Associated Press: Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned Baby

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Stray Dog Saves Abandoned Baby on News Photos

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Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned Baby

By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer

A newborn baby abandoned in a Kenyan forest was saved by a stray dog

who apparently carried her across a busy road and through a barbed

wire fence to a shed where the infant was discovered nestled with a

litter of puppies, witnesses said Monday.

 

The baby girl, named " Angel " by hospital workers, was clad in a

tattered shirt and wrapped in a plastic bag when the dog found her

Friday, according to Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed where the baby

was discovered in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forest in the

Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

 

" When the dog picked up the baby in a dirty bag, it came and dropped

her behind the wooden building where the dog has its puppies, "

Mwalimu told The Associated Press Monday.

 

The 7-pound, 4-ounce infant was taken to a hospital and " is doing

well, responding to treatment. She is stable ... she is on

antibiotics, " said Hannah Gakuo, spokeswoman of the Kenyatta National

Hospital.

 

The baby was found after two children reported hearing an infant's

cries near their wood and corrugated metal shack.

" I followed them outside and we started looking around the compound

and a nearby plot, " said Mary Adhiambo, the children's mother.

 

They eventually found the tan mixed-breed dog lying protectively with

a puppy beside the mud-splattered baby wrapped in a torn black shirt,

Adhiambo said. The short-haired dog with light brown eyes has no

name, residents said.

 

Adhiambo told the Daily Nation newspaper that she used warm water to

wash the baby, cleaning the umbilical cord with rubbing alcohol, then

dressed her in fresh clothes and fed her as neighbors gathered at the

shack on hearing news of the discovery.

 

Residents took the infant to a nearby police station before taking

her to the Kenyatta National Hospital, officers at the station told

the AP.

 

Doctors believe the baby had been abandoned about two days before the

dog discovered her, said Gakuo, the hospital spokeswoman.

 

" She cried a lot during admission, because her umbilical cord was

infected, " Gakuo said. " She is now very quiet. She just feeds and

sleeps. I was there this morning and she looked at me and yawned,

looked at me again and yawned. "

 

Dozens of Kenyans have visited the baby, who has curly black hair, in

the hospital after learning of her rescue, Gakuo said.

 

" She is now fine. She is warm. She is in a separate room ... with a

lady who is also nursing a baby admitted in hospital for treatment, "

Gakuo said. " The lady is looking after her as if she is her own

child. "

 

Infant abandonment is problem in Kenya, where poverty and the

inability to care for the child are blamed. Most people who abandon

babies are never caught.

 

Officials were not able to immediately provide figures on abandoned

babies, but Gakuo said that each month, about two infants are brought

to the main public hospital in the capital alone.

 

" Abandoned babies are normally taken to the Kenyatta National

Hospital because it is a public hospital, " Gakuo said. " People are

now donating diapers and baby clothes for this one. "

--

 

 

[Guest guest]

Geez. Does anyone know what happened to the dog and her puppies???? The

article doesn't mention anything.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The Kenya SPCA in Nairobi has responded to the situation....here is a

recent update of their involvement:

 

Jean Gilchrist of the KSPCA wrote:

 

" We are heavily involved with the bitch who found the baby! We visited

the compound of the owner this morning and found the typical village

scenario with four thin adult dogs (one with tick fever that is skin and

bone) one bitch skinny with nine newly born puppies one male with an

infected wound on its side and one half grown dog. The fifth one, the

heroine of the story, is actually not in bad condition. she is obviously

able to look after herself quite well. The compound is quite waterlogged

after two nights of heavy rain, so she was perched on top of a pillar at

the gateway to the house where it was warm and dry. She is an

intelligent dog. The press were there also including Nation TV. As she

has no name, they decided to call her " Mkombozi " which is swahilli for

saviour. She was covered in ticks, so we phoned KSPCA for some dog wash

and she was bathed in front of the cameras. She was also dewormed. The

only person who was not there was the owner so we will try to meet her

tomorrow and persuade her to have Mkombozi sterilised and vaccinated

against rabies. A restaurant owner arrived with a bag of dog meal, so

that was all recorded on film as well. The other dogs belonged to

another lady who lives in the compound, so we have brought them in for

treatment and the bitches to be sterilised. "

