A Brief Newsround - Week Ending 28/02/21

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Sophie, a valued volunteer, is back with another round up of some of the activities which took place at LIFE this past week. Enjoy! Lucy Irvine.

This week started with Lucy dropping in to visit Kirichko in equine hospital. For those of you who may not be familiar with Kirichko's story, here's a little background. Lucy was alerted to Kirichko's case by a man from whom LIFE had rescued a horse before. 


Dear Kirichko


The man said that the mother mare had kicked the foal and that he would sell it for Christmas foal meat unless, by chance, LIFE wanted it instead? Lucy went to his yard and guessed at once that this was not a kick. The baby was born like that - it's a known condition, basically a severe case of knock knees (carpal valgus). Lucy took a photo and sent it to the vet who confirmed her suspicion, and funds were raised so that Kirichko could be brought to LIFE, ensuring that he didn't end up on a dinner table.


Kirichko has now had corrective surgery on both front legs and is gradually recovering. He got the apple out of Lucy's bag too, before she even had a chance to bite it into chunks for him! We should learn soon when he can leave the hospital. 





'Tuesday Tranquilizing' has a certain ring to it, and while it's not something that Lucy does regularly, it is occasionally essential to safely bring certain animals to the vets for sterilisation. Such was the case this week, with Barney, who was taken straight to the vet afterwards. We're hopeful that someone will consider offering him a home in the future, but he'll need to be socialised a fair bit first as he is very shy. If you are considering offering one of our dogs a home do keep an eye on our website or Facebook Page album for updates.


Ilia with a sleepy Barney, securing him to safely take him for neutering


While on the subject of sterilisation, we'd like to mention the incredible work of Romania Animal Rescue - Animal Spay Neuter International (ASNI). This organisation is on a mission to improve the welfare of all dogs and cats and help reduce the overpopulation of stray animals. According to Dogs on Death Row and PETA, each unspayed female dog and her offspring can potentially produce up to 67,000 puppies in her seven-year lifespan, highlighting how extremely important neutering programmes are. ASNI organises 'Spayathons' as part of their neutering campaign, and after Lucy invited the team to visit several years ago, there have been annual and even bi-annual Spayathons in our local town (although they are currently on hold due to Covid 19). An incredible 225 cats and dogs have been neutered over 3-4 days on previous campaigns, thanks to the enormous effort of their expert team, and dedicated volunteer help on the ground, organising and managing the patients in recovery.  


Photos from a previous Spayathon. Some sleepy faces, but not the humans! They need to be alert and focused on the patients and the job at hand.


Here are some cats and dogs at a local quarry where kindly guards, like the one seen playing Pied Piper here, feed them with food LIFE provides.




LIFE has been supporting the cats and dogs at The Quarry for years on Outreach work rounds. The Quarry is a local enterprise where sand and stone are mined. The pack of animals that now exists there originally began by a guard feeding an abandoned dog that then attached itself to the place. News travels fast on the stray grapevine! The guards working there generally are friendly and co-operative, and feed the dogs and cats not only what we bring, but left overs from their lunches too :) Over the last few years LIFE has not only sterilized a dozen cats and dogs from here but treated and then homed one who was paralysed after a car ran him down. With Ilia 's help, Lucy was able to catch the biggest cat here for neutering this week. The plan is to neuter all the animals from The Quarry, and contributions towards this, or the cat and dog food that Lucy and Ilia deliver regularly, are always very welcome. If you would like to help The Quarry animals, you can donate here, referencing QUARRY. Thank you!


Ilia feeding the animals at the Quarry 



Lurking with intent :)


Finally, for this week, an introduction to one of LIFE's rescued horses. When Lucy first met Arap, he was a stallion in a tormented state, being totally inappropriately used for cart work and when not, roughly manhandled into harness and left tied where he could see mares in season. He repeatedly flung himself at a wire fence, rearing so that his tender underparts were continually scraped. He had a nasty wound on one leg, a deep rope burn, too.

LIFE negotiated with the owners and finally managed to bring him to safety, where he was gelded. What a beautiful and much calmer boy he's become 18 months or so later. Gentle training is just starting now that he feels able to trust again. 


Daniel with Arap


Thanks for reading and on behalf of LIFE, I wish you a pleasant week ahead! 

Sophie





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