We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a good beginning

Transcription

1 We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a good beginning to the new year. December was cold and rainy and was a super busy month for all of us at Animals Taiwan. December rescues certainly made up for a quiet November. We are very grateful for all of the help and support we have received over 2013 and we hope to continue helping those furry friends in need in the coming year. We are still frantically looking for a new location for our rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming centre. We are looking for a plot of 400ping or so which is not too near residential areas, but still close enough for volunteers to come to us. We at Animals Taiwan pride ourselves of the fact that we are such an open organization with the constant support and visits from supporters and volunteers and we hope to continue this in the future. If you have any contacts or leads on land that maybe suitable for us please contact lilian@animalstaiwan.org.

2 We ll start off with our rescues of cats this month and it certainly has been a busy kitty month. We were contacted by an AT TNR feeder in the Taipei area about one of our TNR cats which was looking extremely sickly. We asked the feeder to get the cat to the vet as soon as possible. Cotton, as she has been named by the vet, was diagnosed with liver problems as well as other immune problems. It didn't look good for Cotton, but we could see that Cotton didn't want to give up and so as always if the animal is willing to fight for its life, we are willing to do all we can to help. Cotton underwent intensive treatment at the vet for a few months and never gave up on the fight. She has now pulled through and has been placed at our center ready for adoption. She has become a friendly cat, although still a little frail Cotton is female about 8 years old. We really hope that we can find a loving home where she can relax and never worry again. One of our long term supporters and TNR advocate contacted us about a kitten he believed to have been abused. He described a poor little kitten that may have had his tail cut by a vicious person. We asked him to get the cat to our vet as soon as possible. This little kitten's tail was badly infected and he was clearly in discomfort. He also had a mild case of pneumonia which the vet treated before removing his tail.

3 He is about 6 months old and has now been named Notemba (meaning Hope in Xhosa) by the rescuer as this little kitten is still extremely friendly to people even after his terrible ordeal. Notemba has been placed in a foster home while he received his vaccinations and is ready to find his forever home. Orange is a stray cat who lives near a hot pot restaurant in Neihu. A customer at the restaurant saw that Orange had a rubber band around his neck. The wound caused by the rubber band was so serious and deep that it had almost cut into his trachea. We brought Orange to the vet and the rubber band was removed. He will still have to stay at the vet for at least another two weeks to clean his wound. Orange will also be neutered after he has recovered. Animals Taiwan has had numerous rubber band injury cases over the years. A lot of people in Taiwan throw away their lunch boxes or bian dangs with the rubber band still over the box. When a stray animal is looking for food, it will stick its head and leg into the lunch box to get to the food, and slowly the rubber band will go over its head and get stuck. Over time, the rubber band will slowly eat into the animal s flesh and muscle, causing serious infection and muscle damage, which will in turn results in the animal losing its leg and/or causing the animal to die in a slow and very painful death.

4 Abby is a 6 month old female kitten who was caught at the beginning of December for TNR from a park near NingXia Night Market. The day she was to be returned to the park the Animals Taiwan TNR volunteer who had caught her up noticed she seemed to have a cold and did not want to return her to the park as the cold, rainy weather had begun. Her cold was actually a severe chest infection that made her very weak and sick, but she was taken to the vet immediately and given the proper medication. After medication and care Abby has become the perfect indoor cat, loving all the attention she can get and is now unsuitable to be returned to the streets. She is currently at her foster home waiting to find the perfect human. A 2 3 month old kitten was picked up from a TNR area in Taipei, her mother and siblings couldn t be found and the little kitten was very weak and malnourished. She was taken to the vet for a checkup and given supplements to help her regain her strength. She is currently in a critical state in a foster home. We hope she will pull through Now for the doggy rescues: Dodoro a Chihuahua mix was found abandoned in the mountains by a CNR/TNR volunteer. While performing CNR, the volunteer noticed tiny Dodoro in a pack of big dogs. This volunteer knew that a dog like Dodoro will not be able to survive in the mountains and compete for food with the other big dogs. And so he rescued Dodoro and contacted Animals Taiwan for help. Dodoro was placed in a foster home. After a visit to the vet she was found to be infested with internal worms and slightly

