The organization running the sea turtle project in Caribbean also take care of abandoned and abused dogs and cats. Marina Fastigi tells the story how they ended up rescuing animals with Dario Sandrini in their animal sanctuary KIDO.
"We sometimes ask ourselves who is the rescuer
and who is the rescued, since in many cases we witnessed how the close unplanned
relationship with a rescued animal can operate healing and positive
transformation in the human involved, giving him/her a great opportunity to
transcend their own problems and take care of someone else life.
For this reason we, at Kido, dedicate this
on-line cats & dogs adoption program to the memory of Chalky, one of our
early rescued dogs, who saved our lives three times.
Chalky’s story (died
at 15 and was buried at sea as a seadog)
Still a puppy, Chalky, a street free mixed
blond Labrador, was run over by a bus in Trinidad in 1992; her intestines
hanging out of a huge bloody wound in her belly and the bus driver just kept on
going. Yet a merciful animal lover, a Dutch young lady, crew on a small yacht
nearby, saw the scene and rushed to pick Chalky up reentering the bowels where
they belonged, inside. Buses would
refuse to take her on with a bleeding dying dog in her arms, but a taxi brought
her to a vet clinic, where little Chalky remained for several weeks hanging in for
her life. When we met her, a few months older, the pup was well and living aboard
with her rescuer, with two more rescued dogs. We were happy to adopt Chalky, we
felt an instant bond with her and I’m sure she felt the same with us; her bulgy
unblinking eyes looking expectantly told us that we had a shipmatedog!
So we sailed from Trinidad with her and the
journey showed immediately her love for the sea and boats, big and small. She
was at ease, vigilantly checking the horizon as an accomplished first mate.
Chalky’s life was happy and full of
adventures, she loved to swim, ride on the bow of our boat’s dinghy, with her
long pointed ears flapping in the wind and she did not miss a sailing catamaran
trip with us.
The first time she saved our life occurred
when we were swimming together (Dario, Marina and Chalky) around a rocky point
near Kido bay and a speed boat was fast approaching us.
The speeding boat crew had not seen us as
their bow was way up in the air, we had not noticed the boat as we were upwind.
Chalky swimming next to us barked just in time and loud enough for us to see
the danger and dive deeper barely avoiding the boat’s propeller blades swirling
like scimitars close to our legs. The speedboat rushed between us and the dog and,
as we emerged, we imagined the worst, but Chalky was safely floating in one piece and still
barking ferociously at the fugitives!
The second time was when Chalky was sailing one
night with Dario alone and the catamaran sailed much faster than usual, so they
reached their coastal destination around 3am in a pitch black night. The wind
still blew hard on the tall sails and the boat picked up speed into the bay,
yet not a light to tell how far the coast really was… but Chalky, who was on
the bow, suddenly barked loud and… another dog answered right away from very
close in front of the catamaran, out of the pitch black night! In the split of
a second Dario realized that he was running stead fast into another anchored boat
and barely managed to steer the catamaran around and away from that site. Once
again, thanks to Chalky, a disaster was avoided.
The third time was in Barbados.
We sailed there with Chalky to participate to the 1994 UN Small Island
Development State convention; we displayed our cartoons and collages exhibition
on social-environmental conservation themes. Fifteen days later on the last day
of our exhibition we boarded our boat at anchor out in a bay. This was around
midnight, and we discovered that we had been broken into and robbed of much of
our boat equipment. Chalky had a wound on her head, certainly inflicted by the
robbers.
After medicating Chalky, we decided to report
the theft to the harbor Police early next morning and we went to sleep in our
bunks. We were about to fall asleep when we heard Chalky’s unmistakable bark of
alert for danger and, lo and behold, following her directions, we found out
that one of the thieves, a tall and big fellow, was still on board! More
precisely, he was hanging on the mast support under the deck and he was
climbing onboard again!
While I (branding a flare gun and acting as
ferocious-ready-to-shoot as possible!) was keeping the intruder at bay (with
Chalky’s unrelenting support), Dario radioed the coast guard and in less than
one hour the thief was handcuffed and brought away by the officers. On the next
morning the police told us that night three men had boarded our catamaran, they
were almost ready to leave with their loot when they heard us approach the boat;
two thieves ran away fast with a dinghy and abandoned the third guy behind,
but, unfortunately for him, he was not a good swimmer, and we were a long way
offshore, so he hid himself hanging under the boat.
If Chalky had not been with us, we might have
not been able to report this story."
At the moment there are 19 dogs and 5 cats at the KIDO sanctuary. They live freely within the compound, consisting of approximately 14 acres of undeveloped forested
coastal hill land with access to a rocky beach and sea.
