13 September 2008

Care for Dogs invitation - to subscribe

Hello to all readers of this blog, which until recently was my main "dblog" story / information outlet.

As you may have read by now, I have been involved with Care for Dogs new website design and development. This new venture is indeed now my main "dblogging" outlet and if you visit the new site, you will realise I have also grown up a little bit in writing terms, proving that I can not only tell the world about what I feel and do but also write about volunteer work with Care for Dogs from a group perspective.

Typically, like this blog(Ally's Caring for Dogs Diary) I try to publish at least 1 post a day or at least every other day, depending upon the material available.

So, rather than leave this blog and the subscribed readers in limbo, wondering if there will be (yet another) hiatus in writing, I am openly inviting you to click off over to the Care for Dogs site and catch up with my writing there.

If you are receiving this in your email because you are one of the 150+ subscribers to this blog - google group, then please note that I am going to be cheeky and presumptuous by inviting you directly from Care for Dogs, to join their mailing list which I administer too.

Your email address will remain confidential between you and me and you are welcome to unsubscribe at any time without causing any offense.

**Please be on the lookout for an email arriving shortly in your in-box from Feedblitz mailing on behalf of Care for Dogs**

18 August 2008

Care for Dogs - Google where we help

Google kindly provides a wonderful service to internet users in the form of a mapping tool.

Care for Dogs help dogs on the streets and in temples at various locations around Chiang Mai. To give you an idea of how diverse the coverage is, some of the locations are listed and pin pointed on the map below.

You are able to navigate inside the embedded map below or enlarge the map by clicking the link at the bottom and seeing all the locations listed there too.


View Larger Map

If you live in Chiang Mai, why not use this map to find Carrefour on the Super Highway and join us on 31 August at the Care for Dogs Adoption Fair

14 August 2008

Can you help to sponsor Tim's tumor treatment ?

Tim


This is Tim upon arriving at the Care for Dogs shelter. Tim is not a Bull Terrier with a bit a deformed nose. He’s a lovely normal Thai dog, who had a perfectly normal nose, until he developed a TvT tumor (Transmissible Venereal Tumor) about 2 years ago.

His original Thai name is “Tingk” which means “Dumped”. He lives in an area behind the shopping centre Big C and the people there called him “Tingk” because his owner had left him behind – and like so many dogs he ended up living on the street. We thought no living being should have the name “Dumped” and therefore changed his name to “Tim”.

Neighbors fed Tim, but nobody took him to the vet to have his growing nose tumor checked. Blood dripped out of his nose and Tim had more and more difficulties to breathe. Finally the neighbors called us and so we picked up Tim and brought him to the shelter.

Luckily, TvT is the only tumor that has a 100% cure rate, if treated. As the tumor is transferred by mating (and licking, dripping, sniffing etc), it spreads easily, and we regularly pick up dogs with this condition.

On average we have approx. 4-5 dogs for TvT-treatment at our shelter, at the moment we are on a new high of 8 dogs. Once a week all these dogs get their chemotherapy injection from our vet, during a period of 4 – 8 weeks. It is amazing to see how the tumors shrink every week. Next time we’ll show you how much Tims tumor has already started to shrink. His breathing has become easier and we are confident in a few weeks the treatment will be finished.























DiagnosisTreatmentDurationWeekly CostTotal Costs
-Full time boarding (Feeding, rent, maintenance of shelter, vacc. etc.)Until Adoption200 Baht per week800 Baht per month
TvT-tumorWeekly chemotherapy injections with Vincristine6 - 8 weeks-1,500 Baht


Would you like to sponsor Tims stay and treatment? You could either visit the donations page on this site or contact us directly for more information. If you are interested in adopting Tim after his recovery, please also get in touch with us and in any case, follow his progress on the website - www.carefordogs.org

These photos were taken 11 July 2008.

6 August 2008

Please help the dogs of Phuket - sign the petition

Phuket, a paradise on earth, the pearl of the Andaman Sea, a tropical paradise,

Not for those dogs who live here on the streets and beaches of Phuket, in a new local government sanctioned operation, dogs that are deemed to be stray are being darted and tranquilized by untrained garbage disposal employees and then dumped in the back of a garbage truck to be driven around in the heat of the sun until the end of the day when they are then taken to the Government Dog Pound at Mid Road, many do not make it and most die from tranquilizer overdose or from heat.

Read the full details here and please consider signing the petition to stop this.

2 August 2008

Max lives to tell a tale - He will not be eaten today

Care for Dogs receives some amazing calls from people in & around Chiang Mai and today we received just one of those.

Wat Suan Dok is a famous temple which is quite a busy place because of the number of monks coming & going to studies and people attending various courses there too.

We have previously been involved with some of the dogs here, for sterilisation, treating their Mange and also finding homes for puppies born there, getting them adopted out of the temple life.

