Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday Boy Died This Morning
The dog delivered yesterday sadly had to be euthanized this morning. Mom and Dad borrowed a car and got him to a vet. He did have distemper and was in the final stages. He was completely paralysed. His heart stopped with just the anesthetic, although he was given the euthanizing drug too just to make sure. The vet said there was nothing else we could do. He was close to death anyway. If, we had managed to get him to a vet yesterday then the outcome would have been the same. Me Mom and Dad are all very upset. He was only three or four months old still had some baby teeth. He lived a horrible short life here in this world. Mom says at the rainbow bridge all dogs are happy and cared for. There is no hunger, pain, or abuse there. He was named by the people on Facebook, so that he had a name when he crossed over. Dad stayed up until 2.30 am talking to him. He explained that he would have a better life somewhere else. He then slipped into what seemed to be a coma and never opened his eyes again. The vet said to mom that even if by some miracle he survived then he would be totally paralysed for the rest of his life and not even able to lift his head. We are so sad for him and all the others out there. Mom will be a property charity soon and she says she will be able to help more. RIP Friday Boy.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Dog arrived at door dying
Well today has been a real bad day for mom and dad. Dad tried to go to Teresopolis to get more of the temporary kennels as he can't build kennels in the pouring rain. He had to turn back because the clutch on the car wouldn't permit him to climb the mountain. Later on two guys mom and dad know from the tyre shop here came with a little dog which they said was poisoned in a card board box. He was in a real bad way. Warning graphic video coming.
We gave him medication for poisoning but we are beginning to think he has distemper. He has all the symptoms. He doesn't look like he will make the night. Normally mom and dad don't film this but because they we are making the transition to charity status then the world should see what they deal with regularly. We will let you know if he survives and if he survives with severe neuro damage, That is why we have to fund raise and march on to stop this. The dog is so thin and mal nourished. If he was poisoned then he was this thin before. If he has distemper it's because he was born in the streets and never got vaccinated or had a negligent owner. There are many of those here. Either way his suffering is intolerable. We don't have any choice we have to try and save him. Mom has many of these problems brought to our door. The car clutch went today. All vet's are closed except for one 40 miles away. Car won't make it, We are fund raising tonight to see if we can get him to a vets tomorrow if he survives the night. Pray for him he is really, really sick.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Article about us
http://digitaljournal.com/article/316866#tab=comments&sc= Here is an article and interview published today.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Merry Christmas
A Merry Christmas and a BIG thank you to all of you that have followed and supported us. We probably would have seen a tragedy here if it hadn't been for all of you. We save dogs because you help us to do it. We could not of continued without you all. Merry Christmas to everyone and let's hope 2012 is better than the worst year of our lives so far. Glad 2011 is nearly over. We will be going ahead with our charity status process and thank everyone that has helped with that. We will be saving more animals and entering into the world of registered charities. It's going to be a good year for street dogs.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Topi's Home for Christmas. (From Blog)
Here is Topi's first walk around the garden on his own. He was quite bewildered by it all and a bit frightened. He kept his tail between his legs and continue to stop now and then to spin around. He always spins anti clockwise. He has some sort of defect walking and a very strange gait. It comes and goes like the spinning. When he saw some meat to eat (probably for the first time in his life) he spun round faster. He seems very introverted and lost in his own little world. He shows no response to affection at all, or when mom and dad call him. If, he is spinning he pays no attention to anything else. During eating he stops to spin too. If, he isn't spinning and you call him loudly he will momentarily focus on the person calling. We are hoping he will get better so he can play and be a normal dog at least some of the time. He hasn't cried or barked like we all do. He was much more confident on a leash and walked in a straight line.
