MAY-JULCHILE
Log 4: Promise
A Gift.
Kinship Circle DART TeamsJune Towler, Tracie Dawson, Ron Presley, Dr. Madi Graham DVM, Dr. Dan Meakin DVM, Peter Crowe, Maureen Valentine, Sister Michael Marie, Bonnie Morrison, Brenda Shoss (Kinship Circle director)
LocationSantiago, Quidico, Tirua, cities across Chile
Field LogJune Towler, PIO Jun 2010
Kinship Circle's Sister Michael Marie and Bonnie Morrison return to Chile June 25. On the ground, they bus cross-country to the coastal village of Tirua. They reunite with Socorro Animal Chile (SACH) veterinarians, who conduct ongoing spay-neuter and first aid clinics for earthquake and tsunami-harmed animals. Kinship Circle's donation drive for Chilean animals is presented as a large monetary gift, along with six big boxes of medical supplies that Bonnie and Sister bring with them. They also present certificates to SACH, in recognition of Kinship Circle's commitment to Chilean animals. While in Chile, Sister, a veterinary technician, assists with surgery, and Bonnie serves as a recovery room nurse. At the Quidico clinic, two people are stationed at each of four surgical tables. We are happy to reunite with our colleagues: Chilean vets Rodrigo Flores, Camilo Salazar, Glenda Cabrera, Enrique Reyes, and Luis Seguel (aka Shiry). SACH leaders Cesar Sanchez (Assistant Coordinator) and Alejandra Cassino are also present to receive Kinship Circle's gift and helping hands.
SPAY-NEUTER CAN SPARE SUFFERING IN NEXT DISASTERSince March 2010, Kinship Circle has worked with Socorro Animal Chile — once stopping a tent camp from shooting its animals when evacuees couldn't bear to see them starve. We hope to raise funds for spay-neuter to reduce future animal disaster victims. Chile has the largest stray population in South America. Some 700,000 animals suffered in Chile's catastrophic quake-tsunami. There are likely far more. The line between stray and caregiven Chilean animals is blurred. Animals who roam streets by day return home for food at night. They mingle with a large homeless population. Most are unsterilized, and thus perpetuate an endless cycle of breeding. Sterilizing stray and caregiven animals curbs disease outbreak, abuse and suffering — now and when conditions worsen in disasters. With enough funding, post-disaster animal welfare programs can brighten the future for animals.
LocationSantiago, Quidico, Tirua, Talquahano
Field LogJune Towler, PIO May-Jun 2010
TUBUL UPDATE: PUPPY BORN ON A CRASH AND WAVE. In April 2010, while searching for an evcuee camp, a Kinship Circle team eyes a puppy in a distant field. Other dogs rush the team for food, but this pup is oddly still. The reason is quickly apparent: He has terribly deformed legs. His eyes are dull and fearful. He can only hobble. Somehow this crippled, starving and sick puppy, dubbed Francisco de Tubul, survived the disaster. READ TUBUL'S STORY. Kinship Circle Disaster Management Director Bonnie Morrison greets Tubul in Chile. Tubul appears happy, despite his disabilities. Food is a big draw! Tubul lays with a bowl lodged between his front paws and won't budge till it's licked clean. We are told Tubul lives with Chilean veterinarian Glenda Cabrera Espinoza in the Concepcion area. But Tubul's primary guardian is not confirmed. As Tubul grows, walking may challenge him. Even now, at about 6-months old, he freqently rests after movement. His mange is healed, but his coat is thin and dull. We'll try to track Tubul's progress and report any news about treatment and healing.
TENT CAMPS MAY KILL ANIMALSAn evacuee camp wants to kill its dogs. People here are tossed together by disaster. Help doesn't come quickly. Still, most love their animals and welcome our visits. But despair propels them to euthanize their own animals, rather than watch them starve. This speaks volumes about their plight and how the world seems to have forgotten them. We meet with the camp's “Mayor” to urge alternatives. We fear a similar mentality may spread through Chile's 30 encampments. People who lost everything in an 8.8 quake and tsunami can't feed themselves. They don't want to watch their animals starve to death. We arrive with food and veterinary equipment. Tiny wooden cabins now replace a few tents. We walk down aisles past military troops, to meet with the camp's Mayor. She tells us why these displaced Chileans may resort to bloodshed:
LocationDichato, Perales
Field LogJune Towler, PIO May 2010
JOY IS A BEAGLE PUP SAVED
A beagle pup is among many abused animals at a tent camp. After we treat animals with plans to revisit, the beagle tries to climb aboard our truck. Kinship's Madi Graham and Peter Crowe are distraught; they don't want to leave the pup in negligent hands. They are unaware that other team members have arranged to take the beagle. At departure, the little stowaway is already tucked safely into the pick-up. After a short drive to the team's van, a happy beagle jumps out. Peter is so overjoyed, he decides to adopt the sweet pup, for a new life in the U.S.
