Kindness to Animals has no Boundaries April 2023 Dear Animal-Kind Friends,
(Live links have been removed, but you can always go on our website to read more.)
I think it’s human nature, when a dog next door is chained, when your local animal shelter is full, you feel the urgency, the need to act. In part that’s because you can see the need, feel it (or hear it-the chained dog crying). When there’s a pressing need thousands of miles away, it may not feel as urgent, you might be able to put it in the back of your mind until later (and for some, later never comes). But of course our Partner Organizations can’t put their pressing needs off until later.
In our monthly e-newsletters and AKI Blog posts, I try to bring the sense of urgency to you that our Partners feel. I hope this helps you see it, feel it, and if you use your imagination, hear it.
Join me in Uganda, and see what our Partner Organization, Uganda Society for the Protection & Care of Animals, has been up to. Feel the urgency of helping animals at a Bam Animals Clinic vaccination and spay/neuter clinic. Hear (use your imagination) the pressing need at the Sauvons nos Animaux shelter, when the perimeter fence came tumbling down:
Animal-Kind International Blog (April 2023)
Uganda SPCA: My visit to the old and new shelter: Currently 33 dogs are enjoying the spacious beauty at the new USPCA shelter, the green grass, free run of the large plot, rest areas, and space to play. They deserve this carefree life after what they’ve been through. But little else is carefree at the USPCA. While I was in Uganda, we responded to some urgent needs (uniforms and gum boots for 11 staff, rabies boosters for 12 staff, including Dr. Kassim, the USPCA’s new vet). But that’s only the tip of the iceberg (or maybe we should say, jungle). The USPCA has to cover salaries of 12 staff, continue paying rent at the old shelter until they can shut that down, pay for dog and cat food—for about 300 animals—and running costs of 2 shelters (donors to AKI have typically covered about 50% of the operating costs of the USPCA.) See the USPCA through the eyes of the cats, dogs, and staff at the USPCA.
Deborah with Kingston Community Animal Welfare has the great ability to make you see, hear, and feel what it’s like to be feeding and caring for hundreds of cats and dogs on the streets of Kingston. You can feel the love Deborah has, you can see the great needs of the street animals she’s helping and you can….
Hear straight from Deborah/KCAW:
“These are my 2 oldest “street” dogs that have lived their entire lives in a noisy grassless concrete garage filled with oil and grease. I was there when their mother had them, almost 10 years ago. The owner refused to give them up despite my effort. He barely feeds them. They throw the remnants of the lunch box which is usually dry bones and a few grains of rice.”
Above: Deborah visits her 2 oldest street dogs, Girl and Girl, a few times a week and gives them a good meal and lots of love. KCAW recently brought Girl on the left to the vet to find out why she was losing weight. Read about Girl and Girl and other Kingston street animals who are helped by your donations—in this AKI Blog post).
While still caring for the dogs and cats at the Helping Hands for Hounds of Honduras Sanctuary, as we mentioned in our December 2022 newsletter, Pilar is embarking on a new phase. After over 40 years of rescuing and helping animals in Honduras, Pilar is sharing her skills and knowledge with other groups. Back when she started rescuing animals, she was an anomaly. Now there are many individuals and groups involved in animal care, animal rights, and animal rescue (many of them Pilar's ex-ornithology students).
Our 2022 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program has officially ended. The last of our nine grantees to complete their project, the Zambezi Working Donkey Project in Zambia, successfully concluded their 2nd AKI grant project, the Community Education Project. ZWDP educated school kids and piqued their interest in donkeys (including donkey art, 1st photo below) and demonstrated good grooming (2nd photo below), proper use of humane harnesses, and general care of donkeys.
AKI’s 6th Annual Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program
With the end of our 2022 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program, we’re now planning for the start of our 2023 program. Our grant program is 100% donor funded. We believe that our grant program is one of the best ways to support animal welfare in countries where donations are meager, animal welfare advocates are enthusiastic and dedicated, and where the needs are urgent!
