An Interesting Case: The Stumpy Pony.

I remember seeing a post on the “Sakkara Equine Clinic” Facebook page (an equine hospital in our area) about a horse they had in their care. The horse had a twisted body and he appeared to be entirely missing a hoof on his hind leg. People asked on the Facebook page what had happened to the pony and had they euthanised him but there never was a reply from admin to what the fate of the pony with the stumpy leg was.

Here are some screen shots from the Sakkara Equine Clinic Facebook page. They are clearly dated 10th December 2013.

 

I did actually think about the pony from time to time because it was such a strange case and because we never did have a reply from Sakkara about what had happened to the pony.

 

Then my head groom contacted me to say that a man had come from the countryside with a horse and he wanted us to pay for the transportation costs! 

So I said yes we could pay the costs and asked for some photos of this new foster case we had sprung on us. 

When my head groom sent through the photos of the same pony from the Sakkara Equine Clinic 6 months ago I was shocked!

I immediately made an offer to purchase the pony, there is nothing we can do too help if the pony does not belong to us. We do not posses the legal power to seize animals from owners. 

We were told no. 

 

I made the conscious decision to allow the pony to stay on our property. At least if the pony was on our property I knew that he would receive, food, water, bedding and medical care. I knew we could work on the owner and purchasing the pony. 

What I didn’t want to occur was to push the owner so hard that he took the pony away and hid it in another unknown stables for the rest of its life.

This pony staying with us was the best chance he had at a peaceful end and the right decision being made for him. 

The team gave him, food, water, shade and a sandy menage to lay in. We wormed him but only so he didn’t pass any parasites to any of our animals. We didn’t have his teeth done or his hooves done, he didn’t have very long left in this cruel world and the stress of both procedures was not worth inflicting upon him.

It wasn’t an easy or quick procedure for the owner to allow us to purchase him. The owner had not listened to the advise of Sakkara Equine Clinic vets to euthanise the pony, and they had taken the pony away from them and kept him another 6 months so why would they consider listening to us? 

 

A deal was made though. 400le was the cost of freedom.

The little pony doesn’t need his legs anymore because he now has wings. ❤

 

 

I do not regret my decision to allow this pony to stay on the property. If I had turned this pony away from our stables because I was worried what people would think then can you imagine where this pony would be now? 

Nothing in Egypt is fair and nothing is ideal! There is no such thing as perfection. Allowing this pony to stay was not a perfect solution to the problem. Allowing the pony to be taken by his owner to an unknown fate was a worse solution! 

This pony stayed with us in our care so we knew he would be comfortable, fed, and loved. The uncertain future he faced if we had turned the case away is an unbearable thought.  He wasn’t a sick pony, he could live for years like this… hidden away in someones stables… overlooked because he wasn’t perfect or useful. 

The right decision was made for this pony. Nothing happens in Egypt very quickly, negotiating with owners is a tricky and sensitive issue.

But we prevailed. The pony is free. This is a success story for this pony.

My heart goes out to the team who cried for the entire final procedure. Life is not fair when the soul is so strong but the body so weak.

 

In heaven all that was wrong is right again. So when we met again you will be whole and able to gallop with the rest of our rescues who are now free.

 

This is the story of how one unfortunate stumpy legged pony stole everyone’s hearts.   

Ashmoona: The rescued Mule from Ashmoon El Munofia (أشمونه بغلة المنو)

Salwa one of the animal activists in Egypt had spent many days trying to organise the rescue of Ashmoona the injured mule from the streets of Egypt. 

 

Her leg is very swollen just above the knee joint and it seems to have been this way for a long time. Possibly a healed over broken leg.

Ashmoona has just been left in the street in this condition to fend for herself after her elderly owner passed away. She has been living off trash and eating the grass out of the middle divider in busy roads.

Ashmoona is in fairly poor condition. She was handed down as inheritance to the man’s children after he died and they obviously don’t have much knowledge about equines to understand that the mule required serious medical intervention and not to just be allowed to walk around the streets eating trash and wandering in front of traffic. 

The injury appears very old and has healed over forming the large and lumpy leg that you can see in the photo. 

