First the exciting news about Uganda SPCA's land, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are 2 pictures (worth 2000 words!) from April 22:
There were a total of 14 workmen on site that day laying concrete for 4 dog pens:
You can see on the left hand side of the 2nd photo above where there's a block wall and concrete-that's a section that was previously constructed for 8 new pens. Here's that section as of mid-April:
Eight new metal pens will be placed in the sections above. They're a great color, aren't they?-really cheerful! --
They'll look like the pens currently at The Haven (except they're green!), but they'll be mounted on the wall so the dogs won't easily be able to see the dogs in the pen next to them (there will be a wall in between them)--minimizing the stress of all that stimulus. Plus they'll have an "air lock"-a 2-door entry system, so dogs can't escape when someone enters.
With the 8 new pens, dogs can be removed from their current pens at the old Haven location and brought to the new site, and then the old pens can be dismantled and brought over and put back together on the new site and then more dogs can be transferred-kind of in a leapfrog fashion.
The cats will be moved once all dogs are transferred. There will be two catteries at the new site-the old one will be transferred to the new site, and a new one will be constructed. We still need to raise funds for a new cattery.
When will all this transferring start to happen? We're not sure. There have to be a couple of USPCA staff on-site and they'll need shelter and amenities. There has to be a kitchen to store and cook cat and dog food - the kitchen has been laid out, but not yet constructed. And with all of the construction noise and people in and out, you don't really want the dogs there yet, it would be too stressful. So the big move will happen, it's just not as easy as it might seem!
I visited the new site in April and of course, I visited the "old" Haven too. I brought supplies and much-needed cash for new site construction, as well as for ongoing shelter operations, all generously donated by AKI supporters.
This is a difficult time-while construction at the new site requires a lot of money to get it ready for cats, dogs, and people, the old site still needs to be maintained (rent, power, water), and of course, the staff need to be paid. AKI supporters cover a big chunk of USPCA operating fees-- which means that rescues and ongoing care of 300 cats and dogs does not suffer during the transition.
For example, while I was at The Haven, Shelter Manager Alex received an emergency call about a cat stuck in razor wire. We rushed off to the location where we found a very upset kitty. Alex sedated the cat --that may sound easy, it wasn't! And even once the cat was sedated figuring out how to extricate the cat from all that wire took time and patience. But as you can see in the picture below, the rescue was successful. (On the left in the picture is David Balondemu, from AKI Partner Organization Bam Animal Clinics (in Iganga), who visited us at The Haven while I was there.)
Back at The Haven, about 1/2 of the kitty's tail was amputated and he was neutered while under anesthesia.
I met this dog while at The Haven on April 13:
You'd never know she's the same dog who was rescued on April 10:
She has trouble walking-we're not quite sure what the problem is-and it's not horrible, but she's getting checked out more thoroughly now that she's feeling better.
When I was at The Haven on April 9, I met this girl, rescued on April 7, wandering on a roadside, with this bad wound on her back (photo below). There were 2 puppies when the USPCA rescued them, but one didn't make it - her wound was bad. This pup will be ok-the wound isn't painful anymore, but she is still very spooked, I would barely touch her and she'd run off:
Strangely, there were 2 Jack Russells at The Haven when I visited--not a common breed in Uganda. This dog -in the 2 photos below-was brought to the shelter by an Across Africa staff who rescue her. She had cuts all over her body. By April 5, when the 2nd photo was taken, she had recovered and was a typical Jack Russell!
On March 30, USPCA staff rescued this little girl from Entebbe:
This is her now:
And that's tripod Ollie in the background who is going to a home in Canada (and may even be there by the time you read this)!
Back in March, the USPCA rescued these 2 boys from Kiwatule. They had horrible mange and must have been in pain and so unhappy.
(see "after" picture, white dog below)
(see "after" picture, brown dog below)
I met them in April and although not 100% convinced that people can be ok, they are doing SO much better:
On March 1, the USPCA team rescued this boy from Jinja town. Of course his name is Jinja:
Although when I met him on April 13, he didn't feel very social, he is certainly feeling like a new dog:
I know several of you saw the post about the rabbit with mange, he looked horrible-that photo (below) was etched in my memory!
I not only met the rabbit, I met his rescuer, who is also his adopter and I can report that he is a lucky, happy rabbit!
What would we-more importantly, what would THEY-do without The Haven? Luckily, we don't have to contemplate that.
