMAN body parts in it!” Well, so do lots of humans, kill people, and these are higher animals who think rationally, who know that it is wrong to kill humans, warm blooded so called intelligent so called humans also kill people, and this is not how they are treated. And they usually don’t kill from hunger, but from greed, jealousy , hatred…are these then more acceptable than an urge to simply survive?
Oh easy for you to say, you don’t have to share your backyard with a crocodile, you will say. Im sorry about the person who died. People die daily. In road accidents, in medical mishaps, from electric shocks and sports accidents, food poisoning , what have you. I may die tomorrow from falling off a moving bus. Life has a expiry date. But to blame a wild animal for your death and justify torturing and killing it on this basis, now that’s simply, what’s the word for it… barbaric?
No, this killer crocodile was neither a murderer nor a terrorist but was helpless and this is how reportedly fifty thousand so called sound thinking humans in a predominantly Buddhist country captured it from a marsh, tried and administered their summary justice. Why I say “from a marsh” is to emphasise that it wasn’t trespassing in someones backyard, or living room, this animal was in a marsh, where crocodiles usually dwell. Its their kind of land. It does not really belong to anyone.
And finally… allow me to speak in terms which even these humans understand- allow me to appeal completely to your greed and profit point of view, may I point out that this 15 to 19 foot Nile crocodile was valuable. Thousands of foreign tourists come to this country to observe the wildlife. They do not come here to shop at malls, or to gamble at casinos, or to play golf. They certainly dont come here for the red light districts. If you have ever been anywhere out of this country, or if you have access to the internet you will know that Americans and Japanese have better casinos and malls than we will ever have in a hundred years. The Thai have better brothels. What they don’t have are wild crocodiles.
So finally dear gentle readers, as you talk of this particular crocodile at parties or over the water cooler , or wherever you make small talk, please at least do not malign its character, it was not a murderer, or a terrorist , so save a tear for this crocodile.
It was merely a carnivorous wild animal who found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time and fell prey to the most dangerous animal of all, self righteous, law abiding humankind, who decided to prove their superiority, and who wanted fun photos to be taken of them sitting on it as it took its last choking breaths.

Udyangani , Cats ,Dogs,Women, Domestic Violence and more

2011-01-26T02:54:00.000-08:00

So regarding the search for a white kitten, I had the chance to touch base with Udyangani from Gothatuwa – she now has 30 cats and more than 100 dogs. The situation is dire. She spends her time going to Police Stations and Pradsehya Sabhas in answer to various complaints . her shelter is on 8 perches of land, her own home, which is now quite dismal.
The same neighbord who lodge complaints against her regarding the noise or the cat –defecation also quietly keep little animals in front of her house. Now I don’t mind expressing my humble opinion here but that is the height of disgusting sri lankanisticness.
People who throw little animals away . Buddhists against sterilization. On the basis that we are interfering with karma.
“Please help me with a website – I need to ask for a bit of land. The neighbors are trying to get rid of us
“ there are three women I know, they love animals they take them in ,their husbands who previously came pretending to like animals are now making life difficult for them. One of them, drinks and beats her up and he bashed a cat on the ground and broke its back , its paralysed now.”
“ people come here and put more animals here, they say they do it because I look after animals
“it takes about 3000 a day to feed them, and people think we have donors, we do not , things are so difficult , I work all day and my whole salary goes to this

here's more about Udyangani in the local press
Cats and Dogs, Her Life
An appeal from SOFA

Stichy and Patchy Story

2011-01-25T23:49:00.000-08:00

you hear all about govt sponsored spay and neuter campaigns and the whole importance of sterilizing strays but guess what when you go to one of these fairly uptown joints they charge you upto 8000 per cat !! that almost had be lose consciousness since we have about 3 or 4 fertile animals hanging around my house and that would be a large chunk of my income.
luckily I was directed to a reasonable local vet named Dr Gallage who performed the operations for a nominal charge of 1000 each and 2000 if its disolving sutures. email me if you need his number

sponsorship of 24 dogs and Sonna and Wesak

2010-05-30T02:12:00.000-07:00

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.

Monsoon puppee

2009-11-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

poor little darling, aparantly motherless,soaked,flooded out, cold and hungry in Wellampitiya sleeping off its exhaustion, with its butt in the water.
Can anyone provide a home?

HOME WANTED

2009-04-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

ISHAN FERNANDO
COORDINATOR - CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

No. 5, Alexandra Place
Colombo 07, Sri Lanka .
T 94(0) 114 -722 200 ext 260
F 94(0) 112 -682 712/3
M 94(0) 777-696 700
E Ishan@eodel.com
www.embark.lk
www.odel.lk

DAILY MEWS 8

2009-03-27T04:51:00.001-07:00

The Daily Mews.

Contented musings from under the table…
and occasional hysterics.
All about the day to day life of a common Colombo cat.

March 11th

Oh horror of horrors , and may the kind blessings of Bubastis protect me ! I went in this morning for the usual spot of salmon and pampering and guess what a horrible sight met my poor shocked eyes! The kussi woman has brought along two filthy little orphaned catletts from somewhere! They look about six to eight weeks old and were tumbling about like little furry meatballs in the living room and I could see Pitchy looking through the balcony windows with that fixed expression he gets when he is getting ready to kill something. Of course, I don’t approve of cattibalism on principle, but in the circumstances I feel it might certainly be the strategic and practical thing to do. Our young master can certainly not afford to feed two more cat gobs with the current recession (poor fellow has already delayed his marriage about three years as he cannot save up enough for a half decent ceremony what with us eating him out of house and home) and these two will certainly result in our salmon being rationed. Misery. What to do! Malakeliyai!

March 13th
Im seriously worried now, she does not seem to be affected by their inconsiderate pooping and the smell in here. Pitchy tried to swallow them once or twice but got beaten the crap out of severely chastised. Instead of getting rid of them, the Mistress makes cooing noises and says “sin, aney” and feeds them out of her plate. Im so jealous I could claw the sofa to shreds. I think that’s what I will do pretty soon. Grrrrrr.

March 15th
I know I should not be so smug , but sometimes the smirking actually aches…the two little terrors Precious Darlings have been shittin answering to the call of nature, all over the living room and mistress Hacketty was on her STOMACH this evening with the Kussi Woman nearby passing damp newspaper blobs dipped in detergent, trying to reach a spot below the provision cupboard. This has a crawl space of about two and a half inches and they really could not have picked a worse place to do this in the whole house, except perhaps in the laundry basket. With any luck she will be heartily fed up of their nonsense and go and keep them near some temple.
I hope I was never a kitten, that’s a really horrible thought if any.

