Guga and future plans

Guga went back to the vets yesterday because the lump in his throat has grown bigger. He apparently has a ganglion. This is not serious, so the vet says and we have to wait two weeks to see if it reduces in size. If not then he wiill surgically remove it. He does not seem to be in any pain and is eating well. He still has not stolen my sofa, so I am happy. Mom is going crazy writing lots of e mails and telephone calls. Something is going on, but se won't say yet. I will let you know when I find out.  Guga hopes his auntie Chandra has a real good holiday.

Freddy

Here is happy Freddy. He went to the vet's yesterday. The mange has greatly improved, but it is still active and he has 3 more shots to take. Guga healed very quickly in comparison to Freddy. Freddy also has a type of virus called papilloma, which suggests that his immune system is low. He has been given a shot of Increvigor to boost his immune system and the vet increased his medication for mange because he has gained four kilos. Mom says he eats like a horse. He is now the right weight for his size and should not  gain any more weight.

Here he is eating which is his favourite activity in life.

His coat is much softer and growing back. He will return to the vet in three weeks.

Guga nd Freddy

Here is Guga enjoying his retirement. He sleeps at the foot of Mom and Dad's bed. He still has not attempted to take my sofa.   

This is me and Guga.

This is Jessie and Guga.

Jessie was actually using Guga as a pillow. She has no respect!

here isGuga with Pebbles.
Tomorrow I will tell you about Freddy's trip to the vet.  It is complicated and I need my sofa before Guga discovers it.

Flood update Monday

Mom went to Sao Jose again today to take more ration to more of the dog victims.  She stopped on the way to photograph the house where the dramatic rescue took place with the poor dog that fell in the water.

This is a street view.

This is the view from the other side of the river. Total destruction. This building is also now condemned because the water ate the foundations. All of us here are hoping against all odds that the little dog survived still.

After that Mom went to see dogs with Dr Renata from sao Jose. She has around forty something at the moment. She told mom about the background of some, but of course, she was very busy. Here is a shot of the big space she managed to get for them.

 And here is the food the nice humans donated fo us.

These are all kittens. I personally want to bite every cat I see, but I know some of you humans like them.

This dog was not a flood victim. A man lost his house and asked a friend of ours two get his two dogs and take them to the shelter. He then a few days later told Dr Renata that his brother would look after the two dogs until he could resolve his terrible situation. When Dr Renata got to the guy's brother's home she noticed that one of the two dogs here was in deep trouble and insisted on returning to the shelter with the original two flood victims and one victim of human neglect. This happens a lot to us here. This dog had been tied to a tree for God knows how long. The man said the maggots only started two days ago, but people who deal with this like Dr Renata and Mom know this is not the case.

Thispoor baby is having treatment by volunteer vets for the same reason--maggots. Mom treated Bonnie like this removing them one by one.

This little darling has been adopted by one of the volunteers, so her future looks good. Mom sais she was adorable and even rolled over for a belly rub. 

This poor old fellow seems to be a victim of human indifference rather than floods. He had maggots in his leg and this turned to necrosis causing his leg to drop off. He is an old dog and nobody will really want him. One persoin has said that if nobody wants him then they will take him. Hardly a desire to help him there. He needs someone to love and care for him. He was actually playing with another crippled dog.

This type of problem does not appear in just ten days. He has been limping around the streets for a long time and ignored by all. The floods have been his salvation because now he has professional treatment and may get a better offer of a home.

This little cutie has been adopted by one of the volunteers at the shelter. She will be happy. Mom and Dad met the voluteer and know this dog will be well looked after.

This poor baby was cowering in the corner frightened of everything. I don't think humans will be very atrracted to her. Dad tried to comfort her, but she was very distressed.

This was a day tinged by happiness and deep sadness. A mixture of emotions. Hhappy they had been rescued and sadness that many were victims of humans rather than floods. I am very tired now and need to retreat to my sofa for a dog nap. Back soon. 

Flood damage update

Emmy's mom is writing this because Emmy is upset. We spent the day out trying to feed some of the lost and hungry dogs, They are appearing everywhere and gathering in groups. First we tried to get to Santa Rita, but we were thwarted about two kilometres from there by a broken bridge. People said everything there was dead and they were not going to rebuild the community. They apparently left horses and cows stuck in mud up to their necks to die slowly. I don't know why the registered animal charities here could not go in by helicopter and euthanize them. A horse in my road fell off a mountain side and lay in the road for three days dying. Gapa our local charity said that they could not do anything because he was in private property. We passed by him daily until he finally died. I have called them countless times about road accident victims without any results. We were told it was not just a boulder that fell a whole section of mountain fell on the tiny community. We were warned not to go any nearer due to the risk of disease with all the decomposition. Here is a picture on the way there.

