A Brief Newsround - Week Ending 05/06/21

When you hear desperate cries for help coming from a trash can, open the lid and see a tiny face, eyes bulging with fear, sinking and rising among kitchen waste, soiled diapers and composting weeds, you might say its instinct to reach in and grab a scrabbling paw to lift the kitten to safety, same as you'd reach out to save a drowning child. But it can't be a universal human instinct because someone else threw the kitten in there to die. 

Since recorded history began and no doubt before, humans have exerted control over populations of cats while simultaneously using them to control populations of mice and rats. It's common to hear of newborn kittens being drowned, so common it's become an almost accepted practice even in advanced societies, although birth control via sterilisation is by now quite widespread among more educated cultures with access to veterinary clinics and cash.  

The Roma enclaves where we work in rural Bulgaria can't be described as advanced societies although they exist in a country that's more than emerged. Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European union but that doesn't make it backward when it comes to commerce and high technology. However, there's a vast cultural gap when it comes to treatment of animals between, say, residents of a village in Hampshire, U.K. and villagers in Sliven province, Bulgaria. Not all, but most people in a village in Hampshire, U.K., are likely to take responsibility for having their pet cat sterilized at some stage. They will know where a vet is, have a car and enough money to pay for the operation. Importantly, it's become the done thing. Some Bulgarians in villages here do get their cats spayed but it's rare, at least where I am. I've not heard of any Roma doing it so far unless it's through LIFE. It's not yet become the done thing and many don't know how to go about it, don't have a car or any idea where there's a vet who sterilizes animals other than pigs, which are routinely snipped by a local livestock vet without anaesthetic. But that's another story..

The done thing, among both Bulgarians and Roma in the backwoods is to throw unwanted kittens away to die. Some will coo over tiny newborns but as soon as the babies start to soil they have to go and the fact that they're often thrown into trash cans is an indication of how they are perceived: they have the same status as rubbish.

LIFE aims to push for change of such behaviours, if not the attitudes behind them. We've already caused change in the village where we have our H.Q.

A number of those who used to routinely throw kittens away to die now come to our gate with them, instead. To give just one example, a man currently living out his last days used to throw screaming kittens annually into a gully. I climbed down into that filthy gully and rescued five. Soon afterwards I went to talk to him, helped his horse with some preventative meds and told him we can help get cats spayed. He dismissed the spay idea but the following spring he did not throw kittens into the gully. Instead he brought Sugar and Slice and Frederica-one-eye to my gate in bags - a sugar bag and a sliced bread bag. All three survived and thrived until Slice was shot by another neighbour.

Sugar

Frederica-one-eye

This spring I'm bottle feeding 4 babies so far and caring for 5 other abandoned babies old enough to eat for themselves. The smallest were found dumped near where a friend feeds street cats. The others came via a contact whose dog we've helped. They were about to be abandoned but she intervened. It can be arduous feeding small kittens with formula milk but it's also feels beautiful and right to do it. Again, what makes my heart glow when I'm nursing an infant kitty could be described as instinct. Again, it's not universal, because others here have hung such babies, for kicks. One elderly couple threw newborns into a Turkish toilet pit annually.

In dog news this past week, we tracked down a confused and pining older dog left when her Bulgarian owner died. As relatives of the deceased didn't make arrangements for care of the dog, we're supporting a neighbour to feed her by delivering dog food weekly. A kind hearted woman, she was already throwing leftover bread to the dog. We'll also treat it routinely for parasites.

This lady alerted us to the dog's plight

Suze with the dog in question

When I moved to Bulgaria in 2007 there was a dog left by the deceased owner of the property I bought. That dog was desperately thin and nervous. The man I bought the house from said, when I viewed, not to worry he'd "get rid of it." On the spot I gave the dog my lunchtime sandwich. And there he was waiting and wagging his tail when I came back to move in, months later. He'd survived, according to my new neighbours, by raiding village dustbins. He was a nuisance, they said. He became my first rescued dog. The second, Simon was also a dog left by someone who'd died. He was with me for many years. Relatives had renovated their grandmother's house but made no provision for her dog. The Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe now encourages villagers to let us know when someone dies and leaves dogs or cats in need of care. 

Simon, one of LIFE's first rescued dogs

Outreach work lately has been a lot about protecting local horses from disease-carrying ticks and calling the local vet to treat those who weren't protected and have disease.  We are keen to hold another meeting with both dog and horse owners soon so we can treat more with preventative meds. Any donations towards equipping LIFE with the needed treatments would be much appreciated. 

Among several distressing cases of animals abandoned recently, one in particular stopped me in my tracks. An old friend told me that 3 dogs had been left near her village tied alive in sacks. The sacks were open and the dogs out when a Bulgarian lady dedicated to the care of dogs in need began feeding them. But the dogs were so traumatised by their terrible treatment that eventually they had to be tranquilized to bring into town for sterilisation, and one could not be caught. LIFE was contacted in the hopes that there might be a safe haven for at least one of the dogs after their operations. Much as we wanted to help, I was hesitant because our pens are already overflowing. But when I saw this golden darling I knew at once he'd find a loving new owner through LIFE's dynamic adoption arm.   He looked so beautiful and so keen to make friends despite his vile experience. Now that he's with us that guess has been confirmed. He's even sweeter than I thought and someone who already has a dog from LIFE is considering offering him a fresh start in a caring and experienced environment. We'll try to find homes for both the other dogs which were tied into sacks, too. Look out for photos of them soon in our adoption album.  

The puppies pictured below are also looking for forever homes but as it's illegal for them to travel until they're over four months old and fully vaccinated, we're seeking sponsors in the first instance. Contact me for more information about the pups who at present are still with their mother.

Watch this space for details next week of an amazing new project that's sprung out of the clear need for more temporary places for dogs waiting for homes than LIFE could ever provide. It's great news and has filled me with verve and hope. 

To keep up with daily events at LIFE, look here and if you'd like to help us with our work, donations are hugely appreciated.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead,

Lucy Irvine