Squeaky is safe

2008-10-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

Im delighted to announce that Squeaky has found a home. this is entirely through the kind efforts of all who forwarded my recent mail about this abandoned beauty and specially my good friend SKW who agreed to provide any after-adoption support required.Thanks to you all and to Mr Weerasingha , her new person, Squeaky will have a kind home. and yes, we will update you on her progress.

How much is that puppy in the basin?

2008-06-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

adorable active bundles of puppy love -free to kind homes.

interested ? please contact on 0727 259702 or email sajee_d@yahoo.com. Please pass this link to anyone you know.

FREE STERILISING/NEUTERING CLINIC

2008-05-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

FREE STERILISING/NEUTERING CLINIC
The Animal Welfare and Protection Association will conduct a free sterilising/neutering clinic for dogs and cats at Madhya Maha Vidyalaya, Kaduwela Road, Malabe on Saturday 10th May 2008 from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon on a first come first served basis.
Dogs and cats over 6 months can be sterilised/neutered.
The animals must not be given any food and water for 12 hours prior to the operation and must NOT be sick.
Cats to be brought in a box or cage and dogs on a chain.
If readers wish to organize a sterilizing clinic in their area or have more information please contact tel. 2324152/0776565181 (after 7 p.m.)
thanks
The Animals Welfare & Protection Association

why we dont walk anymore

2008-01-07T01:42:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday morning January the 6th I was taking a walk down Mt Lavinia Beach, close to the Surf Club, when I passed by this crudely fashioned local piggery, and witnessed a spectacle that has traumatized me considerably. One of the unfortunate porkers had obviously marked out for execution and was being subjected to a prolonged torture session involving bludgeoning with a sturdy wooden baton by presumably its owner, and probably towards softening its meat to serve the local appetites.
The pathetic animal was squealing pitiably and trying to get away from the monster in human shape, and its cries could be heard for quite a distance but no one seemed to be worried.

I have distantly heard of this happening but this is the first time I actually saw it being done and with such calm impunity, in full public view. Killing I can understand, as a necessity in a society which eats meat, but a society which turns a blind eye to unjustifiable cruelty and accepts it, is, in my understanding one which suffers some serious underlying malfunction.

Mahatma Gandhi said once that the greatness of any nation can be judged by how it treats its animals. I can only speculate that in a nation of torturers, murderers, thugs and terrorists, battering a doomed pig is low on the priority list of issues that has to be addressed, but I worry that such public spectacles will only nurture a society who grows up accepting cruelty in a way that we never could.

a Resident
Mt lavinia

Animal Protection Day-today

2007-10-04T03:29:00.000-07:00

October 4th is World Animal Protection Day...

We are not toys
WE are not food.
We are not clothes.
We are not specimens
We are not produce.
WE are not automatic burgler alarms, entertainment or pest control devices or THINGS.
We are alive just like you, only we cannot talk.
We are born, we grow, we love, we suffer, we think and we live in hope.
we trust in you, just like you trust in God.
and we wonder how you can forsake us,
use us and abuse us and then,
still hope for Gods tolerance and kindness to make things right for you....

http://animalethics.blogspot.com/2005/01/demi-vegetarianism-one-of-my-readers.html

One jab, just ONE every six months. Its that simple...

2007-09-25T00:58:00.000-07:00

dear H,
thank for your mail and the call, I hope you found a solution to the problem, although its not easy. AWPAs animal transit home is full to the brim with unfortunate pets who have been abandoned and overburdening them should be your last resort. the contact numbers you can try are
Mrs. Hemantha Jayatilake President AWPANo. 38, Nelson Place Colombo 06 Tel: 94-11-2587210
Mrs Y.Samarawickrama Hony. Secretary AWPANo. 294, Park Road,Colombo 05,email: sammy@eureka.lk
Ranjit Samarasinghe 53/19, Torrington Avenue,Colombo 7 email:ranjitksam@hotmail.com
Shiona Weerasekera 28, E.A.Cooray Mawatha,Colombo – 6 Tel 94-11-2360026 after 6.00pmEmail:shiona_r_w@yahoo.com

Pls consider taking the mother dog for a Depo jab once in six months - it costs about 150 /- to 200/ = and she wont conceive again( provided you make a note in your diary and continue it every six months for perhaps about 5 years ). You could invest in having her sterilized but that costs about Rs 3000/- and is not really worth it if she gets run over the next week or something.
I know Im being rather cold and practical but Im really fed up with the animals population at home although i do love them all. theres a fine line between having a few furry companions and being run over by the things and I think I have reached it.....meanwhile , my sympathies, I know the situation you are in.

I do wish citizens would take it upon themselves to keep their neighborhood bitches sterilized - if each Colombo human would invest about 400/- a year on sterilizing JUST one cat or dog in the neighborhood there would be no dog or cat problem.
But the dear sentimental local Buddhists (and Im one too , but Im a very nasty practical Buddhist -) insist that messing with someone's fertility is a crime; in a convoluted way perhaps it is, because we are messing with their right to suffer, which by the law of Karma they should be fully allowed to experience....Im personally accept them suffering as long as I dont have to watch it , thats my problem.

sorry i sound jaded, Im not one of those saints who find higher meaning in this sort of thing... watching stray canines walking around chewing holes in their maggoty skins and with their rotting gonads dragging behind them in the dust... is not my idea of Paradise Island!
Didnt someone famours say -a country is only as civilised as how it treats its animals- I guess this means we are a very, very backward race , contrary to our nationalistic sentiment...
all tha best with your kind efforts & keep me posted,then,
regards,

Chandrika

Dear Chandrika,
My name is H and I got your contact details from S, when I was asking around for details of a dog shelter around Colombo. There is a stray dog and her 6 puppies (1-month old) at our place. We have now more or less adopted the mother and can give away 1-2 of the puppies to neighbours. But don't know what to do about the rest. Do you know of a place where we can hand them over? They haven't been given any injections. It'll be great if you can help me with this.
Thanks,H

Hear Kitty...

