STOLA News and Updates
Special Middle East Issue, 2008
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 STOLA - Saluki Tree of Life Alliance
3701 Sacramento Street #345, San Francisco, CA 94118
www.stola.org
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Middle East Rescue Salukis
Throughout the past year, STOLA has partnered with the Animal Friends League of Kuwait to place several Salukis who were in dire need of homes. Some of these dogs were badly hurt, and required major medical care while still in Kuwait, while a few were found by soldiers hoping they could help them get a second chance.
 The situation in the Middle East is growing worse and Salukis are now being discarded at a rate that would have once been unheard of. This is caused both by war, and by social changes in the Arab world. With the decline of the nomadic lifestyle, the role of the Saluki has dramatically changed. They are not needed anymore. Foreigners living in the Middle East often take dogs into their homes but then discard them when they return home. Many in the Arab culture now prefer "exotic" western breeds which makes it even more difficult to find homes for abandoned Salukis. STOLA has recently joined with the Animal Friends League of Kuwait again to now bring 11 Salukis to the U.S. All expenses for these dogs including neuter/spay, medical, vaccinations and transportation have been provided by the League. All they have asked us to do is help them find homes for these poor creatures whose only other alternative would be misery and death. The Animal Friends League reports there are no laws in Kuwait pertaining to animal welfare (at least none that are enforced) so they have no backing. All of their work is done by talking to people and encouraging them to hand over animals who are being abused or hoarded, or by rescuing animals injured by abuse or war. The cream dog in these photos had suffered terribly from massive leg trauma and exposed bone before rescue came to her aid.
These most recent 11 rescue Salukis come from a hoarding situation. The owner could only be convinced to give up the dogs if STOLA agreed to work with the League to find homes for them in the U.S. How could we refuse? Our mission is to help Salukis in need and to turn our backs on Salukis in such dire need simply because they are in a different country would be unconscionable, particularly since all were were being asked to do was help find homes, and to cover the minimal costs of heartworm testing and parasite follow-up - we have arranged for this to be covered by private funding outside of STOLA's funds. As a backup plan, just in case any of these dogs should need care upon arrival, we have private funding standing by to help them, which has been donated by very generous people and is completely separate from STOLA's primary funding.
The League is seeking assistance from bona fide rescue groups on an international level to help with the increasing difficulties that war and cultural change are causing in the Middle East.
Meet Storm - a Recent Rescue Arrival from the Middle East
Storm is one of the recent arrivals from the Middle East. He was from a hoarding situation where the breeder had the dogs at a farm, had too many to properly care for and had no money for shots, vaccinations, medical care, etc. The dogs were living 3 to a cage intact. There were many fights and they were living in their own excrement. She lost many litters to illness and poor living conditions with some of the and females killing their litters. Many of the dogs were kennel-crazed. The cages were in full sun with 120 degree temperatures.
 In spite of this background, Storm is the sweetest, most grateful dog as have all of the Middle East rescues been. They are the most grateful dogs for any attention and love. It is a pleasure to see and to be a part of. Storm now smiles and wags his tail like a helicopter. It is so rewarding to witness that. He is underweight at 44.5 pounds but we are working on that.
Watching this wonderful boy run brings joy to our hearts. He is now enjoying sunny days, green grass and no more cement floors! It took a long time, but he is finally on his very own dog bed.
Animal Friends League of Kuwait is working hard to get the rest of the dogs from this hoarding situation.
For those of you not familiar with the Animal Friends League of Kuwait, perhaps the following story will help to introduce you.
SAMMY ...A SUCCESS STORY
(by John Peaveler, Animal Friends of Kuwait Legue )
In the spring of 2005, far out in the barren desert of Kuwait, a small dog was struggling to survive in the worst conditions imaginable. This dog was no ordinary dog. Quite to the contrary, this dog was singularly extra -ordinary. Both in her personality and in her genetic makeup, this dainty canine was utterly amazing. No one knew this beautiful animal was about to be tested in every possible way, or that she was about to 'single-handedly' prove herself and her breed to be truly worthy of notice. This is the story of Sammy, the dog that changed Kuwait forever.
