Great update on Pang Dow - Miss Star

Katherine from BLES gave us the best news there could be!!! Pang Dow is coming home to BLES!!!! Thank you for all of your help:))) I am a happy girl today!! 

"28 August 2010

IT IS TIME TO CELEBRATE!

BLES supporters, you incredible people have done it again. You have saved Pang Dow — Miss Star is coming home to BLES!

What can I say? Once again BLES supporters from all around the world have united and moved mountains for the elephants. This particular elephant has suffered and endured more abuse than any other I have come across. She has known nothing but agony and aggression. But that is all about to change thanks to your kindness and unstoppable drive to save her.

Your total and absolute faith in BLES is what has saved Pang Dow. We cannot do any of this without you and the numerous ways you support us. I want to shout from the roof tops over and over again ‘THANK YOU!!!’.

I voiced Pang Dow’s story exactly one week ago. In the seven days that followed, I lost power and was without electricity for four days. In my absence, a number of people came together and drove the campaign, but one person in particular refused to let anything get in the way of Pang Dow’s safety. Evelyn Connor, my mum, went above and beyond the call of duty and I wouldn’t be sharing this outstanding news if it wasn’t for my mum’s dedication and pure love. Thank you mum.

There are many people who did everything they could to ensure Pang Dow was not sold into the hands of the business man, who intended to use her for forced breeding. You know who you are and I hope you know how endlessly thankful I am for your help. Your efforts are not unnoticed.

Once the funds have arrived in our Thai account, we will be off to save the life of Pang Dow. She will join our 12 other elephants and will never have to live another day in fear. She will learn how to be an elephant again and will come to realize that not all humans are bad. We will love her and show her she is safe.

Be proud. You have done something amazing today.

Katherine xx"

Please help, if you can

Katherine from BLES write on August 21, 2010

"Faithful friends,

Let me introduce you to Pang Dow (Miss Star)….

This young elephant has already endured years of relentless abuse. The multitude of scars covering her body reveal only a whisper of the horror she has suffered.

As a baby, Pang Dow was forced to walk to the city streets of Thailand, reduced to begging for a living. Once she got ‘too big’ for life on the streets, her heartless owners put her to work in a busy tourist camp where she was made to carry tourists around in a heavy chair that was strapped to her back for hours on end everyday. Recently, tourists have been refusing to ride Pang Dow. Furious, her owners withdrew her from the camp and condemed her to hauling piles of extremely heavy logs in the forest. This is all heartbreaking, Im sure you will agree. The thing that makes Pang Dow’s story particulary disturbing is the fact she is disabled.

Born with a heavily deformed front leg, Pang Dow has learnt to walk using the outside of her wrist as a foot. Her shoulder is permanently swollen, her back is weak and is at serious risk of breaking if she continues with such demanding physical labour.

There is another sad twist to Pang Dow’s sad story…

There is a man who wants to buy Pang Dow and use her for ‘breeding purposes’. He talked openely about his plans to shackle her front feet together while both her back legs are chained and pulled as far a part as they phsically can be. He smiled when he descibed the bulls he would have repeatedly mount her, against her will. His intent? To make Pang Dow pregnant, snatch the calf and sell it on to camp managers who will pay a lucrative amount for such a treasure. Then, Pang Dow will be shacked, chained down and forced bred again. This forced breeding (akin to rape) cycle will continue until her back breaks or she dies. To be honest, I dont think her potential owner cares either way.

You have a chance to change Pang Dow’s fate. Her future is lying in your hands – She has done nothing but obey every command shouted at her and submit to every demand made of her. Let’s give her back her freedom and allow her to rest in the arms of BLES.

Pang Dow’s current mahout is violent and drinks heavliy. The day BLES went to investigate, he beat Pang Dow incessently to make her walk faster. He stunk of alcohol and even had the ordassity to drink whiskey while he was riding Pang Dow.

For this poor elephant it seems the cruelty is endless. But you and I know that is not true. We are going to come together as we have done in the past and pull this girl out of her hell.

We are going to share her plight with thousands and raise the funds to save her once and for all. We need to raise a total of 500 000 baht to end the nightmare for Pang Dow and bring her home to BLES. I know we can do this.

Please make a donation of any amount TODAY. This is a race against time. Her painful days drag on and on with each minute that passes. Please, keep her in your thoughts and do something to allow Pang Dow to be the shining star she wants to be.

No elephant should have to work to fuel man’s greed… SAVE PANG DOW TODAY!