5 malnourished. However, she passed her 4 in 1 test and after she has completed her medication she ll be vaccinated and spayed. Dodoro is a 2-3 year old affectionate little girl and we are confident that she will soon find her perfect home. One of our CNR/Rescue volunteers was called out to Xindian about a dog that needed neutering. On arrival to the place our rescue volunteer saw that it was a young pure bred German Shepherd. He has a soft spot for German Shepherds as he used to train them for the Taiwan military. He decided to try and find the boy a home. He successfully found a home for the dog in Kaoshiung and asked us if we could keep him for a month while he trained him, we agreed. However, after the blood tests he was found to have Babesia (tick born disease) and also heartworm, so the potential adopter backed out. We of course could not consider returning this poor boy once we understood his condition. He is currently undergoing intensive medical care for both the Babesia and also the heartworm. He is young, about 2 years old, and healthy and so there is minimum risk with the intensive treatment. He is currently in a foster home under going training as well as his treatments. Our volunteer has worked hard and has also found an adopter for him in Tainan, so once he is ready he will be transported to his forever home. An elderly couple came to us saying they had a Chow Chow about 2 years old but couldn't keep it anymore because they have moved to a place that doesn't allow dogs. We saw that the couple were quite old, and we told them that we would have to discuss it and would contact them. We discussed it and decided we could try to help them get the dog adopted if they would carry on fostering him for the time being. The couple never brought the dog on the

6 first visit so we had no idea of the dog's temperament or condition, the owner only said that he was friendly and about two years old. The following day, the elderly couple decided to take things into their own hands and dumped the dog at our entrance early in the morning in the pouring rain before we had opened. They tied the dog to a post using the leash around his neck tight as a collar and left him there with no shelter, food or water. We couldn't believe what heartless people would do this kind of thing pushing their responsibility on to others. Unfortunately the dog was scared and confused so when we tried to bring him into the centre he growled and showed aggression. We decided to leave him alone for a while and think how best to deal with this situation. After several attempts our staff managed to get him into the centre using a crate. The poor dog went straight into the crate then straight into one of our TNR cages showing he is used to being caged up. As soon as he got into the cage he relieved himself again showing that he had been kept in a cage most of his life. His condition on first appearance wasn t good and showed a lack of love and attention. He had much hair loss and some infected wounds around his head and an eye infection. He seemed very depressed and confused. We tried to contact the owners but they kept putting the phone down on us. However, eventually they talked to us and after we threatened them with legal action they came to the centre. We told them that they had dumped their companion and that we will not be returning the poor dog to their care as we believe they hadn t taken care of him at all. We asked for any medical information they could give us and were told by them that they vaccinated the dog by themselves at home and never got him chipped or neutered. We find this difficult to

7 believe as no reputable vet would just sell vaccinations to owners for them to vaccinate themselves. The couple had several stories about who was the owner of the dog and were very upset that we were taking photos of them and of where they dumped the dog. We later found a plastic garbage can with the dogs name on it and a message saying, "We can no longer take care of him due to moving to a new address. Please take good care of him." This is completely disgraceful and not acceptable treatment of a loyal companion. The bowl said his name was Kumar, but he does not answer to this name and so we'll be calling him Mufasa from the Lion King! Afraid of legal action, the old couple tried several attempts to try and steal the dog and take him back, and also threatened to sue Animals Taiwan. Without a chip and because the owner left the note on the bowl, the owners have given up their legal right to this dog. We believe it would be irresponsible of us to release him back into the "care" of these people who obviously have no love for him. Mufasa has been to the vet and has luckily passed his 4 in 1 test. He has a minor skin problem which is due to bad food and lack of grooming. He was shaved, neutered, chipped and vaccinated. He is beginning to trust people now and likes to go out on walks. He has no interest in other dogs and we believe he will be the perfect companion for someone who understands the Chow Chow personality On a cold and rainy winter s night, Xiao Hei was wet from the rain, his head held low sniffing for food. A kind neighborhood guard gave Xiao Hei some of his dinner; Xiao Hei was starving and ate the food very quickly. After he finished, he lay down in front of the apartment building to rest. The guard fed him every day and Xiao Hei was very loyal and start guarding the apartment building where the guard worked. However, poor Xiao Hei didn t know that the people in the neighborhood didn t like his loyalty and presence and repeatedly called the dog catchers to catch Xiao Hei. Every time the dog catchers came, Xiao Hei would run for his life and struggle so hard to get away from them. One time, during a

8 struggle with the dog catchers, Xiao Hei s right eye was struck so hard that he has lost some visibility in his right eye. The guard could not bear the thought of Xiao Hei being caught and getting killed in the government shelter, so he begged a friend to foster Xiao Hei as he himself is unable to keep him. Months later, the friend is also unable to foster Xiao Hei anymore as his health has deteriorated due to his old age and spends most of his time in the hospital. An Animals Taiwan volunteer is now fostering Xiao Hei and he is doing well. He is a beautiful healthy dog who loves to be around people. He still has slight blurry vision in his right eye due to the dog catchers. We hope soon that he will find his forever loving home. TNR/ CNR Projects ( 誘捕 - 結紮 - 原地放回 / 捕捉 - 結紮 - 原地放回計畫 ) We have currently put all cat TNR on hold due to the bad weather, but will be resuming once the weather gets better. We are however, continuing with our dog CNR. This month we were able to catch 3 females and 2 males from different areas. We as always strongly believe that CNR/TNR is the only human way to control the stray population and will continue to do our best to educate the public on this.

