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Helping Animals Rescue Team (heart)
WE want to help shed light on the realities of the homeless / stray animals of Kota Kinabalu and point the way to a more compassionate world.
They are confronted with speeding cars, suffer from untreated diseases, search for their own food in the garbage, endure the scorching sun and rain without protection – a treacherous, lonely existence that often ends far too early. The success stories outweighed the sad ones and we had to be content with saving the ones we could. We are trying to make the world a better place for homeless / stray animals with no voice of their own.
If there is one canine disease that scares the rescuers of Heart, it is canine distemper. It is a serious disease that spreads quickly through infected people and can affect many internal functions. If left untreated, distemper can be fatal in dogs, and even surviving dogs can be left with lifelong symptoms.
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Our current rescue in the past two weeks is battling the highly contagious canine distemper virus! Canine distemper is a dangerous and highly contagious viral disease that is transmitted through contact with an infected animal! There is no cure for the disease, just treating the symptoms as the body fights the virus. Many street dogs in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan, to name a few, catch the virus and only the strong survive, most with residual neurological symptoms.
On May 12th, Heart received a tip from Freda, a kind-hearted animal lover, about a homeless / stray dog with a severe case of distemper virus. She told the Heart team that the dog was whining in pain and needed urgent medical attention.
According to Jesse, the owner of the Yummy Cafe in Austin Park, she saw this pooch for the first time, collapsed under the scorching sun on the side of the road and could not stand.
When HEART approached her, her tail didn’t stop wagging. We wanted to give the very sick and helpless puppy a second chance. Nothing makes us happier than watching sick animals run again. The streets of Kota Kinabalu can be tough for the homeless / stray dogs and many out there who will never have a second chance in life. Luckily for this pooch we named Austina, she got a happy ending instead of a devastating result. Found lying in the street, this pooch couldn’t stand but immediately looked so cute and happy that someone came to help her. She could only wag her tail enthusiastically as we filmed her.
She had canine distemper, which is often fatal within 14 days. Canine distemper can affect several of the dog’s body systems, including the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. But the homeless / stray dog had a strong will to live. Our hearts broke in pieces.
She suffered from a serious viral disease that can be contagious. We cannot describe how we felt when we saw the state in which we found her. She looked tired, had breathlessness, muscle tremors, eye and nose discharge, cough, and was diagnosed with salivation, hyperkerstosis (thickening of the skin) on the nose and the pads of the paws, all of which painted a fatal picture of her health. Unfortunately, all veterinary clinics had refused emergency treatment to the dog Austina in the midst of the distemper virus. We are so happy that this pooch was given a second chance in life.
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We rushed to the nearby clinic where she was treated outside of the veterinary clinic. The vet treated the pooch with antibiotics and IV fluids. We locked her in a cage in the Yummy Café and asked our volunteers to administer medication daily and monitor her progress. Supportive Care is the only treatment available for Austina. These include IV fluids, steroids, anti-seizure drugs, and drugs to control vomiting, diarrhea, and antibiotic injections to treat secondary bacterial infections.
For the sake of the sick pooch, we put our lives on hold to take care of our sick. Therefore, a rotating crew of Heart members and volunteers take turns looking after them. We are experienced, we have routines and schedules.
Thank you to the rescuers of Heart, the volunteers, the Good Samaritans and the owner of the Yummy Cafe for helping our furry friend. We are very pleased to the owner of the Yummy Café that his premises are used to accommodate our sick dog. Thank you for saving another life. They all work wonders!
We do NOT receive any government funding and rely on the support and kindness of our community, private donations and a charity bazaar to accomplish our mission. Heart does not euthanize animals to make room for others. We are a no-kill animal welfare group and we work to save life whenever possible.
We rely on donations from people like you who are willing to spend their hard earned money helping animals in need.
If you’d like to help donate to Austina’s medical expenses, please send your funds to:
CIMB BANK BERHAD
Account number.
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70 3762569 4
ROSLI @ ROSLEE BIN ABBAS
DONATIONS – AUSTINA
And every ringgit helps! Thank you in advance for your generosity, big and small (and no donation is too small).!
Have a heart. donate
