Almost 4 months ago he was dumped in one of the most awful spots of Curaçao, Shut. A place where every 15 minutes pump trucks filled with sewage, sucked from cesspools, search around the North side for a place to dump their load. A spot where multiple times a day garbage is dumped and where you will find all sorts of discarded items, from broken washing machines and fridges to yard waste, clothes or construction debris.
This is also the spot where people dump their dead animals. Some in bags or wrapped in sheets, others just dumped in the open air by the side of the road. All horrible. But we think what's the worst is the dumping of live animals, animals who are no longer wanted and put out of the car by their owners. We see them walking around, searching for water and food. By including them in the feeding program we try to alleviate the suffering a little.
Ollie was dumped in October 2016 and we immediately included him in the feeding program. We saw he was older and had a swelling on his hip. Of course it's a mystery why Ollie was dumped, but we fear the swelling had something to do with it. Ollie was fed every day but he didn't seem to trust us, as soon as you came near he walked away. We couldn't imagine leaving him there to live out his last few years and decided to catch him.
During feeding we found out he had a regular sleeping spot where he slept and we had expected to find him there. It was disappointing to see he was not there. We decided to put out some food with tranquigel, a medicine that would make him sleepy. After waiting a while Ollie appeared and ate the food and the medicine.
We knew we had to keep an eye on him now, because if we lost track of him now it would be hard to find him. He decided to lie down and after half an hour we gave the go ahead for the actual catch. Very slowly, without any sign of stress, we managed to get the dog pole around his neck. This pole is used to affix him so he can't escape. Very calmly we could retrieve him from the bushes and then we were certain: Ollie is safe!
He was quickly loaded up and brought to the vet. At the vet it turned out there wasn't really much wrong with him. He is almost bald due to scabies, but it is a very treatable type. He also has fleas, ticks and lice but those can be gotten rid of as well. Now it is important to monitor him so we can find out what his character is like and if he can be placed. We are going to take it easy with Ollie and give him an honest chance for a better life. At least he is safe now, thanks to a great team. On to a better future!
Watch the video here