It is little known in Kuwait, that in the beginning of 2005, Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi , along with several other volunteers, was struggling to build the first animal shelter in the country. After years of dreaming and months of tedious work finding land, designing buildings, and raising funds, construction began in May of 2005. This project, which had begun with a vision, was about to culminate with a state-of-the-art animal sheltering facility. Of course, one of the problems inherent in all facilities constructed to solve some sort of social issue, is the question of when said facility will begin to meet its intended need. Rarely in history has a problem been ignored while a building was constructed. This is where Sammy comes into the story.
When I first met Sammy, she was hiding in some tall grass in an abandoned quarter of Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base. She timidly wagged her tail and bowed her head, anxious to please me, but afraid I might be the wrong sort of person. I quickly reassured her by kneeling down, and speaking to her in my highest, most inviting voice. A short distance away stood her fellows; a burly, gnarly old male, and a young, lithe female with a mottled coat. Both were much more wary of my arrival. Deciding to be undeterred by her timid friends, I approached Sammy cautiously, and proceeded to introduce myself. She responded by rolling onto her back and inviting me to rub her belly, a past-time which remains her favorite to this day.
Needless to say, I couldn't comprehend how such a docile, healthy, and beautiful animal could be abandoned, neglected, or even born in such a place. I was shocked to find such a friendly animal in such a forgotten area. Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base is by no means an oasis in the desert. The base is a shell of its former self, having been bombed and then populated by the American Air Force during and after the first Gulf War, only to be abandoned later, and now used by the Kuwaiti Air Force for its F-18 program. The base sits far in the western desert, beyond the Burgan Oil Fields, isolated, and foreboding. It is not a place for the sentimental or the faint of heart. It takes fortitude to live in such a place, and over the course of the next few weeks and months, I was to find that Sammy had fortitude, and then some.
After my first encounter with this mysterious desert dog, I guess you could say I was enchanted. I had so many questions. How had she come to be here? Why was she so friendly? How did she survive? As if to answer me, Sammy came to my building the following week, together with her two timid companions. I gave her the joyful greeting of belly rubbing and high-pitched fanfare that had proved so successful before. She was just as happy to receive it this time. I put out dog food for her and her compatriots, but, as if to confirm my long-held belief that dog food is not food at all, all three of these wild dogs spurned my offering. Ironically, whatever these animals were living on in the desert was better than what man recommends for dog. Their visit was short, and I was surprised to see them head off in the opposite direction from where they had come. Apparently these dogs considered the entire base their territory.
After Sammy and her gang figured out where to find me, their visits became more frequent. Her friends, now named Rex and Sylvester, were beginning to allow me to feed them and eventually to touch them, though not in the happy mannered way that Sammy seemed to enjoy it. They began to stay for longer periods too. I would stand in the field beside my office and watch them play, eat, sleep, and hunt. Watching them hunt was amazing. Besides the Wolf, most people have no concept of a dog that actually hunts for its food. There are hunting breeds, sure, but they are mostly used to find or retrieve prey. These dogs were actually hunting, capturing, and eating Kangaroo Mice, lizards, insects, and birds. Their agility is unfathomable to the lay person, and unseen even among dog owners.
There seems to be one universal truth of story-telling. That is that a good story always gets worse before it gets better. This story is no different. About two months after we first met, Sammy came to visit, and she didn't leave again. Instead, she burrowed under a shed and proceeded to deliver eleven puppies. I can't say that I was entirely surprised. She had been putting on weight for a while, but I was amazed, and in many ways honored that she felt safe enough with me to deliver her young nearby. It is a testament to the relationship between man and dog that even a wild dog can trust a human with their most valued possessions, indeed with their very survival. I was flattered, shocked, and completely at a loss of what to do. There is obviously nothing more miraculous than the birth of a new life, especially eleven new lives, but in the desert, new lives are always in jeopardy.