Team members travel to four evacuee camps in Dichato, while Dr. Dan Meakin accompanies Chilean vets to the university clinic in Concepcion to treat a German Shep with gaping back wounds and a kitten whose leg is broken. In Dichato, homes are gone. Some rebuilding and cleanup are underway. We check on animal needs and replenish supplies. Our next stop, Perales, is roughly one hour up the coast from Dichato. The tsunami washed out a main road, so we climb a dirt back road over the mountain. It is so muddy we swap our van for the Chilean vets' covered pickup. KC's Traci, June, Madi, Ron and Pete squish between dog food and supplies. We drop food at several farms along the way, and Chilean vets Georgia and Enrique stop at one farm to deworm and vaccinate a litter of puppies. At the first evacuee camp, we pass out animal food and treat roughly 50 dogs and several cats. By nightfall, with just a few food bags left, we are unable to visit the next three camps. We decide to return another day, due to wretched road conditions. PLEASE DONATE, so we can buy vet supplies for clinics up and down Chile's quake battered coast! Your kind heart ensures that no animal is turned away.
ABUSE, DOGFIGHTS AND NEGLECT IN TENT CAMPSWe see many injuries from alleged beatings and dogfights at this small camp with an estimated 50 dogs and few cats. Apparently, some men at this camp beat dogs. Children kick and hit dogs. Since all dogs are not fed, fights erupt over food. Unfed dogs are strays who wander into the camp in search of food and companionship. People want them to leave, so they withhold food and beat them. A sweet young girl fears other dogs who pick on her. She has deep bites in the inguinal (groin) region and along her legs and ear. Vets sedate her to treat the wounds. Kinship's Maureen Valentine and a Chilean vet escort the dog and her guardian home. They urge the dog's caregiver to let the dog recover indoors and not roam the camp. Kinship Circle's Peter Crowe and Ron Presley are told the abused Dalmatian is unwanted at this encampment. Then why is he tethered? The skeletal young male is severely beaten and unable to lower his hind leg. We find him tied behind a truck. The dog, understandably skittish, warms to gentle voices and patient hands. We resolve to find a safe place for him, contingent upon whether camp tenets let us take him. Anita Morenog — whose Yungay farm is an animal sanctuary — says she'll take in the abused Dalmatian. But when Kinship's Peter and Dan return for the dog, who is able to use his leg by then, they cannot negotiate the dog's release (short of stealing him). SACH vets intend to check on this Dalmatian on each return visit.
LocationFundo dos Robles, Yungay, Tolhuaca
Field LogJune Towler, PIO May 4-6 2010
On our way inland to Yungay, a town near the Andes Mountains about 100 kms from the Chilean-Argentine border, we stop to deliver food to Anita Morenog in Fundo dos Robles. Her farm also serves as an animal sanctuary. In the wake of the quake/tsunami, Anita has resorted to feeding dogs oats and grains. Roughly 30 dogs and several cats reside on fenced property. Five of the dogs have lost use of one or more legs. They manage to get around on functional legs, but some with great difficulty. We examine all animals and treat them for fleas and parasites. Each is marked with a new collar to discern which dogs are treated. One dog captures the heart of Kinship Circle responder Ron Presley. Her back legs are paralyzed. She drags them behind her as she pulls herself forward on two front legs. Ron's heart melts when he notices the dog's struggle to reach drinking water. So Ron, with Peter Crowe and Tracie Dawson, gather scrap parts scattered around the area to craft a wheel device that straps comfortably onto the dog. Once outfitted with wheels, the dog moves freely. Her first stop: The communal water bucket for a long drink. Her eyes sparkle a bit more now, as if to say “thank you!”
