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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
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 Mon May 09, 2005 2:58 pm Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned Baby |
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By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer 50 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya - A newborn baby abandoned in a Kenyan forest was saved by a stray dog who apparently carried her across a busy road and through a barbed wire fence to a shed where the infant was discovered nestled with a litter of puppies, witnesses said Monday.
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The baby girl, named "Angel" by hospital workers, was clad in a tattered shirt and wrapped in a plastic bag when the dog found her Friday, according to Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed where the baby was discovered in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forest in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
"When the dog picked up the baby in a dirty bag, it came and dropped her behind the wooden building where the dog has its puppies," Mwalimu told The Associated Press Monday.
The 7-pound, 4-ounce infant was taken to a hospital and "is doing well, responding to treatment. She is stable ... she is on antibiotics," said Hannah Gakuo, spokeswoman of the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The baby was found after two children reported hearing an infant's cries near their wood and corrugated metal shack.
"I followed them outside and we started looking around the compound and a nearby plot," said Mary Adhiambo, the children's mother.
They eventually found the tan mixed-breed dog lying protectively with a puppy beside the mud-splattered baby wrapped in a torn black shirt, Adhiambo said. The short-haired dog with light brown eyes has no name, residents said.
Adhiambo told the Daily Nation newspaper that she used warm water to wash the baby, cleaning the umbilical cord with rubbing alcohol, then dressed her in fresh clothes and fed her as neighbors gathered at the shack on hearing news of the discovery.
Residents took the infant to a nearby police station before taking her to the Kenyatta National Hospital, officers at the station told the AP.
Doctors believe the baby had been abandoned about two days before the dog discovered her, said Gakuo, the hospital spokeswoman.
"She cried a lot during admission, because her umbilical cord was infected," Gakuo said. "She is now very quiet. She just feeds and sleeps. I was there this morning and she looked at me and yawned, looked at me again and yawned."
Dozens of Kenyans have visited the baby, who has curly black hair, in the hospital after learning of her rescue, Gakuo said.
"She is now fine. She is warm. She is in a separate room ... with a lady who is also nursing a baby admitted in hospital for treatment," Gakuo said. "The lady is looking after her as if she is her own child."
Infant abandonment is problem in Kenya, where poverty and the inability to care for the child are blamed. Most people who abandon babies are never caught.
Officials were not able to immediately provide figures on abandoned babies, but Gakuo said that each month, about two infants are brought to the main public hospital in the capital alone.
"Abandoned babies are normally taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital because it is a public hospital," Gakuo said. "People are now donating diapers and baby clothes for this one." |
to see the dogs picture click here http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/050905straydogbaby
Last edited by zero on Mon May 09, 2005 3:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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| Mon May 09, 2005 3:01 pm |
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That is amazing. I think it is so sweet for the dog to have noticed the baby, and tried to care for it.
Touching.. really.
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Mon May 09, 2005 6:35 pm |
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wow, cool the dog did this
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Starbuck
faster...
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Posts: 8715
Location: between chaos and melody
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| Mon May 09, 2005 9:26 pm |
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Dogs are incredibly protective creatures. This doesn't surprise me, but it is quite a moment.
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nadia
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Joined: 08 Apr 2005
Posts: 8560
Location: Australia
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| Tue May 10, 2005 3:40 am |
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I think it's great that the dog saved the little baby! And I think it's kinda funny because ppl are allways complaning how dogs hert little children!
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Tue May 10, 2005 8:14 am |
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Think about how lucky that child was. How many other animals in the area would have done worse?
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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| Tue May 10, 2005 1:35 pm |
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^ That's for sure!
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Tue May 10, 2005 2:03 pm |
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Its sad that there are so many abandoned babies
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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| Tue May 10, 2005 2:11 pm |
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Yeah, that kills me. This is why I am for abortion...
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Tue May 10, 2005 2:21 pm |
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If birth control (condoms pills whatever) was taught more in Africa, the whole continent would have a lot less problems with AIDs and spare babies.
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
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Location: Texas
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| Tue May 10, 2005 2:37 pm |
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I KNOW! I do not understand what their deal is!!!
But maybe it is against thier religion, too... or their beliefs. Cause the catholic religion can not use protection! That is why their people are practicly in poverty cause they have so many kids.
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Tue May 10, 2005 2:39 pm |
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Africa is mostly Islam, I think. They don't use birth control because there isn't the money for education.
They tend to have lots of kids because 1 in 3 won't live past their 5th birthday.
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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| Tue May 10, 2005 2:59 pm |
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oh my god! That is terrible. I don't know what they use thier money for.. But even if they had access to protected sex, I doubt they would use it properly...
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Tue May 10, 2005 3:02 pm |
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They would if they were taught about it in school, but school is too expensieve and in parts of Africa it doesn't exist at all. Apparently, most of the women who abandon their babies are prostitutes trying to scrape a living.
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zero
Rear Admiral
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| Tue May 10, 2005 4:14 pm |
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well, I don't think they would care much if they had access to it. I don't think it is in thier nature to try and use it. I'm sure some would, But I doubt it would really help. They need to be brought up on it, like we have.
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Wed May 11, 2005 6:22 pm |
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There certainly is not many figures to support that claim. The teenage pregnancy rates have gone up by about 30% in the last 30 years. It's obviously working... 
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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| Thu May 12, 2005 1:35 pm |
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^ what I meant was.... we "know" about Birth control, and condoms... some people choose nott o use it... But the africans know nothing about it...
so... back! 
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Thu May 12, 2005 5:41 pm |
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Yes, but the knowledge doesn't mean that they will use it, as you said they need to be brought up on it, but even though my generation has it has done nothing, in fact the situation is far worse.
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zero
Rear Admiral
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| Thu May 12, 2005 7:43 pm |
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Well yeah. I think they do need to be brought up on it. If people were responsable they wouldn't be getting themselves knocked up when they are not ready for a kid. But they choose to not have safe sex. I'm not comparing america's stats with africas. all I mean is they should be brought up on it.. know a lot about it... so to speak.
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Theresa
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Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Thu May 12, 2005 9:34 pm |
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So when would you start teaching them about safe sex?
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Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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zero
Rear Admiral
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Location: Texas
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| Thu May 12, 2005 10:00 pm |
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^ asap
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Theresa
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Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Thu May 12, 2005 10:02 pm |
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| zero wrote: | | well, I don't think they would care much if they had access to it. I don't think it is in thier nature to try and use it. I'm sure some would, But I doubt it would really help. They need to be brought up on it, like we have. |
Alright, agreed. ^That post made me a bit unsure, 
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Fri May 13, 2005 7:47 am |
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| zero wrote: | | Well yeah. I think they do need to be brought up on it. If people were responsable they wouldn't be getting themselves knocked up when they are not ready for a kid. But they choose to not have safe sex. I'm not comparing america's stats with africas. all I mean is they should be brought up on it.. know a lot about it... so to speak. |
So why should they be brought up on, when it's had the opposite effect here?
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nadia
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Joined: 08 Apr 2005
Posts: 8560
Location: Australia
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| Fri May 13, 2005 7:50 am |
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Did they say anything about whether or not they found the mother of the child?
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Fri May 13, 2005 12:27 pm |
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/\ I would think she doesn't want to be found. For one reason or another, she decided to abandon her baby.
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