2007-09-25T00:53:00.001-07:00

One night while walking home I heard squeaks and squawks from a small box. It was thrown in dirty lot with a few empty bottles and miscellaneous trash. When I approached one noisy shadow, it crawled into my pant leg and cuddled into my leg. I found three more and realized quickly I wasn't going to leave them to die. They were clearly taken from their mother and thrown out with the trash by one of my own kind since they seemed instantly comfortable and used to humans.
They are maybe one months old and clearly too little and trusting for the world to be cast back out, but I have no capacity to take care of them as I am always on the move within Sri Lanka without a proper home myself. They are in very temporary holding and in urgent need of home If you can help to give them a safer future or if you are looking for a friend for your family, please call. 077-350-2358

One kitten has found a home already this way. I only have about another week.

A TIME TO RUN ONCE MORE

2007-09-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning was rainy chaos in the Yours Truly household, as the fabled Picky (short for Piccaso* De Mott) our ten year old , half- lab- half -unclear, and usually unfaithful Visiting hound ...chose the early hours of the morning to pass... discretely and surreptitiously... away for good.
I discovered his glossy black but now somehow small looking remains hidden considerately behind the family vehicle, and was just in time to direct offspring around the other side when they disembarked on their usual weekly visit, but from my face and the fact that I was forcing them to keep left they figured something was wrong and cheerfully queried “ Who died?” since pet death is quite a natural and accepted phenomenon in our family.
Picky it was that died. And a dog, an ordinary dog and nothing like an ordinary dog was he. Picky’s passing away actually marks the end of an era, since my life is marked in timelines named after various components of my menagerie.
Picky was a legend in Wellampitiya. Something like Robin Hood in reverse, much smellier and more practical, he lorded the streets hogging all the good takeaway joints and bitches**, and marking territory all over the place including on the coconuts in the pola, with a devil may care attitude of a tattooed underworld thug. He was un-forgivingly harsh with the weakling mongrel population of the town and would drive little rivals into the path of oncoming container trucks to either toughen them or end their pathetic disease ridden existences in a sort of One Dog Culling operation. …
In spite of the Road Character of wild, untamed honcho, at home he was the gentlest of pooches, and would play tenderly with month old kittens without eliciting so much as a squeal from them. He loved children and was found sometimes walking dazedly around in side the local pediatric clinic trying unsuccessfully to look harmless. My four year old son poked him in the eye, long ago in one of his experimental stages and Picky who could have taken a hand off a four year old, simply bore it with hardly a whimper.
In fact, no matter how much pain Picky has been in, with his scalp practically gashed, I have never heard Picky cry. Except in his sleep, one recent time when he was operated on for a broken leg.
Picky was afraid of nothing, and no one, but crackers drove him nuts and he ate his way in through two of our backdoors before we decided to give him permanent entry permits on all New Year , Christmas, General Elections and any other Sri Lankan firework holidays.
For a few years Picky went totally missing and we thought one of the lorries had flattened him but one day when I was practicing on my new bike on a residential street I heard a strange deep familiar barking and went closer for a look- it turned out he had been living in pleasant retired idyll in a neighboring home with an entire family of his own- his fluffy half poodle lady friend and their brood of oddball quarter labs . He was delighted, totally thrilled to bits to see me again (and a little shy about something.) His new “owners “ told me they called him Kalu and they told me tales of a wonderful and very special character…from here we picked up one of his sons, skinny, long boned and very strange looking but, a son of Picky nevertheless and he is now our link to the past…
Picky was involved in numerous street brawls with rival gangs (read- it was him against the gang since the cowardly hyenas on our streets would never dare fight one to one with him) almost weekly and on two occasions had his skull split by Manne- wielding humans who took a dislike to him on principle perhaps due to his jet black color and insolent attitude among other factors. Keeping him at home was almost impossible unless you tied him and our household has a principle of never infringing on the right to freedom of its animal members so tying was not done. Result: although some people knew he was our dog he was never home, except on weekends (when the kids visit) public holidays (when the crackers drove him crazy ) and during his periodic health retreats , when he felt he really needed a bath or a de fleaing or had a tummy bug he wanted treated. To the constant disgust of Wellampitiyas long suffering local veterinarian, we would regularly bring this flea bag over totally crawling with vermin , only to be treated at our expense and released on to the road to be promptly infested by fleas and ticks within a week of roughing it .

Dog though he was, Picky was a character of great dignity. From the day he was brought in at 6 months of age, he has never messed the household premises – holding on sometimes for impossible hours until he was allowed to torpedo out onto the street and show everyone who’s the place was. Old and blind but still dignified, only during the last month of his life, crippled by a broken foreleg, did I even spot him hiding discretely among the household bushes to relive himself very apologetically.
The blindness of complete double cataracts did not put a stop to his adventurous streak but unfortunately somewhere up the road a driver of some small vehicle would have carelessly pushed him aside, resulting in the broken leg, which finally grounded him.
Nine years of running the sunny streets of this town, of sniffing a vibrant doggy kaleidoscope of smells , of adventure and excitement behind him, Picky was now blind and lame and , totally grounded although we would never tie him. Dignified to the end he would not dream of soiling the area he lay in but dragged himself stumbling to a corner and in fact only on the last days of his life did we ever have to clean up after him.
Picky needed freedom, he needed to run, to chase, to stand sniffing in the sun and to howl at the moon. These last few days of blindness and hobbles would have taken his will to live, if he had dragged on for years more it would have been a terrible kind of torture. Therefore we are relieved that he left with the suddenness he did, mysteriously , but still with characteristic grace.
We think his happy arrogant black ghost is now out there on the streets of our town, once more running wild and free and perhaps occasionally giving the local mongrels a vague sense of unease…wherever he is, knowing him, he is sure to be having a good time …J
Mickey, son of Picky, stays with us, and though people have asked for him, we can’t let him go because he is…. family. It’s as simple as that.
…………………………………………………………………………
* the actual spelling of his name would be, uhm, somewhat different
** lady dogs, I mean. Sorry.

Updates from Padma

2007-06-15T02:09:00.000-07:00

After the first article appeared on the subject in "The Island" few days back, written by Sagarika Rajakarunayake, today finally the Sunday Times shed light on the issue, not only reporting what animal-lovers have to say, but also the responses of the two vets, who are responsible for these surgeries in the name of research, leading to the death of one dog and making another one dependant on life-long treatment by removing the pancreas.
These responses speak for themselves, anyhow I want to add, that Prof. Rajapakse's field is parasitology and I cannot see for what he should possibly need a dog's pancreas and adrenal glands. Dr.Wasantha Kumara's "defense" is very poor, saying that kidneys disolve within two days after death is a joke, but his statement, that this is a case of jealousy is totally out of place, because first of all it was not the university clinic taking action, but KACPAW, the organisation, which was betrayed, and secondly my personal observation is, that the university clinic is always full of pet-owners seeking treatment for their pets, it has all kind of facilities such as x-ray, scanning, lab etc, which the government hospital does not have, and every time I pass that hospital (4 to 6 times a week) I see the waiting chairs empty.