It transpires that 3 days ago, some people came to the temple to take dogs away and either sell or eat them themselves. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, people wanted to catch dogs in order to eat them. Apparently black coated dogs are considered more appealing and if the people who catch them do not eat them, then they are able to sell the dog for consumption at a few places, therefore giving them an income.

On this occasion they targeted Max, who is an aged black Labrador look-a-like and they beat him with a stick but people in the vicinity who work in the offices at the temple, stopped the raiders taking Max away.

Since then, Max has hardly moved from the front door of the offices and when he did move, it was obvious he was in tremendous pain, keeping his left front leg raised at all times and hopping on 3 legs. After a couple of days, the staff there decided to call Care for Dogs to take him to a place of safety and hopefully deal with the injured leg.

We were greeted at the temple by Kh Supatra who is another one of those wonderful people we come across in our work, that not only has many dogs of her own but also looks after several dogs on the streets near her home. This lady has 8 of her own & looks after another 13 on the street, making sure that they get at least one meal a day.

Max - scared and in pain


We found Max tucked underneath a large wooden Sala, used by the monks to shade from the sun. Max gave us a knowing look and it wasn't long before he was up and away on his 3 legs to a wide open space away from any corner.

Eventually we managed to sedate him with a blow dart and take him to the veterinarian for assessment and hopefully treatment. The X-ray immediately highlighted Max's pain and predicament. His radius had been completely dislocated from the humerus. In human terms this would be the same as the forearm dislocating at the elbow from the upper arm.

After much discussion about the correct approach to Max's treatment, it was decided to operate and pin the 2 bones in place and then with some timely physiotherapy, perhaps he will be able to use the leg again.

Tomorrow we will collect him from the surgery and keep him for his aftercare at the shelter in Hang Dong and do what we can to repair this guys trust in humans at the same time.

Here are a couple of photos taken of Max a year ago, looking a little more confident and happy with his temple life.




Below is a slide show of photo's taken at the temple a year ago.




View Larger Map

1 August 2008

Canine Pyoderma



Tdik went to the vet today from Wat Pha Gee.

His swollen feet and legs, which were giving him problems walking, were actually bleeding as were his gums. He has a very short coat but with the sores all over his body it looks as though he is losing his hair.

Petrified as I picked him up to put him on the back of the truck, he literally froze in my arms.

At the veterinarian practice, a short ride away, the vet took blood and skin samples and proved that he did not have Mange or Heartworm. She did however, diagnose his condition as a chronic case of Pyoderma. She showed me the evidence on his body.

When I researched this on the net, the following all matched with her diagnosis.

Visit this site www.medi-vet.com for the full story about the condition:

Canine Pyoderma(Bacterial Folliculitis)

Bacterial folliculitis is the most common type of bacterial skin infection in the dog. The Staphylococcus intermedius bacteria, which is a normal resident bacteria of canine skin, can cause infection of the skin in some dogs. Current theories indicate that most dogs who develop the infection, particularly recurrent infections, have an underlying abnormality of their metabolic or immune systems. This form of pyoderma is a frequent complication of allergies, skin parasites (mites, fleas) and endocrine diseases, like hypothyroidism. An idiopathic primary bacterial folliculitis is also seen in short-haired dogs.

Located within the hair follicle, this bacterial infection causes:

  • Inflammation in and around the hair follicle

  • Itching in some cases

  • Hair loss in many cases

The clinical signs of bacterial folliculitis can be quite variable and may include:

  • Pustules
  • Papules (pink or red swelling on skin), heat and crusts

  • Erythema (redness)

  • Alopecia (hair loss)

  • Hyperpigmentation (darkening of the skin)

  • Some dogs develop large circular area of hair loss with crusting or scaling around the border

  • Superficial erosion

  • Draining tracts

  • Pain or discomfort

  • Surface pyodermas


So the veterinarian and staff, flushed out some of the abscesses and dressed the wounds and I took him back to the Care for Dogs shelter for a week or R & R along with regular food and the administering of the prescribed anti inflammatory - Prednisone and Antibiotic - Cephalexin, as well as getting his wounds re-dressed daily.



I will write an update next week, after he returns to the vet, hopefully ready for his return to the temple.

Incidentally, on the way to the shelter, I popped into the temple to tell the monk there what was happening. He was so please Tdik was receiving treatment and they exchanged caresses before I went off to the shelter.

You can read more about Tdik here ...

30 July 2008

RSPCA - UK - Cruelty on the rise

Rise in dog cruelty convictions

Staffordshire bull terrier Saffron
A London couple cut the ears off this dog to make it look more macho

Convictions for cruelty against dogs rose by more than a third last year, the RSPCA has said.

A Staffordshire bull terrier whose owners cut its ears off to make it look more macho is included in the charity's annual cruelty report.

It highlights a 12% increase in all RSPCA cruelty investigations leading to 1,149 convictions.