Nicki is on medication for a problem she has. She was producing milk even though she cannot be expecting pups. We were all secretly hoping she was because we could play with them. Mom says it's impossible and she has to now take medication to stop this. A lump was found in her breast, the vet told mom to give her the medication and then see if it is still there. Then they will decide what to do. Mom is still campaigning for the funds to get our place set up as a registered charity, so she can help more of us. It's going quite well and they are about half way there with two weeks to go. If you want to help then Mom says click on Daisy. She is the little scruffy white dog rescued last August. We want to say a big Thank You to everybody who has helped us survive nearly a year in Brazil. All your suppport and donations kept us all going. It has been a tough year for mom and dad, however, many dog lovers stepped forward and refused to let us starve, or mom and dad. Thank you everyone.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Topi the Spinning Dog
We are collecting Topi the spinning dog on Saturday. We can't think of him spending Christmas without us. We will probably be making the huge move during the first week of January. Christmas is on top of us now and everything stops for Christmas. The doctor buying our house from the bank has problems and hasn't completed yet. The constant rain has impeded our kennel building. So we are going to get him we just can't wait any longer, nor can he. We are still calling for donationations for our charity status which will change a lot of things here. Every donation is worth double at the moment due to an Angel who wants to help us get there. So click on Daisy's photo to the left and any amount will be doubled until January 4th. Help us to save more because that is what we really want to do. We thank you all for your love and support. We survived nearly a year in Brazil only because of you.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Becoming A Registered Charity
Daisy was rescued by us. If you want to help get us charity status then click on Daisy.
We have some good news! We have an anonymous donor who will match every donation dollar for dollar up to $1000, in order for us to get our charity status. We are so close to completion of this process. We are asking everyone to give the animals this gift for Christmas. This would benefit so many. We won't stop until we realise this dream and are in a position to help many more, to educate people here about animal care, to change the lives of the forgotten, roaming the streets alone and ill. Please lets make this happen and make a difference here. Even if it's only $5 it will be worth $10. We have created a chip in specifically for this. It's just to the left. Any donations towards this will be making a major change to the future of animals in this region. These will be donations that lay the foundations of something lasting and change the future of so many forlorn, hungry, abandoned animals. Let's go forward for 2012 as a proper charity.
We have some good news! We have an anonymous donor who will match every donation dollar for dollar up to $1000, in order for us to get our charity status. We are so close to completion of this process. We are asking everyone to give the animals this gift for Christmas. This would benefit so many. We won't stop until we realise this dream and are in a position to help many more, to educate people here about animal care, to change the lives of the forgotten, roaming the streets alone and ill. Please lets make this happen and make a difference here. Even if it's only $5 it will be worth $10. We have created a chip in specifically for this. It's just to the left. Any donations towards this will be making a major change to the future of animals in this region. These will be donations that lay the foundations of something lasting and change the future of so many forlorn, hungry, abandoned animals. Let's go forward for 2012 as a proper charity.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Dinner for 18! (From Blog)
Have you ever wondered what making our dinner is like? Or what we eat. Well! Mom decided to let me write about my favourite thing today-FOOD. Well here we go first all the bowls are laid out in a set order. With the dogs bowls grouped in kennel groups.
Then some meat and veg.
Then Mom Mixes it all up for us and it finally looks like this. Yummy.
Tasha helps Mom because she is out during this preparation time. So is Mini.
Here is Tasha doing her bit keeping Mom company.
Then first in goes our ration. Some of us here eat our eat our ration seperately because we don't like it soggy. Then in goes the rice.
Then Mom Mixes it all up for us and it finally looks like this. Yummy.
Tasha helps Mom because she is out during this preparation time. So is Mini.
If Mom is alone then heating all the food and preparation and serving takes her around and hour sometimes an hour and a half, if she cooks greens for us too. We sometimes get cabbage and other greens. We don't like them very much.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Christmas is Coming
Well Christmas is coming. Mom's going crazy with cardboard boxes still. Sarah who painted Harry for mom has made a poster for mom too!
We also got our first postcard from a good friend that has helped and supported us since before the floods.
It has pictures of all of her anipals! Mom liked it a lot. Nobody quite knows when we will be going. The doctor buying here still hasn't completed the purchase and it's raining so hard that Dad can't go and build our kennels. So, Mom just continues packing like a robot every day. Guga is better again after a course of antibiotics. Mom wories a lot about the old guy because he is so old. We all have fleas at the moment and Mom is frantically trying to find an affordable solution. Seems the pesky little fleas have developed a resistance to the flea medicine she had been using for years. So, we are all itchy. She is trying a cedar oil recipe today that is supposed to work. She bought a product called SpotOn this had no effect whatsoever and then she tried a medication based on Cipermetrin and that didn't work either. Then she had to buy Advocate, which costs four times more here than in the US. She just bought two one for Freddy and one for Gracie because they have flea allergies. That one does work but is far too expensive for Mom to put on all of us every month. So the flea battle goes on......
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Lil White Pup All Grown Up!
