Feb 2021: AKI News, Needs, & Progress

AKI News-February 2021

Crises happen. And right now we’re dealing with two in particular. About a week ago, heavy rains, flooding, and a mudslide caused severe damage to the Sauvons nos Animaux shelter in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In the video below, you can see the mud pouring into a dog pen and hear the heavy rain pounding down.

About 2 weeks before this event, rain, flooding, and mudslides destroyed the shelter’s cattery and perimeter fence. Thanks to our generous donors, we were able to send Paterne (SnA Director) the funds he needed to repair the cattery. But before they could begin the repairs, this next crisis happened.

We want to continue helping SnA (a grantee of our 2020 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program), Paterne, and the animals in their time of need. Read my AKI Blog post from December 2020 about Paterne and SnA to find out more about this extraordinary shelter and the man who started it all.

AKI News: The AKI Blog-February

The 2nd crisis we’re facing is the state of the animals at the Kinshasa Zoo in the western Democratic Republic of Congo (about 1500 miles and a 40 hour drive from Bukavu). There, another of our 2020 grantees (1 of 9 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program grantees), is trying to save the remaining animals at the zoo and provide them with as humane an existence as possible. The 1st of 4 AKI Blog posts this month is about Save Animals-DRC and our GoFundMe effort to help them:

 Fundraiser to save the Kinshasa Zoo animals by Save Animals in the Democratic Republic of Congo: SA-DRC wants to make sure that no more zoo animals die from a lack of food, proper nutrients, and from general neglect. Right now, SA visits the zoo once a month to bring food, enrichment items, and to clean the cages and enclosures. With more support, they will visit the zoo every Sunday to take care of the animals. They have a long-term plan to help raise funds for the zoo through increased visitation, so the zoo will then have money to pay for the basic requirements of the remaining animals. Details of the SA-DRC zoo project are in this blog post. We’re accepting donations on the AKI website (in the comment box, please state that your donation is for SA’s zoo fundraiser) and also through a GoFundMe fundraiser that we initiated for Save Animals-DRC.

 AKI’s Grant to Zambezi Working Donkey Project: Another 2020 grantee, ZWDP trained 24 volunteers to be Community Livestock Officers. Under the auspices of ZWDP, the CLOs are now helping donkeys in their villages. The CLO concept is a great idea to get community support for donkey welfare, to pass on donkey care knowledge and skills, and to give ZWDP a voice and eyes and ears on the ground.

 Lots of Good News from Helping Hands for Hounds of Honduras: Our Partner Organization, HHHH, reports on some new and some old adoptions-all going exceedingly well, and we have an update on Mona the pink cat.

 Bam Animal Clinics helping donkeys in eastern Uganda-February 2021: AKI Partner Organization, Bam Animal Clinics-Uganda, held community donkey clinics and sisal saddle making training courses (picture below) in several communities in eastern Uganda that had never before received Bam services. This work was funded entirely by Animal-Kind International donors.

More AKI News & Progress Made

2021 started with our Partners in full gear, and with their 1st disbursements from AKI, they’ve already reported back with news and progress made:

Save Animals-Armenia: While at the SA-A shelter one day last month, Nune heard horrible noises outside the shelter gate and when she ran over to see what was happening, she watched in horror as a mama dog was defending her 5 puppies against several dogs who live in the area. Someone must have just dumped the dog and puppies there, figuring that Nune/SA-Armenia would take care of them (or maybe not thinking anything at all). It took more than an hour for Nune to get the mama and puppies to the safety of her shelter. With AKI funding, the puppies received vet care, and Nune was able to find homes for all 5 of them, 2 of them all the way in Los Angeles (photo below)! Although we always hope for homes within the country, Armenia still has so few people willing and able to adopt mixed breed dogs, especially puppies who promise to be big dogs when they grow up.

Have A Heart-Namibia: HAH has already gotten several requests for the AKI-HAH Emergency Fund. One in particular really touched us (although all the funds we approve for emergency fund use are so needed and appreciated by the families). Ranger, an HAH neuter client, lives with his family in Rehoboth, Namibia, and is much loved by them. He started getting knots all over his body so his family went to the vet to find out what was going on. They got antibiotics, which didn’t work. Next, a test for cancer was needed, but the family couldn’t afford it. The AKI-HAH Emergency Fund came to their rescue. Great news, the test came back negative, no cancer! But this remains a mystery-Ranger still doesn’t feel well, more knots are appearing, his energy level is very low. The family is heartbroken, and together with the vet (and the support of our Emergency Fund, if needed), they will decide what’s best for Ranger.

Uganda Society for the Protection & Care of Animals: We know-like we are-you are also waiting to hear positive news about the USPCA’s efforts to find land. After several visits to available plots, a few of which gave us so much hope, none have been suitable, with clean and clear ownership title. Besides finding an affordable plot of land in a good location, ownership issues in Uganda can be so complex, you have to be very careful if you don’t want to end up with legal issues down the road. But the good news is that more visits are scheduled for next week.

Thank you from AKI & our supported-organizations-we are so grateful to you!

 REMINDER: All monthly/recurring donors should have received an end of year email message from me with the total amount you donated in 2020 and information about what your donations achieved. If you didn’t, please get in touch!

 If you haven’t already read our 2020 Annual Report, it’s available here. I think you’ll enjoy reading about all the good things your donations have achieved -And we intend to continue on that path in 2021, reporting to you about the achievements and success stories (and we’ll include some of the challenges too).

100% of your donations go to AKI-supported organizations,
 our Partner Organizations in 9 countries: Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Namibia, Liberia, Ghana, Armenia, Jamaica, and Honduras; and AKI's 2020 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Recipients who work in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (2 grantees), Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
 Please help us get the word out about AKI by forwarding this message to your friends and family who love animals. Please stay safe and healthy.
 
 With Gratitude,
 Karen Menczer, Founder & Director
 &
 the AKI Board