Support for Have A Heart-Namibia

You may have noticed that we updated the name and description of our project on GlobalGiving to more closely reflect how Have a Heart-Namibia uses AKI (your) donations. Specifically, we support HaH's priority needs, which over the last few years has been the AKI-Emergency Fund and the HaH Lifetime Care Program. Both of these programs help ensure that spayed/neutered pets receive the care they need to survive and thrive. We anticipate supporting these two HaH programs for the foreseeable future (i.e., for a long time!)

These are some of the cats and dogs who, over the last few months, benefitted from your donations:

In August, Rocky and her owners (see photo) came to the Rehoboth vet clinic when they noticed Rocky had lost her appetite. It turned out that she had a uterus prolapse as well as TVT, transmissable venereal tumor. These are two big problems, and you can imagine the families' relief when Penny (vet nurse at the Rehoboth clinic) told them they qualify for the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund and that Rocky could get the treatment she needed. First, Rocky was spayed and the prolapse was dealt with. Then, TVT cancer treatment, once a week for 6 weeks, began. Now Rocky is back with her family, healthy, and her appetite is 100% restored.

Dusty is from Swakopmund and this poor guy had mange and TVT. When someone in Swakopmund needs extra help to cover vet care, they have to go to the vet clinic and talk to Sheelagh, the vet nurse, who is very strict and makes sure no one uses the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund when they don't really need or deserve the support. Sheelagh said Dusty's case makes all the extra work with HaH worth it, because the owner so appreciated the help she got from the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund and was so grateful for what we are doing. First Dusty was neutered (see picture) and then he was treated for mange and TVT-all successfully.

Bruno is from Rehoboth. He is the big brother of Blacky (who also received help from the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund). Bruno and Blacky are two of the very first HaH customers in 2013. How wonderful that they are still around-- and so loved by their family!! This is the goal with every spay/neuter, giving the animals a chance at a long, happy, and healthy life. Penny, at the Rehoboth clinic, asked if the Emergency Fund could help Bruno; he had an abcess under the throat and needed to be sedated to have it properly drained and cleaned. Of course, Geesche told her, "anything for Bruno!!!" So Bruno got sedated and cleaned and received his take-home medication and because he is a senior dog and a bit on the skinny side he also got a bag of extra nutritious dog food. (see photo of Bruno with his owner)

Little Blackie is also from Rehoboth. HaH had neutered him at the end of October, and then, a week later, on November 4, he was back at the clinic in Rehoboth, where he had to spend 2 weeks because he had a skin problem and needed treatment every day - sometimes just cleaning, sometimes he needed injections. The clinic ran out of food for Blackie. So the Emergency Fund kicked in the few US dollars for nutritious kitty food, in addition to the treatment for his skin problem.

Little Granny was heavily pregnant when someone kicked her! Luckily someone cared about her and brought her to the clinic in Rehoboth. She was immediately operated on but her only kitten was dead. Granny was spayed and Penny made sure she stayed at the clinic a few extra days to ensure whe was over her trauma. Granny was doing well, except she couldn't poop so again the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund stepped in and covered the cost of meds. And then, everyone agreed that it would be best if Granny found a different home. Penny got to work and found a new and safe family for Granny and we hope she will never ever be kicked again in her life! (see photo)

Mia is an old HaH customer from Rehoboth. She was spayed in April 2022. Mia may have gotten stuck in razor wire by the look of her injury. Luckily her owners knew where to get help. They brought her to the Rehoboth clinic, where she got 30 stitches to sew up that bad injury (see photo)! A couple of weks later, Mia went back to the clinic to get her stitches removed.

Check out our 2022 pie chart, showing how HaH-Namibia used your 2022 donations.

In 2022, 250 dogs and 26 cats benefitted under the HaH Lifetime Care Program.

In 2022, 50 dogs and 32 cats received helped through the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund.

That's a lot of lucky cats and dogs thanks to you!

Happy Holidays, and wishing for a kinder 2023.

Links:

• HaH-Namibia page on the AKI website

From January through June, you have helped 31 dogs and 9 cats get vet treatment through the AKI-Have a Heart Emergency Fund and 150 dogs and 26 cats get their Lifetime Care treatment (check-up, boosters, and parasite treatment for all HaH spay/neuter clients-for life). Our last GlobalGiving Progress Report took you through some of the Emergency Fund cases from January through March. We'll continue in this report with some Emergency Fund cases from April through June.