Please read the article below and please contact me for the relevant e-mail and/or postal addresses if you wish to support our campaign to press the authorities to investigate this case and to take action

ISSN: 1391 - 05 31Sunday, June 10,
2007Vol. 42 - No 02News
KACPAW : Dogs taken for adoption, subjected to unethical surgery
By Marisa de Silva

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070610/News/news9.html

Jekyll and Hyde horror in Colombo?

2007-06-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

President, Sri Lanka Veterinary Council68, Getambe, Peradeniya Dear Sir
UNETHICAL AND INHUMANE VETERINARY PRACTICES
We wish to report to you that on 22 and 23 May 2007, Professor R.P.V.J. Rajapakshe, Head, Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the University of Peradeniya, adopted 3 dogs from our shelter for destitute dogs, saying that one dog is for his Gohagoda home and the other two for his wife’s home in Kiribathgoda. One dog was adopted on the 22nd and the other two on the 23rd.

We give away only healthy dogs for adoption and the three dogs Professor Rajapakshe took for adoption were in perfect health. They had been spayed and vaccinated against rabies, parvo virus and distemper. KACPAW is accountable for animal welfare to the many people here and overseas who support our work (see Annex 1). KACPAW’s primary concern is animal welfare and prevention of inhumane treatment and cruelty to animals. On 28 May 2007 we discovered to our horror that Professor Rajapakshe had not taken any of the dogs he adopted to his homes as he made us believe at the time of adoption, but instead taken them straight away to the Government Veterinary Hospital at Getambe, where extensive invasive surgery had been carried out on all three dogs on 22 May 2007 and 23 May 2007 instance by Dr. Wasantha Kumara, the Veterinary Surgeon who heads the Hospital.

We are shocked that a senior academic such as Professor Rajapakshe, working in one of the most prestigious higher education centers in Sri Lanka as a Head of a Department, training all of Sri Lanka's future veterinarians, had to resort to deceit to take away the dogs from us and subject them to extreme cruelty in such an unethical and inhumane manner. We are stupefied as to why these three healthy dogs needed emergency treatment and why Professor Rajapakshe took the dogs to the Government Veterinary Hospital at Getambe, paid more than Rs.10,000 to the Hospital, and had emergency surgery performed on them when he could have availed himself of the services of his own Faculty if indeed such surgery, amazing as it may be, was required.

What we witnessed on the morning of 28 May 2007 at the Government Veterinary Hospital, Getambe, was horrendous; in the name of surgery, all three perfectly healthy dogs had been cut open by Dr. Wasantha Kumara as follows:

§ One dog had both vertical and horizontal incisions across and down her abdomen which were sutured with nearly 30 sutures. This dog was opened up on the 22nd instance and, on the 28th, 5 days after this inhumanity, pus and blood was oozing from the incision. We understand that this dog had been opened up, probed for a long time and then stitched up.

§ The second dog apparently had its adrenal glands removed. This dog had died the next morning. She had been buried at the hospital premises.

§ The third dog apparently had its pancreas removed and had a huge incision down her abdomen. She had not eaten and could hardly stand up as she was very weak. Her fur was shaved almost up to the spine from both sides of her body and we witnessed cuts, lacerations, and small wounds on the shaved part of her body, obviously inflicted on her skin during shaving.

We took the two dogs that survived this ordeal back to our shelter and subsequently obtained treatment for them at the Clinic at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Peradeniya.

We have now established that the third dog's pancreas has indeed been removed. Blood tests show high blood-sugar levels. Her front legs were so bruised she was given the drip intravenously from a hind leg. She was restless and totally traumatized. Her incision was infected. She is being given insulin. This dog will have to have life-long treatment. Did not Dr. Wasantha Kumara know what happens when the pancreas is removed? And why indeed was such a vital organ removed from a perfectly healthy dog?

The dog with nearly 30 sutures was treated for the infected incision. We exhumed the body of the dead dog on 28 May 2007 and a post mortem was conducted at the Veterinary Faculty on the 28th instance. The post mortem report should be available from the Faculty. This dog also had a huge incision down her abdomen. No trace of the kidneys was found amongst the decomposing contents of the abdominal cavity. A piece of cotton wool wrapped up in a large piece of gauze was found inside her sutured abdominal cavity. It is either possible that the cotton wool and the gauze were accidentally left inside or deliberately left in her sutured cavity as perhaps the veterinarians knew the dog would die without her kidneys. Had she lived even a few days or weeks, the foreign body would have caused complications and eventual death on a later day. We are now concerned about the possibility of foreign objects being left behind in the abdominal cavities of the other two dogs Dr. Wasantha Kumara operated on.

The horror that has unfolded before us is indescribable. We and everyone else who hear about this inhumane and unethical act of these two veterinarians in two prestigious and highly respected institutions of this country are numb with shock and disgust. Professor Rajapakshe and Dr. Wasantha Kumara have observed no ethical standards which they are required to adopt in their profession. The entire act reeks of deceit and cruelty, even wanton destruction of perfectly healthy dogs.

We are shocked that Dr. Wasantha Kumara has indeed agreed to carry out such surgery, leading to extreme suffering of the three dogs. Dr. Wasantha Kumara is also a Director of Pets V Care, a private veterinary clinic in Colombo. In the absence of any other reason to have subjected three perfectly healthy dogs to such extensive invasive surgery in which organs have been removed, we have every reason to believe that these surgeries involved unethical and inhumane research and was conducted primarily to remove organs from the three dogs. The deceitful behaviour of Professor Rajapakshe with regard to obtaining the dogs from us and the actual facts surrounding these surgeries lend further evidence towards adopting the view that the surgery was carried out solely to remove the organs. We understand that Professor Rajapakshe had apparently exported 200 kidneys some time ago. If there is any truth in this, then how he got such a vast quantity of body parts and why should be investigated. A foreigner from Bangladesh had been allegedly associated with Professor Rajapakshe in this particular act involving KACPAW’s dogs. Perhaps the organs were removed to be given to this foreigner and whatever research was carried out for him, who is supposed to have left the country now. All of the above should be investigated to establish the veracity as this constitutes serious violations of the country’s laws to talk nothing of issues such as bioethics, cruelty to animals, and animal rights. Whether there is a thriving racket going on with regard to export of dog organs too should be investigated forthwith, perhaps via the CID and INTERPOL.

