A Brief Newsround - Week ending 27/06/21

I wrote in Castaway that I learned to walk on my island in the sun. From a rushed scuttle in London, dodging and weaving in crowds to catch a bus, my gait changed to a tranquil rolling stroll. I had only to catch a fish and it was extremely hot. The new pace was part of a process of adjustment and not only to the heat. I was adapting in order to survive.

That was in the tropics on an atoll in the Coral Sea and I was 25. In Southern Bulgaria, where I live and work now, it’s not quite such a survive or perish situation – at least not for me – but it can also be extremely hot and I’m now in my mid-sixties. Much as I’d like to use my desert island walk as a learned strategy to cope with heat, I only can occasionally here, because hundreds of rescued animals depend on me and the Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe’s other staff for their essential needs: water, shelter and food - water especially at this time of year. No-one, whether they have four legs or two, should have to wait for water. Yet every summer neglected dogs in Bulgaria do and some, appallingly, die as a result of waiting too long in blazing sun. Shade for our rescued dogs is something we start working on as soon as winter turns to spring. 

Year round, I rise with the sun. In summer this means 4.30 a.m. It’s the coolest time to work. First job is a rapid clean of the caravan I share with up to a dozen rescued cats and kittens. There’s night soil to deal with, including my own bucket and if even a trace of cat food is left on a dish it will attract flies. Then it’s out to feed the rest of the forty-plus rescued cats on site and twelve rescued horses. I do more cleaning in other caravans used by cats and in the tiny kitchen next to the ruins of my house, destroyed by fire in 2009. There are generally around fourteen cats in there sprawling dustily on all surfaces and demanding food the minute they see me. Young puppies also can't wait for LIFE’s local helpers to arrive before being fed. Next, I fill the horses’ water trough which they’ve often drunk dry overnight and as many other receptacles as are available, from our single outdoor tap. We have no running water indoors. I work rapidly because at any moment the water supply to the village could be cut off. 

It's all warm work even when done in that precious early time slot, but with the soft muzzles of horses touching my neck as I pass or cats stretching towards me in night-cool dust to have their chins tickled, it's also a pleasure.

When the sun's high later, it's a different story. Intense heat and humidity conspire to cause weary  impatience not only in humans but in four-legged animals, too.  LIFE's Local helpers watching over the horses as they graze apply gels to keep flies off the herd but when bees attacked Franky recently, a swathe of them sinking stings into his neck, Daniel could only try to beat them off with a jacket and call his mother, Sonia, for help. She called me immediately and as I prepared antihistamines, a volunteer at the Haven leapt into her car to collect them and syringed them into his mouth as fast as she could. 

Appallingly, we've seen a horse killed by a bee attack in the past. The grim vision of dear old Aunty Marey's cruel suffering over 15 hours can never be erased from my mind.  She was such a sweet adoptive mother to Sammy, a foal we rescued from becoming the centerpiece of a family feast one winter. He was with her when the bees attacked but escaped by galloping away as fast as his spindly legs could carry him.  

Franky, younger, stronger, essentially fit, survived but had we not had the required meds at LIFE for just such an emergency, it could have been the same distressing scenario. On the spot, Daniel got out as many stings as he could while our volunteer sluiced Franky's feverishly sweating body with cool water.  Diarrhea streamed from him.

Anxiety among the LIFE team as we waited for the antihistamines to fight off the worst effects was palpable.  Finally, fifteen minutes after he received them, he hauled himself upright,  trembling all over. Follow up treatment consisted of two days of injected painkiller plus corticosteroids. On the first day after the incident his head still hung low and he barely ate. The next day, thankfully, he began to rally. His tail even swished and ears pricked up when I sang my Franky ditty to him, soothing lines invented when, years back, we improvised a sling to take the weight off a painful leg: "Franky in a hanky, you're gonna be fine! So swanky in a hanky, Franky, you're gonna be fine ..!" What a joy it is to see him back to his old self now. 

Franky as a foal in his "hanky" sling

Apart from the sadness I felt when a street cat I tried to save had to be euthanized, LIFE saw several reasons for joy this past week. Unusually, but in keeping with what we try to instil during Outreach work, one Roma family brought their dog to us to be spayed and another brought a dog needing help after they'd been away and he'd fallen into poor condition in other hands. I praised both the families concerned because all too often dogs in Roma ghettos are left uncontrolled to breed unwanted puppies and all too often, health problems in both dogs and horses are left too late to treat. We're enjoying having pretty Renee and handsome Tiger in our care for a while and look forward to handing them back to their pleasingly responsible owners in due course.

Dogs brought to us for care by responsible Roma owners

Towards the end of the week, three beloved rescue cases, Cleo, Bobby and Diamond, set off for the U.K. and fantastic new lives in the care of eagerly waiting adopters. In Diamond's case especially, years of patiently calming old fears of humans have finally paid off with dividends.  

Cleo Diamond and Bobby, who set off for the U.K.

The punishing heat continues but we've adapted our working hours so that heavier jobs are done when it's cooler and we can rest more during the heat. The LIFE lads now come in to start mucking out at 7 a.m., leave at lunchtime and return for a couple of hours of watering dogs and horses in the evening. Successful survival, whether on a desert island or at a rescue centre in rural Bulgaria, is a lot about adapting. 

If you're interested in adopting a LIFE dog, see our Facebook page;  to see daily updates about life  at LIFE, look here. And we'd be most grateful if you could donate a little towards our work,.

With tropically warm wishes to all our friends for a fine week ahead, 

Lucy