Asha, the golden retriever, and the Joey

From around the World

Part X

Asha and the Joey

Zoological fact: Despite often being called Koala Bears, this is not correct. The Koala is not a bear; it only resembles one. It is a tree-dwelling marsupial. The marsupial species is unique in that the young are born in a somewhat underdeveloped state and are reared in a pouch on the mother’s abdomen. Other recognisable marsupials include kangaroos, wallabies and wombats.

Joey: A baby koala

Kerry McKinnon lives in Strathdownie, Western Australia, with her husband and golden retriever Asha.

Many people are under the illusion that Australia is a land of continuous sunshine. Travel brochures show pictures of places like Bondi Beach, complete with suntanned locals and holiday makers, but they have winter months where the temperatures dramatically drop. In this story, the temperature was around 5 °C (40°F)

It was early morning when Kerry heard her husband calling and indicating that she needed to see something. At first, she couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, but taking a closer look, she realised that clinging to Asha’s back was a tiny Koala.

It is a matter of conjecture how the tiny furry infant managed to ensconce itself in Asha’s coat, but it is highly likely that the joey fell out of his mum’s pouch and, without being able to reunite with his mum, wandered off looking for a warm place to stay. So he eventually found the back porch, where he came across the family dogs curled up in their beds, and chose Asha as a surrogate mum. Without doubt, finding the welcoming Asha saved the joey’s life because if hypothermia didn’t kill it, predators like a fox would have certainly finished it off. Having got over the shock, Kerry attempted to separate the mini marsupial from Asha and discovered it was easier said than done. The tiny creature objected to being removed from its newly found warm bed and created an enormous fuss, and despite being wrapped in a blanket, it hissed furiously.

Having been checked out by the local veterinary surgeon, the mini marsupial was placed with a local experienced koala carer until it was ready to be released into the wild.

Bam Bam

Angel Santiago is blind and has relied heavily on an emotional support dog for many years. In June this year, the unthinkable happened: two individuals entered the blind man’s backyard and stole his dog.

Mr Santiago tried to give chase, but being blind, he fell over several times, and the thieves escaped.

What puzzled everyone was the obvious fact that the support dog, who is called BamBam, was a geriatric dachshund. Now we all know that guessing a dog’s age can be rather difficult, but in this case, only someone who was completely stupid could fail to see that BamBam was extremely aged. His white face said it all.

“I am very, very old”

Devastated by the loss, the family put up posters, and neighbours started a GoFundMe page, and a reward was offered. Angel Santiago went out every day searching for his stolen pet, and he recounts that many assisted him in his quest, and for that help, he will be eternally grateful.

I guess we can all only imagine the anguish that we would suffer if our dog were stolen, but for a blind man who relies on a support dog, the incident must have left him traumatised.

Two months later…

Seventy-two days after BamBam disappeared and with all hope gone, two people entered a police station and handed over a very elderly dachshund. They declined to answer any questions or offer any explanation of why they were handing over the dog. They just left. Fortunately, the old dachshund had a microchip, the owner was established, and at 9.00pm, a phone call was made, and Angel Santiago was reunited with his canine companion. For those of us who are sighted, the recognition would be instant, but for Angel Santiago, this involved feeling the dog’s ears and face.

A visit to the veterinary surgeon established that BamBam had lost weight, his nails were overgrown, and there were spots of blood on his face. The poor animal had not been eating and had not been exercised, and as for the blood, there was no explanation.

Despite the nightmare of the previous ten weeks, Angel Santiago and BamBan were together again and able to enjoy life once more.

Conclusion

If you are wondering what is particularly special about this story, well, for me, it’s the following.

Firstly, I am a sucker for a happy ending, plus it demonstrates the importance of a microchip and, most importantly, the need to register it in the first place and keep details up to date.

As for the individuals concerned, at least they took BamBam to a police station, which showed some humanity, which is totally at odds with their behaviour in the first place.

Finally, we all know that animals are logical. Their thought process is fairly easy to understand. So, how do we understand the thought process of anyone who would steal a 14-year-old dachshund dog from a blind man?

Alan, the duck, and Zelda the golden retriever

Alan and Zelda

Acquired at 5 days old, Alan the duck appears to have fallen in love with the family pet golden retriever Zelda. At 6 pm every evening, Alan the duck rushes across the lawn and pushes under Zelda’s ears and walks under her tummy. Zelda shows very little interest in this evening ritual, but shows distress if her duck friend doesn’t appear at the appointed hour and whines. It really is a bizarre relationship, and if Zelda attempts to move, Alan stands firmly in front of her, barring his canine friend from exiting too early.

According to the owners of Zelda and Alan, this rather odd behaviour, particularly from Zelda, is not that surprising. Zelda’s grandmother raised a lamb and was happy to share her dog biscuits with her adopted youngster. Zelda’s aunt raised Alan’s son Nigel, who was renamed after “Nigel” started laying eggs, and Nigel became Nigella!!