Lies, deceit and surreptitious behaviour abound in connection with this wantonly inhumane act and the credibility of both veterinary surgeons is at stake. Professor Rajapakshe had made contradictory statements and provided false information. For example, at the Peradeniya Police Station, where we lodged a complaint on 28 May 2007, Professor Rajapakshe said the surgery was carried out to do hysterectomies. To the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty he had said that the surgery involved removal of the spleens and admitted to the Dean that he had lied to KACPAW when he took the dogs. Indeed if surgery was carried out to remove the spleens, Professor Rajapakshe owes an explanation as to why he had the spleens removed under emergency surgery. However, Professor Rajapakshe had lied in this instance to the Dean of the Faculty as it has been established through scanning that both dogs that survived surgery had their spleens intact. He also said the dog that died, did so soon after surgery, whereas, she had actually died the next morning, obviously after much suffering. Perhaps he did not know when she died as he had not apparently visited the Hospital to check on the dogs after surgery. He was clearly not interested in the post-operative care of the dogs as his main interest seems to lie in obtaining organs from these dogs.

When KACPPAW asked Dr. Wasantha Kumara as to why he conducted such extensively invasive surgery on the three dogs, he repeatedly said that he did not know they were KACPAW dogs. We are amazed that differing standards are adopted for various dogs. Dr. Wasantha Kumara refused to divulge the nature of the surgery done on the two surviving dogs when he was asked by the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty on 29 May 2007 to provide the information which was crucial to treat the two dogs in their care now. In this instance, Dr. Wasantha Kumara totally disregarded the welfare of those animals, which were in perfect health prior to his surgical interventions. We were compelled, therefore, to request the Hon. Governor of the Central Province, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, to intervene in this and the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty specifically requested the Governor to ask Dr. Wasantha Kumara to provide this crucial information to the clinicians of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Peradeniya who were primarily concerned about diagnosing the causes and treating the sick dogs in their care.
We understand that the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the University of Peradeniya was unaware of the “research” carried out by Professor Rajapakshe and we firmly believe that the Faculty, an institute concerned with welfare and clinical care of all animals and one which primarily educates, trains and produces all the veterinary surgeons of the country in the humane care of all animals, would have certainly stopped Professor Rajapakshe from committing these atrocities against animals. If indeed Professor Rajapakshe had the surgeries carried out in connection with some research and with the primary intention of removing certain organs, then it calls for immediate attention towards the strengthening of bioethics in research carried out within the discipline of veterinary science.

We request you to kindly investigate whether dog organs are being exported as alleged. If indeed as has been alleged, Professor Rajapakshe has exported 200 kidneys, please investigate from where he obtained this large quantity of organs and the legal implications, if any. Did he take the easy way out this time by deceitfully taking three dogs from our shelter to commit these atrocities against these innocent unsuspecting, trusting animals? It is also pertinent to note that this cruel act has been committed by two veterinarians, who we believe are at least by their profession expected to be mindful of animal welfare issues and practices and maintain the highest ethical standards in treating animals at a time when the President of the Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse, had declared a no-kill policy on dogs under his concept of governance Mahinda Chinthanaya, which unprecedented act has been lauded by all civilized people. In fact inspired by the promulgation of this policy, KACPAW has conducted a pilot study to find a practical, cost-effective, replicable and sustainable humane programme to control dog populations with clear long-term benefits and we believe we have found one. In our project report, one of the major proposals we have recommended to the Government is the recruitment of veterinary surgeons to the health sector, promoting veterinarians of this country.

We urgently request a full inquiry into the above-described activities of Professor Rajapakshe and Dr. Wasantha Kumara to determine whether such action has violated ethical and humane practices of their profession. If so, we appeal to you to take appropriate action against them in order to prevent them from repeating such unethical, inhumane acts against innocent animals. We would also request that the SLVC investigate and let us know
why Professor Rajapakshe deceitfully took dogs from KACPAW’s shelter
why such extensively invasive emergency surgeries were carried out,
whether the adrenal glands of one dog were removed and if so why,
what organs other than the pancreas were removed and why,
why one dog died,
what happened to the pancreas that was removed and any other allegedly removed organ/s, and
whether a foreigner from Bangladesh was associated with this work, and if so, what his role and mission were.

On 28 May 2007, we requested in writing from the Dean of the Veterinary Faculty to investigate Professor Rajapkshe’s conduct and we believe such an inquiry will be held soon.

We have enclosed a CD with photographs that would provide evidence of the atrocities perpetrated on the three dogs.

Thank you

Yours faithfully

President, KACPAW Secretary, KACPAW

cc His Excellency the President
Hon. Governor of the Central Province
Hon. Minister of Livestock and Agriculture
Hon. Minister of Higher Education
Hon. Minister of Health and Nutrition
Chairman, University Grants Commission
Director General, Department of Animal Production and Health
Director, Veterinary Research Institute
Vice-Chancellor, University of Peradeniya
Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of
Peradeniya
Head Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University
of Peradeniya
President, Sri Lanka Veterinary Association
Chairperson, Law Commission of Sri Lanka
President, National Science Foundation
President, National Research Council
Director, CARP
Local and International Animal Welfare Organizations and Leading Animal
Welfarists
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), UK
World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), UK

NB
The enclosed book is a report of the pilot project mentioned above. We hope to formally present these findings and our proposals to His Excellency the President. In our proposal to recruit veterinary surgeons to the health sector, we have insisted upon the need to maintain high ethical and surgical standards in spaying / neutering of dogs. We have already made our presentation at a meeting of the Health Development Council of the Ministry of Health in March 2007, which was well received. At this meeting, the need for veterinary surgeons in the health sector was recognized by the top health authorities, not only to combat rabies and rising dog populations, but diseases like Bird Flu.

KACPAW has had discussions with the Hon. Governor of the Central Province to work towards establishing the proposed spay programmes in the Province. The Hon. Governor would convene a meeting in June 2007 with the Province’s relevant officials to discuss this programme.
At the provincial level we presented our findings at the meeting of the Central Province’s Steering Committee on Health, which was arranged for us by the Provincial Director of Health. Here too our presentation was well received.

born to be stuffed?

