Sunday, August 24, 2014

Our Street Dogs and Their Harsh Times – Part 1/2

Every society has its strengths and weaknesses – that includes us too. Our top priority will no doubt be our numerous residents over at our sanctuary NANAS which we promise each of them food, shelter and care from the day they step into our sanctuary door till the day they breathe their last.

Apart from those already at our sanctuary, Noah’s Ark places a great emphasis on our street work in Singapore under PID – Project Industrial Dogs. PID seeks to curb the root of the problem – to stop the endless reproduction as well as lessen the number of strays on the streets through active sterilization. Though our PID team is small, we always press on with the firm belief that with each female street dog spayed, many lives are inadvertently saved.

We come across all sorts of cases when our volunteers roam the streets. In addition to regularly providing the street dogs with food, our priority is to sterilize the dogs and control their population. We explain what we are doing to the factories be it bosses, supervisors or workers and try our very best to convince them to work with us. Needless to say, there are all sorts of responses. On the positive side, some workers can see where we are coming from and also ask us for medical help for their factory dogs. They will even refer their friends who work in other factories to us to help their dogs. We are grateful they understand and want the best for their canine companions - though these dogs do not live in the lap of luxury but they are well-loved.

We try our best to manage each case amicably - Sintu was one lucky dog to receive help from us despite initial resistance from his workers.


Sintu
We have seen Sintu in this factory for years and at night, he is often seen chilling with the workers sitting beside the factory gate. We have even seen the workers playfully put a big hamper ribbon round his neck during Chinese New Year - he looked just like a festive mascot. :)


An elderly caregiver who also feeds Sintu regularly informed us that Sintu has taken ill. We have just seen him around a couple of days back but as it was always during our late night feedings, we did not notice anything amiss.


One afternoon, we dropped by Sintu's factory to look for him. We went round the factory but could not find him until we obtained the help of some workers to call him out. When we saw Sintu, we knew that this boy needed medical attention immediately for himself and also to avoid infecting the other dogs. Sintu had contracted TVT (canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor - http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/reproductive_system/canine_transmissible_venereal_tumor/overview_of_canine_transmissible_venereal_tumor.html) and he must have had this condition for quite some time for his genitals to show such symptoms externally.


One of the older workers initially did not allow us to take Sintu away, despite us assuring him that we will return Sintu after he is well. He kept insisting that with the application of medication, Sintu will gradually get better. While we are aware that with their traditional mindsets and perhaps due to genital injuries being a sensitive issue, he was not exactly open for discussion but we stood firm and kept persuading him to allow us to bring Sintu to the vet. After some time, he finally relented and we quickly put Sintu into the carrier without further delay (should he change his mind).


Over at the clinic, the vet confirmed the diagnosis and we have already started the weekly vincristine jabs on Sintu. If Sintu does not get better after a few jabs, a biopsy will then be required. Meanwhile, we are monitoring Sintu’s condition closely with the help of his workers.


Yogi
On one of our feeding nights, we made a turn into this particular lane when we saw a few dogs loitering around. A huge dog came running towards us when he smelt food and we found that he is affectionately called Yogi by the factory who has kept him since young. We were feeding Yogi and about to go off when we saw that he had a hole in his scrotum. We know only too well that the hole though small for now, will likely get infected and cause Yogi much pain further down the road. We spoke to the elderly security uncle and he was only too glad to have our help to treat Yogi.

As it was already late at night, we promised the security uncle we will be back during the weekend to fetch Yogi. Saturday came and a worker from Yogi’s factory helped us to put Yogi into the carrier. Though big in size, Yogi was a gentle giant whom everyone at the factory loves. We could tell they treated him and his other canine friend well and we promised them we will bring him back once he is well.
 


We sent Yogi to the vet for neutering and vaccinated him as well. He was also treated for his scrotum injury which we were glad that medical aid was rendered on time. Yogi was also given a good bath before being ferried back to his factory a week after – the workers stopped work to welcome him back while he happily greeted them too!

 
 
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Sintu and Yogi are just two of our recent cases and even though our medical bills are on the rise, we are unable to turn away the needy street animals. How do we say no when we might be their last line of help? This is the least we can do for them, to ensure they are able to lead their lives out in dignity and not slowly pass on in misery due to injury or sickness.

In Part 2 later, we will be featuring another rescue case which we genuinely need your kind support to help see us through. Any bit of contribution is appreciated, as we continue to help the street animals and their caregivers. Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you can help in any way – be it in the form of a monetary donation or even fostering as we have a few other cases at hand seeking fosterers too. Thank you!

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