 

 

aapn [aapn ] On Behalf Of

cimaru722

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 3:12 AM

aapn

Re: Associated Press: Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned

Baby

 

 

Geez. Does anyone know what happened to the dog and her puppies???? The

 

article doesn't mention anything.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

i heard lots of people want to adopt the dog now

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

 It is Wonderful example of Faithfulness of Dogs.It has also appeared in Indian

News Papers also in Indian Languages.

Sandeep

 

 

On Tue, 10 May 2005 Kim Bartlett wrote :

>http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & cid=816 & e=1 & u=/ap/20050509/ap_on_re\

_af/kenya_abandoned_baby

>Stray Dog Saves Abandoned Baby on News Photos

>http://story.news./photo/050509/480/xsa10705091415

>

>Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned Baby

>By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer

>A newborn baby abandoned in a Kenyan forest was saved by a stray dog

>who apparently carried her across a busy road and through a barbed

>wire fence to a shed where the infant was discovered nestled with a

>litter of puppies, witnesses said Monday.

>

>The baby girl, named " Angel " by hospital workers, was clad in a

>tattered shirt and wrapped in a plastic bag when the dog found her

>Friday, according to Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed where the baby

>was discovered in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forest in the

>Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

>

> " When the dog picked up the baby in a dirty bag, it came and dropped

>her behind the wooden building where the dog has its puppies, "

>Mwalimu told The Associated Press Monday.

>

>The 7-pound, 4-ounce infant was taken to a hospital and " is doing

>well, responding to treatment. She is stable ... she is on

>antibiotics, " said Hannah Gakuo, spokeswoman of the Kenyatta National

>Hospital.

>

>The baby was found after two children reported hearing an infant's

>cries near their wood and corrugated metal shack.

> " I followed them outside and we started looking around the compound

>and a nearby plot, " said Mary Adhiambo, the children's mother.

>

>They eventually found the tan mixed-breed dog lying protectively with

>a puppy beside the mud-splattered baby wrapped in a torn black shirt,

>Adhiambo said. The short-haired dog with light brown eyes has no

>name, residents said.

>

>Adhiambo told the Daily Nation newspaper that she used warm water to

>wash the baby, cleaning the umbilical cord with rubbing alcohol, then

>dressed her in fresh clothes and fed her as neighbors gathered at the

>shack on hearing news of the discovery.

>

>Residents took the infant to a nearby police station before taking

>her to the Kenyatta National Hospital, officers at the station told

>the AP.

>

>Doctors believe the baby had been abandoned about two days before the

>dog discovered her, said Gakuo, the hospital spokeswoman.

>

> " She cried a lot during admission, because her umbilical cord was

>infected, " Gakuo said. " She is now very quiet. She just feeds and

>sleeps. I was there this morning and she looked at me and yawned,

>looked at me again and yawned. "

>

>Dozens of Kenyans have visited the baby, who has curly black hair, in

>the hospital after learning of her rescue, Gakuo said.

>

> " She is now fine. She is warm. She is in a separate room ... with a

>lady who is also nursing a baby admitted in hospital for treatment, "

>Gakuo said. " The lady is looking after her as if she is her own

>child. "

>

>Infant abandonment is problem in Kenya, where poverty and the

>inability to care for the child are blamed. Most people who abandon

>babies are never caught.

>

>Officials were not able to immediately provide figures on abandoned

>babies, but Gakuo said that each month, about two infants are brought

>to the main public hospital in the capital alone.

>

> " Abandoned babies are normally taken to the Kenyatta National

>Hospital because it is a public hospital, " Gakuo said. " People are

>now donating diapers and baby clothes for this one. "

>--

>

>