2007-05-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

Im honestly moved when I see this, one by the thought that if I had been around and in spite of whatever the cat was doing I would have gone and got it out - or died in the process- and two by thought that we as a nation seem to have got our priorities wrong.

if it had been a nice car going down in a bog, you can bet your cotton socks, there would have been any amount of experts and heavys to save it, cranes, tractors, satelite communication and what not but because this was just an animal no one responsible really cared.

beacuse the natives in this stupid colony we live in just dont seem to realise the value of what they have.

Money can buy Gucci, Lamborgini, Porshe what have you , - they are anywhere.

But these treasures are all we have and we are stuffing them..

the story ?

This full-grown leopard was caught in a trap set in the jungle off Angurumulla in Gampola, died after a futile 15-hour struggle to escape. The villagers who had heard the growling of the writhing animal had found it with a noose tightening around its neck, but were afraid to go near it. Some people had rung up the Police on its emergency number 119 and the Wild Life Department. But neither police nor Wild Life officials had turned up and the animal had died after hours of agony.“The leopard could have been easily saved if it was released from the trap,” villagers had told our correspondent.- story and photos - http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/05/24/caption_story.asp

Shady Charachter, looking for love...

2007-05-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

Meet Shady;

Age : 2 years

Type : Pure Vulsation

Characteristics : Walks with the use of two legs only Extremely Lovable Good Watch Dog (Believe it or not, barks her guts out)

Shady's Story: I was born near Mc Donald's - Rajagiriya and kind families used to give me delicious food.

One day a vehicle ran over my 2 back legs as I was resting under the vehicle, it was raining that night and the pain was more than my little puppy legs could bare. God was sure with me that night as a group of friends parked close by found me and took me to the closest vet, they were very kind to me, but the vet could not keep me and so I was taken to a kind home, where an old amme took super care of me, it is great here.

I was then taken several times for X-rays and given so many injections but my back legs could not function. I am very happy though… I meet other pal's on and off too and we play away… I know you think I am lame cause I have only two legs but I am faster than you will imagine, I'm sure I can out run a few of you reading this…

Shady's Request: The old amme and family here are moving away and I am so so sad but they cannot take me. My friends who took me in are looking for another place for me. They say they will pay for vaccinations, food, and will have someone come bath me once a week if need be, cause I love a good bath… I just want a good home, I promise I will not be difficult to look after. Bow Wow Shady

94777486074

take me home

2007-05-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Brownie I am a 7 month old female Mongrel. I have just been spayed. I live near a factory in Wattala. I spend most of my day looking for food and trying to avoid being run over by the big trucks I sleep under to keep warm. Two of my sisters were run over just a few weeks ago and the rest of my family was taken away in a lorry and I was very sad. Most of my friends have broken legs from narrowly escaping being run over. If no one adopts me I will have to go back there. I am very friendly, quite obedient and don’t jump around or bark too much. I don’t have any skin conditions and am healthy. I will be getting my injections once I have my stitches out. I love company and being around people who are kind to me.
If you want to adopt me please call 0776581514. You can also come visit me at the PetsVCare boarding kennels at 103, Veluwana Place, Colombo 13 where I am recovering from my operation.

a Tale of THREE Kitties

2007-03-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Please help: I have three orphan kittens who need loving homes urgently

three adorable furballs inquisitve ,cheeky and always on the move, I tried taking photos but the moment I come to the room they come running and bascially tumble about so much that it hasnt been a success ! I'm afraid all are female, the three colored one for sure, but the other two may be also... but I had some small one, who looked female and later turned out to be males! However I recommend strngly that even if they are males, they should be operated to save them from the urge to go out and eventually getting into fights and also to prevent the habit of territory marking.

before they get too big... any idea, who would like to adopt the baby kitties?

For castration/ sterilization I can pay. and if I can find places for all three I don't mind making a trip to Colombo to deliver them!

Have a good day then!

from Padma , in Kandy

Reply to Amila

2007-03-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Amila,

if you are really concerned about the fact, that we have too many dogs in Kandy, please help to educate the people, to get their female dogs sterilized instead of dumping unwanted female pups on the street. Please inform them also, that we offer free sterilizations in five clinics, so it does not cost them a penny to solve the stray-dog-problem in Kandy.
Please also create awareness amongst your countrymen, that once they adopted a dog, it is their responsibility to care for it for life, it is not fair to throw a dog out on the road because it contacted a skin-disease, or it grew old, or because its owner has decided to shift, to migrate or to buy a pedigree-puppy.
I have lived in Sri Lanka for 25 years without doing a job because I have a small income from Germany, so I did not have to work, and have spend all this time in voluntary social work.

When 1999 the first Kandy animal-welfare-organization was founded I became a member and started caring for animals in the village, getting them sterilized and treated for mange and other illnesses. In October 2002 I read an article of the KMC-Vet Dr.Jayasinghe in the papers, that he was willing to embark on a humane programme for the strays of Kandy, so I gave him a call and we met at the dog-pound in Gohagoda to talk about this. A few days later I met him again in his office to introduce a Swiss lady, who wanted to sponsor bimonthly sterilization-camps in Kandy and after another week the Swiss lady and Rohini de Silva entered into a verbal agreement with him and the Mayor of Kandy, that from now on the dogs in the dog-pound at Gohagoda would not be killed, but they would be sterilized and returned to the place of capture. In the beginning the Mayor had some objections against returning the dogs to the place of capture, but he also knew, that it would be impossible to find homes for all the dogs, and since most of the dogs, which were caught by the KMC dog-catchers were dogs from homes anyway, it was finally accepted, that we would return them except for those, which were caught because of complaints and of course those, which needed to stay longer anyhow because they needed treatment or they have been rendered handicapped by road-accidents.
Very often the members of our group take such dogs home when they cannot be returned to the street after sterilization, I have 35 such dogs at home at the moment, Rohini has 65 and Margaret 20, other members look after 5 to 15 dogs, these dogs are fed by us privately, not by SOFA. The funds SOFA receives from friends, who have seen our work and wish to support it, are being used to pay for the sterilizations and treatment, to feed the dogs in Gohagoda and to pay the workers, who are cooking the food for the dogs, cleaning their kennels etc.
The members of SOFA devote their time and energy for the cause and are only reimbursed their expenses.
Please contact us when you come to Kandy again to view our audited financial report to clear any doubts. It is a sad fact, that most dog-owners in Sri Lanka do not have the necessary facilities to keep their dogs away from the road and so it is impossible to be sure about each dog whether it is a stray, a community-dog or an owned dog. The accepted estimate is: 50% of the dogs we see on the road have an owner, though not necessarly a responsible owner, 40% are community-dogs (they have one or more feeders and one or more places, where they are being given shelter), only 10% are really stray-dogs, they are being chased away wherever they go and they are often starving.
The strays are usually difficult to catch because they are running away from humans in fear, but owned and community are easy to catch and therefore almost all dogs the KMC dog-catchers handed over to us, belonged to these two categories and they have a place to return to.
Before October 2002 all those dogs (3000 per year in Kandy alone) were killed, but that did not reduce the street-dog-population because the fast rate of breeding replaces 3000 dogs within few months. If the breeding can be reduced by sterilizing as many female dogs as possible, after few years there would be no ownerless dogs anymore. But unfortunately the KMC has not cooperated in this programme for long, the dog-catchers have stopped catching dogs two and half years ago and no sterilization-programmes have been conducted by the Council during the last three and half years. However, even without the KMC's cooperation we were able to sterilize more than 8000 dogs... if we had not done that and left it to the council, as you suggest, how many thousands of puppies would have been born from those 8000 dogs?
You are telling me, that we have no respect for humans... are you aware, that we had not even one case of human rabies in Kandy since 2002 and that the dog-bite-cases treated in Kandy and Peradeniya are decreasing steadily?
I hope you don't mind, that I will share our correspondence with some other people.