Remember this lilttle pup? She was one of the three found in the river on a rock. She was donated at the adoption event and then rejected by the new owners who thought she had mange. Mom knew she didn't. She just had a few thin hair spots where the ticks, lice and fleas had been irritating her before they treated her. She was then taken by mom and dad's friend to a vet and tested for mange, which proved negative. She has been in her new home several weeks and everybody loves her. The lady that has her is a volunteer in Teresopolis as well, although she lives in Rio. She has two other dogs from the disaster last January. They are all getting on well. Dad visited her in the lady's weekend house in Teresopolis.
She has grown a lot since this picture here in mom and dad's dog kitchen. The created chaos here for a few weeks and we all wanted to meet them and play. They screamed for there food every few hours and peed all over. We all laughed at lot. They even peed on Dad's leg. Here she is now.
Her ears grew an awful lot! She has bigger ears than me! This is a sign of beauty in the dog world!
Her name is now Lara and we all think she is incredibly beautiful.
She remembered Dad and this time she didn't pee on him. Her nose went blacker like the other pup as she got older. Her ears came up. The used to be floppy little ears. Mom and Dad were very happy to know she is going to have a good life and be loved. She played a lot with Dad during the visit. They still have to find out about the little puppy who had the heart shaped blotch on her nose. They know she is okay but haven't got any pics yet. Meanwhile Mom is putting everything in boxes and says we have to move. We aren't looking forward to that. Apparently we all going to have to travel in a truck or something like that.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The lil Black Pup
A while back Mom and Dad found three puppies left on a rock in the river to die. They rescued them and then took them to an adoption event where they all got adopted. The Lil black pup's adoption was quite something because the young lady who wanted to adopt her had to convince her parents to let her have the dog. She was very determined and spoke for half an hour on the phone. She cried as well.
All through the telephone call she would not let go of the pup.
She is still crying here.
Then suddenly Mom and Dad agreed and a huge smile broke over her face.
We wondered how they got on and finally got the good news that Moa, which is now the pups name, is happy and loved. She has grown up a lot. Here are some recent pictures of her. Her new owner says she has brought the whole family closer together and they all love the dog.
So Moa is happy and that makes us all happy here.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Harry's Painting
Mom met an artist on Twitter who wanted to help us here. Her name is Sarah Dowson. She decided that if anyone commissions a painting she would give half the proceeds as a donation to us here. Mom was really touched and went off to the internet to check Sarah's website and see her paintings of animals. Mom was so surprised because this lady is a real artist with so much talent for painting cats and dogs. You should all check out her website and see the wonderful pet portraits. http://www.sarahspetportraits.com/ also a blogsite http://sarahdowson.blogspot.com/ and facebook if you are on it http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarahs-Pet-Portraits/116397308455304
Best of all because mom was a bit upset at having to leave Harry here. He is dead and buried here. Sarah offered to do a portrait of one of us. Mom chose Harry because he was their first rescue dog. He was the beginning of something very special and the reason we are here. Also the reason why poor mom and dad lost their house because we cost a lot to maintain. Mom and Dad love us though. They would give everything just to continue the rescue work and save lots more of us. Anyway Mom told me to put the picture Sarah sent us on the blog for you all to see how great it came out.
Sarah managed to capture his expression exactly. Mom really loves this and will treasure it for ever. Now she has a spectacular momento of Harry. Thank you Sarah for making my mom happy.
Meanwhile the cat family in the shed are growing up. Three little black kittens and Mom. Here mom and dad are fretting about the move, which has already been held up because the fence wire the doctor is buying hasn't been delivered. He wanted mom and dad to leave all the fence wire behind because he has a lot of dogs too. Mom and dad said they had to take it because they need it, so he said rather than him build new kennels he would get new fence wire and support posts for our new kennels. Mom and Dad can't move until our kennels are ready. They have put a new system for donations here and on facebook. It's all in English so should be a lot easier for everyone who wants to help us. OkGo are playing in Rio this week. They tweeted for us during the disaster. Mom invited them up here but she doesn't think they will come. She will be extremely socked if they do turn up and so would all of us.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday
Today is yet another holiday in Brazil. The day of the Republic! Yesterday mom and dad went to the garden shed which is jam packed with mainly junk and started planning what they would take when they moved. They started to move things around and were confronted by a very angry femail cat who was growling at them. Mom was afraid it was going to attack her. It seems to be a feral cat only mom's not sure. The cat left the shed via the window and then mom and dad heard the faint cries of her kittens. Three of them all snuggled under some wood. They are jet black and the mom is brown. So we guess the father must have been black. Mom and Dad must clear the shed in the next two weeks to move and can't leave them there. the new owner of moms house has many dogs and intends to let them run free there. Mom had this part of the garden seperate. They now have to catch the mom and the three kittens and take them to a cat rescuer because the kittens need their mother's milk.