Here is the extract from the original Facebook post as posted by animal activist Mariam:

عاجل…أشمونه بغلة المنوفيه، هو علميا مفيش حاجه إسمها بغلة…الطبيعي إن البغل ده نتاج تزاوج الحصان مع الحمار وبيكون الإنتاج بغل ذكر لا ينجب…لكن أشمونه بغلة فعلا بنت !!!
ما علينا…المهم أشمونه أنقذناها من المنوفية صاحبها الرجل بتاع الجاز مات وتركها ميراث بالحالة دي!!! احنا لسه مش عارفين الورم سببه إيه بالظبط لكن حنعرف بعد الأشعه إنشاء الله.
المصاريف طبعا شحتناها علي بال ما حد يتبرع ويساعد في حالتها.
تعويض للورثة 200 جنيه
نقل من المنوفية إلي القاهره 400 جنيه
الأشعه 200 جنيه
العلاج وكشف الدكتور المختص ..لم يحدد بعد.
أشمونه موجوده في جمعية مشروع الحصان..وصلت الصبح.
للتبرع برجاء علي فودافون كاش 01005698459

Ashmoona, The Mulle of Ashmoon El Munofia,rescued today from there and arrived into The Egypt Horse Prohect in the morning,we still don know yet what happened with Ashmoona ‘s hand,but we will know yet tomorrow after applying X-Ray.Ashmoona was an heritage of an orphan kids and their family as it was owned by a poor man died,and left Ashmoona on this status.
Expenses needed urgently:
Compensation for the owners 200 EGY
Transportation from Munofia to Cairo 400 EGY
X-Ray 200 EGY
Medication and Vet Examination unknown yet.

Please help Ashmoona and donate on Vodafone cash 01005698459.

Ahmed arrived with the horse truck to collect Ashmoona after Salwa had organised everything. Unfortunately it was not all smooth sailing. Ashmoona’s most recent owners stepped forward and refused to allow Ashmoona to come into our care.

After paying a release fee of 200le Ashmoona was able to be loaded into a ute and travelled back to the TEHP stables. 

Ashmoona sat down in the back of the ute comfortably and Ahmed sat with her for the entire trip home. She was very calm like she knew she was finally safe and being taken somewhere where she will receive the medical care that she requires. 

 

Ashmoona arrived at the TEHP stables safely and quickly settled in. 

She is already much loved by the team at TEHP and of course the people involved in his rescue. 

Ashmoona is now booked in for X-rays on her leg and a full vet assessment and we will decide what her future holds and the best way to proceed with her case. 

We hope to have the results back soon to update you with. 

Meskeen: Abandoned to die in the streets of Cairo

Ahmed responded to a post on facebook asking for help for a donkey that had been found abandoned on the streets in Cairo. Ahmed rushed to the location and found the donkey is in a really terrible way.

The donkey had collapsed and the owner had just left him in the streets, laying in the searing sun without shelter or food or water. Thankfully a kind passerby had alerted the animal activists who helped us to reach him. The same kind passerby got newspaper and covered the donkey with it to try and protect him from the sun. He was also given a bucket of water and something to eat.

The donkey was distressed and exhausted.

 

Here is an extract from the posting on Facebook at the time of the rescue.

“There are other donkeys at the location who are starving and tied up in the sun, we really need to do something about the welfare of them before they collapse and die in the street. We have already saved one donkey from this area called Saber a few months ago but we found him to late to help him and he died, this donkey may suffer the same fate as it has been so long since he has eaten or had a drink and he seems to have given up fighting. Please lets hope we can save the poor little thing.” استجاب أحمد لآخر في الفيسبوك طلب المساعدة عن حمار. أحمد هرعت الى حمار وعثر عليه بطريقة رهيبةالحمار هو الآن آمنة وعلى الطريق إلى اسطبلات لتلقي العلاج الطبي. هناك الحمير الأخرى في المكان الذين يتضورون جوعا في الشارع.نحن بحاجة إلى مساعدتهم قبل أن تعاني من نفس مصير وانهيار ليموت وحيدا.واسمحوا يصلي سوف البقاء على قيد الحياة هذا الحمار حتى انه سيعرف الرحمة واللطف.