Fences built within
Kido Foundation compound separate groups from 2 to 5 dogs in different sections
of about 1 acre each, with shelters, shade and sunny areas. In turns, 5 or more
of the 19 dogs now resident at Kido are brought to the beach daily for swimming
or outing. Kido’s volunteers, who join us for our nesting sea turtle monitoring
and tagging program, often give us a hand to care for the dogs and cats,
helping feeding the animals, with the rescue operations and choosing to
temporarily keep one or more as pets in their house residence and for outings.
Online-adoption programme
Many more dogs have been rescued by Marina and Dario, but they have found a new home through adoption. Some of the dogs and cats can't be given to new homes, thus they stay in the centre. By online-adoption of these dogs and cats, you help to provide funding for their food and medication, which takes hundrends of dollars per animal per year.
With 50€/year you can partly adopt the dog, meaning there can be others to adopt the same animal. With 200€ first year and 150€ consecutive years, you can adopt the animal just for you as this amount is enough to fullfill all the needs. You will receive a certificate of the adoption and a yearly newsletter about your adopted pet. You can also give the adoption as a Christmas or birthday gift to someone else and sure to make them happy. For more information about the adoptions e-mail info (at) ekomatkaajat.fi and tell us which one of these great dogs or cats you would like to help out.
 |
| Aladin loves swimming |
Aladin (age 13)
When Aladin was one year old, his adoptive parents could not keep him any longer because they were moving out of the island. He has remained with us since. He is still the alpha male of the ‘pack’ and LOVES to swim long distances tailing Marina in the sea below Kido station.
Anita (age 12) - partly adopted by Hans-Christian
Aladin’s daughter (no veterinary help available for years then for spaying & neutering!) Anita was the last of the litter that no one chose for adoption. To this day she remains shy and subdued to the other dogs, but very affectionate with us. Another great sea swimmer.
Tinker Bell (age 10)
She was rescued by Ziggy (Anita’s mother, a rescued from starvation black and furry dog who passed away some years ago). One day Ziggy came to our doorstep delicately holding in her mouth a wet curled up minuscule ball of fur, alive! Named Tinker Bell, this starved white brown spotted pup grew up to become a very perceptive female dog. Aware when we talk about her without even mentioning her name. Her love in these 10 years proved to have no boundary.
 |
| Baby 2011 |
Baby (age 8)
She is the tiniest of our rescued dogs, weighing only 12 Lbs, but she’s the wittiest of them all. We rescued her from her adoptive ‘mother’, who kept her tied (no collar...) with a thin strip of telephone cord line, on the edge of an unfenced verandah. Had we arrive late for her rescue we would likely have found Baby hanged limp from that verandah! A confidence winner and a great actress, she ensured that many live music recordings at the Kido Kitchen Sink studio include her high pitch bark. Being live recordings the barking cannot be erased and the inevitable question around musicians is: WHO let Baby in? and several embarrassed musicians look down at their sandals…guilty as charged!
 |
| Patinha 2011 |
Patinha (aka Pati Pati , age 7)
Pati was brought in by a friend, who found her at her doorstep: a starved puppy with a wounded leg. She grew up to be a very shy and sensitive dog, shivering with pleasure and whining already at the hint of receiving a caress and attention. Pati feeds apart from other dogs and hides away in her chosen special lair, almost invisible during daytime.
Felipe (age 6)
Felipe was one of three puppies we found dumped in a garbage bin. His two sisters were adopted by a family on the main island of Grenada two months later, but Felipe remained traumatized and though he is affectionate and kind, his anytime incontinence requires special care.
 |
| Tinker Bell and Felipe 2011 |
Calimero (aka Cali, age 5)
He is the STAR of the group! Five years ago a shaken slim black puppy with a badly broken hind leg was brought to Kido inside a blood soaked cardboard-box by two adolescents from the nearby hamlet. Run over by a speeding car along the village road, the shattered bone of his rear left leg was sticking out of his thigh: Calimero needed urgent surgery! Unfortunately the only sea ferry connecting daily the island of Carriacou to the main island of Grenada (a thirty mile rough run) was temporarily out of order and Cali had to wait two long days before being accepted as an emergency patient at the Small Animal Clinic of St. George’s University in Grenada. The veterinarian decided that the best thing to do for Cali was to amputate his leg. The delay made it impossible to join the broken bones together successfully because gangrene was a serious possibility by then.
 |
| Calimero after his surgery |
Cali was kept at the (private) animal hospital for two weeks and Dario sailed over to Grenada to bring the three legged black pup back to his new home at Kido, immersed in the thick wooded hills of northern Carriacou . Fortunately though, this tragedy did not break Calimero’s great spirits who grew to become a uniquely creative dog, running all about the forest and the hills, sometimes escorting our volunteer team on night beach patrols, even being the first to subtly locate and point to a hidden nesting turtle, as if knowingly being part of the conservation operation, grinning broadly.
