Mayhew International working to alleviate the suffering of animals abroad
Issue 17 | Summer 2015
Welcome to the summer issue of the Mayhew International newsletter. We’ve had a very busy start to the year in Afghanistan and Moscow already, read on to find out more and why not come and meet the International team at Open Day at The Mayhew on 14th June.
A member of the volunteer dog survey team at work in Kabul
Mayhew International In Afghanistan The ground-breaking dog survey has been carried out by Dr Mo in Kabul – the first of its kind in Afghanistan.
I
t was a huge undertaking for Dr Mo, one teacher and 14 dedicated students from Kabul University’s Vet Faculty, but with support from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farming, Kabul Municipality and Kabul University, Dr Mo and the team set to work at the end of January. The survey focussed on the 16 districts that are classed as Kabul City. Each district was divided into smaller areas for the team to methodically count the dogs using a specially adapted mobile phone app from Mission Rabies. The street dogs are more active in the
city during the night when less people are around and they tend to retreat to the quieter mountainous areas of the city during the day. Therefore the best time to conduct the count was from 5am-8am every day, as this was when visibility was highest and the dogs were active and easier to spot. The survey was extended to the mountain areas where many dogs were living during the day, as this would provide a more accurate result to the survey. The dogs were hard to see as many hid in caves, but with the help of
Above: The street dogs are most active when the city is quiet
Mayhew International _ Summer 2015
Above: Dr Mo’s fantastic volunteer dog survey team – all local vets and vet students from Kabul University
Above: Dr Mo counting street dogs
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Above: A dog searches for food
Mayhew International In Moscow At the end of January Mayhew International was shocked to report a serious fire at the Domashnyi dog shelter in Moscow.
Above: The specially adapted mobile phone app used to count the dogs
Above: Volunteer Mohammed Ali meets some of the locals
Above: The team find a litter of puppies
Above: Dr Mo carrying out surgery at the Nowzad Clinic
the adapted telephone app supplied by our friends at Mission Rabies, the team was able to successfully count the dogs in these areas and keep track of their location. As with counting any living thing it is impossible to gather a completely perfect outcome, but with the method used (created by WAP), the results will provide over 95% accuracy. Once the data has been analysed, it will allow Mayhew International to progress towards the next stages of the Kabul project: a mass Rabies vaccination drive followed by Trap, Neuter, Release programmes. These projects are only possible with the results of the dog survey, so it is a big step forward. Education programmes for the local
community are also planned so that, along with the neutering and Rabies vaccination programmes, the quality of life for both dogs and people living in the city will be improved. While in Afghanistan, Dr Mo also visited Kabul Zoo to donate two pairs of special anti-bite and anti-rabies gloves from Mayhew International – vital equipment to keep the staff safe and help them care for the animals. Dr Mo also spent time with the Nowzad team performing intricate surgeries and assisting their vet team with difficult cases, and he even managed to squeeze some textbooks donated by the BVA into his suitcase, to give to Kabul University Vet Faculty. Well done Mo!
Mayhew International _ Summer 2015
W
e have been working with the shelter over the last 3 years, helping to fund their neutering programme (with local charity Fond Dingo). The shelter in the southern outskirts of the city housed around 200 dogs and went up in flames on Thursday, 22nd January. Thankfully, staff and volunteers at the shelter managed to rescue all but one of the dogs, which had run upstairs in a panic and couldn’t be reached. Emergency services attended and managed to bring the fire under control but the shelter areas and stores were completely destroyed. Supplies were urgently needed – food, water, temporary shelter and medicines for the dogs. Mayhew International sent out an urgent plea to our supporters and we received an overwhelming response -
raising thousands in just a matter of days. With these initial funds the shelter was able to purchase food and a 20ft storage container, along with temporary wooden houses to provide shelter. Your generosity continued and we raised over £10,000 in total for the shelter! In a recent update we received from Domashnyi, we heard that water and electricity had been reconnected and more dried food had arrived. In April a large refrigerator was purchased and also vaccines for the dogs at the shelter. As well as helping with the Domashnyi shelter, Fond Dingo’s neutering project with Mayhew International has been going non-stop in the first quarter of 2015, having neutered a total of 94 cats and dogs. The project provides neutering services for private apartment
Above: The shelter on fire
Above: Veronika (Director of Fond Dingo) with the shelter dogs
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Left: A thank you to Mayhew International supporters from the Domashnyi shelter
programme for feral cats, has also been progressing well. The project, carried out by a vet funded by Mayhew International, started in June last year and has now neutered 621 cats. A big well done!
Want to fundraise for Mayhew International? Make a donation here: http://mayhe.ws/supportMayhewInt Or why not do a sponsored run or even a skydive for us? Visit themayhew.org/events to find out more. Join us on Facebook: mayhewinternational Follow us on Twitter: @mayhewint Call: 020 8206 5870 Email: international@mayhewanimalhome.org
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