Saving Gabby

VALDEEN SHEARS

While it is difficult to assess long term trauma to animals, following natural disasters, they are often left distressed or in grave danger.

Kathleen Carliste of the Animal Welfare Network spoke to Newsday after they were forced to brave flood waters to rescue an adult mixed breed female dog at Seunarine Trace, Kelly Village on Saturday.

The Network, along with the Trinidad and Tobago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TTSPCA), have partnered with Golden Pride Veterinary Clinic and several other clinics across the country to rescue and shelter animals affected by the floods.

Since the start of the incessant rains across the country, many animals either had to be rescued or drowned.

Carliste said they have since seen the carcasses of rabbits, dogs, cats and cows since rescue operations started over the last weekend.

It was the same fate, “Gabby” almost met when she became trapped inside her owner’s home.

Carliste said “Gabby” though was made famous through social media, when someone posted their concern for her life.

The dog’s owners had travelled abroad and left her with a caretaker. Carliste said the caretaker left for work on Friday morning and found out later that Seunarine Trace was under water. Gabby was trapped inside the house.

The first attempt at rescuing her, said Carliste, left them momentarily heartbroken, as while on their way in a kayak, they received a call that Gabby’s body was seen floating and that she had died.

“We turned back, but the caretaker called us the next day, saying she was alive, but that she was extremely exhausted. We went back and sure enough there was Gabby, a sweet, tired, but playful dog. We were all so happy she had survived,” said Carliste.

At Golden Pride, Dr Shivana Beharry said they will house whatever animals are brought in until the owners can do so themselves. Several of the rescues were conducted by volunteers, who utilised whatever vessels they had at their disposal to save the animals. In one case they rescued five cats inside a cage and several goats tied to a tree in Central Trinidad.

Several clinics on the outskirts of flooded areas, she said, have expressed their willingness to treat and house animals, as those in flood affected communities were themselves under water. Another post on social media, of a puppy peeping out from behind a cage, prompted emotional responses, with several persons expressing their willingness to adopt the pup. Some queried why the puppy was caged and how sorrowful it appeared.

One person posted, “My Hunter, as well, he haven’t seen grass since Friday.”