Eva Ruppel, Treasurer of SOFA (here mostly known as Padma)

letter to pet rescuers

2007-02-20T02:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Eva,

i am a resident of Kandy, now living overseas for the past 8 years, i was in kandy late last year & found all these stray dogs, which is a real treat to the safety of children & others
i am sure you guys are going this not for the love of animals. but to get some money from from stupid NGO. all i can say is,if you need money to live "GET REAL JOB" & leave stray dogs to be dealt buy the council...the health & safety of people come FIRST before Dogs..its sad to see that you & your NGO do not have the respect for the humans, that you have for DOGS....

Amila

Beautiful verse - right after my heart

2007-01-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

I Am An Animal Rescuer
My job is to assist God's creatures
I was born with the need to fulfill their needs
I take in new family members without plan, thought or selection
I have bought dog food with my last dime
I have patted a mangy head with a bare hand
I have hugged someone vicious and afraid
I have fallen in love a thousand times
and I have cried into the fur of a lifeless body
I have Animal Friends and friends who have Animal Friends
I don't often use the word "pet"
I notice those lost at the road side
And my heart aches
I will hand raise a field mouse
And make friends with a vulture
I know of no creature unworthy of my time
I want to live forever if there aren't animals in Heaven
But I believe there are!
Why would God make something so perfect and leave it behind?
We may be master of the animals,
But the animals have mastered themselves
Something people still haven't learned
War and abuse make me hurt for the world
But a rescue that makes the news gives me hope for humankind
We are a quiet but determined army
And making a difference every day
There is nothing more necessary than warming an orphan
Nothing more rewarding than saving a life
No higher recognition than watching them thrive
There is no greater joy than seeing a baby playwho only days ago, was too weak to eat
I am an Animal Rescuer
My work is never done
My home is never quiet
My wallet is always empty
But my heart is always full
In the game of life, I have already won!

~ Annette King Tucker ~

CANIVORE CHALLANGE - a reply.

2006-09-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

I simply could not resist answering to this interesting article in the Sunday Observer titled
DEBATE: A questionnaire to all Ideo-Vegs such as Dr. Atukorale :
Religious extremism via vegetarianism -- a challenge
Available at http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2006/09/17/pow02.asp

For a start I admit Im not aware of the exact extent of Dr Atukorale’s alledged extremisms but for arguments sake and judging from the generous amounts of self righteous hypocrisy harbored by some prominent Buddhists, around today, I shall take your word for it .

There are basically 3 points I wish to make here:
1) By your own definition of an ideological vegetarian ,as a fanatical extremist who irrationally exaggerates the benefits of vegetarianism to the exclusion of any other lifestyle and leaves no room for any other point of view- and having read through the entire page which does not contain a single positive reference to the well known benefits of being a vegetarian, I put it to you that you have placed yourself in the exactly category that you are judging and critisicing namely an irrational extremist fanatic ideological NON vegetarian. Ironic I would say.
2) Half of your article insists that plants are alive and cry in pain when you cut them, therefore we should eat animals instead. Looking at the distorted reverse logic of this dubious finding , are we to concluded from working back up the food chain that since plants and animals both cry when being killed we should actually be eating humans too since we are all the same? If medical science proves that we would be very healthy and have super human powers by eating humans or drinking human blood will you be among the proponents?

Finally and since Im not really interested in wasting my and my readers time with simply arguing for the sake of argument –the moot point of Buddhist vegetarianism is that because we feel that animals have souls (and for your information: no world religion so far has attributed plants to having souls)- and we believe in compassion, and being a majority Buddhis and Hindu country (so far anyway -) we should be setting an example by reducing animal suffering . –the objective would seem to be to put our Christian, Muslim,Buddhist ,Hindu ,vegetarian and non vegetarian heads together and eradicate any preventable cruelty without offending the sensibilities of other religions and without violating fundamental human rights like the freedom of choice of diet.

I also accede that our focus on cattle is a bit fanatical but then traditionally that may be due to Indian and Hindu influence and then again this is something we need to consider in a multi-ethnic situation.
Either way perhaps we can have the cake and eat it too, simply by introducing humane slaughter methods. Surely this is not rocket science ! Your delicious, tempting,succulent cow ,pig , goat or whatever can be put to sleep with a sedative first and then gently bled to death – this would be acceptable to our Muslim brothers too and then maybe THAT WAY we can avoid the concentration camp sceans of screaming torture that provide us our healthy or unhealthy nutrition! I do not need to go into those scenes here, since the SUnday Observer its self has carried so many articles on how animals are killed in Sri Lanka.

What I don’t understand is why a supposedly Buddhist country cannot insist on humane killing, when there is legislation for this in major non Buddhist countries such as USA UK France Germany etc .
Seriously, how much technology would you need to sedate a cow? can we not stick to the Buddhist middle path and eradicate extreme suffering rather than self righteously judging each other in various forums? And can we for Pete’s sake leave the Eskimos out of this argument , as they are kind of FAR AWAY ?