Those hanging pupae are some type of moth. As you can see the garden shed is not the most organised environment. Whilst mom took photo the other two were hiding under a bookshelf that is no longer used.
Please vote for us in the dream competition. Let's all hope the non profit status can go ahead and that mom and dad can rescue many more animals in the long term. Meanwhile we are campaigning to raise money for the huge expense of moving all of us to our new home. Wonder what we find there?
Those hanging pupae are some type of moth. As you can see the garden shed is not the most organised environment. Whilst mom took photo the other two were hiding under a bookshelf that is no longer used.
Please vote for us in the dream competition. Let's all hope the non profit status can go ahead and that mom and dad can rescue many more animals in the long term. Meanwhile we are campaigning to raise money for the huge expense of moving all of us to our new home. Wonder what we find there?
Dream Competition
One of our friends has entered us into a competition in Australia. Please vote and help spread the word so we can continue our rescue efforts. http://sunsuperdreams.com.au/dream/view/helping-jan-save-dogs-in-brazil-after-the-floods it only takes a moment to vote and could make a big difference. Thank you everybody for your support and compassion. We could never of made it without you.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Moving
We just had the removal company round to assess how many trips we will need and the say they are going to try for three trips but it will be tight. We have 120 metres of fence wire that is 1m 80cm high. 60 treated ucalyptus support posts, 2 fridges, one for us one for dogs, Two ovens one for us one for dogs, Large catering pans, dog houses, our furniture, over 1000 books, an endless list of boxes of this and that. We have a gas water heater that is large, our baked potatoe oven which weighs 70 kilos. We have two large gas cylinders and four small ones. All these are used for different reasons and expensive to buy again. We have two large tables one for dishing up dog food and one for us. I have cupboards full of dog bedding and towels for them. There sponge beds as well. Just medication for dogs a whole box full filling two cabinets. Hose pipes and buckets for kennel cleaning. Brooms etc. Tools for building kennels and repairing kennels. It's frightening! Also how we are going to finance this is frightening. We are scheduled to move around the 27th of this month. We will be experiencing Christmas in the new home. Hope we manage to organize ourselves by then.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
This week
We have just spent four and a half days without Internet or telephone, so only now can we blog. First news is last Friday Mom and Dad finally found some where to live in Nova Friburgo. The doctor will be taking over our home at the end of the month, so they have to move quick. The house is simple and has enough land around it to support the our needs. They will have to fence an area for us to play as there is not a wall around the property. Mom is going to try and raise funds to get us on our way and has managed with one donation to put the required deposit down to secure the house. Here is a picture of it. Mom is happy to have found somewhere,but sad to lose her home. Still! it had to come sometime and the eleven month wait to sell the home ate up all the equity. So, poor mom and dad got nothing out of it. Mom says she got to save her babies, so she isn't crying. We are all going to the new place too. We will have small temporary kennels until they can sort something out for us.
It will be a lot colder there as it is a lot higher up at around 3300 feet above sea level. Mom has to somehow get eight wooden dog houses for us. She has five,but the rest of us have brick built in houses or sleep in the house. It will take two trips to move us. First trip with furniture and our stuff then a second with us all. It will be quite an operation. Please, if anyone can help Mom and Dad with the huge cost of removals then they would be very grateful and so would we otherwisw we won't be moving far.
The second piece of news is that the film about the disaster shelter opened by Mom and Dad's good friends in Teresopolis has won first prize. Bebete who opened the shelter as a response to the terrible natural disaster all around this region is very happy and Flavia who made the film is also very happy. They said Nicki appeared in the film more than any other dog and Dad is in many parts of the 70 minute film about Estimacao (the non profit). They called mom and dad from Curitiba where the first public showing of the film was and said it was really emotional. They all cried and so would mom if she had been able to go and see it. It will be shown in Rio next then Manaus and some other places. Mom will see it in Rio. Apparently the number of animal rescues achieved by Estimacao and with us helping almost daily is the largest number of any rescues for any one group during a disaster. We are all very proud and emotional about it. We thought and talked a lot about it at the weekend. Mom has hundreds and hundreds of photos of what happened and what we all did to help in Teresopolis. There were some very emotional and sad moments and some very happy ones. Bebete, Flavia, and all of us now have become inextricably linked due to this disaster. When you go through something like this you aways remember your comrades,or so mom says. So, the film will eventually have sub titles and go out to the English speaking world. Maybe it will be famous who knows? Winning the award in Curitiba was a real good sign.
