Canine Life Support

2011 in review

Canine Life Support — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:36:32 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

New website

Canine Life Support — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:07:23 +0000

New website

Ready for 2012

We’ve been working on a new website, which will be launched before the end of this year. We’re pleased: a crispy clean layout with soon also a webshop where our very own shop-manager Tiara will be happy to assist you!

Stay tuned!

Silence

Canine Life Support — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:13:53 +0000

We know it has been quiet here lately and we feel that we owe it to you, our Superstar fans, to explain why that is.

First of all, to take away any doubts you may have: Canine Life Support isn’t going anywhere. We’ve been here, we’re here now and we will be here in the future. It’s just that an awful lot has been going on lately, mostly on a personal level.

Canine Life Support is run by three dedicated volunteers in The Netherlands and I am one of them. Sometimes, when I am about to head back to Sri Lanka, people ask me “Oh, are you going to the doggies again?” Usually I just smile. I know they do not have the slightest clue what it entails to run a charity, next to a fulltime job, a family and something that vaguely resembles a social life. They can’t help it. Still, I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to be able to do this and I wouldn’t want it any other way. How very few people get the opportunity in their lives to follow their dream, their passion? How many people never even discover what their dream or passion is?

I am telling you this to explain, that when challenges occur in one of the other aspects of life; be it family, job or social- they also require time and attention. It’s like a balancing act. Imagine yourself constantly trying to keep a bunch of balls up in the air and suddenly one drops to the ground. You will have to bend down to pick it up again, and in order to do so, you stop juggling the other balls for a moment. You then regain momentum and there you go again.

So that’s why it’s been a bit more quiet in our corner. I realize this is not your regular ‘charity-type-please-send-money-soon’ blog post but I feel that it’s utterly useless to completely ignore the human aspect of charity management. Stuff happens. Fact of life.

Canine Life Support continues its work and the team in Sri Lanka has recently done a fabulous job for World Rabies Day on September 28th (see previous blog posts). We are planning to do another program for this month.

- Marit Merkus

Canine Life Support gets ‘Thank You’ letter

Canine Life Support — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:41:15 +0000

On World Rabies Day 2011, Canine Life Support sponsored a drawing competition that was organized by the Public Health Inspector in the Ratnapura District. The competition was spread out over a total of 17 different MOH (Medical Officers of Health) areas. This was a fantastic initiative that we were very happy to support. Thanks to the efforts of the PHI and all the different MOH’s, many people got involved and were informed about rabies. A very interactive approach with a great result. We thank you for this wonderful educational activity!

Please see the full document here

World Rabies Day Program 2011

Canine Life Support — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 09:47:47 +0000

This year Canine Life Support and Vets for Future held a World Rabies Day program in Embilipitya, Sri Lanka. The program was coordinated by our two senior Veterinary Surgeons, dr. Ranil and dr. Chamith who arranged the team and all the activities. There are a few reasons why we chose Embilipitiya for this year’s program:

High stray dog population
Low educational level
High number of reported stray dog bites

The day started early. At 07:00 the team went to the Embilipitiya President’s College. The first activity of the day was announcing the winner of the art competition, which was an initiative of the Public Health Inspector (PHI). The lucky winner of the competition was a student from the Embilipitiya Educational Zone. Her drawing was chosen from the many entries and she received the prize.

After the prize ceremony, dr. Chamith gave a presentation about rabies and one of our team members distributed the leaflets.

At the same time of the presentation, other members of our team went out into the town and conducted an announcement program. Driving around with the three wheel while a professional announcer gave information about rabies. There were many people in the town, so the program was very succesful.

When the program at the school was finished, it was time for the team to eat lunch at our favorite place in Embilipitiya. After everyone finished eating, the whole team (Dr. Ranil, Dr. Chamith, Mr. Bandara (the rabies PHI) and our assistants) started the Welfare Camp. During a Welfare Camp we prepare food for stray animals and the Veterinary Surgeons perform minor procedures and vaccinations and we educate the public about rabies, dogbite prevention and responsible pet ownership.

The team was delighted to discover that many people were aware of World Rabies Day. While the team was handing out leaflets and feeding the strays, the professional announcer was also there to give information about rabies.

I want to thank the entire team and Mr. Bandara for a very succesful World Rabies Day Program. You are all fantastic!

World Rabies Day 2011

Canine Life Support — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:32:21 +0000

It is September 28th, which means that it is the 4th annual World Rabies Day!

The Canine Life Support FAR (Fight Against Rabies) Bikeride 2011 was on September 11th and today we are organizing several events in Sri Lanka to raise awareness about rabies.

Two senior Veterinary Surgeons that we are so very lucky to work with, have organized a Canine Life Support rabies awareness programme at a school with 4,500 students, a welfare camp and Canine Life Support is also proud sponsor of a big art competition organized by several PHI’s (Public Health Inspectors) in the area.

We are very excited about today’s programmes and we will update you with photos as soon as possible!

World Rabies Day events have educated 150 million people and vaccinated 4.6 million animals worldwide!

The mission of World Rabies Day is to raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, how easy it is to prevent it, and how to eliminate the main global sources. Even though the major impact of rabies occurs in regions of the world where many needs are present, rabies should no longer be neglected. The tools and technology for human rabies prevention and dog rabies elimination are available.

