Help needed for Desert Dogs

Dear fellow dog lovers,

as you all probably know by now, i took on four pups that had been sent over to escape the poisoning and cruelty in Egypt. There is still a terrible problem over there, that weighs heavily on my mind every waking moment.
Here is an extract from Alan, the man who helped me get the rest of the dogs out of quarantine, and who regularly goes out to see Jan in Sinai:
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At present, Desert Dogs is basically Jan in the desert and me in me in Dorset. I do dog rescue in Dorset, and for the past ten years or
so, a friend and I have taken out parties of divers to the Red Sea. The two dive leaders are sick of the UK, and we are having homes built on the edge of the desert. We're hoping to say "Bye-bye bureaucrats" early next year. During the land negotiations we learned of "The Mad Dog Woman"; an English woman who was rescuing dogs locally. I gave my contact a dog-rescue business card to pass on to her, and on our next trip we met.

Jan had been travelling in Araby and she'd noticed all the stray dogs. She was also aware that stray dogs were poisoned, so she took care of them. Three dogs rapidly became several dozen, and she realised there was a parvovirus problem too. Finding accommodation with a large number of dogs is obviously difficult, and the years of struggle began.

Jan set up communication with dog rescues in Holland and Germany, but later discovered that these people had been lying to her and putting dogs in inappropriate homes (we have found out some were put to death). She had a growing dog population and nowhere to send them. The nearest halfway-decent vet was in the next country, and her neighbours wanted her dogs poisoned.

I took advice from Greyhounds in Need who move dogs over international borders all the time. They proposed a web site to raise
funds, and bringing dogs back to selected kennels in the UK, so their homing could be supervised properly.

set up the website, but I had to return to doing work for clients before
it was complete. Jan never has the time to send me new content, so it's something of a shambles at present. I've a couple of hundred pictures to sort, then I can add a little content, but the first priority is finding a host that doesn't sabotage the site.

Jan is a prisoner overseas: she can't leave her dogs. She has tried to find workers, but they mix parvo and healthy dogs, and bitches in season and males. They do nothing useful, and sometimes assault her. She needs to visit her house in Colchester, but she can't.

When I'm in Araby I help with the dogs. On the last trip, I cannulated a vein in a sick dog's leg. We used a bra as a tourniquet and a torch in my mouth substituted for theatre lighting. We gave the dog his infusions, but he died anyway. I also had a memorable, moonlit night dropping drugged meat for dogs, with a view to taking them to safety before the poisoners arrived. However, there is a limit to what one can do on short visits with business meetings and fractious dive parties competing for attention.

There is so much work in feeding and watering the dogs that very little else is being done. Jan is currently in a wadi (valley) away from neighbours, but drug-resistant ticks are a menace. The drinking water is occasionally too hot to touch there. Jan has to bring it in by truck.
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If any of you have any ideas on fundraising, or raising awareness, please let me know. A friend and i want to go out to help Jan and her dogs, but the money needed to get there for a mere two weeks, might as well be send there for food/medicine.

please see the website: www.desertdogsrescue.org/Contents.php#1

be warned, there are some not so nice pictures of poisoned day old pups. i have a cd full of pictures from his last visit, one of them particulary never leaves my mind. its of a pregnant grey female, strung up and left to choke by a metal rope. she has blood shot eyes, and a bloody nose. i am sorry for being so graphic, but its not so easy to pretend its happening when you know what goes on. these people dont feel the way we do about dogs. but how can we help? it costs £2000 to bring a dog in from outside europe and quarantine it for 6 months. even then there are enough dogs here needing homes. its a dire situation.

I wonder if it would be worth talking to some vet schools to see if any newly qualified vets would like to go over for work experience or somthing ?
Maybe some groups getting together for sponsored dog walks ?

Hay Bev, yeah a vet out there is exactly whats needed. but how many vets do you know that are trained to do operations on the open desert sand!
We need to get the males neutered to stop unwanted puppies. alan tells me that the pens used to keep the females in season in, are continuously being savaged my the males to get in.

thanks for all the pm,s you are a very interesting person

I know its not easy ,but you get doctors able to help people in 3rd world countrys ,so perhaps with some funds raised some vets could go over to do what ever possible ,the more people that can spread the word and raise funds the better ,and if tourists can let them know they will no longer visit if the keep treating the dogs in this way

the sad part is that this isnt just happening in egypt. We feel particulary involved as we both have dogs from this location. When you look into these unique eyes (they look right through you) you wonder how anyone can feel anything but compassion for these wonderful dogs. They are beautiful creatures and dont deserve whats happening to them. As you say Bev, if tourists knew, then they wouldnt visit (i have met people who wont go back to greece, and cyprus, as the same things are happening out there) as i said before its the way these people have been brought up to feel about dogs. i wish i could go out there and educate them.

I have been making decisions this weekend to set a plan in motion. We are going to start fund-raising (need some goods ideas folks!) and i am planning to go out there in Sept.
There is alot to be done; I am going to need to contact vets, i would like a vet to accompany me to neuter the male dogs, and stop more puppies being born. I need to figure out how to transport anesthetic and antibiotics across there, and not be arrested on arrival. I also need to find a willing person to look after my three for two weeks.

One way we though of fundraising was to do a massive sponsored walk, like 20 miles or something. Its getting the people motivated thats the problem.....

people somtimes find it hard to be motivated because the problem is so big ,but for every dog saved its worth it and the more people who join together the better
The sponsored walk sounds good but could be a bit long for alot of people ,it would be good to do a sponsored dog walk somewhere where people could be involved ,you could try speaking to the press to see if they could advertise it and get as many people involved as possible

Thanks Bev, i take it you would help out! I just dont know where to start, there is so much to do. should i get a bit in the press now, or start organising. see i have contacts, but i amint good at all this. its better if there is a plan, then i can carry it out (i am good at being the boss). but its all over the place just now. its also a bit scary, 3rd world country, sleeping in a tent in the desert, waking up covered in ticks. not my idea of a holiday but i love dogs.

prob best to do some organising then contact the press ,so you have somthing in place to start at ,I will help with what I can

Anyone else out there with any ideas or willing to help in any way ???