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.

Preparation for Aliyah

On returning home, I began seriously planning our move to Israel.
All of our foster dogs found homes, so we would be able to apply to stay in a Merkaz Klita, Absorption Center. We were accepted into the Merkaz Klita Ye'elim in Beer Sheva.
I had already joined a couple of Yahoo groups about animal rescue in Israel and began learning about some of the situation in Israel in general and Beer Sheva in particular.
Being dogless was very difficult and only the thought of being able to work with rescue dogs as soon as possible after Aliyah made it at all bearable.

Pilot Trip

In November 2008, we took our Pilot Trip. We spent one week in Jerusalem and one week in Haifa. In both locations, we noticed all of the feral cats and asked questions about them. In the Baka Neighborhood of Jerusalem, many of the cats had the tip cut off of their ears. It was explained to us that these cats had been spayed/neutered. So, Trap Neuter Release was being practiced in this neighborhood. Also, most of the cats we saw appeared healthy. One young woman we spoke with was concerned about the care of the feral cats. So, evidently, there was more than met our eyes.
In the Ahuza Neighborhood of Haifa, we asked about the cats and the ones we saw appeared to have owners or caregivers and were just living outside.

Suki

Suki came from another rescue. They didn't have any available fosters at the time. We took her in, even though it was very close to the time for us to move.
She had been wandering loose on the streets of Los Angeles for a couple of weeks before being trapped in a backyard. After being taken to an emergency vet, it was discovered that she had pyometra and required surgery immediately or she would die. A Northern California rescue drove her up to Marin County and took her to the vet. She was very sick, but they couldn't wait and had to perform the surgery. After surgery, she was still dangerously anemic.
We brought her home, but the vets cautioned that she was very ill and they weren't sure what was causing the anemia. We were to bring her back in a week.
Well, we had already planned a driving vacation to Northern Arizona and Southern California. We decided to take Suki with us. She weighed under ten pounds and I figured she could just spend the vacation on my lap if she needed to. We had fun and the trip and she did well.
At her next vet visit, she got a clean bill of health. She had fully recovered.
Now that she was feeling better, she started running and playing.

Pepper

Pepper was an adult Standard Poodle rescued from a puppy mill. She began life with a breeder in Texas, who had in her the house as a pet. However, Pepper developed a strong, negative motherly instinct. She was sold to a disreputable breeder in Northern California where she was kept in a cage outside.
When she arrived at our house, she was matted and stinky. After several baths and grooming at the vets, she began to look better. When she first walked into the house, she stood stock still in the front hallway. BAPR had rescued three adult females from the same breeder and they were being fostered in three individual homes. When the three fosters were discussing the dogs, we realized that not one of them had barked or made a sound. At first, we wondered if their vocal chords had been removed. But, after a few days, they began expressing themselves. Pepper has a powerful, low bark.


After being spayed, she relaxed her need to control small dogs.