As soon as Mom, Dad and us are settled and unpacked Mom says she will collect the Spinning dog and bring him to his new home and see if they can help him. She has told us all to be nice to him because he has special problems.
Mom and Dad are hoping to be able to complete their own registration for a registered charity very soon now. Somebody has promised to pay for this so that we can continue being a shelter and helping special dogs with special needs. The have ambitions to grow and one day run a spay and neuter programme and vaccination programmes too. Their statute would allow them to rescue wild life too. Mom and Dad missed a beautiful opportunity last week. Their friend who is a biologist in the National park rescued a jaguar with a wounded leg. He shot the animal with a dart to tranquilise it and then treated the animals leg. He invited Mom and Dad to go and watch it being released back into the wild. They couldn't go and were very disappointed about that.
We are hoping to go in front from now on especially once we get charity status. We want to make a difference to the terrible suffering of street animals here and around here. Only time will tell.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Blogging
We haven't been blogging much lately we are way too caught up with serious problems but hope to be back soon.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Spinning Dog
Here is the spinning dog. Still waiting for Mom and Dad to be able to sort out their lives. He is circling all the time now and Mom and Dad would love to give him a home. They can't because they can't even find a home for themselves. There are so far no cheaper properties to rent at all. The people who all lost their homes in the disaster have rented evrything in that bracket. There are many cheap houses for sale for as little as $20,000 a small shack can be bought with enough land for all of us rescue dogs here. It seems so little to solve the problems here. If we had $1000 per dog then we would have a home for life for them. Mom keeps trying but it is getting very difficult to survive like this and she is extremely stressed and thin. Dad just walks around wearing a very worried face. We all know something is up. They are going forward with the charity status but it will take a couple of months probably to sort out. Dad visited him yesterday and tookhim for a walk. On he leash he walked perfectly. He always spins in the same direction. Jessie had similar neurological problems and did recover. He may not recover but may improve with constant therapy. Mom just wants to bring him home and give him a hug.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Another Foreigner's take on Life in Brazil.
Posting this today because we read it a while back on http://jillinbrazil2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/life-of-street-dog.html It' s called The Life of a Street Dog. We thought it was an excellent post so here it is
Life of a Street Dog
Having one of those days... I have 25 glorious days a month here and then there are the 5 that really suck. These are the days where I know I am living in a foreign country and I am the Foreigner.
Last night my dog escaped from my house, she put her nose down and followed it far away from home. There is so much shit and garbage to smell in the streets here... when she comes home I know after this adventure she will be happy to have her little boring life behind bars with tons of people food at her disposal, short walks on the leash and blankets to sleep on. The life of a Street Dog in Brasil is not one to be envious about.
I know Bhellie is a smart dog and I know she is out there trying to get home. Not only is she probably hungry but she is also now fighting with the other dogs as they are very territorial. Dogs here work the streets just as people have specific corners or streets where they pander for money or “watch your cars”. Dogs here work hard every day to find food and they are infested with fleas, weathered and scarred. They are hit by cars and most of them always seem scared of everything. I was a Veterinarian Technician and the problem with dogs in the street is so large that I do nothing… I do not get involved and I am sure for the safety of my children this is the best thing but how does that really make me feel inside knowing that my job is to just forget that it exists. I can’t feed them from my door because that too will become a problem.
We have been driving around looking for Bhellie and hanging flyers in BRASIL. Let’s just say that I am not in the best of spirits because I am missing my dog and because of this I am sure this is why I am feeling like saying this next bit. BUT... while driving around I realize that I am living in the dumps, some areas around where I live have kids selling crack on the street, trash is everywhere and I keep thinking that even Bhellie wouldn't like these smells. I realize that life is hard here; it is not even easy for the people who have enough money to get out of poverty and to provide more for their children. Those kids go to school full time and then work the rest of the day for a better life because they know what they will have if they don’t, they see that life every day.
