A midnight rescue

The air has become nippy. Christmas carols are back and playing like elevator music in the background. Street kids are out everywhere, rendering their versions of Christmas carols complete with a little jig as they tap on your car windows.

It’s Christmas — a time of the year that I would wait for with much anticipation when I was a child.

Today, I wonder where my Christmas spirit has gone. Believe me, I have searched high and low for it — but it is sorely missing.

I guess when you are a little older like me (or is it just me?) you begin to look for Christmas (and hopefully find it) in stories of rescue and recovery.

The kinds where pets are involved are the ones that I can relate to the most.

And, yes, I have done my shopping for Christmas gifts for my pack of five doggies — the companions that give a little more meaning to the season.

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Carlee was what you would call a midnight rescue — literally and otherwise.

Dead-tired Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) volunteers who had come from typhoon rescues were asked to attend the World Animal Day launch held at Eastwood City recently.

While the festivities of the World Animal Day were ongoing, concerned citizen Henry tried calling every known contact number of PAWS volunteers and its officers on that day, but he could not get hold of anyone.

Henry was concerned because a dog had fallen into a sewer along Banawe St., Quezon City. The doggie was running for its life away from men who had plans of making it their pulutan for the night.  

 Henry began to panic as he realized that the dog could not get out on her own and would most certainly drown should water somehow flow through the sewer.

 It was PAWS president Nita Lichauco that Henry got hold of. Nita assured Henry that she would find a few volunteers who would come and help the dog trapped in the sewer. 

 Lichauco was able to reach PAWS program director Anna Cabrera, who in turn got in touch with Henry. Anna asked Henry if he was willing to wait until midnight for the volunteer team to get there.

“I did not want to make Henry believe that we could be there in a jiffy,” said Anna.

 Anna shares that traffic that windy night was terrible, and the trip from PARC to Eastwood had taken two hours. PAWS still had to bring back another rescued dog, Lyndon, from Eastwood to PARC before going off to Banawe.

 At about 11 p.m. the rickety PAWS van arrived at Banawe St. with Anna and volunteers Joe Claret, John Tangkeko, Karla Garcia and PAWS staff Doc Wil Almoro and Cha Laxamana.

 The male volunteers held up the heavy slab of concrete while Cha and Karla alternately crawled into the tiny hole and tried to coax the very scared and very trapped dog.

 After hours of failed attempts, cheers erupted from onlookers as Karla successfully looped the catchpole around the dog’s head and pulled her to safety.

The people watching shook their heads in disbelief that there were volunteers who willingly went into a garbage-filled sewer to save a dog.

 In honor of the two brave ladies who went into the sewer to save a life, the dog was named Carlee (after Charlene and Karla).

 Carlee was immediately given a bath and a blow-dry at the PAWS shelter that very night.

 Visit Carlee today at the PAWS shelter and learn the lesson that some of the most beautiful things in this life may initially be found covered in soil and mud. 

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And some not too good news.

Oscar lei, a former PAWS director who is now based in Canada, e-mailed me this bit of information. I guess, cruelty knows no boundaries.

In Toronto, Canada, a mummified cat was found in an animal shelter’s ceiling.

Here’s a shorter version of the news item:

The Toronto Humane Society’s president allegedly ordered a shelter veterinarian to falsify medical records of a cat left bleeding in a cage for an hour after the president’s Pit Bull, Bandit, attacked the feline in his office.

This allegation forms the basis of one of the criminal animal cruelty charges filed by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals against Tim Trow, The Globe and The Mail learned.

That discovery “sent a chill right down my spine,” said Kevin Strooband, an OSPCA officer with 19 years of experience. “This is unbelievable. I’m still reeling ... This is a house of horrors.”

The mummified cat was found meters from the office used by Trow, who denied all the allegations against him yesterday.

“I’ve never been unkind to an animal in my life,” he said.

OSPCA inspectors said the mummified cat, which was found in a live trap with an empty dish, may have slowly starved to death in the shelter’s rafters as veterinarians and animal-care workers moved about the hallways beneath it.

“That’s dry as a bone. It has to have been there for over a year,” said the OSPCA officer who discovered the cat during the search. “Maggots have been there and then have left.”

Investigators said they found a cat who was healthy when admitted Nov. 10, but had become lethargic and severely dehydrated. Upon reviewing its medical charts, the OSPCA said it found that the cat hadn’t been seen by a veterinarian since it arrived, and had lost nearly a quarter of its body weight.

“A large number of these animals ... will need significant medical care,” said Johanna MacNaughton, a former THS veterinarian who resigned in April and later aided in the OSPCA investigation.

Trow, meanwhile, said he was shocked and perplexed by the charges.

“The Toronto Humane Society is a really good, humane place with good people involved,” he said in an interview at his lawyer’s office Friday. “I hope all the board members and all staff members will vigorously defend themselves. I sure intend to vigorously defend myself because for the life of me I can’t understand charges like this.”

Trow was released from custody at Toronto police’s 52 Division. His bail conditions prevent him from visiting or working at the shelter, and from contacting the staff. He said he is confident the society will be able to function without him.

“I have great confidence that the animals are being held and cared for,” he said. “After all, I’m a volunteer president, so I don’t do animal care myself. But I’m sure they’re being well cared for.

“It’s not a great loss to the animals if I’m not there for a while.”

Trow, general manager Gary McCracken and senior staff members Romeo Bernadino and Andy Bechtel were all arrested and charged yesterday with cruelty to animals, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and obstruction of a peace officer. Veterinarian Steve Sheridan was charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and cruelty to animals.

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Let’s end this column with some Christmas cheer. It is a “Pose for PAWS” weekend.

Is your pet ready for his close-up? If so, then head down to the B2 Activity Area of Bonifacio High Street (near Krispy Kreme) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 for a fun holiday photo session for the benefit of The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).

You and your pet can pose in the Christmas-themed photo booths, hang your pet’s picture in the Pet Christmas tree, listen to classic Christmas carols by 92AD and learn how to make yummy holiday pet treats.

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All the proceeds from the event will go to the PAWS Animal Shelter. 

“Pose for PAWS: Year 2” is made possible through the generous help of Bonifacio High Street.

Special thanks to McDonald’s, Hobbes & Landes, Heartgard and the Philippine STAR “Pet Life” Section.