Lady in Tsumeb: Everyone agreed Lady is a very special dog. She was hit by a car and was lying on the side of the road for a day and night before someone took the initiative and called Have a Heart. She was badly hurt, and that made her aggressive; no one could get near her at first. But with patience -and some courage- her helpers were able to transport her to the vet clinic. Lady was a street dog, with no one who could cover her vet care, so of course, the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund stepped in. She had a large open wound on her leg (we won't show a picture of that), which was treated. She had torn ligaments and even after over a month at the clinic, wasn't putting weight on her rear leg. She became the vet clinic's mascot and was fostered at a home on nights and weekends. (see photo of Lady as the vet clinic mascot)

Mercy in Karibib: Mercy is an old HaH customer. Her family knew that the mobile clinic was going to be in Karibib in April and went there for help. They took Mercy along to show the vet her belly, where she had a tumor. She needed a tumor resection surgery, which was successful and later she went home with her family. (see photo of Mercy with her family after sugery)

Ousietjie Basson in Goreangab: Ousietjie is pronounced Ousiki and means something like "my old little friend" in Afrikaans. She had a greenstick fracture (the bone bends and cracks instead of breaking-like a green branch) on her left front leg. Dr Baines from the mobile clinic bandaged Ousietjie's leg and sent her home. (see photo of Ousietjie going home)

Jannie from Ariamsvlei: A few years ago a truck driver found Jannie and his sister Sannie. They were dumped when they were kittens. The truck driver kept them and they are his best friends. When the owner was driving his truck, Jannie went with him on the road, but Sannie didn't like to travel, so stayed with a friend. Since covid, the truck driver wasn't earning much money and started sleeping in his car-along with Jannie and Sannie. On May 23, Jannie was hit by a car and his leg and right eye were injured. His owner immediately took him to the emergency clinic in Windhoek, where he was stabilized. Jannie had a good chance of a full recoery, but the owner had no money to pay for this treatment, so he was faced with the decision to have Jannie euthanized.

Geesche (HaH) wrote, "What a nightmare. Letting your best friend go just because of the lack of money? No, not when there is an AKI emergency fund! We know the clinic will be keeping their costs down, but Jannie will have to get extensive treatment and pain control, maybe an eye removal at some stage (his leg will heal without an operation). He will definitely have to stay at the clinic for a few days. Jannie is so much loved and cared for, he is so important for his owner in such tough times, AKI might not only have saved his life, but also his owner's...?"

Many pictures and updates later, by mid-June, Jannie was back with his owner and his sister Sannie. (see pictures of Jannie with his human, and Jannie with Sannie)

Charles: Little 8 week old feral kitty, Charles, was hit with a rock on his head! Luckily the caretaker of the feral colony saw Charles soon after and she took him home. At first his wounds didn't look too bad, but they got infected and full of pus and his eye started bleeding. Charles needed to see a vet! His wounds were cleaned and he got antibiotics and eye drops and by the next day, was already feeling better.

But about a month later Charles had to go back to the vet clinic. This time it was his teeth. His baby teeth weren't falling out and his adult teeth were coming in. If he was still a feral kitty, he wouldn't have gotten the help he needed and would have had serious problems some day. Thanks to the support of the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund, Charles received the vet care he needed. We received this message from the vet:

Unfortunately we had to pull one of his permanent K9s because it grew skewed due to the baby tooth not coming out and it was already making a hole in his top gums. We also pulled the rest of his baby teeth and he was castrated. He is on antibiotics and pain medication. We also checked his eye, it is perfectly fine but sometime in the future the part of his third eyelid, that is scratching his eye will have to be burnt off. But that will be a quick procedure. He might have to go on eyedrops for the rest of his life. Due to the trauma he had to his eye, this is not a "normal" third eyelid procedure, in his case only the hairfolicals can be burned off. There is no damage to his eye so far, but he must be monitored closely."

Poor little guy! He's in foster care and won't be living the life of a feral cat, so he will be fine. (see picture of Charles when he arrived at the vet clinic after being hit by a rock)

Beauty from Rehoboth: Beauty's owner Heinrich is disabled and isn't working. One evening he was worried about Beauty because she wasn't eating and just laying around. He walked over to vet tech Penny's house to ask for help. Penny explained about the Animal-Kind International-Have a Heart Emergency Fund and that as part of the agreement to be treated, Beauty would have to be spayed when old enough and feeling better. The next day Heinrich brought Beauty to the clinic where she was given a check up, treated for tick-borne illnesses, and was sent home with a plan to return for her spay. Heinrich held up his part of the agreement and Beauty is now healthy and spayed!

There are so many more cats and dogs who have been helped thanks to your support for AKI's GlobalGiving fundraiser. Thank you from all of us--AKI, HaH, the cats, dogs, and their families- we are so grateful for your support!

Links:

• HaH-Namibia page on the AKI website