VBB Vet Volunteers See Spots
An animal in this condition is a poor candidate for surgery, but in Julie’s case there was no option but to try or she would be dead due to toxaemia within 24 hours. Fully gloved and gowned Vets Beyond Borders volunteer veterinarians Dr Kathryn Stoltzfus and Dr Stacey Daley immediately commenced surgery, during the surgery a solitary leopard cub was removed. The female cub had been dead for some time and was already decomposing thus explaining the toxic state of mum. The veterinary doctors quickly finished the surgery and placed intradermal skin sutures so that later on Julie would not try to pull them out. She was allowed to recover from the anaesthetic before being carried back into her cage where blankets and hot water bottles were placed with her as Sikkim is quite chilly in the late afternoon.
Throughout the surgery her mate, 5year old male ‘Tinku’ paced up & down along the mesh fence that separated us from his cage. He was curious about what was happening to his friend. Sadly this year Julie and Tinku will remain a leopard family of two. But thanks to the efforts of Vets Beyond Borders volunteer veterinarians and the SARAH team of Dr Thinlay, Dr Diki, Dr Beth & Dupchen, Julie is still alive. Hopefully next year she will get pregnant again (actually quite a rarity for leopards in captivity) and give birth to healthy offspring.
Winter Report from Beth Mc Gennisken
The Ladakh Animal Care Society in association with Vets Beyond Borders and Fondation Brigitte Bardot has sterilised over 1500 street dogs in the Leh region in the summers of 2006/07. For the first time the LACS animal shelter at Saboo has been open over the winter months with the aim of housing and feeding starving or injured street dogs. Leh reaches temperatures of minus 10 to 20 c over night and many rivers and roads are frozen over. The purpose of the visit to Leh was to assess if it is of benefit for the shelter to be open during winter, assist with treatments of inpatients, continue training of the staff, and to observe the general state of Leh street dogs.
Many Ladahki locals were questioned about the dog situation and all commented that there were now less dogs and that the general condition of the dogs had improved. The ABC (animal birth control) programme is clearly having a great impact in Leh.
The LACS animal shelter provides an important service to the animals of Leh over winter. Without LACS the majority of the current shelter dogs and many puppies would die during the winter months. Keeping the shelter open over winter ensures a continuity of care for the street dogs and also serves to raise awareness amongst the human population that all animals are important and deserve to be cared for.
Many Ladahki locals were questioned about the dog situation and all commented that there were now less dogs and that the general condition of the dogs had improved. The ABC (animal birth control) programme is clearly having a great impact in Leh.
The LACS animal shelter provides an important service to the animals of Leh over winter. Without LACS the majority of the current shelter dogs and many puppies would die during the winter months. Keeping the shelter open over winter ensures a continuity of care for the street dogs and also serves to raise awareness amongst the human population that all animals are important and deserve to be cared for.