9 Our adoptions have been a little slower than before, but we are confident that they will pick up in the New Year. However, we do still have some happy tails to tell you. Prince Albert our wonderful male British Bulldog has found his perfect home. His new owners live in Hualien and have another dog. When they saw the photos they knew that Albert would be a perfect match. After Albert was vaccinated and neutered he was transported down to Hualien where he now lives the life of luxury. He has a wonderful garden to run around in and has a cool furry brother to play with.

10 Caleb also found his furever home this month, too. After seeing his photos and coming to visit him, his new mommy knew he was the one for her. He is now thoroughly spoilt and living a wonderful life with this new human mommy. Kismet and Jax were also lucky winners this month. A friend of AT contacted us saying they were looking for a cat and would like to come and visit our cats. We introduced them to Kismet and some of the other cats at the centre. After a short discussion the wonderful fathers knew that they couldn t just take one cat, and so they decided that Kismet and Jax would be perfect for them. Kismet is very confident and we knew he would fit in straight away, but we were a little worried about Jax as he is a littie shyer. The new dads, were very patient with him and let him get settled in on his own time. Now both Kismet and Jax are loving wonderful cats with two adoring fathers!

11 On top of all the rescues we ve had lots of other goings on at the centre. Wendel finally went for his hernia operation. His hernia was causing him discomfort and it was decided to remove it. The operation was a complete success and now Wendel is much more comfortable. Gizmo also went in for another operation. It was decided that he leg should be completely removed as with only a partial leg he will still try to use it which will cause him not only to walk awkwardly abut also could cause him injury in the future. His operation was also a complete success. The rubber band puppy has completely recovered and has now been returned to the area where she came from. She was very pleased to be returned and is now safe and the feeding lady promises to keep us updated.

12 Maya our little cat was returned to our centre from her foster home. She wasn t getting along with the other cat in the house and although the foster mom had been trying for a very long time the situation wasn t getting any better and so we agreed that Maya should be returned. At the centre we can now get her seen more and maybe increase her chances of finding a loving home. We now realize that Maya is a one cat kinda girl and needs a home where there will be no other cats. Sucie also returned from her foster home this month. Her stay at the foster home has greatly increased her confidence and she is now much better on the leash. Richard has now been placed in a new foster home. He is doing very well, although there was a little scare when he went missing for a day, but due to the fact that he has a chip he was found quickly and was brought back to his foster home. We also have some sad news this month. Our little Orca passed over the rainbow. She was a little fighter and tried everything to stay with us, but her body just wasn t strong enough. Her foster mommy was very sad to see her go as she brought joy to her home. Little Orca will be missed, but we know she is now out of pain and can look down on us.

13 This month we d like to thank Carleen s English School for inviting us to their Christmas party to give a talk to the students about responsible animal ownership and also general animal welfare. The kids were great and very interested in the talk. The school also held a New To You sale for us and helped us raise some very needed funds. Our New To You sale continues and to date we have raised over NT$300,000. In the New Year we ll be opening up the New To You sale to the public again as we have so much merchandise that we weren t able to get out during the first sale. Animals Taiwan also held our yearly General Members meeting in December and we welcome on board our new board members. For more information on this you can go to our website. If you would like to hold an event for Animals Taiwan or you have ideas for events or would even like to join our volunteer list please contact liza@animalstaiwan.org for more information.

14 We d like to update everyone on the 2013 statistics which include adoption, rescue, CNR/TNR and animals that have passed away due to sickness. We hope to increase the adoption figures in However, we are very pleased that we have kept the amount of dogs and cats coming in nearly balanced with the adoptions. This is how a truly effective rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming centre runs. Adoption 領養 25 cats 64 dogs = Total animal adoption 89 animals Rescue 救援 22cats 74 dogs Total animals rescue 96 animals CNR 街犬結紮 ( 捕捉 - 結紮 - 原地放回計畫 ) Male 18 Female 36 = Total dogs CNR d 54 TNR 街貓結紮 ( 誘捕 - 結紮 - 原地放回計畫 ) 710 cats 710 隻貓咪 Passed over the rainbow 因病過世數量 5 cats 6 dogs = 11 animals have passed away

15 Come and check out our facebook page to keep updated on regular adoptions, events and much more. As always with all our rescues we never put a dog or cat to sleep unless the animal is suffering greatly with not much chance of recovery. We will always do our best to make sure every animal is given the best treatment and best opportunity to live a happy and loving life. We are able to continue these rescues and adoptions thanks to your generosity. Please continue check out our webpage and pass it on to any friends or family members. There are always some wonderful dogs up for adoption, so if you have any friends or family interested in adopting, please show them our website. Remember Adopting saves lives! Please educate those around you to get their animal desexed and micro chipped to help decrease the stray population.