Practically I can provide for this dog in terms of care. Financially I can't. There may be people outside the country who would like to help him but for geographical reasons can't. To me, they are the ones who might be willing to sponsor him. I already have several sponsored animals in my rescue foundation. You are right, sponsors do fall away, but help comes and the horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, chickens and ducks, all rescued, never go short. Some sometimes get fostered or re-homed. It is a matter of faith and trust. I have learned never to take in a new animal unless there is a sponsor. How I wish that were different! It would be if more people put their money where their mouth is and I have been blessed to see exactly that with regard to pledges and money coming in to pay for this dog's care with Dr Bob. It is perhaps one thing with which I agreed with Mrs Thatcher, 'If there is a problem, DO SOMETHING about it!'
Many of our animals have been abused or are old and may not live long. Our first horse, dying when we took him in, lasted almost 6 years. He taught many children and adults about kindness, compassion, commitment, responsibility, stoicism, laughter, how to handle a large animal and much more. To the last he fought to live. Almost till the end he loved to be ridden for 10 minutes occasionally by someone very light. He would hold his head so proudly and prance along! Our last elderly rescued donkey only lasted 8 months, but he spent that time, after his initial emergency care with us, in peace and with a foster carer who loved him dearly. This rottweiler has major neurological problems, maybe from the effects of where the bullet embedded itself, maybe from tetanus from the wound, maybe from something previous which could even be why someone shot him rather than taking him to be euthanized. I have nursed many hopeless cases when it came to animals. One cat had been burned or had boiling water or oil thrown over him and he had salmonella so badly he was screaming with pain and couldn't even get to the litter tray. It was Dr Bob who got him well when another vet had actually given him a drug which could have sent him blind. Five years later, apart from the bald area, he is totally magnificent and deeply affectionate. One beautiful briard, abandoned by her owners, was majorly epileptic, almost certainly the result of indiscriminate breeding. She had 6 months of love and care with me and the people who support me. Many people cried when she finally had to be euthanized after 36 fits in 48 hours. She was the most centred animal I have ever encountered. She had been horribly neglected before, pretty much kept in a dungeon, never medicated for her epilepsy... If I can give that love and care to an animal at the end of its life, it has to be worthwhile. One GS / Dominican cross bled out in front of me, presumably from cancer, for several hours while I waited for the vet. I just sat with him all that time and stroked him. He died in peace. I was called to help with another dying from testicular cancer. It wasn't his time, but I showed the locals how to nurse him, give him his dignity. Animals tell me when it is their time and I am just privileged to share that with them. It is called caring.
I have also re-homed many animals in the years I have been on this island.
Believe me, it isn't always the Dominicans who treat animals barbarically or who abandon them because they are ill or out of hand!
No, we can't change the world for all of these animals, but together we can do it for a few. We do what we can.
