On March 17, Deborah's work place (a local bank) shut down for covid-19. For a while, that meant that Deborah had lots of time to check on "her" street cats and dogs, work with her network of people throughout the city who help KCAW care for the free-roaming animals, check in on pet owners who get help from KCAW, and arrange for spay/neuter.
But then, as restrictions got tighter, spay/neuter surgeries became impossible. Deborah quickly squeezed in 2 spays the week before the government shut down vet clinics.
Just before Jamaica went on lock down, Deborah stocked up on rice, meat, cat food, and other items so she'd be prepared for the long term. And she brought a few dogs off the street and to the KCAW kennels to keep them safe and give them the daily care they need.
Because of covid-19 restrictions, it got to the point where Deborah couldn't get out every day and travel to her cats and dogs to feed them. So she leaves food with the caretakers in the KCAW network. They feed the dogs and cats for the week and then Deborah returns to replenish their supply.
Still, on her way to drop food or check on street cats and dogs, Deborah never fails to come across animals who need her help-like the ones below:
This little puppy was hanging around, looking forlorn and hungry, outside the gate to his home. Deborah stopped, gave food, and talked to the owner about giving the puppy more food, water, and keeping him inside the gate and safe. As possible, Deborah now drives by the house to check up on him. He's doing much better already-the owner seems to have taken Deborah's words to heart.
This little puppy was scrounging for food on the street when Deborah saw him, stopped and gave him a big meal. Sometimes that's all you can do.
One of the dogs on Deborah's regular feeding route had a bad maggot - she noticed one day when she stopped with food (2 pictures below). She treated the wound over a few visits and it healed nicely.
This sweet stray black is another dog on Deborah's feeding route (picture below). She runs away from people (in the video you can see how nervous she is), but normally waits for Deborah every day, rain or shine, for her daily meal, which--sadly-Deborah can't always bring to her during lock down. Deborah recently gave her a dose of Nexguard-the closest she was ever able to get to the dog. She's 1st on Deborah's list to get spayed once vets are able to work again. She's such a sweetie........
Deborah saw this mama dog and followed her to where she kept her 2 puppies. Deborah gave them enough food for 3.
But when she returned the next day, one of the puppies was gone. Deborah decided she had to get the remaining puppy to safety. She got mama's permission to take the puppy to the KCAW kennels, where she bathed and de-wormed her, and found a perfect home for the puppy (picture below).
We'll leave on this high note and hope that for our next AKI Blog post about KCAW's work that they'll be back to full force, feeding, caring for, spaying/neutering, finding homes, and keeping Kingston's street animals safe and loved.