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Ginger’s Tale- Aldicarb poisoning in South Africa

Last month I started telling you about the IFAW- funded projects of South Africa. Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW) working in the impoverished townships of Soweto was founded almost twenty years ago by Cora Bailey, an inspirational woman for whom I have the utmost respect. One of the great things about the trip was that, even though often upsetting, I felt like I got right to the heart of the place with Cora. She is so much a part of the communities there and her narrative on the history and people of South Africa was totally fascinating.

CLAW has a permanent clinic in Soweto with kennelling for hospitalised animals, space for the dogs to go outside and play and an operating theatre. On our first day Cora told us that is very rare for the clinic to have electricity, phone-lines and water all working at the same time. She told us this with a wry and accepting smile on her face after discovering that the electricity was off again because the cables had been stolen from the local substation (again).

One of the major problems faced by CLAW is a huge shortage of veterinary expertise. Many vets trained in South Africa leave university with enormous debts and move away to countries such as ours because they can earn better money here. One of the reasons for the visit in fact was to try and raise awareness back here to try and get vets from the UK to volunteer their time and lend a very valuable pair of hands. With this in mind, CLAW often has to run with no vet at all. The mobile clinics still go out and vaccinate, worm and tick-dip hundreds of animals by using trained animal care assistants but in some cases Cora turns to local private veterinary hospitals for help.
This is what happened in Ginger’s case. The townships of Soweto cover a huge area and with no transport many people do not have access to the permanent clinic. While we were with Cora her phone rang almost constantly with people asking for help (in many cases for their families as well as their animals). For sick and injured animals with no access to the mobile clinics Cora and the assistants drive miles through the shack dwellings to collect animals and take them either to the clinic or to a private vet.

While we were there we were called to one of the shacks where the man of the house was extremely worried about his dog which had rapidly become unable to walk. When we arrived it was clear from his face that he was desperately worried about the dog. Ginger was laid motionless on her side in the shade and you could see that her owner had put food and water close to her head to try and help as much as he could. When I went to examine her she tried to move away and twitched violently before lying still again. Cora knew what was wrong and we told Ginger’s owner she would have to be taken to hospital and we would be back in touch. His face as we drove away plainly showed his love and attachment for her.

On the drive to the hospital I had Ginger cradled in my arms and she seemed to settle into me as if she knew we were there to help. Then Cora told us about Aldicarb poisoning. Aldicarb is a pesticide poison that is designed to be used on crops but South Africa has a massive problem with black market trade in this highly toxic and dangerous poison. Indeed Cora has campaigned long and hard to have it banned altogether and works closely with the police to try and seize as much they can.

The reason it is highly sought after is because the townships’ shack dwellings are plagued with rats. This sounds unpleasant and, believe me, the scale of the poverty there is jaw-dropping. Some people keep cats to control the rodent population but some resort to black market poison and inevitably it ends up in someone else’s pet foraging for an existence among the shacks.
Aldicarb produces signs similar to those of slug-bait poisoning that we see occasionally here and it is worth saying again that if you use pesticides you could be amazed at how you think they are safely away from your pets when they are not so take great care. The animals become weak but quickly develop tremors and gradual paralysis. Death occurs from respiratory failure and the substance can also cause death in humans.

Ginger was starting to show signs of paralysis in her front legs and this was Cora’s main concern. Often if you get to them early they can be nursed through the poisoning with atropine, fluids and intensive care but Cora has found that once the paralysis starts their chances start to go down.

We arrived at the beautiful private clinic and I have to say we looked a motley crew. We walked into the pristine waiting room. We were all covered in dust and dirt from the townships, covered also in hair and dried saliva, I carried the scruffy scrap that was Ginger and Cora clutched in her arms a puppy with a maggot-infested wound to a back leg. Quite amusingly a well-to-do white family moved to the other side of the waiting room and huddled their children to them as if afraid that we were somehow contagious!

It was clearly a very busy day for the vets but we were ushered through quickly and both animals were extracted from our clutches and set to work on. The pup was whisked off for pain relief, fluids and medication prior to x-rays and Ginger was immediately given a healthy slug of atropine, the drug used to treat the poisoning and one of the assistants prepared a drip for her. We left her there in capable hands and trooped back to the truck feeling in need of a cold drink and a very long shower.

After two days of hospitalisation Ginger pulled through with typical Jack Russell gusto and was returned to a very grateful owner, undoubtedly a new lifelong fan of the wonder woman who is Cora Bailey.

Dogs like Ginger need all the help they can get and you’d be surprised how far your money will go in South Africa. Just £2 will vaccinate, worm and dip a dog. For information on donating go to www.ifaw.org or telephone 0207 587 6700

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