But new powers introduced in 2007 mean the increase may not represent higher levels of actual cruelty.

Tim Wass, chief officer of the RSPCA Inspectorate, said dogs had always borne the brunt of animal cruelty.

"That's what makes this year's horrendous 34% increase even more shocking: it's a massive increase on an already high figure," he said.

One case highlighted in the report was the 2007 conviction of Abishai Hayes, 22, of Holloway, north London, who admitted torturing his 10-month-old dog.

Full story here ...


29 July 2008

More evidence of human failing


This story from Santa Cruz - USA. Appalling!

38 emaciated dogs taken from house with severed head hanging from tree
By Linda Goldston
Mercury News
Article Launched: 07/28/2008 02:01:50 PM PDT


After a neighbor reported he could hear "animals crying in pain," Santa Cruz County authorities searched the property of a Boulder Creek man Saturday, finding a dog's head hanging from a tree, five dog skulls sitting on a table and 38 severely emaciated live animals.

Inside the house, animal control and sheriff's department investigators found one dog locked in a crate with no food or water and a dog that weighed only half what it should have.

The house "was covered in excrement, urine and debris," said Todd Stosuy, animal control manager. "It was a very disturbing and shocking situation."

Investigators first met with the man on Friday, and he "was under the assumption his animals were being well cared for," Stosuy said. He said the owner of the dogs fled out the back of the house when officers arrived with search warrants Saturday.


Read the full story here ...

16 July 2008

Dogs in the UK, struggling to find homes

A disturbing indication of human intolerance. This story from BBCNEWS. Read the full story here

Struggling to find a dog's house
Dog
The Dogs Trust suggests getting a dog reference from previous landlords

Landlords are in the dog-house with a charity which claims that three in four do not allow pets into properties.

Growing demand for rented homes has led to a rise in the numbers of pets being abandoned or handed over to charities to re-home, said the Dogs Trust.

The charity wants landlords to be more open to allowing tenants to keep dogs.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) said it was "broadly supportive" of the Trust but it would struggle to change attitudes.

"Pet owners who need to rent privately are being forced to live in unsuitable properties, or rent with their pets without consent from their landlord," said Dogs Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin.

8 July 2008

Care for Dogs new web site launch

Hi everyone, this new site that Care for Dogs have developed is going to be a joy to read.

The current content of the site makes great reading but in due time, volunteers will be posting their own blog posts to that site and enable the day to day stories to come out and let people know what it's like to help dogs.



The site is currently under wraps but will be launched on 1 August 2008.

That's better - I needed a break



It's been 7 months since I have posted to this blog but I can assure you that I am far from finished in my en devours to make a difference to dogs and help Care for Dogs become more widely known, for the tremendous work they have done for 2 years now & will continue to do so into the brighter future.

I say brighter, as after a few visits recently to the shelter in Hang Dong, the atmosphere is one of hope, direction and positive improvement. The residents (in the region of 80) are well cared for in the newly developed and refurbished areas, with an amazingly practical entrance area in place too.


Most of the faces I saw at the shelter last year have now moved on but there were just a couple of familiar grinning muzzles to be found. ET was there, along with Emma & Kachou Daeng, Sonja, Nak, Paul, to name but a few.

Sadly, Sonja & Nak are back in the shelter only quite recently, due to evidence of ill treatment at Wat Doi Kam, with Nak being slashed with a machete and her brother Nik disappearing.

There are a lot of sad stories arising in the intervening months that may never be told but many, many more happy tales, that create that balance of caring for animals living on the edge of society, who are often at risk of harm but somehow manage to survive. The reward from the stories of those who are rescued by Care for Dogs and find new life and new homes with love and friendship make it all worthwhile.

Having blogged here for the year I was previously active with Care for Dogs, I seem to have found a medium in which I can help the Cfd team announce to the world their achievements, share their grief with like hearted souls and bring the world to the shelter through regular personal updates. Unbeknown to me, as I was not active with Cfd at the time, the team recently decided to pursue the idea of revamping the website ( www.carefordogs.org ) and secondly, consider the regular publication across the internet of a "Newsletter". All brilliant stuff but who would have the time to do it? Enter Ally! Well... how could I resist the opportunity.

So, the reason for this post to the allycfd.blog is to say that "I AM BACK!", feels like I never really left. I will be working with Karin & the growing team of volunteers to bring you a new view of CareforDogs.org and try if I can to put a newsletter together and maybe if you are reading this then you may wish to join that mailing list (available soon) through the new site.

The new site - It will have blog inputs from the whole team, along with the usual pages of information, so the view the world can see of Cfd will be lively & dynamic. When it is up & running I will let you know through this circulation listing.

Regarding the listing you are subscribed to here, if you are content with receiving occasional email about my diary then you need to do nothing. If you wish to unsubscribe, then please respond accordingly.

Great to be writing again and I hope readers of this post are keeping happy and healthy.

Ally
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