A BUDDHIST NON VEGETARIAN

more relevant reading available at http://www.ivu.org/congress/thai99/texts/srilanka.html and a very informative website by the Christian Vegetarian Association
http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/vegbenefits.htm and
http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/sunless.htm
http://www.jesusveg.com/
http://www.wie.org/j28/islamic-veg.asp
which tells you about why non Buddhists sometimes feel they should not eat meat...

Death Announcement

2006-09-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

We regret to announce the death of our darling furball Itchy da Mutt.
In spite of all good efforts of ours and PetsvCare and the local Wellampitiya vet’s, poor Itchy succumbed last night after a sudden two day episode of what we feel is a violent reaction to something she had eaten- probably something she definitely was not supposed to.
Well that’s the way doggies are,but its always just as sad each time it happens.
We will so miss her cute habits like slinking inside and pretending she is invisible, her noisy way of defending beef bones from the cat pack, and just the plain lazy smiling furry presence in our living room,
- but I personally am glad she didn’t suffer for ages.
- We all have to go some day and I guess she had fun while she was around and did not suffer too much the final two days.

As a foot note let me say I was really impressed by the good work PetsVCare is doing- they are very professional about things, have all the facilitites,charge reasonably, and are open 24 hours a day which is marvelous for busy people and emergency cases.
So a very useful number to have around is PetsVCare : Tel 2303554

ITCHY 2004

2006-09-03T04:48:00.000-07:00

Foofpy 2005

2006-09-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

This is Foofpy* - the one we found thrown away near the Video Kadey, chewing on tyre tubing. and if you think its a close up photo , no way am I goin anywhere near those ankle seeking jaws, -I took this photo from my second floor balconey which speaks for the incredible zoom on my recently acquired Konica Minolta(more about this later)
Foopy is CUTE but nibbly and she is the main reason two of our other orphans , Piky and Kuki left home and went and relocated themselves in neighbuoring houses and I have to tell people that Im such a lowly person , my DOGS dumped me! In spite of heaps of vitamins and beef bones she suffers from compulsive ankle nibbling syndrome and so has to be put in our backyard and occasionally ostracised.

* also known as Chewbekka the Foofpy

KANDY SOS

2006-08-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

these 3 adorable furry babies are just a few of the orphans waiting for adoption at the Save Our Freinds Association ,Kandy, who have to date relocated upto 800 such. Almost all here are female and have been sterilised.
when you are looking for a puppy or kitten please consider one from here- transport can be arranged.
contact Padma at 077-7426229 or padmaeva@dialogsl.net

and of course, friends, Colombo Pet Rescue will be happy to host photos of pets anywhere in the Island, we just call ourselves that because we are based in Colombo.
Have a good day at work , and when you go back, the joy of being greeted by bright eyes,friendly licks and waggy tails!

TURNEY 2005

2006-08-31T04:12:00.000-07:00

Turney is from a ditch in Kolonnawa , near a Tyre Kadey. I asked her from the Tyre Kadey Uncle and put her in my shoulder bag and brought her home. Ill never forget the day I brought her to office and what a stir and general loss of work that caused - my friend SKW took her home and they fed her milk from a baby bottle ....and pampered her no end .Next week youll see the current photos.

GINGER NUT ARCHIVES

2006-08-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Old fotos from the animal farm in wellampitiyaand for the record ,except for the princess character on the stool who was a present - all the other animals here were refugees.

NAWALA SOS

2006-08-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

Abandoned pups - Available at Nawala - Please help!!
Call Nushani on 0773074898 if anyone is interested!!

Hey everyone,
Some heartless bastard had abandoned five healthy and beautiful puppies in a box on the rainy street last evening, and I just happened to see one of them almost get knocked down. I have them at home now, but my three cats and mother are extremely stressed out, so I need to find them good homes ASAP.
They're about 3-4 months old each, and are friendly and comfortable around people, as well as are weaned. All female, and seriously cute.
I am willing to take care of all sterilisation costs when they are old enough for it. All I need are good loving homes for these babies. Please pass the word around and let me know if anyone is interested.
Thanks,
Shanuki

CHIPPY 2006

2006-08-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

Chippy Rescue 2006
location : Parliament RoadSituation : Two army boys and a rather mixed up dog were found playing football it would appear with a thoroughly tarumatized baby Chipmonk (really - why dont they pick on someone their own size?)Rescue : by SWK who blasted them in a bit of neat Sinhala which I wont repeat here (-the boys, since she figured the dog was not really to be blamed-) and wrapped the baby in a car cloth and brought it homeFirst Aid :The chipmonk had lost half its tail but was not too badly damaged since it had been rescued quickly - it was kept quiet in a cardboard box , with a hot water bottle for company (small animal trauma cases often die suddenly of heat loss- apart from shock and exhaustion -) and later fed milk through a Pen and Cloth device (which I shall presently demonstrate in photos-)Chipmonks dont make good pets since they are rather silly and go and try to fraternise with the household cat- so if your only choices are to incarcerate them which is very sad (worse than death in my books) or to let them back into the wild which is best as soon as possible after the initial trauma has worn off.Finally :Chippy was kept 2 days and fed on bits of apple , grapes and milk and then returned to the same tree she came from- she apparently said something very clear and chirpy in Chippy dialect before dissappearing up the foliage, tailesss but very much alive and kicking.

Im back!

2006-08-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

PET RESCUE CIRCLE-Siyalu Sathwayo Niduk Wethwa

My Friends,
information is power and friends are our most wonderful resource when it comes to helping the poor stray animals of this country. Therefore I thought of setting up a blog - which means merely an online database of a sort with all the information we can enter as to who needs help and who can help in even small ways.
So I shall start by listing a few success stories and you my friends are all welcome to add your own - I know there seem to be animals all over the place who need our help and its difficult to know where to start but maybe a story and a photo will bring out the compassion in our readers and we can direct it where it is needed most...this blog is titledwww.colombopetrescue.blogspot.com - (do book mark it)
why would you do this? well...because a few of you out there have realised,I suspect , that true happiness comes from helping someone desperate who needs to be helped, and that our furry and voiceless little friends sure know how to repay that help with SO MUCH love and loyalty ...you almost pity the people who DONT realise this ,dont you now ?if you agree with this - pass this on !-and let me know any good ideas you get on how much more we can do !!
You can send me your animal rescue stories, funny quotes, pet photos and of course the SOS messages and I will be uploading them.
write to chandrika6@gmail.com

I shall leave you with my favourite animal quote :
TO ERR IS HUMAN ....TO FORGIVE, CANINE...
warmest regards

Chandrika Gadiewasam