Baby Bear on the day she was rescued. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Finally, it was time to move to the I Love Goa Dogs animal rescue camp!!! The place is absolutely incredible!!
Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
When you walk through the gate, it’s a big open space with a fire pit in the middle of a coconut grove and big white tipis for sleeping.
Lucy hanging out in the shade of the palms. Photo Credit: Naomi Swailes
Puppy napping in the fire pit. Photo Credit: Naomi Swailes
Inside the tipis are quite basic with a plywood bed and thin mattress, but through the hole in the top you’re watching coconut palms sway in the breeze against the clear blue sky. The whole camp is set next to a pretty little river which doubles as a water source for cooking and washing on days when our water pump was being particularly stubborn.
Harriet relaxing in her favorite tipi. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
The main house is where our kitchen and communal eating area are located and there’s tons of cushions and couches for the dogs and cats to lounge on. This is one of the only covered structures on the property other than a couple of huts that are reserved for paying guests of the camp or favored (longer-term) volunteers.
Fifi relaxing in the main house. Photo Credit: Naomi Swailes
We were about 10 volunteers from all over the world and we quickly became a very happy little hippy family.
The Dream Team assembled! Photo Credit: Brigite Reis
Each volunteer chipped in 300 rupees ($6 CAD) per day, and with that we bought all kinds of fresh bread, cheese, fruits and veggies. Ange and a couple of the other volunteers were responsible for most of the cooking and it was delicious AF!!!!
Ange cooking up a storm in the camp kitchen. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Every morning we had a giant, healthy fruit salad with seeds, nuts, and coconut milk. Lunch was almost always a big-ass fresh salad. Dinner was a bigger, more creative mix from pesto or tomato pasta, to homemade curries with parotha and rice to veggie burgers..you name it and if it can be made vegetarian or vegan, we ate it. We had no idea before we got there how well we would eat. We thought for sure we would miss Indian food, but the fresh ingredients and creative chefs made eating an absolute joy!
Brigite serving Breakfast!!!! Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
The work at camp was different each day and it ranged from building and patching fences, stringing up hammocks, putting up a coconut net (so nuts don’t fall on your head while you relax in the shade of the trees), to upkeep tasks like laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning/remaking beds in the tipis for new arrivals.
One of the many amazing fresh produce stands in Arambol. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Anyone with special skills like electrics or building would be put to use doing something productive for the camp, and Rani is an expert at finding tasks for people without special skills to be of service.
Where else do you see puppies and kittens napping together?! Photo Credit: Naomi Swailes
Handsome Ganesh relaxing in the afternoon shade.
A big part of Rani’s mission is to try and find loving, forever homes for the sweet furries that join the camp. This makes space for the new animals arriving all the time. A lot of the resident animals won’t be adopted just because they’re female and are associated with puppies, no matter how many times you explain that they’re sterilized. For that reason, it’s a true joy to see any of those sweet babies homed.
Baby Spot not long after he arrived at the camp. Photo Credit: Naomi Swailes
Honey Bee shortly after she arrived at camp.
Rani tries her best to screen for the most loving homes and if there’s any indication that they’ll be chained or used as guard dogs she won’t let them leave the camp. We were lucky enough to see a few dogs and cats homed while we were there and we’ve received word since we left that some others have found their forever homes now too.
Ange and Spot having a little Bro Time.
The recipe for cuteness = 2 puppies, 1 kitten in 1 giant bowl!
A lot of the daily work was focused around the animals, naturally. There were about 20 dogs and 8 cats living at the camp, that many animals eat A LOT of food!!
Some of the puppies at the morning feed. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Every day we needed to go to the butcher’s multiple times a day to purchase the chicken feet that would otherwise be thrown away. The dogs and the cats love snacking on those!! We also had to stop at the fish market, our kitties eat pretty well too!! We had to make sure that there were rice and lentils and chicken-foot-soup cooked and ready for the morning and the evening dog feedings.
Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Another huge part of the work done at the camp is feeding the stray dogs outside the camp and patrolling for injured animals, unsterilized animals and mothers with pups. The aim was to keep them fed and strong and to build their trust so that eventually we’d be able to catch them and have them sterilized.
Kenny trying to coax a stray puppy out of hiding for a much-needed meal
The only truly humane way to curb the population is sterilization. Sometimes people take animal control into their own hands and feed animals food that’s been poisoned. This is obviously an incredibly cruel alternative, and quite a popular one in communities where the locals can’t afford the cost of sterilization or to keep the animals fed.
This beautiful boy was very calm and docile and he allowed himself to be caught for sterilization. Here he is leaving the camp's guest cage with Igor. A strong and healthy male like him could be responsible for hundreds of puppies in his lifetime. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Our other duties at the camp included de-worming, flea washes, coconut oil coats (this is a great chemical-free way to treat for fleas,) and combing for tics and fleas. It’s time consuming because there are so many of them, but it’s a lovely way to bond with the animals and share precious moments with them.
Nicole and Debbie doing a flea wash on the puppies. Photo Credit: Debbie Fugloe
Some of us combing for tics and fleas. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Some of the animals suffer from different skin conditions, and some are recovering from mange, so they often need a little extra care like medications, special washes, special diets or medicated creams and eye drops. The work is incredibly rewarding and you can feel their appreciation and love.
This beautiful boy is named Patches. When he arrived at camp a little over a year ago, he was riddled with mange and he was completely bald. Patches gets a coconut oil massage daily and a lot of his hair is starting to grow back. He's a super friendly and energetic boy, he's got no idea that he's any different from the other dogs and he LOVES lying in the dirt or playing in the mud after his oil rub!!
This is Follow, she was beaten as a puppy and she's a completely blind resident at camp. Here she is napping with Sooty the kitten. Photo Credit: Debbie Fugloe
This is Samira, she's got a skin condition that causes chapped and red irritated areas all over her body and for this reason she can be quite agitated and nervous. She eats a special diet and gets 3 different oil and creams applied each day. She has special medicated baths and she takes a pill daily. Here she is relaxing in the shade of the palms shortly after starting her new diet of boiled potatoes and fish.. We saw a massive improvement in her condition during our time at camp. Photo Credit: Ricardo Navalho
Next time we'll share more on our life at the I Love Goa Dogs animal rescue camp.. More cuteness to follow!!