The Catlike helmet review

I promised earlier today I would post a review of the Catlike Whisper Plus helmet that is sponsored by Jaropa Sports, so here it is!

The helmet is not the lightest out there, but I actually hardly noticed it was there when I was riding. It did take some fiddling around with the straps to adjust it properly (and I will have to fiddle some more) but as soon as I put it on I felt that the shape of the helmet cradled my head perfectly. It feels safe.

The 39(!) ventilation intakes keep my head nice and cool during slower rides or climbs. I noticed there was no mesh cover inside to stop any bugs from flying in, but with those big holes everywhere they will just as easily leave my helmet if they do get caught inside (hooray for short hair!).

The helmet is CE certified and comes with CES: “Crash Energy Splitting” which means that the impact force is evenly distributed across the whole helmet, partly due to the venting system.

All in all, I am a happy rider! Thanks, Jaropa Sports!

Jaropa Sports brings ‘Catlike to Canine’!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Jaropa Sports Sponsors FAR Bikeride ’11

It will definitely not be due to my equipment  if I don’t finish the 240km on September 11th. For the third year in a row Harry & Thea van Haren have lend me a fantastic bike (and outfit), Van Leeuwen Tweewielers has made sure that the bike is completely tuned and ready to go and now Jaropa Sports has donated a top of the line helmet: The Catlike Whisper Plus!

This helmet doesn’t need to prove itself anymore. Many great riders have done that already. Tonight we’re hitting the pedals again, so a test report (with photos) will follow.

CLS on ‘Wild Time Radio’ with Thomas Janak

Listen to an interview with Wild Time radio. The quality is far from excellent; the interview took place when I was in Sri Lanka last July. We were talking on Skype while I was close to the ocean and using a dongle to connect to the internet, so hang in there

If you can’t see the player below, click on the image above to visit the website of Wild Time radio. There you will find the interview as well!

ANBI status voor Canine Life Support

Canine Life Support is door de Belastingdienst per 1 januari 2011 aangemerkt als Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling (ANBI).

Een ANBI heeft een aantal belastingvoordelen:

• Een ANBI betaalt geen erfbelasting of schenkbelasting voor erfenissen en schenkingen die de instelling gebruikt voor het algemeen belang.
• Als een ANBI zelf schenkingen doet in het algemeen belang, hoeft de ontvanger geen schenkbelasting te betalen.
• Donateurs van een ANBI mogen hun giften aftrekken van de inkomsten- of vennootschapsbelasting.
• Vrijwilligers die voor een ANBI werken, kunnen onder bepaalde voorwaarden een vrijwilligersvergoeding ontvangen. Als vrijwilligers geen vrijwilligersvergoeding ontvangen, doen ze in sommige situaties een gift aan een ANBI.

Voor een compleet overzicht van de fiscale voordelen en de eisen waaraan een ANBI moet voldoen, verwijzen wij u naar de website van de Belastingdienst. Daar vind u tevens een lijst met een overzicht van alle Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen.

Local support for the FAR Bikeride 2011

Bicycle shop Van Leeuwen Tweewielers from Gouda

As most of you know we’re now getting really close to the start of the third edition of the Canine Life Support FAR (Fight Against Rabies) Bikeride! On September 11th, 20 people will set out on their bicycles to raise money and awareness for the fight against rabies.

Eventhough we are not crossing any country borders this year, it is still a lot of work for the three Canine Life Support volunteers to organize an event like this properly. Needless to say that we are extremely happy that we can count on the support of a local bike shop: Van Leeuwen Tweewielers. They are helping to us tremendously by putting the word out to all their customers, finding us sponsors and they will also join us in the event itself; Nico with the support vehicle and Mike will cycle the whole 240km to raise money and awareness for the fight against rabies.

Produce shop Fris Vers from Gouda

If it wasn’t for Mike, one of the owners of Van Leeuwen Tweewielers, we would’ve missed out on the donation of fresh fruit for the riders! Fris Vers, a local produce shop is helping us with a donation of fresh fruit- perfect for energy during the ride!

Did you know that the Canine Life Support FAR Bikeride is a World Rabies Day event? Every year, on September 28, it is World Rabies Day. On that day there will be events held, all over the world, to raise money and awareness for the global fight against rabies!  We will also organize an event in Sri Lanka on that date, but our annual FAR (Fight Against Rabies) Bikeride is also definitely part of it, because we simply cannot do enough to spread this very important message.

For more information about the FAR Bikeride 2011, visit our website: http://www.caninelifesupport.com/CLS/FAR2011.html (in Dutch) or contact us via any of the buttons below.

 

Kataragama update

At the veterinary clinic of Dr. Abeyrathne

Recovery

During our checkup rounds in Kataragama on the second day of our program there, we found one dog with a fractured thigh. We took the dog to the veterinary clinic of Dr. Abeyrathne, for surgery and recovery.

Yesterday I spoke with Dr. Abeyrathne and he informed me that the surgery was succesful. Two pins were placed, which have to be removed again after approx. one month. He also applied a splint to the other leg, which turned out to be partially fractured. The dog is now recovering and will stay at the clinic where people will take care of her until she is fully healed.

