Beer Sheva Pet Adoption Day

The week after our Dimona dog rescue, we attended a Pet Adoption Day for dogs and cats in Beer Sheva. It was held near Ben Gurion University. Many of the rescued animals were from the Beer Sheva Shelter. This is a poster from the Negev Animals group. Beer Sheva is located in the Negev region of Israel.

Dimona Dog Shelter

We miss not having a dog around the house and we also miss being able to foster rescue dogs. So, we contacted a woman who does dog and cat rescue in the neighborhood. She lives only a few blocks away and currently has 4 or 5 cats and 7 dogs.
We offered assistance whenever needed. She called a few days later and said someone reported a mother dog and two puppies in a field in Dimona. Dimona is about twenty minutes away from Beer Sheva by bus. The three of us took the bus out there. Just on the edge of the town at what in the States would be called a truck stop, we got off the bus and started searching. Soon, we heard a puppy barking.
Two little puppies were on a mound in the middle of an empty lot. One of the puppies was barking to defend his territory. The rescue woman had brought food with her and she spread some out for the puppies. They were very distrustful of people. A few minutes later, the mother dog appeared. She came running from the other end of the lot. She greeted us with warmth and snugged to be petted. She had obviously had more positive experiences with people than her pups. After mom assured the puppies that we were okay, the pups came to eat the food.
The barking puppy had a long tail and I wondered if it was a male dog. The other puppy was quiet and had no tail at all.
The dog rescuer made many cell phone calls in order to decide what to do with the dogs. She and I went to get some lunch at the truck stop. Bernie stayed behind to see if he could win the trust of the puppies. The rescuer contacted the local shelter which has a good reputation. The shelter was aware of the dogs and would send out a trapper to catch them. We thought we had time to have lunch and then go back to Bernie and the dogs. But, the trapper from the shelter arrived while we were still gone.
Bernie didn't know if he should let the man take the dogs or not. He couldn't reach me on my cell phone. Finally, I got his call and we went to meet them in the lot. By the time we got there, the trapper had all three dogs in the truck. He let us all ride with him to the shelter.
The dogs are safer in the shelter than out in an empty lot and the rescuer will post their pictures and stories and hope to find homes for them.

Israeli Feral Kittens

Bernie and I heard a plaintive kitten's cry. We had just moved into the Absorption Center in Beer Sheva. It was impossible to tell where the cry was coming from. The Center has a lower floor of offices and classrooms. Then four floors of apartments above. It is a glass and concrete structure, so the sound echoes off the building.
Later, Bernie was on a higher balcony and he spotted an orange tabby kitten on a rooftop across the street. "I found the kitten" he said. "It's caught on top of a roof."
We both went downstairs and crossed the street. Sure enough, this tiny kitten peered over the edge of the roof at us. There was a tree (pine?) which looked climbable and someone had laid a plank from the top of the tree to the rooftop. We thought that may have been how the kitten got on top of the roof, but now he may not know how to get back down.
I didn't want to begin my stay in Israel with the experience of observing a kitten starving to death in front of me. I carefully studied the tree. If I was at least 100 pounds lighter, I probably could have climbed it. I hadn't officially signed up for my health care in Israel, yet, but I was supposed to already be covered.
No, hurting myself, and/or the tree wasn't going to help the kitten. I called animal rescue people in Israel with whom I had communicated on the Internet. I was given the name of a cat trapper. I also called a woman who does cat rescue in Beer Sheva. She explained that there must be an adult cat caring for the kitten. It would not have survived the cold nights alone and it would cry non stop if it wasn't being fed.
I told her my husband and I would observe the kitten from the balcony. That evening, two adult cats appeared. I called the rescue woman and cat trapper with the good news. A few days later, we saw the mother cat and two kittens safely on the ground. Ironically, the rooftop was probably a good place for the mother to have her litter. It was hidden and far away from dogs and people.
This was my first lesson in Israeli feral cat behavior.