We did not see a single animal anywhere near Santa Rita. After this we decided to get back on the road to Sao Jose. There was a huge amount of traffic with all the rescue vehicles and heavy machinery etc. We passed a lot of really sad sights again. Here are some.

This is the entrance to a house, but the house has gone. The smell in Aguas Claras just before Sao Jose is of putrid rotting flesh. Everybody is wearing face masks because it is utterly unbearable. They have decided it is impossible to retrieve the rest of the bodies, so they are just using bulldozers to push all the debris into the river. There are flocks of vultures everywhere.

 Here three or more houses were taken by the water.

The clean up will take a long time.

These are the temporary homes for all of the homeless. Pets will not be allowed.

This guy is directing the traffic wearing a face mask. We actually could not get to see the vet's dogs and cats she had around 40 hurt animals yesterday and was waiting for us. The roads are all blocked by bulldozers and cranes etc. We will return again Monday.

We came across many dogs. In this pack there were around 15. We fed them and watched them. These are not street dogs. When you work with street dogs you recognize them. These dogs are reasonably healthy and not thin. I think they are all lost flood victims, maybe not the poodle she was thin. These dogs were in a very quiet area. Some of them must have owners looking for them and others have no home, so they will just forget them. Some could be several kilometes from home and have no way of navigating back to their houses.

Just take a look at the lab. He belonged to someone. His appearance will degenerate gradually he has probably only been in the streets since the disaster.

We gave this pack a whole sack of ration. Our local dog food store was good enough to give us some bags too. They ate it all and then ate two packs of human biscuits too. They might not be thin, but they were very hungry. This maybe their first meal since the disaster. Obviously we cannot feed 15 more dogs daily in our situation. I don't know what will become of them. All this generosity here in Brazil will go on for a short time, but after that they will be forgotten. I heard from Dr Antonio that a flood victim dog had five offers for adoption. It had a broken leg, which he repaired. I see dogs locally hobbling along after road accidents with broken legs and nobody does anything.  I put Gracie up for adoption when she first came her and did not even get an enquiry. Street dogs are 365 days a year not just during disasters.

This was a particulrly sad little pup. All on her own. I wanted to take her home, but cannot take on anymore responsibility not knowing if, I will even have a home in the future. We fed her and left with heavy hearts.

Sao Jose animals

Today Mom's  been stuck indoors all day. Our gas got delivered by the guy that lost his house near Sao Jose. I heard her tell him we are going to help the vet in Sao Jose tomorrow. She told him she had not seen many dogs. He said that they are all coming back. There are more than ever. They must have gone into hiding on high ground and are now lost, hurt and hungry. Mom is taking more ration from a collection she  did here in town. I am hoping it is not to much of a harrowing experience for her. I have told her to take the hankies. I don't know if they will come back with another dog. Only room here at the moment is in Mini's kennel and mom is reluctant to build a new kennel not knowing if we can all stay here. We have survived, so far because of the kind humans that helped us.  Dad is back at the bakery and has not seen many there at the moment. They must all be disorientated because the landscape has completely changed in places. Still no sign of the old female and the sick black one. Guga's doing fine. he got stuck under the bed last night!

Sun is out

It finally looks like the worst thing mom has ever seen is over. We are all okay. No way into Santa Rita at the moment though. Guga has moved into the house with me, Misty, Jessie, and Pebbles. We lost our pack leader a short while ago (Harry) and like having a guy around. He remimded mum so much of Harry and he is so wll behaved and sweet that she decided to introduce us four to him to see how we behaved. We all liked him so  much that mom said he can stay in the house with us. Mini never liked him much she is not very social. Mom will takes some pics of him lounging around his new luxury 'kennel'. I have already told him about my sofa. I don't mind sharing food, but the sofa--no way. His foot was just some foriegn object that had caused an inflammation He also had his ears cleaned again. Dr Antonio calls him the dog that won the mega sena, which is our lottery here. 