Rabies in humans is 100% preventable through prompt appropriate medical care. Yet, more than 55,000 people, mostly in Africa and Asia, die from rabies every year – a rate of one person every ten minutes. The most important global source of rabies in humans is from uncontrolled rabies in dogs. Children are often at greatest risk from rabies. They are more likely to be bitten by dogs, and are also more likely to be severely exposed through multiple bites in high-risk sites on the body. Severe exposures make it more difficult to prevent rabies unless access to good medical care is immediately available. This major source of rabies in humans can be eliminated through ensuring adequate animal vaccination and control, educating those at risk, and enhancing access of those bitten to appropriate medical care.

Source: www.worldrabiesday.org

The FAR Bikeride 2011 was a succes!

Canine Life Support — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:45:00 +0000

The third edition of the Canine Life Support FAR (Fight Against Rabies) Sponsor Bikeride was held on September 11, 2011 and it was a great succes.

There were two groups: one group who rode the whole tour (240km) and one group who cycled an alternate tour (40km). The first group left at 5:20 Sunday morning. It felt like it was the middle of the night- people were actually still out on the streets from parties they went to the night before. While they were in search of their beds, we were about to head out on a long cycling adventure.

When the first group returned to Bolsward after the first loop of the tour (150km), they met up with the second group. There was a moment for a cup of coffee and a nice group photo. After this, both groups left to cycle their routes.

Canine Life Support volunteer Tiara welcomed everyone who returned from cycling together with Jan-Paul van den Bos. The group that rode 240km returned at 19:00, after cycling not 240, but 251km and was welcomed by a loud cheering crowd. Fantastic! After a real medal ceremony, a very necessary shower, we all had dinner together. After this, everyone made their way back home.

We want to thank everyone who came out to Friesland for this year’s bikeride. A special thanks goes out to all the participants:

Support crew:

Tiara Portier & Jana Peters, Jan-Paul van den Bos and Nico van den Brakel

Riders:

240km: Mike Thiers, Marco Duijnstee, Fred van der Pauw, Tom Kregting and Marit Merkus

40km: José Baas, Gerda Veltman, Thea & Harry van Haren, Carl & Beppie Portier, Peter & Annemieke Kregting, Herman en Mieke Peek, Koos & Maria Thijssen, Hein & Tresi.

We hope to see you all again next year!

PS: curious to know how much money we raised for the Fight Against Rabies? Stay tuned then. We’ll have the figures for you soon.

Rabies: Information you need to know

Canine Life Support — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:59:30 +0000

Rabies: information you need to know

Preparing for the FAR Bikeride 2011

Canine Life Support — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:23:17 +0000

Dreaming in red & yellow

Alright, so I am about to ride 240km, exactly a week from now. Besides kicking my boyfriend to the couch (because -obviously- the bed is full), I’m kind of preparing myself for the challenge ahead. Below a very good list I found on the website of Thomas Laussermair. I changed a few things, since he’s talking about a ride much longer than the one we’re about to do, but nonetheless there are some very useful tips for us there. PS: check his website and see all the amazing things he’s done!

*****

How to prepare for a 240km bike ride

It’s probably 70% mental, 30% physical. You need to get into the zone, the right state of mind. Try to anticipate what riding for 12 hours would feel like. As long as you drink/eat enough, you can almost always continue riding slowly if your mind is up to it.
Get used to sitting in the saddle for many hours. Take short breaks. Stand up to avoid sitting too long at a time. When rolling down a hill, stop pedaling and shift your body position from side to side.
Obviously you will have to have done some long rides to be able to enjoy a 12 hour bike day.

What to bring along? Here is a short checklist

Bike-wear: helmet, gloves, shoes, bike pants & jersey.
To change when you get there: shorts, T-shirt, underwear, socks.
Rain-Gear: Gore-Tex jacket, long bike pants, long-sleeved bike jersey
Money/credit card/drivers license (no border crossing without it!)
Sunglasses
Repair kit for bike, 1 spare tube, mini-pump (mounted at bottle holder),
Battery lights back & front

Optional, but recommended items

Cell phone (keep in mind limited coverage cross-country)
iPod + charger (if you like music to boost morale – I recommend it)
Digital camera (not really necessary, but I love my pictures!)
Small first aid kit (gives some peace of mind)

Food/Drinks

2 bottle holders are enough on this kind of route.
Cereal bars, bananas
Eat as much pasta as you can the evening before (at least 6 hours before you start) to load up on carbohydrates.
Eat constantly during the ride (bananas, power bars, fruit, etc.) Don’t eat a big meal – you would stop too long and digestion takes energy away from riding.
Even more importantly, drink mineral drinks constantly and BEFORE you’re getting thirsty. Once you run low you’ll cramp and then it is “game over”! If you don’t have to pee at least every 1-2 hours, you’re not drinking enough.

Other general thoughts

Stop often but only for a short time (5-10 min).
Don’t ride hard, just pedal smooth. Don’t let the odometer tell you how hard to ride. That depends primarily on wind and hills. Long and steady is the only thing that matters.
Be prepared for little mental challenges: Detour due to road construction, missed a turn and have to go back, bad stretch of road, hills, dust/wind/rain, etc. Most such difficulties don’t last very long.
I use Zip-lock bags for many small items; they keep things dry (sweat, rain) and organized, while they weigh nothing. For example, I bring a couple of tissues in a zip lock to clean the sunglasses from sweat!

CLS & FAR Bikeride promoted in local newspaper

Canine Life Support — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:15:32 +0000

On August 31st there was an article about Canine Life Support and the upcoming FAR (Fight Against Rabies) Bikeride in the “Goudse Post” a Dutch local newspaper. Unfortunately the article contains some mistakes, but nonetheless it’s nice we were in the paper.

Click on the image to view the .pdf