This beautiful female Siberian Husky was abandoned in our neighborhood. She had been following us from a distance every time we took our Boxer dog Aishah out for her walk. After nearly three weeks the Husky could walk no further and started collapsing. When my wife and I examined her, it was clear that she was dying from starvation and that she had been run over by a car. She had bruises, but fortunately no broken bones. Her back paws were worn down to the bare flesh.
Madeira Island...
under the Tourism Façade.
Madeira (Portugal) has a very poor reputation for animal rights. Although the Portuguese legislation is improving because of recent pressure by the EEC, the population is still very backward. Sixty percent are functionally illiterate. This makes it almost impossible to communicate to the people the spirit and the letter of any new law. The European Electronic Tag Directive is being easily circumvented by owners who brutally remove the tags so they can abandon their dogs with impunity.
Some humans can sadly be very cruel to their animals: buying them, then later disposing of them as though they were just objects. Cruelty to dogs is at its worst during holiday periods.
With their holiday already booked, the dog owner then realizes that they don't have anyone to look after their dog while they are away, so they abandon it. This is a common occurrence on Madeira.
There is an association on Madeira, SPAD, supposedly for the protection of animals. It has the policy whereby, if after a few days of being rescued from the street, the owner doesn’t collect their dog, or no other home is found for it, the dog is given a lethal injection.
The local government does nothing to change this brutal scenario. There have been a few initiatives by some brave, caring individuals. An association has been formed with the objective of greatly improving the welfare of dogs on the Island, but it lacks the resources to fully implement the necessary measures. These include public awareness campaigns, adoption clubs, dog-sitting associations, provision of basic veterinarian care for the abandoned dogs and so on.
PLEASE REMEMBER:
Domestic Animals are
PART OF YOUR FAMILY
for their ENTIRE LIFE!
A dog should not be a gift inasmuch as nobody offers a child as a present to anyone. A living creature must not be seen as an object. Any animal ownership must be underlain by a conscientious act of responsibility.
A lot of suffering can be avoided when people perfectly realize the responsibilities that an animal possession entails. A child cannot alone be deemed accountable for the comprehensive set of duties pertaining the welfare of domestic animals. Likewise, each different breed has a range of specific requirements which may not suit the life style of every person.
The Siberian Husky is a Very Unique Breed of Dog Developed in Siberia by the Chukchi People Some 10,000 Years Ago.
Anthropological studies ascertained that the Husky became a pure breed since many hundreds of years in Siberia, before these dogs crossed the Bering land bridge with a wave of humans occupying North America. The breed is noted for intelligence, self determination and a very gentle temperament. Huskies were originally bred to pull sleds, herd deer and perform watch-dogging tasks in the arctic regions because of their strength and stamina. There have been reported cases of Huskies able to cover journeys as long as 150 miles in one single day. Huskies daily caloric intake can hence be in excess of 10,000 Kcal, depending on the type of duty. They have erect ears and a dense, two-layered soft coat, sufficient to counter extreme weather. Their resistant feet enable them to endure abrasion and damage from harsh trail and icy conditions for extremely long periods (10 hours or longer). A Husky stands 20–24 in. (51–60 cm) and weighs 35–60 lbs (16–27 kg). They can vary in color (gray, black, white, brown, or a combinations of nuances).
Why "Victoria"?
We Named Her So Because
She Must Win!!!
She suffers from a juvenile hip-dysplasia which needs to be operated on. This is a very rare condition amongst Huskies, being more prevalent amongst larger breeds. Dysplasia is an hereditary predisposition to hip malformation. In fact it is a complex (called polygenic or multigenic) disease caused by many contributory factors. The condition is a lack of stability of the femur head within its socket, the acetabulum, part of the hip joint. This can occur for a number of reasons: the socket could be deformed, the muscles may not be providing the proper support, or it could be a combination of these and other factors. In time the hip becomes deformed with arthritis, or degenerative joint disease as it is now called.
Genetically affected animals may be born perfectly healthy and may have a long life without this condition ever manifesting itself. When it does occur, it can vary in severity depending upon the animal. Because of the malformation of the hip, the joint undergoes very rapid degeneration which may lead to dog’s hindleg becoming disabled.
If she doesn’t have an operation, the prognosis for Victoria is for her limp and her pain to become progressively worse and for the muscles to atrophy. When the pain becomes too much for her, the only humane option will be to put her to sleep.
But There is a Solution:
To Have a Total-Arthroplasty!
This is a very costly operation, about 2,000 euros. (Please don’t watch this video if you don’t like the sight of blood).
The operation consists of removing the neck and head of the femur and implanting a joint prosthesis.
This case of Victoria must have a happy ending, because having seen her suffering, we couldn’t not have compassion on her. We are determined to have this dog operated on. She has already suffered enough in her young life.
She needs our HELP! Please, join us!!!
Both my wife (Graça M P Costa) and I are Marine Scientists temporarily living in Madeira. We are trying to do our very best to help these abandoned animals, but we need help and compassion from others. If you want to know more about us, please visit our family BLOG site.
If you find are able to help with ANY amount of money, please make your donation and become Victoria's Virtual Foster Owner. Any sum is welcome, from one unit of currency to whatever you feel is appropriate (even 1 euro, even 50 cents, really whatever. If each one who watched her video made a donation of 50 cent it would have been already enough to operate her).
If you make a donation, please send an e-mail (at melo.moreira@sapo.pt) reminding me of your gesture, with your name and address. My wife and I are planning to make a video documenting this case to send to all the donors along with a postcard from Madeira Island.
We would like to thank the association PATA (Porque os Animais Também se Amam - Because the Animals can Also be Loved) for their unique assistance to the abandoned animals on this island, and for their invaluable work on developing animal rights conscience amongst young kids and their families.
We can be contacted by phone: +351-919590035
If you can donate by clicking the appropriate link below (PAYPAL):
You can alternately make a payment by bank transfer:
IBAN: PT50000702430078943000957
Bank: BANCO ESPIRITO SANTO
NAME: DR. EGBERTO MELO MOREIRA JUNIOR
BRANCH: SUCURSAL SE - FUNCHAL
MANY THANKS
FOR TAKING THE TIME
TO READ
THIS ALL THROUGH
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