A dying dog's best friend beside him, (c) Kinship Circle

I'm With You

Inseparable, even in death (c) Kinship Circle

At the mountaintop home with the gravely wounded wheat-colored dog, Rose has a second dog in the early stages of bicheira (flesh-eating maggots) on her ear. This gentle German Shepherd refuses to leave the side of her incapacitated companion. The healthy dog tries to lay atop her sheet-wrapped friend before we lift the injured dog from the ground. She trails us for the entire half-mile hike back to our vehicle, so we bring her back to the Teresopolis disaster shelter too. Once her very ill friend lays atop an exam table, the second dog sits beneath and refuses to budge. In fact, throughout the dying dog's ordeal, this faithful shepherd stands watch. The two had lived together all their lives and the shep girl is heartbroken. She won't leave her life-mate's side. Throughout the night, the two dogs' bodies press against each other.

Later the following day, Cheri finds the brown shepherd alone and inconsolable. She tracks down shelter manager Bebete Filpi to inquire about the hurt dog she'd rescued just yesterday. With sadness in her eyes, Bebete informs Cheri that the dog had suffered a broken vertebrae and has since died. The surviving dog is so depressed she barely eats or drinks. Her face and demeanor reveal great heartbreak. We do our best to provide extra love and attention so she can heal from the loss of her best friend. Your support remains critical, as we continue to care for and treat struggling animals.

A dog stays close to his sick pal, (c) Kinship Circle — As a dog lays dying, his German Shep friend won't leave his side. When the dog diagnosed with a broken vertebra dies, the surviving dog barely eats. She seems inconsolable, but gets extra love to ease her grief.

© Kinship Circle, Brazil

Cheri Deatsch comforts grieving dog (c) Kinship Circle

Dog depressed after canine BBF dies, Kinship Circle

One Heart

A Rottweiler-mix dies of broken heart, (c) Kinship Circle — One Heart

One Heart

Though rescued, this dog does not survive (c) Kinship Circle

Sometimes They Die, And Rescuers Weep. Kinship Circle Disaster Management Director Bonnie Morrison, with Field Response Manager Cheri Deatsch on her second Brazil mission, arrive in Rio for the long drive to Teresopolis. Once on ground, shelter director Bebete Filpi (of Brazil NGO EstimAcao) is overjoyed to receive donated medicines from Bonnie. Please continue to donate for urgently needed meds and veterinary supplies! Despite life-sustaining efforts, two dogs we've grown to care for deeply have passed away in loving arms at the shelter. The first is the severely wounded wheat-colored shepherd, rescued from a mountaintop home. This poor dog is admitted to the disaster shelter in very bad shape, with a broken vertebrae that ultimately leads to his death. He is survived by his lifelong best friend, a German Shepherd girl who remains at the Teresopolis shelter grieving her lost mate.

DEATH BY BROKEN HEARTThe second shelter death is wrapped in a story of true love and two hearts entwined as one. A Rottweiler-mix, 15, is at home with an old woman, the only caregiver he's known his entire life, when the mountain shatters. Fragments of earth crash down on them. Woman and dog are entombed in rocks and mud. Though he desperately tries, the dog can't reach his beloved person. Days later, a miracle: Rescuers pull the dog out alive. Back at the emergency shelter in Teresopolis, he searches for his person. He never stops waiting for her familiar face, voice and loving hands. The dog suffers from hip dysplasia and Bicheria, serious but treatable conditions. But in the end, it is his heart that fails him. Medically, he succumbs to a silent heart condition. Emotionally, a broken heart takes his life. Kinship Circle's Cheri Deatsch says the Rottweiler never recovered from the death of his elderly caregiver. “He is lost and grumpy,” she recalls during her first trip. “The dog connects with no one.” This dog's story brings heartache. Unbelievably, he survives live burial in a landslide. But his caregiver, buried alongside him, does not make it out alive. This Rottweiler-mix, it seems, dies of a broken heart.

