Reportage from center caring for stray animals, treating and bringing them to life - VİDEO

The Azerbaijan Animal Rescue Center (AARC), which was established 5 years ago, has brought them here. Situated at the 15th of the Baku-Shamakhy highway, Absheron District, the Azerbaijan Animal Rescue Center aims to care for stray animals and contribute to forming a culture of care to such animals throughout the country. Take care of stray animals and bringing them back to healthy life are the main working principles of the center. Stepping in this center is as if entering a large garden. Everyone is busy doing their work in an area of 4 ha; some are walking with dogs, some feeding them, some taking care of the trees in the garden. 50 persons overall take care of these animals.

 

…Animals found in the streets are first brought to this quarantine, where they are examined and vaccinated. They are then can be transferred to another place. 

 

…This is the daily walking ground for the dogs. In summer, their walking time will be extended a little more. 

 

…Spending much of their time in open air, the dogs return here to sleep at nights. Each dog is being kept in the room bearing its name. As you can see, this is the room of Betman and Heraclius.

 

This place can also be called the animal examination & treatment center. Equipped with up-to-date apparatus, the center provides to sick animals treatment by professional foreign veterinarians. The center is home to more than 120 dogs and cats at the moment. Once the treatment process is complete, sick animals are released to nature again. A number of unique surgical operations have so far been carried out at the center, in the animals’ eyes, jaws and internal organs. Some orthopedic operations have been conducted as well. 

 

If there is a need for the animals to be operated, they are first prepared for the procedure in the surgery preparation room. Then they are brought to the surgery room, lied on the operating table and undergo surgery operation. 

 

The Director of the Centre Vusala Ali said that after a certain time stray dogs litter and multiply. In order to prevent it, they should be gelded. “More than 2 thousand animals have been gelded up to now. Some of them have been released to the area and some are being kept here”, she said. 

 

In these vehicles, service employees feed stray animals in the streets. If needed, the animals are brought to the centre. 

 

As you see, these vehicles have been equipped with necessary facilities. Even the possibility of surgery have been taken into account, if need be. Operating table has been installed in the vehicle. 

 

The centre staff, together with volunteers, has fed large numbers of animals during cold months and prevents them from being frozen. 

 

The centre doesn’t only take care of stray dogs. The staff also pays special attention to cats. At present, there are 65 cats in the Centre. Some of them are blind and some don’t have one leg.  However, the stray cats feel comfortable here. They have soft beds and hot foods in the Centre. It seems it is time for lunch. Because, the cats are gathering around their food containers for lunch.  

 

Every day it is lunch time for cats at 14:00. The cats are given chicken fillet for lunch. Employee of the Centre Basti Bayramova said that the animals are in poor condition when they are brought here: “Sometimes, the animals are in very poor condition and we feel sorry for them. We, four women employees, care for the animals from 08:00 till 17:00. We clean their ears and brush them. We feed them with chicken porridge in the mornings."

 

…You are traveling away from home and cannot take your pets with you. In such case, you can use the inn in the Centre. 

 

Holding of various events together with animal lovers, organization of awareness-raising meetings in kindergartens and schools, trainings for young veterinarians in order to enhance their experiences…These are only one part of the works done in the Centre. IDEA Public Union, whose founder is Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, has also provided the Centre with support and held a variety of events.

 

A large number of stray animals have been provided with warm homes. Nevertheless, we can find stray animals in the streets. To provide them with home in this Centre, the animals here should be protected and taken care of. Thus, the center opened its doors to everyone. All can take care of any animals, appealing to the Centre. 

 

Assistant director at the center, Vusale Ali, said every citizen should participate in this process to increase care for stray animals. 

 

“We used to collect animals from the streets and bring them here. They were being treated and kept here until someone wants to adopt them. Because adopting one animal means saving two animals; one will find a family for itself, the other will be brought from the streets and cared for. That is why we want people to adopt these animals so that we would have vacant places here. We cannot bring any more animals from the streets because of lack of vacant places. If people offer their help too, we would have save the lives of a lot more animals,” she said.

 

Not that, one more center for stray animals was created last year in Azerbaijan. The center to be built on the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva will be capable of hosting 5,000 stray animals. The purpose of center is to reduce the number of stray animals in Baku and its suburb areas and prevent infectious diseases.