Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned Baby

[Professur]

NAIROBI, Kenya - A stray dog saved the life of a newborn baby after finding the abandoned infant in a forest and apparently carrying it across a busy road and through some barbed wire to her litter of puppies, witnesses said.

The stray dog found the infant, clad in tattered clothing, in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forests in the capital of Nairobi, Stephen Thoya told the independent Daily Nation newspaper.

The dog apparently found the baby Friday in the plastic bag in which the infant had been abandoned, said Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed where the animal was guarding its puppies. The seven-pound, four-ounce infant was taken to the hospital for treatment on Saturday.

"She is doing well, responding to treatment, she is stable. ... She is on antibiotics," Kenyatta National Hospital spokeswoman Hanna Gakuo told The Associated Press from the hospital, where health workers called the infant Angel.

Kenya's media often report the abandonment of newborns by mothers. Poverty and the inability to care for the child are seen as the root cause of the problem. Most people who abandon babies are never caught.

The child had not yet been claimed.

"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

Any takers on bets as to wether the baby, or the dog get more offers for adoption?


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[The Other One]

"Are you going upstairs? Tell my fianCE I'm looking for him. I have
lost my fianCE, the poor baby."


"Maybe the dingo ate your baby."


Sorry, I just couldn't resist

 

[greenfreak]

How do we know that the dog wasn't just bringing dinner back to the puppies?

 

[Gonz]

This child had better be the leader of the movement to move Kenya into the 21st century & beyond.

 

[Professur]

Kenyans eager to adopt baby girl

By RODRIQUE NGOWI - Associated Press




NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyans are eager to adopt a baby girl abandoned in a forest and later saved by a stray dog, officials said Tuesday.

“The publicity on the way the baby was rescued has sparked a lot of public interest in helping her,” said Hannah Gakuo of Kenyatta National Hospital, where the newborn, dubbed “Angel” by health care workers, is being treated for exposure and an infection in her umbilical cord.

“People have been calling the hospital, asking about the possibility of adopting her,” Gakuo told The Associated Press.

Officials in the government’s Children Department were not immediately available to comment on the problem of abandoned babies and Angel’s possible fate.

Unwanted infants are often abandoned in Kenya, with poverty and failed relationships frequently to blame. Kenya’s weak law enforcement and poor social security system mean most people who forsake their babies are never caught.

The stray dog that saved the child also was being cared for Tuesday, a day after its last surviving puppy died for unknown reasons, said Jean Gilchrist of the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals.

Animal welfare officials named the dog “Mkombozi,” or “Savior,” and gave the dog its first bath and de-worming.

“She looks a bit depressed, so we’d like to examine her to see if she has a temperature or any other problem,” Gilchrist said. “She wasn’t happy when we all poured into the compound. She decided to leave, but kids in the compound brought her back for the bath because she was full of ticks.”

Mary Adhiambo, a resident in the compound where the dog lives, said Mkombozi apparently found the baby Friday in a plastic bag.

The dog reportedly dragged the baby across a busy road and through some barbed wire to the shed in the poor Nairobi neighborhood where puppies from two stray dogs were sheltering.

The baby was discovered after two children alerted elders that they heard the sound of a baby crying near their wooden and corrugated-iron shack. Residents found the baby lying next to the mixed-breed dog and her own pup.

Residents took the child to a nearby police station to record a statement before taking her to the hospital.

I hate being right.


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[greenfreak]

If only there were more stories like this, adoptions would increase.

 

[Inkara1]

Why is it that every time I see the thread title, I'm reminded of this?

 

[Professur]

Suspected Mother of Kenyan Baby Arrested By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 58 minutes ago



NAIROBI, Kenya - Police arrested the suspected mother of an infant girl — dubbed "Angel" by hospital officials — who was abandoned in a Kenyan forest and reportedly rescued by a stray dog, officials said Thursday.

The young woman, who acknowledged she was pregnant but claimed she miscarried, was arrested Wednesday night following a tip, Lang'ata District Police Commander Joshua Omukata told The Associated Press.

The woman lives in the neighborhood where Angel was found and "was seen pregnant days before the child was discovered in a group of dogs," Omukata said. "She claims that she ... miscarried some two weeks ago."

Doctors believe the infant was about two weeks old when she was found Friday.

Police plan to take the woman for a medical examination. "We are in the middle of investigations. We don't have any other suspect at the moment." Omukata said.

A government spokesman and others have expressed some skepticism about the story of the dog's role in saving the child, saying it may be too good to be true. But many have been touched by reports of the rescue. The story continues to attract an outpouring of concern in Kenya as well as abroad.

Unwanted infants are often abandoned in Kenya, with poverty and failed relationships frequently to blame. Kenya's weak law enforcement and social security systems mean that most people who forsake their babies are never caught.

At the Kenyatta National Hospital, where Angel is being treated for exposure and an infection in her umbilical cord, 16 abandoned children are currently being cared for.

The dog apparently found the baby wrapped in a plastic bag in the nearby Ngong Forest, said Mary Adhiambo and other neighbors who witnessed the baby's recovery in a litter of puppies.

The dog, now called "Mkombozi" or "Savior," reportedly dragged the baby across a road and through some barbed wire to a compound in the poor Nairobi neighborhood where puppies from two stray dogs were sheltering.

"I saw a dog carrying a baby wrapped in a black dirty cloth as it crossed the road," witness Stephen Thoya was quoted by the independent Daily Nation newspaper as saying. "I was shocked at first, and when I tried to get a closer look, the dog ran through the fence and disappeared along a dirt road."

The infant was discovered after two children said they heard the sound of a baby crying near their wooden and corrugated-iron shack. Residents found the infant lying next to the dog and her own pup.

Well-wishers as far as the United States have sent e-mails to The Associated Press and called the country's main hospital to inquire about adopting the child.

Others sent e-mails with offers of adopting the dog. But Mary Adhiambo, who has now adopted the animal, said she was not ready to give up the canine.

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