The lack of education in these areas it so profound it becomes scary and it is so unreal to think that being educated is something new; only a generation of people away & for many, they still won’t get educated in their lifetime. The minimum wage of someone working in Brasil is $540 real a month. This is $337 in U.S dollars. The cost of products in Brasil is more expensive, going out to eat is about the same as in the U.S. and the prices of Groceries are about the same or higher. No wonder why we have shipped all of our jobs overseas. We sell the products to Americans and then take the U.S. dollar and exchange it to pay foreign workers. I don’t mean to get off on another tangent but this fact seemed appropriate now.
Brazilians are proud, they have a good time, they laugh, they cry together and they are good people. More and more I understand why there families are so strong. People who want something more work very hard and do it with pride. People who are less fortunate have a life on the street and struggle to have their basic needs in life fulfilled. I saw people on crack... I said “people”; Neighborhoods of people. In my life I had only seen one here and there or heard stories... these last few days of driving around looking for my dog have been so eye opening for me because there is no escaping the reality of where I live.
For those Brazilians who are offended by what I am saying... I am not talking about you and I will speak my truth. I am talking about people who live 3 streets away and struggle every day for food and whom struggle every day for money and for a clean place to sleep if that even mattered anymore to them. I am talking about the people who do not have a choice of where they can send their kids to school and the kids who may never have a choice. It is a tough world out there and maybe not as tough for the people who have grown up in this manner for generations but when you are from a place where you have 3 styles of everything in 15 different colors it will open your eyes and change you. I can’t even begin to imagine myself in a life like what I saw today and I can’t imagine that for my children.
Maybe I sound too Naïve, but maybe I am. I will thank God every day for the life I have been given and spend the rest of my life trying to make it better for someone else.
If you are reading this… remember sometimes people can’t choose where they are in life and when you run into someone from another country or someone who is different from you, be patient with them and learn something new.
And for my dog, who has taught me another valuable lesson, please come home. We miss you.
Life of a Street Dog
Having one of those days... I have 25 glorious days a month here and then there are the 5 that really suck. These are the days where I know I am living in a foreign country and I am the Foreigner.
Last night my dog escaped from my house, she put her nose down and followed it far away from home. There is so much shit and garbage to smell in the streets here... when she comes home I know after this adventure she will be happy to have her little boring life behind bars with tons of people food at her disposal, short walks on the leash and blankets to sleep on. The life of a Street Dog in Brasil is not one to be envious about.
I know Bhellie is a smart dog and I know she is out there trying to get home. Not only is she probably hungry but she is also now fighting with the other dogs as they are very territorial. Dogs here work the streets just as people have specific corners or streets where they pander for money or “watch your cars”. Dogs here work hard every day to find food and they are infested with fleas, weathered and scarred. They are hit by cars and most of them always seem scared of everything. I was a Veterinarian Technician and the problem with dogs in the street is so large that I do nothing… I do not get involved and I am sure for the safety of my children this is the best thing but how does that really make me feel inside knowing that my job is to just forget that it exists. I can’t feed them from my door because that too will become a problem.
We have been driving around looking for Bhellie and hanging flyers in BRASIL. Let’s just say that I am not in the best of spirits because I am missing my dog and because of this I am sure this is why I am feeling like saying this next bit. BUT... while driving around I realize that I am living in the dumps, some areas around where I live have kids selling crack on the street, trash is everywhere and I keep thinking that even Bhellie wouldn't like these smells. I realize that life is hard here; it is not even easy for the people who have enough money to get out of poverty and to provide more for their children. Those kids go to school full time and then work the rest of the day for a better life because they know what they will have if they don’t, they see that life every day.
The lack of education in these areas it so profound it becomes scary and it is so unreal to think that being educated is something new; only a generation of people away & for many, they still won’t get educated in their lifetime. The minimum wage of someone working in Brasil is $540 real a month. This is $337 in U.S dollars. The cost of products in Brasil is more expensive, going out to eat is about the same as in the U.S. and the prices of Groceries are about the same or higher. No wonder why we have shipped all of our jobs overseas. We sell the products to Americans and then take the U.S. dollar and exchange it to pay foreign workers. I don’t mean to get off on another tangent but this fact seemed appropriate now.
Brazilians are proud, they have a good time, they laugh, they cry together and they are good people. More and more I understand why there families are so strong. People who want something more work very hard and do it with pride. People who are less fortunate have a life on the street and struggle to have their basic needs in life fulfilled. I saw people on crack... I said “people”; Neighborhoods of people. In my life I had only seen one here and there or heard stories... these last few days of driving around looking for my dog have been so eye opening for me because there is no escaping the reality of where I live.
