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Pet Disaster Management

THE JOY AND FRILLS OF ADOPTION

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We have eight dogs. If money wasn’t an issue, we’d probably have more. So how did we acquire a pure bred Golden Retriever and a pure bred Labrador Retrieve1r? In a way, I’d like to say that God pointed out the clues for us to find them, 100 percent free. The largest of the pack, Luciano “Pav” Pavarotti, our Labrador whose barks send out the highest decibels, was a dog that had to find a new home. Bought from Cartimar by parents of a four-year-old girl, it was only later on that she developed asthma. The “up-for-adoption” message about Pav was posted on Facebook in February by our dog trainer friend and we inquired. Even without a certificate, we were happy to have him a few days later. We were more than thrilled to have a very behaved and disciplined dog in contrast to the rather fierce but loveable and loyal aspin we had adopted earlier.

 

A month after, as a belated birthday gift, my sister who had purchased a female Golden Retriever in April was given a buy-one, take-one surprise and got another Golden Retriever. And the freebie that she got, we later christened with the name “Axl Rose.” At 26 years old and living the carefree life of a bachelorette, it was my sister’s first shot at trying out motherhood. Her Golden Retriever was training for when she would actually become a real mom. One was a handful and having another was a migraine. So she gave him to us. In a way we could see why2. Axl’s temperament is very playful. He grabs whatever attention he can get. Whether from the front or from behind, he always jump on you when the opportunity presents itself.

 

Appropriately during or a day after Valentine’s, we found Pav stuck to Britney Spears, our white slender Pinscher-looking aspin. Two months later, tah-dah! We had five beige babies who have grown to look exactly like their father. Dog food and vaccines are not the only concern we had to consider if we were to raise the babies too. It’s how we were also going to divide the time and energy to walk them, bathe them and clean up after. We may not have shelled out to invest in our dogs, but every dog owned becomes a huge emotional investment. Providing food and shelter are not enough to claim we are responsible dog owners. We have to love them all and shower that love equally. That’s tough if you have eight. So I’d have to retract my statement about having more dogs if money wasn’t an issue. If I had more that would3 be animal hoarding. Just watch Animal Hoarders on the BIO channel!

 

I’ve always loved dogs. My wish list since I was seven was to have a Beagle (because of Snoopy), a Collie (because of Lassie) and then later on I wanted a Labrador and Golden Retriever (they were “the” dogs in many American TV shows). I thought the only way to get them was to save up a lot of money. Thankfully, I was wrong. There’s this wonderful thing called adoption.

 

So now, it’s our turn to pay it forward. We hope to give as much joy in finding the right parents as much as we had in receiving them. Our up-for-adoption sign is now posted.

by: Denise Roco

DAWSON, THE CREEK DOG

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It Takes a Village

A community comes together to help a starving stray

For those of us who work with ani-mals on a regular basis– whether as veterinarians, shelter volunteers or animal advocates–seeing an animal in distress, particularly when it’s a result of abuse, cruelty or extreme neglect, is one of the toughest parts of the job. It never gets easier and, over time, it can chip away at your soul. But every now and then, you also get to witness wonderful acts of compassion and generosity that restore your faith in humanity.

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Dawson, the Creek Dog

At first glance, he may not appear very interesting or excep-tionally good look-ing, but to hospital staff and regular vis-itors, Dawson is a very special dog. The only remarkable thing you might say about the medi-um-sized, mixed-breed is the curious stub where a tail should be and the perfectly matching slits at the tips of both his ears. That was not the case, however, when he first arrived at Ma-kati Dog and Cat Hospital last June 28, 2013.

 

Dawson’s story began when a volun-teer of animal welfare group CARA (Compassion and Responsibility for Animals) heard about a stray dog that was trapped in a creek in Makati City. Upon further investigation, she learned from people in the neighbour-hood that the abandoned dog had been there for at least a week, possi-bly longer. We may never know just how long he was trapped in the creek but judging from his physical appearance, he was slowly starv-ing to death. Weigh-ing a little over 13 lbs., the dog was severely emaciated, all skin and bones, with only a few tufts of light brown fur hanging off his skeletal body. He was so weak he could barely stand and his eyes had lost their lustre. He looked like he was at death’s door.

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With the help of the barangay securi-ty officers along with an emergency team from CARA, the dog was res-cued. He was later named “Dawson” in a nod to the eter-nally optimistic eponymous lead character of 90’s TV series

“Dawson’s Creek.”

 

The Road to Recovery 

The road to recovery was slow. Ini-tially, he was fed small amounts of a highly digestible, quality dog food at regular intervals, which was gradual-ly increased. As he put on more weight, he regained his strength, slowly but surely. Throughout it all, the capable team of vets led by Dr. Carlos and Dr. Zaldy closely monitored his progress. It was later discovered that he had a hip injury, most likely due to some type of trauma. But even the lingering limp has not put a damper on sweet-natured Dawson’s friendly, outgoing personality, which blossomed during his stay at Makati Dog and Cat Hospital.

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In the six months that he has been there, he has become a fixture at the hospital, greeting his favourite han-dlers, Miguel and Richard, with play-ful barks and vigorous wags whenever he sees them. He is always genu-inely happy to return to the hospital– a safe place that nurtured him back to health.

 

Perhaps what stands out most about Dawson’s story is how different peo-ple in the community came together to help a starving stray dog get a se-cond lease on life, proving the fa-mous proverb “It takes a village” holds true even when it comes to helping animals.

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By Francesca L. Ortigas

Owning A Pet: Are You Responsible Enough?

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     Pet owner     Owning a pet is not as easy as ABC. You have to consider a lot of things. Our pets provide unconditional love and care for us, but let us not forget the responsibilities we have in taking care of them.