The desert embodies the phrase 'survival of the fittest.' Of eleven puppies, it is unlikely more than one, two at the most, would survive to adulthood. As if that wasn't enough, starvation, dehydration, and heat-exhaustion are some of the most painful ways to die. I had three simple choices. I could let these creatures die in the desert, I could kill them myself and get it over with, or I could give them the best life I possibly could. Working grinding 14-hour contractor shifts and living in strict company housing, those first two choices got a lot of consideration. In the end though, my job just didn't mean that much. No amount of money can rid the human soul of guilt, and Sammy had come to me, as if asking me to help her. I don't know what type of person I would have been if I had let her down.
So I said yes, and as soon as the puppies became mobile, I loaded them up with Sammy and took them to an abandoned building on the far side of the base. I constructed fencing out of every piece of scrap fence and wire I could find. I soon had a habitat in which these dogs could survive the summer and I started buying puppy food in bulk. As if all of that weren't enough, the ever reclusive Sylvester, whom I hadn't seen in over a month, turned out to be nursing a litter of five puppies elsewhere on base. By now I had set a precedent I couldn't walk away from, so Sylvester and her five puppies were brought into my habitat, bringing my total number of dogs to 18.
Of course, tragedy struck again eventually. Rex, our beloved wild dog, was struck by a car and killed. Shortly thereafter, Sylvester was mysteriously injured, and died shortly thereafter, leaving behind Sammy to nurse 16 puppies, the oldest of which were now about five-weeks. Fortunately for us, even amidst the hardest times, there were also periods of immense joy. Puppies are insufferable, incorrigible, and dauntlessly bound to have fun, regardless of their situation. They were being kept in a very large space, and they managed to get into trouble in every possible way. Whether it was digging out and scaring me to death, or figuring out how to get into the dog food, they were always set on some adventure. There was never a time when at least two puppies weren't wrestling around and creating their own brand of chaos. We did the best we could with what we had.
Then, suddenly, we were discovered. Abandoned building or no, it still belonged to the Kuwaiti Air Force, and I was given 48 hours to vacate. I panicked. I didn't know how I was supposed to safely move 16 dogs in 48 hours or where to for that matter. In desperation, I sought the only resource I knew of: Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi, founder of the very newly formed Animal Friends League of Kuwait. With the shelter still several weeks from even partial completion, in 24 hours I built a fence, and by the end of the next day, all 17 dogs were safely removed from their desert inferno and dispersed between Ayeshah's house and the temporary shelter. Sammy went to live with Ayeshah and the smallest pups, while the remainder went to the temporary shelter with a surrogate father.
Sammy was in heaven. Instead of collecting lizards and putting them on her dirt bed, she was now collecting plush dog toys and putting them on her new soft bed, all the while making sure that her puppies had the best toys in the house. Sammy, at the age of roughly nine months, having mothered 11 puppies and raised 16 puppies in the dead of summer, was now retired. Four months later, Sammy boarded a plane bound for Vermont, USA, to take up her new life of luxury. She now lives with two school teachers, Ray, and Jennifer and their sons Thomas and Sam. If you ask them, Sammy is the greatest dog on earth. She takes walks along the Connecticut River no less than three times per day, has at least three beds of her own, and has an ever growing collection of soft dog toys. She doesn't have to hunt for her food any more, it arrives twice daily in a bowl on the floor, and she doesn't have to fight for survival, just for a place on the couch next to Ray and Jennifer.
Sammy changed Kuwait because she was the first. She started the Animal Friends League of Kuwait shelter. When the shelter was on the verge of opening, she forced it to open sooner. Her puppies were the very first shelter residents when, less than 1/3 constructed, we started housing dogs there. Her transport and subsequent adoption in Vermont was a first for Animal Friends, and it set a precedent. One of her sons now lives in Texas. One of her daughters lives in Maine. Most importantly to me, Sammy introduced me to Ayeshah, who is now my wife. Together with a dedicated staff of volunteers and employees, we run the now fully-functional Animal Friends League of Kuwait shelter. Our capacity is nearly 60 dogs and 80 cats, and we are almost always full. We are currently housing a rabbit, a ferret, two Arabian Gazelles, and two chipmunks. No matter how big we get, and no matter how many animals we help, we will never forget Sammy, the dog that started it all. In fact, I'm writing this from an airplane, and I've just come back from visiting Sammy. She says hello.
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