TRAVELING EMERGENCY VET CLINICSWith Anita in tow, we drive onward to Yungay for a scheduled treatment clinic. A huge line of people greets us upon arrival. We quickly erect four vet stations while Anita manages the many locals with their animals. Kinship's Maureen Valentine races between tables translating Spanish-English. Dan Meakin, a veterinarian with Kinship Circle, is key to a team that treats myriad animal conditions. In Fundo dos Robles, we see roughly 30 dogs and some cats. In Yungay, we see more than 400 animals. Among them are a German Shepherd whose caretaker accidentally sliced off part of the dog's tail with a machete when clearing grass. The dog arrives in great pain and sees Dr. Dan Meakin, with June Towler assisting. Once constrained, Dr. Dan mildly sedates the dog and June preps syringes. Dan freezes the wound area to surgically level jagged edges. Traci Dawson applies pressure to stop bleeding. Post amputation, the dog's tail is sewn and vet-wrapped. The caregivers comfort their groggy dog until he is back on his feet. A cat with a damaged eye escapes when the veterinarian turns for supplies and the cat's guardian lets go. In a flash, the cat vanishes beyond firehall walls. Horrified, the vet activates a search party. Kinship Circle's Peter Crowe scans nearby streets to no avail. The cat's caregiver is nearly inconsolable. We hope the cat is safely recovered, but cannot do much more while managing a busy clinic. At Dr. Dan's station, we treat a healthy black-white cat with a cheek growth. A young man and his mother tell us the lump fluctuates in size and fluid squirts when the cat scratches it. They are concerned their adored cat has cancer. Dr. Dan alleviates their fears and gives them anti-parasite meds. The son, a Sacramento, Calif. student married to an American, speaks excellent English. He offers to be our translator while visiting family in Chile. Kinship''s Maureen Valentine is delighted to get help translating instructions between vet tables!
FINAL GOOD BYE, WITH KISSES AND KIND WORDSWe see a beautiful boxer with a large lump on his head. His caregivers worry it might be cancerous, but it is a benign condition boxers are predisposed to. Fabian Mardones helps Kinship Circle as a translator during vet clinic. One flea-infested Cocker Spaniel has a foul ear infection. His toenails are so long they've curled into his paw pads. Dr. Dan cuts and extracts the nails from the pads. Through our translator Fabian, Dr. Dan educates the dog's elderly caregiver on ear and nail maintenance. The dog leaves with antibiotics and anti-parasite meds. After clinic concludes, Kinship IC Tracie Dawson and several SACH vets go to a dog in an alley. She is old with a dramatically swollen, mangled hind paw. We examine her under better light at the firehall, but everyone recognizes she is beyond repair. In agreement that euthanasia is the most humane option, June strokes and kisses her head. Kinship veterinarian Madi Graham performs the euthanasia while Tracie and June quietly talk to the suffering animal who leaves this world. Tears flow, but this dog deserves mercy.
LocationLota, Chile
Field LogJune Towler, PIO May 2010
RESCUE AND AID FOR A WOUNDED HORSEOn the outskirts of Lota, a small mining town ravaged in the earthquake, rescuers spot a large, disoriented animal who wobbles on weak legs. The scrappy brown horse appears injured and vulnerable. A child chases the poor animal and throws rocks at him as we pull in more closely. As we slow to a stop, the child runs off. We calmly approach the traumatized horse and manage to guide him toward a safe area for examination. Kinship Circle IC Tracie Dawson and Socorro Animal Chile (SACH) vet Rodrigo Flores Tepia use a dog lead to shepherd the horse into Lota and toward the town's basketball courts, where a SACH/Kinship vet clinic is scheduled for today. Once there, SACH veterinarians, along with Kinship Circle's Dr. Dan Meakin and Dr. Madi Graham, form a circle around the horse to treat his wounds. We learn that the animal's name is Sparkle — and that his caregiver routinely beats him. So SACH vets speak to the horse's guardian to negotiate a “purchase” of Sparkle, whom they hope to transport to a military compound to live safely with other caregiven horses. Sparkle cannot stay here, where trauma and pain began long before the quake/tsunami. For some animals, like Sparkle, disaster rescue opens the door to a new and better life.
LOTA, A TOWN IN DISTRESSWhen a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami struck Chile, all mining operations closed down in this town where most incomes rely upon jobs at the underground plant. Lota now has the highest unemployment rate in all of Chile. Job loss leaves residents without financial means to rebuild from the disaster. Many feel overwhelmed and hopeless. There are spikes in alcoholism and drug use here, with an overall sense of despair. Still, a large number of displaced residents evacuated to military-run camps — with their companion animals in tow. Others stayed in damaged homes, with their animals. Kinship Circle and SACH establish an emergency veterinary clinic, with stations erected across an outdoor asphalt lot. A majority of residents have never taken their animals to a veterinarian before this disaster. Plus, rural Chileans rarely leash or crate animals. So cats and dogs (even a guinea pig!) show up in wheelbarrows, strollers, nestled in aprons, and peeking out of potato sacks. During this six-hour clinic, we treat more than 200 dogs and well over 50 cats. A municipality rep records 93 residents with animals. Numerous stray animals are examined and treated as well. SACH and Kinship Circle travel Chile's battered coast to set-up emergency vet clinics for animals in earthquake harmed areas. PLEASE DONATE so we can replenish vet supplies and treat as many animals as possible.
Disaster aid for animals + action for all hurt by greed, cruelty, hate.
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