Rock Stars

Rock star Rob Thomas and his wife model Marisol tweeted for us yesterday! Can you believe that a website took what Rob Thomas said about us here and changed the link to say it was them. Check out http://twitter.com/ZMyersOfficial  Mom and I don't know why? Still no sign of Guga's girlfriend, or the sick black dog. We are returning to Sao Jose Saturday with volunteers to help set up the animal hospital. Meanwhile we have work on our own doorstep. They airlifted 14 people 1 kilometer from here who were cut off. We need to check out the animal situation there because they weren't aloud to take animals with them. Probably goats, cattle, dogs, cats, chicken etc. It is a real remote rural district. People get to the road by donkey normally. Still working on that.  Guga scheduled for vets with minor foot problem tomorrow if all goes well. Short post today because although we had electricty we did not have internet until 20 minutes ago. Freddy will have to wait.

Brazil Floods Dogs

Today Mom and Dad went to Sao Jose do Vale do Rio Preto to donate some ration to a vet who has over a hundred animals to feed and treat.  This is where the poor human, who loved her dog got rescued and dropped him in the water. Here are some photos.

The only way in now is across this devasted bridge because the two main bridges have gone. No lorries, buses or big vehicles can enter.

This is the remains of somebodies house. The chimney you see is a wood burning stove still standing.

 This house was really sad because you could smell death there. It must contain the bodies of animals or people still because the smell was utterly awful. All of their furniture is scattered and buried under the rubble.Mom said it was shocking a sight and smell you will never forget.

This is the same house from a different angle. All thats left is this. Boy am I glad mom and dad didn't take me. I can't bare to see all this.

Here mom said is someones life entirely she saw personal documents in files just lying in the road. All the houses had beds and sofas outside ready for the refuse collectors. Mom met the guy  that delivers our gas bottles and he showed us his deposit and lack of house. It vanished completely and he, of course, had no insurance. Here nobody does and he was a better off Brazilian. Mom and Dad passed at least a hundred houses like this gone or inhabitable. Now onto the survivors




Here is one.

Another survivor in the mud.

And another lucky one although he is in bad shape. He is alive

Signs for emergency and assistance all along the way.

More devastion. Mom said we also have devastion here. Last night one more house fell less than a kilo meter from here. We have not yet looked in our own back yard. Mom and Dad also went to look for the striped female. She was not around, nor the sick black dog. The bakery cannot be opened because there isn't any water until wednesday. Every day, is more loss. They are not sure yet what to do, but they might just  close the doors and call it a day. They don't have much luck with businesses here. They will continue looking for her and the sick black dog. He might, however be dead by now and her too. The devastion is total.      

Flood update

Thank you so much all the well wishers and people praying for us. Mom is realy chuffed. She never beleived so many people cared. This last week has been quite profound and mom and us, we have all have been very worried. A special person also entered our lives two weeks ago, but in a very private way and helped us a lot.  The roads are now nearly clear. The electricity is still very erratic. It comes and goes. The mass body idenification took place today and a car was going round with a loud speaker announcing the names of the dead and asking for assistance for all those that have lost their homes. Mom is getting some food together for them.  Thank you to Chandra for hi lighting our situation. They have all the bodies laid out and are awaiting dentification by relatives. A lot of people came up from Rio with jeeps to help ferry these people to the identification centre. It is still raining torentially.  Will it ever stop? The dogs are well. We hear the rain  may stop by Wednesday. We hope tomorrow to return to a more normal life, if there is no more damage tonight. Thank you for all your messages. It is great to know you care. Now I am going to lie on my sofa and realx.
Mom and dad will check out the dog situation here tomorrow if possible and by the bakery. Still have no idea how many survived. Not many made it here up to higher ground.

blog hop

Sorry to all those on the blog hop we failed to take part. We really appreciate your support. Mom just could not get her head around it today. She flunked the bloghop. We are all too worried. Your comments motivated us. It is, however, still raining. mom really thanks everyone for their good wishes and concern.