   Owning a pet is aPet owner lifetime commitment. Pet animals and their owner develop deep bonds between them. It is a must to provide your pet shelter, food, water, medical care, love and attention.

     Before taking your new pet home, you must make sure you have all the basic needs. You must secure everything your pet needs before taking it home. These include a collar, ID tag and Rabies tag, leash, food and water bowls, a comfortable bed and toys. Find a good Vet. Having your pet’s personal veterinarian is less hassle than looking for one in times of emergency.Pet owner

 

‘Dog-proof’ home. Be sure to keep anything that can poison your pets. Not only it harms your pet, if you have kids in the house, you’re also saving them.

 

And above all, make sure that owning a pet is the right choice. You own a pet not be-cause your neighbor does. You bought a pet because it suits your living.Pet owner

 

Now, if you are ready. I bet you will become a responsible pet owner.

 

 

 

 

Yza Angela E. Turingan

Freshman MassCom

St. Paul University of Manila

Pet owner

 

DR. ENRIQUE R. CARLOS

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Dr. Enrique R. Carlos established the Makati Dog and Cat Hospital in 1962 with postal address of Amapola, Bel-Air III with telephone no, 88-63-86 and 87-28-60 now 5426 Gen. Luna cor. Algier St. Poblacion, Makati City; while the address has changed the physical location is the same. He maintained the Dog and Cat Hospital in 839 Romualdez St. Ermita, Manila with telephone no, 3-22- 60. He took over the hospital from his father Sixto Almeda Carlos in 1959.

Dr. Enrique R. Carlos was born on April 24, 1921 and was baptized Jose Antonio Vicente Enrique Almeda Carlos y Rodriguez. He graduated from the University of the Philippine College of Veterinary Science located in the Bureau of Animal Industry (AI) compound in Pandacan, Manila, now the Malacanang Security compound in 1972. Since the Nagtahan Bridge was not yet existing students ands personel of the Bureau of Animal Industry would ride a banca to cross the Pasig River and for those with car would be picked up at the other side to San Miguel and Malacanang.

In 1972, he was appointed to the College if Medicine, University of the Philippines as part-time professor without
compensation in the Department of Medicine. He was also appointed as Visiting Scientist of the NAMRU II (Navy and Marine Research Unit) of the US Navy doing extensive research on Leptospirosis and other pathogens. He was also a Consultant of the research facilities of the Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Enrique R. Carlos (right) with his father Dr. Sixto Almeda Carlos (left).

Dr. Enrique R. Carlos (right) with his
father Dr. Sixto Almeda Carlos (left).

Disaster and Emergency Preparedness for Pets

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As an active fire & rescue volunteer, I was one of the first to be deployed when Tropical Storm Ondoy hit Metro Manila in September of 2009. Ironically, my first “patient” was a small Yorkshire terrier in a panic stricken mode as floods were steadily rising in their home.

During most of that ordeal and the days that followed after that both people and their pets were separated or stranded where they were food and help had to be brought to them through till Ondoy has passed.

The story I’ve just written is true and highlights the need for pet owners to take more responsibility for their beloved companions. As more and more access to information becomes available, pet owners now have the means needed to take care of their pets not just during good times but during times when an emergency happens or when a disaster is threatening to occur.

We, in the rescue community encourage the communities we service to have a mindset of “Disaster and Emergency Preparedness” that people can use when the unexpected happens.

This concept can be approached in two main categories. That is emergency preparedness or disaster preparedness. Although many times you may read or see that in a lot of instances these two are often interchanged. But for the sake of this article let us define Emergency Preparedness as addressing instances such as common household emergencies to events that affect your immediate family while Disaster Preparedness deals more with Natural and Manmade disasters affecting more people in a wider area such as a community, province, or region.

In both categories, it is greatly encouraged that people with pets undertake the effort to put together a Preparedness Kit not only for themselves and their family but for their pets as well. This is especially true for the local setting.  As in the years I’ve spent being a volunteer I’ve observed the following:

  • The government only has a very limited capability in terms of rescue and relief resources. NGOs are your next best hope for help but in a situation with a high volume of evacuees their own resources will be very stretched
  • Pets are not a high priority when it comes to rescue or evacuation during emergencies or disasters.
  • If you were to evacuate, not many evacuation centers will allow pets as they would pose a health and safety risk to other evacuees in the shelter.
  • Food, Water, and Medicine will be very hard to find in a disaster scenario.

While this may be true, it is also a fact that there are more pet owners now than before. Just strolling around a mall on a lazy Sunday afternoon, one can see the many pet owners (although mostly dogs) strolling around with their furry little (and sometimes big) companions.

This means there are more people with pets that need to make sure that in an emergency or disaster they have the immediate resources and knowledge needed to make sure that their pet will be taken care of.

To start off, any type of pet preparedness kit will include the following items:

  • Water
  • Food
  • Shelter or Pet Carrier
  • First Aid/Medicine
  • Pet ID and/or Documentation
  • Toys

In the Philippine setting it is advised that standard preparedness kits hold enough supplies for at least a week

I hope this was helpful for you. Should you have any questions or concerns I would love to hear from you. Please contact me at pateros_14@rocketmail.com and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks and Stay Safe.

This article was revised from its original version for the purpose of this blog. You may get the original article by getting a copy of the Makati Dog and Cat Hospital Newsletter or by accessing the following link:

Benedict “Dinky” de Borja has been a volunteer Firefighter + Medic for the Pateros Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire and Rescue Brigade for the last 5 years. He helps Dr. Sixto Carlos on topics such as Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, as well as First Aid.