Cali’s range of articulate vocalizations won him the main character role in a mini video series scripted and filmed by Tom Tom, our turtle monitoring expert volunteer, who had quickly recognized Cali’s movie star skills (see links)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/46/Cymn8U2bGt8
http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/40/Dmoj2JXlJ4A
http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/38/hQBfzR1zzNA
http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/35/0h7ftu77MHc
Calimero also graciously lent his vocals for the Kido Puppet play “Brothers for Life”, interpreting Mopsy, the talking dog puppet. See link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwhUb-n5-LY
Yet, unlike most of our dogs, Calimero does not like to swim. Sure, he joins the near daily dog gauntlet rush down the hundred stone steps to the isolated bay below Kido station: then Cali watches his fellow dogs splash & swim merrily in the waves from a dry safe distance, preferably in the cool shade of a nearby tree! Well, nobody’s perfect!
 |
| Nemo after rescue |
Nemo (age 5)
One morning, just before dawn, Dario was motoring our patrol boat to inspect the lone beaches of the Nature Park, checking for signs of nesting sea turtles (since 2002 Kido Foundation teams have conducted all night and early morning patrols to protect these nesting endangered species and their precious hatchlings).
In an area notorious for rough waves and strong coastal sea currents he spotted a speedboat ahead and a guy throwing something overboard and then moving away at high speed. Puzzled by the suspicious behavior, Dario approached the site only to find …two puppies desperately struggling to stay afloat in the rough waves.
 |
| Nemo 2011 |
There was little time to waste and the puppies were now drifting close to tall jagged rocks pounded by heavy surf: not a safe place to land nor to ride a boat. With a tricky maneuver Dario positioned the boat as close as possible to the tiny brown puppies bobbing in and under water, trying to avoid wrecking the vessel on the jagged rocks. Then Dario began to whistle hard. Nemo heard the whistle first and strong mindedly inched toward the boat, but his sister was hardly afloat, going down gulping seawater. After grabbing Nemo out into safety Dario then searched for the other drowning pup, arm deep in the foaming white water.
The tall waves were beginning to shove the stalled boat too close to the rocks, luckily the pup was pulled out just before it was too late for all, the idled engine roared into gear, the boat sped out of danger and all was well.
The female pup was soon adopted by a local family, but Nemo remained with us. Felipe is his best mate and he does not like swimming either.
Sophie (age 5)
She proved to be the sweetest character of all our rescued dogs. The voted mascot of volunteers at Kido, Sophie was discovered on a deserted beach by Dario, during a coastal patrol by kayak. Spotted from the sea on the edge of the beach she was almost mistaken for an opossum, crouched in the sand and seemingly waiting for Dario’s first ‘move’. He encouraged her to come closer, she did so, slowly dragging herself across the hot sand, closer and closer to Dario, who was still afloat on his kayak, a few feet off the beach…then low and behold! This dog Dario had never seen before, suddenly jumped into the kayak, snugly settled herself on his lap and… ready to go home!
 |
| Leyla 2007 |
We found out that Sophie had just been nursing her litter, she still had some milk left and was bleeding from her vagina. A visiting veterinarian from the Grenada SPCA diagnosed that Sophie had an advanced vaginal tumor causing internal bleeding. Following two localized injections of Vincristine (a chemotherapy agent), the tumor is in remission and Sophie is now happy and playful. And she was spayed.
Leyla (aka Lola, the dancer, age 5)
She was rescued in town and brought to us by a group of tourists. She was starved and covered with ticks! Leyla is now a lovely and affectionate female dog who LOVES to dance, on her back, of course. See video: http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/58/FbIJs7y_xjQ
Zhawe (age 4) - partly adopted by Marjut from Ekomatkaajat
We found this beautiful pitch black short haired mixed Labrador literally ‘dying’ to be rescued not far from Kido Station’s entry road. She was in a terrible state of starvation.
We dreaded that she was already dead, lying motionless in the dirt road, no one else in sight, till we presented her with a bowl of food. Then, just her black tail thumped a bit over the ground… we sat beside her and she barely stretched her mouth to lick the food, THEN she ate ravenously. After the third huge bowl (we walk prepared…) she followed us, in no hurry and fell asleep on our verandah.
 |
| Zhawe 2008 |
We later found out that Zhawe was one of the several female breeder dogs who fell victims of improvised (and irresponsible) local puppy mill ‘enterprises’. The female serves only for the purpose of producing puppies to be sold, but often the mother is kept with very little food even during pregnancy and lactation. After the puppies are sold and the mother cannot recover her strength, the owner abandons her to her cruel destiny and seeks for another breeder female to exploit.