We will keep you informed of her progress.

Thanks, Doctor!

 

 

Kataragama 21-22 July 2011

Two days Kataragama

On the evening of July 20, the whole team made its way to Kataragama, where we would be conducting a mobile clinic and a welfare camp in the next two days. We went the evening before so we could start on time on the 21st.

The team

The clinic day started at 06:00 and it ended around 19:00, so we had a full day of work. In total 107 dogs were treated; some owned but most of them stray. The veterinary surgeons that we work with have an incredible amount of experience with sterilizations. Ofcourse this is a lot of animals, but still this is only the tip of the “Kataragama iceberg”.

Surgeries

Many people expressed their gratitude and even two newspaper reporters came by for an article in the paper. Also the MOH (Medical Officer of Health) stopped by to say hello and thanks. We were delighted to know we were welcome there.

Reporters

MOH

The team worked really hard to get the results that we did and we are now making plans for a program in Kataragama. We will be doing this in  cooperation with the local authorities.

Welfare Camp

On the second day we conducted a welfare camp which we combined with post-operative checkups. This means that besides feeding strays and talking to the public,  we will also go around to check up on the dogs that we treated the day before.

One of the previous day’s patients

We did not come across any problems except for one dog who had been in a traffic accident and suffered a broken leg. We have taken her to the clinic of the local veterinary surgeon who will be taking care of her. She will get surgery to fix her leg and she will stay at the veterinary clinic until she has recovered properly.

Doing walk-arounds (accompanied by yesterday’s patients)

 We left Kataragama at 14:00 and went to Tissamaharama, where we had a meeting with the owner of the hotel where I stayed with our volunteer Nina the weekend before.  During that stay I had a meeting with the owner, a representative of HNB bank and a local rice miller. We spoke about Canine Life Support and our programs and they are very interested in supporting us. So we went back to the hotel and together with Dr. Ranil I had a second meeting with him about how we are going to proceed together. Stay tuned, because great things are in the making!

Please find below some images of our two days in Kataragama.

Awareness program 19 July, 2011

Concentration

Going to school

Canine Life Support strongly believes in education. In providing the public with the intellectual tools to make educated decisions. Therefore we spend quite some time and effort on educating children and adults on rabies, dogbite prevention and animal welfare.

The Principal of the school introducing us

We have to go through various official channels before we are allowed to visit a school. We have to request permission from the Provincial Director, then the Zone Director gets involved and the Director of Education and finally the Principal of the school is informed of our program. It’s a good thing that schools are very protected in Sri Lanka. You can’t just show up and ‘do your thing’- they are very cautious as to what the children are exposed to.

Dr. Chamith Nanayakkara giving the presentation

We feel so very fortunate to work with Dr. Chamith Nanayakkara and Vets for Future- we are a strong team together! Vets for Future has been educating the public on rabies awareness and animal welfare for years now and they have already reached thousands of people. Canine Life Support is a big fan and both teams are planning to do many more things together in the future- united we stand strong!

After the presentation we hand out the leaflets

At the first school there were around 1,600 students plus staff and the second school around 1,300 plus staff. Just imagine how many people have heard about our message and our program after school!

School song

At the first school our program was part of the morning assembly, which was finished with the school song. Both schools were very appreciative and happy that we came, and ofcourse we were very happy that they were enthousiastic, so clearly a good deal.

The teachers

Please see below some images of the day. And, don’t forget: if you like what we do, please support us. Eventhough we love that you are cheering us on, we can’t do this on praise alone!

Welfare Camp July 14, 2011

 Folding the leaflets

Welfare Camp

One of our regular activities is welfare camps. During a welfare camp we feed & treat strays and have a lot of interaction with the public. We start the day with cooking food for the animals and folding the leaflets. After that we hit the streets! We pass out food, treat some dogs for mange and hand out dogbite prevention/rabies information leaflets.

Today we planned the route to take us back to the area where we held the mobile clinic yesterday, to check up on the patients. It never seizes to amaze me how quickly the dogs recover from surgery.

Please see below an impression of our day.

Embilipitiya. July 13, 2011

The team (with new shirts!), including our volunteer Nina, second from right

First mobile clinic

Yesterday we held our first mobile clinic of this month in Embilipitiya. We treated a lot of strays and also quite a few people came to the clinic with their own animals- mostly dogs. I noticed there were quite some puppies, luckily we were able to save them from a very stressful baby-making life (that goes especially for the females).

Our volunteer Nina helped with the administration and she went along with the dog catchers a few times. She had a good time! We’re really glad to have her on the team!

We ended up treating 66 animals, of which 59 surgeries. Below you’ll find a visual impression of our day.

PS: if you want to help us with these clinics, you can! For only 15 Euros, 13 GBP, 21 USD, 19 AUD or 25 NZD you can pay for the sterilization and anti rabies vaccination of one dog or cat! We NEED your help!