For those Brazilians who are offended by what I am saying... I am not talking about you and I will speak my truth. I am talking about people who live 3 streets away and struggle every day for food and whom struggle every day for money and for a clean place to sleep if that even mattered anymore to them. I am talking about the people who do not have a choice of where they can send their kids to school and the kids who may never have a choice. It is a tough world out there and maybe not as tough for the people who have grown up in this manner for generations but when you are from a place where you have 3 styles of everything in 15 different colors it will open your eyes and change you. I can’t even begin to imagine myself in a life like what I saw today and I can’t imagine that for my children.
Maybe I sound too Naïve, but maybe I am. I will thank God every day for the life I have been given and spend the rest of my life trying to make it better for someone else.
If you are reading this… remember sometimes people can’t choose where they are in life and when you run into someone from another country or someone who is different from you, be patient with them and learn something new.
And for my dog, who has taught me another valuable lesson, please come home. We miss you.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
This Week
Dad is frantically trying to find somewhere for us all to go. Yesterday he was out and about in Teresopolis looking around and he stopped by to visit the spinning dog. He also passed through the area where Nicki came from. Nothing much has improved there. It is a constant reminder to us all here. Mom still cries every time she sees a picture of it. Dad took these so the world knows just what it is like there nearly nine months later.
Looks like a scene from an earthquake.
People are still living amid the wreckage.
So many lives torn apart.
Others just taken. Maybe this was Nicki's family. Who knows?
Then people say 'Get over it'. Difficult for those that see it daily and suffer the consequences daily.
Or maybe this was Nicki's house?
He felt depressed as he passed through the area. Imagine having to live there. He then saw a friend of ours who is a biologist working in the National park. Here is an Owl he saved. It has one wing virtually torn off because it flew into an iron support post on a building site. It can never go back to the wild.
Here is a monkey. Not sure what was wrong with him. Dad forgot. After seeing the destruction again.
The film made about the disaster featuring mom, dad and Nicki and has shots of them here in what was our home has now been accepted for the film festival in Curitba and in Goiana. So, that was good news. When the sub titles go on hopefully it will be screened in English speaking countries. Dad also visited the spinning dog, which we have pledged to take in and work with as soon as we find somewhere to live. It was dark in the shelter so the film did not come out too well. He was just the same. Poor fellow needs to have a home very soon. Just like us!
Well that is another week here in Brazil!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday
Well we can say with utter and complete honesty that the last nine months have been the worst in Mom and Dad's lives. Since the disaster nothing much has gone right. There have been some terrible days and a huge amount of stress. Some people think Mom is strong well she feeling pretty weak right now. The panic has set in and still they haven't managed to sort the mess they call a life out. Mom and Dad have both lost a lot of weight and aged a lot this year. Mom was always so confident that someone would want to support a rescue. We know many people want to support our work but they needed some sort of stability not living hand to mouth as they have been for months. They never managed to finish the non profit status and time has passed by so quick. The bank will own a new home soon and mom and dad will be somewhere with us in the world. The uncertainty is terrible. Eight months of publicizing all this and not one large charity helped us get off the ground. All the organizations that claim to help dogs out there and not one could even provide food for us here. Simply because we are not a non profit. Mom asked one once, 'When you see a tramp in the street with a dog and both are hungry do you ask him if he is a non profit before you buy him a MacDonalds and if he isn't then you don't help him and also leave his dog hungry'. Of course, she got no reply to this. Not one could get our non profit going and not one would take us under their wing. The world is an ugly place. People would rather give money to charities that euthanize millons of animals per year and many celebs give thousands and thousands to these in good faith but ignorant of the reality of corporate charities. Well mom tried them all. All she is going to do now is find somewhere for us. In times like this mom says you find out who your friends are and some people we have met on the internet are our new family they have helped us survive since january. They cared whether we ate or not, whether we were sick or not, they helped mom to stay strong. Thank God for people like them.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
This is Nicki our flood victim dog. She is fully at home now although this won't be her or mom's home soon. Mom says she will miss it here. Mom has been here ten years and we all ahve a lot of memories here and there are the graves of some of our fellow pack members here too. We have to move on though. Just like Nicki she lost everything once and then was lucky enough to find love. We are hoping to find somewhere suitable. Mom will stay with us no matter what. That is worth more than anything in the world. Nicki is chasing a monkey in this video. Let's hope there are monkeys for us to chase wherever we go. Mom's not had much luck finding anywhere yet and no celebs want to help. So we wait and see what will happen to us all. Daisy is doing real well and very happy. Here she is leaving her kennel for playtime.