Zhawe has since more than doubled in size and she is a playful, happy and strong dog, she LOVES to run, swim and dive. Once, one of our volunteers was swimming with many dogs at Kido bay and dove down to examine a bottom shark he had spotted and, to his surprise, Zhawe dove deep down alongside him reaching one foot away from that finned gray mass of muscles…beginning to feel unnerved.
Bella (age 4)
At the time of her rescue Bella was suffering from painful back seizures that periodically kept her stiff on the ground, unable to even stand up. The vet from the Small Animal Clinic of St. George’s University told us that this dramatic condition might improve when growing up or finally paralyze the puppy. She indeed improved, her skin issues healed smoothly and now Bella runs without any problem. Yet her daring determination to stand her ground, no matter what the size of her counterpart, brings her sometimes into trouble with other dogs. Her right eye was compromised by another rescued female a few years ago as Bella sneaked close to steal her food!
 |
| zouzou first days |
Zouzou (age 3)
This starving abandoned pup was found in the nearby village by a neighbor. He is now a strong playful dog and really loves to sprint and enjoy his new life. See video link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/44/7bKi5nY9sXM
 |
| Zazee just rescued |
Zazee (age 2)
Zazee had been badly run over by a bus. His adoptive parent, a child from the nearby village, alerted us immediately and we all brought the sad mess up the hill to Kido for examination. That pup was clearly in excruciating pain, breathing heavily, in total panic, all four legs appeared paralyzed and he had some sudden jerking head movements. Fortunately we were able to send Zazee to the Small Animal Clinic of St. George’s University and the vet reported that when she opened the crate she thought that the puppy was dead! Not quite, though! As they say here in the West Indies: Ah ent’ dead yet, mun!
Zazee spent several weeks at the hospital and became the mascot of all the vets and nurses for his strong will to survive the ordeal. One leg was broken and the nerves connected to all 4 legs were damaged. When we received back Zazee he could barely stand or walk, but, with much careful exercise and his stamina to make it, he slowly reemerged to life.
Today Zazee is a playful and most excitable fun creature, always ready for new adventures. He found his own ‘funny’ yet effective way to walk, jump, chase lizards and climbs and descends steps carefully but swiftly. He shows that he is very happy to be alive! The vet who rescued Zazee still asks of him and enjoys receiving photos and assessment reports about his condition. Zazee is indeed a heartbreaking living miracle!
 |
| Ladybug in a kayak |
Ladybug (age 2)
Ladybug is another puppy mill mother casualty. She had previously some skin problems, but after her pregnancy her skin condition deteriorated and she became very emaciated. Her adoptive ‘parents’ could not cope anymore with her and asked us to adopt her. After one month with us she regained her original weight and strength, but her skin remained with sore patches, fur loss and itching. Vets from Grenada SPCA and Small Animal Clinic of St. George’s University suggested treating her for Demodex mites. She is still under treatment and her condition improved a little. In spite of this fastidious condition she is very playful and very happy when she is in the water swimming or standing on the kayak with Dario, as first mate!
Lucky (age 1 & 1/2)
The sad story of Lucky: starved for 9 months, kept short tied 24/7, hidden in a backyard by an improvised 'breeder', a young woman this time. Lucky was meant to be her money making puppy mill female. Under total stress and degradation she chewed her own litter at birth. Before her ordeal with her girl slave master (who named her Lucky!), she was living with a person who cared and looked after her. At the time she was diagnosed to have a severe Demodex condition and was treated by a visiting vet kindly volunteering for the Grenada SPCA.
Then Lucky was taken back by her ‘owner‘ for her ‘imposed’ duty to make $ puppies and by the time we found her again we could not even recognize that she was the same dog we had known only a year earlier, but for her bald patch on her back. She was a walking skeleton. Luckily after one month of abundant energizing food, love, attention and freedom at Kido she regained her weight and her playful and inquisitive nature re-surfaced. The slow healing bald patch on her back is still there, but she does not suffer from itching. Kido will be her rightful refuge for as long as needed!