A calf is treated for bicheira, (c) Kinship Circle — Saving A Calf

Saving A Calf

A calf is happy after medical treatment (c) Kinship Circle

Saving The Life Of A Calf. Kinship Circle's Bonnie Morrison and Cheri Deatsch join a five-member WSPA team to search for horses in the districts of Imbui and Posse Teresopolis. As we ascend mountains into Campo Grande, car-sized boulders and trucks smashed into homes reflect the flash floods and mudslides that decimated all hillside structures here. We climb on foot and find three dogs amid the remains of a home marked for demolition. Meows lead us to a beautiful white-gray tabby living with the dogs. Locals confirm the cat's family evacuated without him. He eats food from a bowl in Bonnie's lap and is carried in a cotton tote down the mountain to our car. The poor kitty can not be more sweet and ready for loving arms to hold him.

On the drive back we spot a large-horned black bull and brown yearling. The young bull has a nasty neck wound, so we set out on foot to examine him. The bulls meander into the yard of a gutted, evacuated home. Bonnie and WSPA volunteers head behind them. Cheri (Kinship) and Carol (WSPA) move to the opposite side of the house to block exitways. The small backyard is enclosed in a vine-covered fence and the large bull looks none too happy to be cornered there. Cheri notes that perhaps it is not wise to trap an agitated bull in a confined space, but thankfully the animal retreats through the door of the house. Cheri runs to the front door as Bonnie trails both bulls. This move leads the large, healthy bull out the door so that Bonnie and Cheri can lasso the baby with slip leads and guide him to the front porch. Bonnie holds the young bull's head as Cheri controls his hindquarters with leads. The wound is advanced Bicheira, with deep throat holes that swarm with flesh-eating maggots. After irrigating the wounds Luciana (WSPA) squeezes each sore, causing worms to emerge that she pulls out with a pair of forceps. Hundreds of worms are extracted from the little bull's neck. He struggles momentarily during two injections, but stands still as antibiotics, silver anti-fungal spray, and anti-larval spray are applied. Once treatment concludes, the little guy trots away looking distinctly happier. Your support is critical, as we continue to treat struggling animals. Photos (c) Kinship Circle, Brazil

WSPA and Kinship Circle treat animals (c) Kinship Circle

Bonnie gives aid to a goat (c) Kinship Circle

A calf with flesh-eating maggots, (c) Kinship Circle

Bonnie rescues cat in Teresopolis (c) Kinship Circle

Bonnie lures cat for rescue with food (c) Kinship Circle

Bonnie, Bebete and WSPA vol at shelter, Kinship Circle

Bonnie comforts a sad, traumatized dog, Kinship Circle — Birth And Death

Birth And Death

Bonnie and a Brazil tech with lonely dog (c) Kinship Circle

Birth And Death Under A Single Roof. At mid-day a man drops off a Rottweiler-pit bull mix. As he walks away, the dog obediently waits for his person's familiar voice to beckon him. The dog is nearly motionless as the man's silhouette grows smaller in the distance between them. The dog is incredibly sweet, with a shiny coat and white teeth. But she is bewildered and quickly grows grows despondent. She won't move or even lift her head. Like so many others, she is lost and sad. This dog gets lots of love from Kinship Circle's Bonnie Morrison and Cheri Deatsch, along with an EstimAcao volunteer and IDA-Kinship's Carlos Cabral. The shelter's cycle of life and death is in full force. A pregnant black lab begins labor and is rushed to a separate warehouse reserved for medical procedures. On the same day, a dog Bebete has nursed all week gives up her battle. She dies in the same building where puppies are born.

Cheri and Bonnie deworm four other pups, more wiggly furballs amid the constant stream of babies admitted daily. The Kinship Circle volunteers are headed out the shelter when a large dog viciously attacks an elderly small dog. The petite dog suffers a three-inch neck laceration and multiple puncture wounds. Blood spurts despite pressure and dressing to stem its flow. The veterinarian has left. EstimAcao volunteer Raphael and a vet student apply more pressure, but ultimately determine they must stitch the wound closed themselves. Bonnie assists in the procedure, done without anesthesia because no one on-hand is trained to administer it. The veterinarian returns just as the mandatory surgery concludes. She says the wound is excellently stitched and administers an antibiotic shot to prevent infection in the dog. All animals who need veterinary treatment visit a makeshift sick ward where cinder blocks are topped with meds and supplies. The Teresopolis shelter is a donated old warehouse, with a labyrinth of narrow corridors that connect variously sized rooms. Please donate, so we can reach and treat more forgotten animals. Photos (c) Kinship Circle, Brazil Floods-Mudslides