Update Brazil Floods

Today dad went out and tried to get to the bakery. It was impossible because many roads are blocked with heavy road cleaning machines, or still impassable. There are still electric cables, trees and mud everywhere.
The shops don't have many fresh foods. He came back quickly and luckily managed to get our food. Mom and Dad have food in the freezer, so we survived another day. Now it is raining torrentially again, so it is probable that the death toll will rise again tonight. We have thunder and lightning and electricity at this moment. The forecast was for light rain, but this is torrential again and will fill the rivers again quickly. The kennel dogs are all fine and still coming out during the day to play. Mom has to change all their bedding everyday because it is so wet. They wander around and then lay down soaked on their beds and wet everything again. The lawn is a swamp! Lets all pray for the rain to stop now. I hate it. Mom is worried about all the displaced animals when this is over. Let's not forget Guga's girlfriend. She is still out there alone in all this. Say a special prayer for her too. The black dog, who knows? dad only saw him twice. Mom has not taken anymore pictures because she has not been out. There is no where to go until it is all over one way or another.

The Old Striped Female.

She is still out there. She's maybe alive still. Where she hung out was also hit by the floods. Tomorrow, if the roads are clear we will make an attempt to see her. We hope she survived because probably nobody has been feeding her or looking out for her. Let's hope they clear the roads and we can get out. Let's also hope the rain stops. It is still raining now, so maybe this is mom's dream. Mom is very woried about her. She depended on dad for food. All we want here is for the rain to stop and everybody to start living normal lives again. if she survived then mom says she will take her in tomorrow. This weather is too precarious to wait any longer. Then, here will be totally full to capacity and mom an dad will have the new headache of another mouth to feed. They can't leave her out there to die. We are all praying she survived the floods.  I for one will eat less, if she can come here and retire with Guga. The rain is torrential again we are all very frightened. More horrible things will happen tonight.thank God we are safe here, so far.

Dogs Suffering alongside humans

This is a dog that appeared on the MSN news.She, or he, is sitting amidst the debris of a ruined house. The article doesn't state whether or not the owners will return for him. We don't know how many animals survived.We watched a video on BBC world news that took place 15 miles from here. A lady on her roof with a little dog in her arms being rescued. She could not hold onto the rope with one hand and the little dog vanished into swirling muddy waters to a terrible death. The destruction here is beyond imagination, unless of course, you are here to see it. It evokes a terrible sadness, for humans and animals. We don't know at the end, if there will be more street dogs because of all the dead people and abandoned homes, or if there won't be any because most were washed away and drowned. Nothing could survive in those waters. We need an international appeal here now. Where is the help?. A helicopter flew over earlier, but the local morgue is filling up quickly. This has turned into an international disaster we need help. Let's hope the international community helps the animals just like Louisiana.  We are however, a forgotten corner of the world. So we won't hold our breath.  Just our tiny little village has witnessed many deaths. If anyone wants to donate we will do our best to alleviate animal suffering here. The authorities are rescuing people, but who will rescue the animals? The death toll here in way in advance of Australia (animals and humans). It seems like the end of the world. Thank God we are all still safe here with mom and dad. We are praying for those in the streets and hope they got to higher ground before the deluge.   Mom could not go out today because it is way too dangerous and we are also completely cut off.  14 people died so far in Australia and they are getting help for god's sake more than 420 and hundreds of people still dead buried in mud. What will happen to all of their pets?

Pray for us here

The rain is still falling it is torrential again. We can't take anymore. Humans and animals are now dying by the minute. It is all so sad. Let us hope that the world wakes up to our own natural disaster here. Okay, we are third world, but we are all Gog's creautres here too. It is a real disaster. We don't know what we will find tomorrow when we wake up.  Think of us here Brazil!.

Tradegy Here Floods

Freddy's visit to the vets was cancelled the vet's clinic is under water. Houses are flooded people are fleeing and 60 people near here are dead. Since then mom got caught in a panic sitauation going to buy us some food in the next village. As she was driving there she encountered cars speeding shouting 'go back'. People crying, eight and ten people stuffed in all cars. The river dam broke and the village got hit by a flash flood. She was in the last few cars to escape. Before the flash flood she stopped to take pictures. We still don't know how many people are dead and we worry about all the dogs kept on chains that got left behind.

The river is a river of mud and highly dangerous before the dam burst. It had already broke it's banks in several places.

These houses on the river bank belong to the poorest people and they have all had to flee. This was before the damn burst. Imagine now!

Well! we are now all marooned on high ground. Mom can't go out in either direction every exit is blocked by water.   

This street dog is in a safe area. Having his dinner.

This one too! Well after this there will dogs and cats everywhere lost and abandoned and dead--humans too. mom just said the death toll is rising and more rain on the way. Google floods petropolis for an idea of the scale of the disaster here. We are not first world like Australia and do not get that kind of publicity, but it is terrible people and animals are dying. we need help!