A Rough Start for the WAO Animals

This year experienced a rough start for the WAO animals. Last weekend I noticed one of the cougars, living in the horribly small enclosure, had a large growth on her shoulder blade. It looks like a fluid sac, but I'm not sure. The animal caretakers were already aware of the situation.

One of the male long-tailed macaques from Bayer had an injury to his tail a couple of weeks ago. And yesterday, from the same group, one of the males had his finger bit off. The primate was taken to the new vet so it could be properly amputated. This small group of macaques are very aggressive, so I hope their new enclosure will be finished very soon so they can be relocated into a much larger enclosure. The former director thought it would be a great idea to put the very aggressive primates on tour in a small enclosure. I warned the USDA/APHIS that this was a horrible mistake because of all the fighting reported by past tours. Just goes to show the former directors really did not care about the primates--they just wanted to fill the empty cage vacated by the macaques from Lehman College (they moved into their larger new enclosure which resulted in less fights reported).

And finally, Monday, during the vet's walk around at the second property, she noticed the black-spotted leopard, Zion, had a large growth under her belly. It has gotten so large over the years that it was now dragging on the ground! I was told the growth appeared in late 2005 and was allowed to developed under the former director's management. The new director is looking into surgery options with the new vet.

On a positive note, two months ago a little capuchin monkey named Zoomy was born at the touring facility. Apparently, one of the "fixed" male's reproductive organ reconnected and so over the years, babies have been born to the capuchin colony. Zoomy was left with her mother until the other primates started attacking her. Out of concern for Zoomy's safety she was removed from the colony and now the animal caretakers are raising her. She is absolutely adorable! The new director contacted another animal sanctuary for assistance in determining which male is reproducing young, so he can be "fixed" once again.

I also learned the former directors left another surprise--an unpaid IRS bill totalling over $20k due this week! From what I understand, the available funds are really low right now.

I worked really hard on the sanctuary's first e-newsletter and it was sent out to over 390 people. Sad to report, my first attempt was not a complete success as there were over 70 bounces (bad email addresses) and 5 people hit the "spam" button. When that happened, the service supporting the e-newsletter suspended my account until I explained in detail where I got the e-mail addresses! After explaining that this was our first attempt at sending out an e-newsletter to our donor's list, the service resumed service to my account. So, I am back in business, but before I send out any more e-newsletter I plan to confirm authorization to send out future e-newsletters to the public! 


http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=c95107a9f0dc5a47c9dca4cc7&id=25fb2323e8

I also plan to canvas the neighborhood again with newsletters and fliers in the hopes of generating tours. I did receive word that my canvas two weeks ago paid off for one person came in for a tour, said he learned about the facility from information left on his door step and he wanted to volunteer his services as an electrician! So my 2.5 hours of walking the neighborhood paid off!

Update on the injured macaque (finger amputated):

It appears the primate may have also have Tetanus. What is Tetanus you may ask? Well, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases:

• Tetanus is a serious disease that is caused by bacteria found in dust, soil, and manure

• Tetanus enters the body through many kinds of wounds—from a pinprick to a deep wound
• The bacteria live all over the world
• Tetanus is commonly called “lockjaw” since it can cause stiffness in the jaw muscles

Little Brody is receiving treatment for Tetanus. Poor little guy probably got Tetanus from the cage mate that bit him.

With medical bills mounting and funds just not coming in like they used to, the Director is feeling the strain. I pray donations come in soon so the sanctuary will be financially stable.