 

The donkey was transported to the safety of The Egypt Horse Project Stables, he collapsed again upon arrival. He was laid down on a bed of straw and given barseem grass to eat.

The little donkey was given fluids via intravenous drip and was also allowed to have another bucket of water. He was wet down to help cool him off because the day was reaching 45 degrees and the donkey was panting in the heat and stress of being travelled. 

The donkey was in a terrible way, he was to receive fluids on a regular basis to prevent dehydration and it was around the clock care to try to save his life. 

Here is another extract from Facebook directly from the rescuers

“It’s been a really tough week for the TEHP team as they battled to recover several serious street rescues. This is Meskeen, his name means someone who is poor and has had to bear alot of cruelty in his life (thats a loose translation so correct me if I am wrong) Meskeen is finally standing although shakily and is obviously in a very emaciated condition. The vet, Dr Mohammed, is coming again today to do a health check on everyone.

Here is an extract from people involved in his rescue “Meskeen,Rescued Donkey from Ezbet ElTorgoman.

“مسكين حمار الترجمان May 20 · إيه رأيكم في المنظر ده؟؟؟ ده روح ضحية الإنسان اللي ربنا كرمه وميزه علي سائر المخلوقات بالعقل والحكمة!!!! الحمار “مسكين” جبناه من عزبة الترجمان و طبعا ده حمار واحد من الفكهانية المجرمين…وده نفس المكان اللي جبنا منه الحمار صابر اللي زوره لزق في بعضه من شدة العطش ومات طبعا. “مسكين” بيكلف كل يوم كرتونة محاليل لأن صحته ضايعه جدا وأكله قليل أوى ومحتاج علاج طويل جدا من كتر الجفاف والجروح اللي في جسمه. حالته في منتهي السوء …بس انا مؤمنه دايما إن ربنا بيعمل المعجزات وبيحيي العظام وهي رميم. “مسكين” دلوقتي في جمعية مشروع الحصان في نزلة السمان مصاريف النقل 250 جنيه 20 محلول و10 رينجر و 10 جلوكوز كل يوم 180 جنيه علاج ومقويات حوالي 400 جنيه لفترة 3 أسابيع. Vodafone Cash Service Mariam Aly 01005698459 Salwa Abdoh 01099830103

What do you see about this view??? This is a result of the human hands upon an innocent soul!! The humans that are supposed had been honored by God graces and had been identified but distinguished over all other creatures on earth by their minds and wisdom!!! This is Meskeen, The donkey of Ezbet El Torgoman, One of the criminal fruit sellers, Is being thrown as you see like a piece of trash with no water or food for days and days. We picked Meskeen couple of days ago, and it need a course of medications, Vitamines,and Fluides to pass this horrible status. Meskeen’s Transportation from Torgoman till The Egypt Horse Project costs 250 L.E Daily Bottle of Fluids 20 + Bottle of Glucose 10 + Ringers = 180 L.E. Medications,Vitamins around 400 L.E. for a period less than 3 weeks.”

 

The donkey was named “Meskeen” he formed a instant bond with the palomino pony you can see in the background of this photo. The vet came to assess Meskeen and found he had improved from when he first arrived. 

Meskeen formed such a strong bond with the palomino pony called Sindibad that they remain together in the same stables to keep each other company. Except of course when it is meal time. Meskeen is separated at every meal time so that the team makes sure that he receives enough food and that he eats all of it, including the medicated feeds which he screws his nose up at!

Meskeen is the thinnest donkey the rescue team have ever seen. He will need months and months of recovery before he can become healthy again. Everyone has their fingers and toes crossed for Meskeen to keep fighting and make it through.

Meskeen was our worst case of rescue to date. He is very loved by the team at TEHP and is a very spoilt donkey also receiving treats of carrots and lettuce. If Meskeen does not make it and passes to rainbow bridge at least we know we tried our very best for him and he is safe from the harsh streets of Cairo.

 

 

 

Kind Words from our supporters.