Acey (age 1 & 1/2)
We were alerted in time to rescue this handsome male dog from his female abusive owner who was going to have him euthanized on the next day!
 |
| Acey 2011 |
Acey, after four months in the cares of Kido, still suffers from lapses of psychological instability caused by his terrible former experience. Mostly he is really playful and affectionate, but unexpectedly he may stiffen up and switch to a very aggressive mood. Things get slowly better as Zhawe, our four year old rescued female lab, patiently babysits Acey, plays with him and shows him different ways. Both of similar size, they got along very well from the start of Acey’s rehab and we hope that one day he will overcome his fears of losing his bowl of food, of being forced away from where he feels safe, and of needleless plastic syringes squirting antibiotics into his big ears, to counter the internal infections he came with.
Acey had already been chosen by new adopting parents, but we feel that he needs to be under stable and careful observation for quite some time before eventually moving on.
 |
| Faye when she arrived to the centre |
Faye (age 10 months)
In January 2011 tiny black & white Faye was another desperate baby dog roaming the village, a mile down from Kido station, in dire need for any scraps of food. Friendly kids from the village called us about this puppy, they had spotted her inside a garbage bin.
Kido volunteer Noora rushed out to get her in a hurry: too often stray puppies and larger roaming dogs end up as roadkills before we manage to locate them… not this time Our Noora soon returned with her ragged bundle of fluffy knotted fur, fleas, ticks and amazing eyes: a heartbreaking look! Very shy at arrival and following long weeks of skin infections, anemia and a weak hind leg issue, Faye is now a healthy playful teenager and the darling of Noora… and Noora is OUR darling volunteer…the magic cycle goes on… See video link of baby Faye: http://www.youtube.com/user/Doiden#p/u/36/LSPDdHUFIFw
Brucey (age 3 months) - partly adopted by Tom
Brucey must have been waiting for someone to rescue him in front of the main Post Office in town, on a very busy morning, in August 2011. Tom, Kido volunteer and videographer was exiting the Post Office when he looked down at the ground and the two gazed at each other… it was instant LOVE! And that is how we got our 19th rescued dog!
CATS
Columbine (age 15)
Columbine was handed to Kido by a friend who had three kittens for adoption. She is and always has been a gentle cat, very patient with our rescued dogs (who sometimes can be cat provokers, especially at first contact). Columbine chose to reside in the volunteer Pagoda compound at Kido, which is an area open to three or four dogs as well. Columbine can be spotted relaxing on any of the top bunk beds.
 |
| Guendaline loves computers |
Guendaline (age 12)
Guendaline was rescued from a litter of three kittens because she suffered from rectal prolapse. She eventually recovered. She has a very independent mind, likes to live apart from other cats, gets on very well with dogs. Her preferred spot is obnoxiously close to any computer keyboard, playfully attacking any typing fingers (customarily volunteers’). Guendaline’s peculiar interest in keyboards is tolerated by computer room users because she is most persistently hard headed. And when a cat is that, beware trespassing…
Nanni (age 12)
Nanni was found as a kitten stranded alongside a road in the south of the island and adopted here. Years ago Nanni adopted in turn our orphaned baby Mona monkey! The unlikely couple became inseparable until Zaza (the monkey) grew too big and strong handed in their exchanges. Zaza went on to be a health juvenile male and was then released back in his native forest in Grenada National Park. Nanni loves to sleep on our chest, at night.
 |
| Simba |
Simba (age 12)
Simba was rescued by Marina when, as a tiny crying ginger kitten, he was about to be euthanized at a Grenada veterinarian clinic, because he could not suck milk from his mother.
Simba had possibly endured a blow on the left side of his face, which caused a permanent damage of the jaw and total blindness of his left eye. He was frantic because he was hungry and could not tighten his jaw !
A needleless syringe full of kitten formula several times a day and night satisfied his hunger until weaning. He still is a messy eater, lost all his teeth early and always holds his ginger head with a slant, likely compensating sight range for that lost eye, nonetheless Simba became a strong and loving cat. He can chase away cheeky dogs of any size and likes to sleep under your sheets at night.
 |
| Toquino |
Toquinho (age 9)
Toquinho was a meowing kitten lost in a construction lumber shop, dabbling between the wheels of trucks maneuvering to load huge cargo. Marina was placing a lumber order, when the kitten ran at her feet, asking for attention. Most of the times animals in need find you and that makes complete sense! Toquinho lives with us, together with Simba, Nanni and the older (now slower) dogs.
A bold male cat, he picks matching fights with his long time ginger buddy Simba, just for fun, throwing chunks of mixed fur around, nothing serious and sit on our lap while we work at the computer. Occasionally, Toquinho enjoys taking over a dog’s cushion, much to the owner’s dismay, but no one dares to chase him out.
Tinker Bell accepted this cat as her brother!
