Kimbal’s Story When people report stray dogs running in traffic, quite often the animal has disappeared by the time rescuers arrive at the scene. But when volunteer, Kimbal Mare, phoned Barking Mad/Dogtown SA on 20 August to report a badly-injured and clearly confused dog running around, our staff knew that if they hurried, they would find her. But they couldn’t. After 40 minutes, a praying and pregnant Kimbal arrived back on the scene to help, and by some miracle she caught sight of the dog and called Andy who managed to catch her, but only after she’d run blinded several times into Kimbal’s car. All in all, it took an hour to tackle the poor petrified creature. A small Boxer blend, Kimbal II was in a truly shocking state. It was clear she had been badly burned – possibly with a chemical, boiling oil or petrol - and the resultant blindness got her entangled in a horrific trap. Terrified out of her wits, Kimbal II was clearly in unimaginable pain. The whole scenario was traumatic for Kimbal, Andy, Elanza, who say it was the worst experience of their lives. Kimbal was rushed with the trap still attached to Petite Paws Veterinary Clinic where Dr Anthia examined her. She had suffered burns to a large percentage of her body, but most tragically, Kimbal’s eyes were clamped shut and full of pus. During the course of the next few days, Kimbal’s wounds were cleaned and stitched where necessary, and antibiotic eye drops were administered daily. She was naturally in shutdown mode for a while, but then Kimbal discovered Woolworths free-range roast chicken, which piqued her interest, and appetite. Kind supporters hand-delivered donated chickens to the Centre and nothing was too much trouble to speed up Kimbal’s healing process. So every day that followed, Kimbal was hand-fed chicken by the incredibly dedicated Dogtown staff. From the first day that Kimbal’s tragic story was posted on the Barking Mad Facebook page, people from all over the country and other parts of the world displayed an outpouring of unprecedented love and kindness. The Dogtown SMS Campaign received the most texts in the Centre’s history, and Kimbal received more donations than any other featured Furry Fundraiser. Kimbal had touched the hearts of South Africa and the world. After eight days of rest and extensive daily treatment, Kimbal visited the Johannesburg Eye Hospital where it was predicted that because of good pupil response, her sight could be restored. During the week that followed, Kimbal began a regime of mild exercise in the form of gentle walks around the veterinarian’s property. Even the resident cat adopted Kimbal as her BFF and followed her around on her walks. On Day 15, Kimbal was taken back to the eye specialist for a follow-up appointment and final prognosis, which was beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. Kimbal’s eyes had completely healed. Although the corneas were damaged, the eye specialist was confident that Kimbal would regain her sight. Then on the evening of 4th September, Dogtown contacted Kimbal’s new mom, who had applied to adopt her earlier on, but didn’t for a moment believe that she would be granted the privilege of caring for this special soul. At the time of writing, Kimbal had been at her forever home for five days. There is a long road of physical and emotional healing ahead for Kimbal, but with lots of love, understanding, good food and great vets, it is hoped that this horrifically abused dog will be whole again.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 19:59:31 +0000
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