She is such a lovely girl and nobody here regrets her rescue even though mom and dad didn't have much conditions to do it. The lil white pup has also gone to a new home in Rio. So that is three more lives saved and you can't beat the warm glow that gives us all here because as they say when you die-- God won't ask what you did for yourself . He will ask what you did for others.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Friday's News
Yesterday we had a call and one of the little pups is coming back. The new mom decided she didn't want to keep her. So, a friend of ours picked her up in Rio and will deliver her to us soon. The new mom thinks she has mange. So, our friend took her to a vet to get her tested and on Tuesday she will be back with us. We originally thought it was the black one, but it wasn't, it's the little white one. They all came with ticks, lice, fleas and worms which were all treated. We think it's just a fur failure where they scratched with all the irritation of the parasites they were carrying. She is going to be tested though just in case. Mom will be happy to see her back because she was the sweetest of them all.
She nows goes for her playtime with Sol and up until now no fights. They aren't playing together yet, but at least they are not showing any aggression. Mom thinks that with time thet will be fur buddies. Now onto other news. Yet another dog dumped yesterday at the bottom of the road. Several people saw him thrown from a car.
This dog, a young male, is just beautiful. He is a bit scruffy and has a slight defect with one paw but other than that he is in reasonable condition physically. Mentally he is lost.
Dad gave him a hug whilst mom took photos and he clung on and tried to follow them. The Guy in the yellow T shirt is the local drunk. There is another street dog by his feet. She is a female in season.
It was heartbreaking to leave him out there alone. He clearly was begging for someone to help him. We asked a few people if they wanted him but nobody did. Mom was very upset because he reminded her of Harry our first rescue dog. He was a pure bred GSD. When Mom passed the river she looked down where the little pups were found and saw only two ducks. Dad asked her if she wanted to rescue them and laughed. Apart from this Mom and Dad have three nasty looking letters from the bank. They have not got the courage to open them. They have been there since yesterday. If we had the space and more resources then Mom and Dad would have kept the dog until the next adoption event and given him a bath then maybe someone would take him. For this you need spare kennels, money for vaccination and food and gas to make the trip and also to be prepared to keep him if nobody suitable wants him. They just can't take the chance. They will keep asking aroound to see if anyone wants him. Mom is going to deworm everybody and just worked out that she needs 53 pills at one pill every 10 kilos. That is 13 packs at R$7.80 per pack. So you see it isn't easy. We are still looking for a corner to run too. So far nothing has been found. We just need some land with a shack on it somewhere in Brazil. The miracle hasn't happened yet but mom is still dreaming.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Photos of Adoption Event Cool!
Here they are our three pups awaiting their new furever homes. It was a chilly day in Rio. They were all given beautiful collars with bells on them.
They looked adorable! The black one was a bit chilly so she was given a little woollen coat to keep her warm.
Now who could resist her? Dad did turn down three prospective adopters as unsuitable and he believes that they all got good homes. Here they are with their new mom's.
The big white one with the little heart shaped mark on her nose went first.
This lady has a Cocker Spaniel and lives with her mother. She fell in love with the little black one and called mom to see if she could adopt the lil black one. She began to cry whilst talking to her Mom.
The conversation went on quite a while with dad observing! She wouldn't let go of the pup all through the conversation. Then suddenly her Mom agreed and look at her face then.
We think she will be a very lovely mom.
They looked adorable! The black one was a bit chilly so she was given a little woollen coat to keep her warm.
The big white one with the little heart shaped mark on her nose went first.
This lady has a Cocker Spaniel and lives with her mother. She fell in love with the little black one and called mom to see if she could adopt the lil black one. She began to cry whilst talking to her Mom.
The conversation went on quite a while with dad observing! She wouldn't let go of the pup all through the conversation. Then suddenly her Mom agreed and look at her face then.
We think she will be a very lovely mom.
And here are the new family for the lil white one! So they went from near death in the river abandoned covered in Ticks, lice, fleas and had worms to luxury in central Rio. We all hoping they have long and happy lives with their new owners. Mom felt happy and sad at the same time. She was getting quite attached to
them.
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