For now, interested applicants can learn more about our program on the Grants 2022 page, which has descriptions and progress reports of our nine 2022 grants. The 2022 application, guidelines, and FAQs are there as well; we expect our 2023 program to be very similar to the 2022 program.
We’ll post information about our 2023 program by May 15 (on our website and Facebook page, and in our May newsletter), and we will accept proposals from May 22-July 1.
DONORS! We need you! We accept donations designated for specific countries, specific types of grants, or undesignated donations to the Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program. If you are interested in donating to our 2023 grant program and you’d like to discuss your donation/designation with me, please send an email message (karen@animal-kind.org).
Sauvons nos Animaux: Building a Wall
If you watched the video above, I’m sure you got a feel for the devastation caused when Sauvons nos Animaux’s perimeter fence blew down. You may have noticed that the shelter (the only one in the Democratic Republic of Congo) is a large piece of property with some beautiful open space and shady areas, but sits up against a steep and unstable slope and that the infrastructure is pretty basic. BUT Sauvons nos Animaux owns this wonderful space, and we want it to be a safe haven for animals (and the people who work there) for many many years.
So we discussed with Paterne whether we should repair the fence, which we knew would be only a temporary fix, albeit the cheaper alternative. Or if we should just HOPE that our supporters will understand the urgency and contribute to this important effort. We decided to move ahead with a permanent wall which will prevent mudslides, landslides and flooding, greatly deter anyone who wants to illegally enter, protect the cats, dogs, and staff from harm, and ensure the shelter’s supplies and equipment remain safe.
You may remember, over the past few years, Sauvons nos Animaux’s dog kennels and cattery have sustained a lot of damage due to mud and landslides and flooding (some of you donated to repair the damage). We’re sure that a wall is the right decision and that in the end, the cost of the wall will pay for itself in the damage it will prevent. But we still need your help!
Help build the SnA wall: Your support is urgently needed!
Bam Animal Clinics-Uganda
Bam Animal Clinics is the organization to support if you want to help donkeys in eastern Uganda (and that’s what your donations to AKI support!). But did you know that Bam Animal Clinics also helps cats and dogs? I recently visited Bam in Iganga, near Jinja (did you know that Jinja is the source of the Nile?) I was thrilled to participate in a Bam-sponsored spay/neuter and vaccination clinic in Nakalanga village. About 45 dogs received care that day, while about 100 kids looked on, fascinated at what they were seeing and hearing, and probably unsure of what they were feeling since most of their lives, they have been taught to fear dogs.
Photo above: About 8 dogs were spayed/neutered at the clinic while many in the community looked on, never having seen such a thing! They were fascinated and it was certainly a learning experience for those who hadn’t realized the benefits of spay/neuter —nor that anyone would actually do this kind of work for a dog.
I hope this newsletter helps you see, feel, and hear what some of our supported animal welfare organizations are doing, what they face on a daily basis. I hope it makes their needs feel more pressing, urgent—because they are. As always, we are very grateful to you for your kindness and generosity. Our success is your success, our achievements for animals are only possible because of your support. We Are Very Gratefully Yours, Karen Menczer, Founder/Director & the Animal-Kind International Board AKI has Partner Organizations in Uganda (2 partners), Namibia (2 partners), DR Congo, Ghana, South Sudan, Liberia, Honduras, Jamaica, and Armenia. You can donate to AKI’s general fund or designate your donation to one or more of our Partner Organizations. Our 2022 grantees work in: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa (3 grantees), Zambia, and Zimbabwe. AKI: Since 2007, helping animals and the people who care for them in some of the poorest countries. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; donations to AKI are tax deductible in the US to the extent the law allows. 100% of your donations are used to support our Partner Organizations & our Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program. Remember to use Goodshop when you shop online!
For a donation of $15 or more you can request a Pet Portrait! Information and instructions are here. (Midnight and Pelleas, photo right. Midnight passed away recently, read his memorial here, https://www.animal-kind.org/aki-memory-wall)