“My inner strength and self respect is getting stronger every day. Thank you to those who tried to bring me down. You made me who I am today.”

 

“I just wanted to tell you how nice it was visiting TEHP again today. This is my 2nd time visiting, and both times I was greeted warmly. You are doing very important work there, and I wish I could contribute more than a few nosebands–but hopefully I will be able to in the future, insha’allah

Anyways, I just wanted to tell you all to keep up the good work, and I hope to visit again sometime in the future!”

 

“TEHP deserves our honor and help, without this place, many horses and donkeys would have been dead.. if any one who really wants to encourage…… just give a hand, this place needs medicines, fluids, good food for those daily cases.. everyone has to share with anything he can, but he has to share .. we need this place to continue and become bigger and bigger, so positive words are really very appreciated, but actually negative words will not make any difference and from my own point of view are not accepted.. we can say notices but never to change facts and try to converse good to evil.. please all help this wonderful place to become a unique shelter for those who suffered a lot ..”

 

“An issue that i want to discuss it seriously about The Egypt Horse Project!!! some rumors are flying around saying that we or them used to rescue the horses and donkeys to resell them after recovery!!! WHAT IS THE POINT?? Really extremely funny.

Even if we do, Are these animals are able to be sold?? They are most of them having dislocation cases or aged
However Me and Salwa became specialists in rescuing the horrible dislocated horses and donkeys. Please stop talking too much and share in good instead to be a positive one.

There is a woman her name is Ashleigh Lotherington and a man his name is Ahmed Medo both are amazing people who are devoting all their time and life for helping such creatures…A word humanity is too less for describing them.

They never refuse a case,They never give up helping without waiting for any rewards,Till a level that Ashleigh Lotherington NOW IS OUT OF EGYPT SINCE COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO!!! Do any body know why??? She is working in England at a restaurant to cover the rent expenses of the shelter!! And everytime she intend to come,she postpone for the much cases she find it entered and need hands of help.
That’s why i keep on saying all the time please lets help, Ashleigh is a girl like us, Young and beautiful,she left her country,family and friends and she choose to help the helpless in EGYPT.”

في موضوع عجيب ونبي عايزة أقول في كلمتين!!
الناس اللي بتقول علينا أو على جمعية مشروع الحصان إنهم بينقذوا الخيل والحمير عشان يبيعوهم !!!

يبيعوا إيه وينيلوا إيه بس!!! إذا كان كل الحالات اللي بتروح هناك عاهات….ده غير الحالات اللي تبعي أنا وسلوى عبده …بقينا تخصص عاهات مستديمة في الخيل والحمير…اللي مقطوعة رجله واللي مكسورة إيده واللي عنده شلل رعاش واللي حيقع من طوله….فالله يخليكم ترويج الإشاعات واللت والعجن اللي مافي منه فايدة ده بلاش منه وخلينا ناس اجابين وعامليين وخلينا نشير في الخير.

في إنسانة جميلة إسمها اشلي لورثنتن ومعاها مساعد أمير وابن أمره إسمه أحمد ميدو… هم اللي ماسكين كل المسئولية في الجمعية…وعمرهم مارفضوا حالة حتى لو مش لاقيين ياكلو …لدرجة إن اشلي حاليا مسافرة بتشتغل في مطعم في انجلترا عشان تغطي إيجار المكان….وكل ماتنوي تنزل ماتعرفش عشان الحالة المادية صعبة والحالات عمالة تزيد…عشان كده أنا على طول الوقت بفضل أنادي وأقول نساعد عشان الناس دول بجد يستاهلوا … ولو هم وقعوا ومعرفوش يكملو …. كنا حنوادي مسكين وصابر وغلبان ومبروكة ووحيد وغيرهم فين؟؟؟

اشلي بنت شابة زيكم وجميلة ..تركت بلدها وأهلها وأصحابها وحياتها واختارت تساعد الحيوان الأبكم الضعيف.
يا رت تتفرجوا على الصور …ده خيل أو حمير تتباع؟؟؟ ارحموا من في الأرض يرحمكم من في السماء.”