Donations should be made directly throught our website and not via any other group/organisation claiming they are in afiliation with BLES.

Heartfelt thanks for your unconditional support and unshakable faith in BLES,

Katherine"

I know I've been repeating myself and I might come of as pushy, but I can't turn my head away and look the other way. If I can help, even if only by spreading this message, I feel the need to do it.

Thank you for your patience and help.

Sandra

Can we help rescue this beautiful elephant?

I have another plight for help. If anyone can donate or share this story on their blog (every help is appreciated) we can help save Pang Dow (Miss Star), a disabled elephant from abuse. 

Katherine Connor from BLES wrote: 

"She is in her early twenties and has endured years of abuse. As you can see she is seriously disabled. She was born with this disability, but has worked on the streets, as a trekking elephant and is now used to log. We have to act quickly with this rescue. PLEASE HELP. On the backs of both ears are scars from S shaped hooks she had embedded into them when she was forced to walk the streets. There is another buyer except form BLES: he wants to breed her- this means forced breeding, to put it another way - rape. She is not strong enough to have a male mount her. It might break her back. It might possibly kill her. Can you imagine carrying a calf for 22 months and being heavily disabled????? Her mahout whacked her on the head repeatedly to get her to walk faster."

If there is anyway you can help, please do so as soon as possible... time is running short for this unfortunate ellie. 

Donations can be made through BLES at their web page: http://www.blesele.org/how-to-help

They are keeping me from blogging....

from reading and commenting on the blogs I follow, from e-mailing, from reading, from letter writing, from house cleaning, .....

my favorite little girl - she is the smallest of the bunch

my little girl playing... she plays ALL the time

ok.... she sleeps once in a while (she's on the left)

the white beauty

the white beauty number 2

black & white

sleepy

really? another photo?

posing

a crowd

the loudest purrer of them all

she looks a lot like Pupa...

....onyl Pupa never sleeps like this

almost feral black kittens...working on socializing them

I know you are scared...

Since I can't volunteer at the dog shelter, I found out there is a provisional cat shelter for kittens (there are 11 right now) . They all live in a bigger room (not like you see on TV) and they play together, sleep together, eat together... This is good for their social skills, not so good for their health: when one gets a runny nose, everyone gets a runny nose. My co-worker and I do most of the work there since they allowed us to bring 4 black kittens who lived on the street. We clean after them, we feed them, we play with them and we give them medicine (at 7 a.m. and at 7 p.m.). We spend hours there and since I am back to 8 hours shifts (from 4 hours shifts) my afternoons are suddenly REALLY short. But I love spending time with the little ones!

Katherine from BLES wrote:

1 August 2010

As I write this, I have a great big smile on my face! That smile hasn’t faded since the arrival of our most recent rescue, Wassana (Fortune).

Wassana arrived at 4am on the 29th July. As she stepped off the truck, she caught my eye and once again gave me that long stare that feels like she is searching my soul. She stopped in front of me, lowered her head and repeatedly lifted her injured foot. Our language was silent, but I understood. After being sold from one tourist camp to another and then arriving at BLES in just over a month, Wassana was exhausted. She was showing me her injury and begging me not to work her too hard. I gently rubbed her foot, leg and the side of her face, telling her she didn’t have to worry. She was free. She would never have to carry tourists on her back ever again. Again, she looked at me. It was dark, but I am sure I saw her smile…

As the sun rose, the elephants began to meander down to the Sanctuary, ready for their early morning scrub downs and the day ahead. The first ones to greet the day with deep belly rumbles, was Tong Yui and Bong Beng.  They were excited by the presence of another elephant and their curiosity got the better of them. They moved quickly over to Wassana and gently traced their trunks all over her aching body. Wassana was just as interested in her new friends and what we thought would be a brief greeting ceremony between newly acquainted elephants, became a full-on choir practice! It was beautiful and the three of them have formed such a strong bond. They haven’t been separated since! 

Standing by the edge of the pond, Wassana watched Tong Yui and Bong Beng roll in the water. These two water babies, ordinarily spend hours in the pond, but they seemed nervous to leave their new friend and stuck close to her. Wassana began to sing in a progression of high pitched squeaks. This lasted for an hour and it was clear to us all she was full of joy. She lifted her trunk and gently pulled her two young friends closer to her. As the three of them squeaked and trumpeted, I wondered if you could hear the pure elation in Wassana’s voice. There was no doubt in my mind, she was singing for you all. She was chanting her thanks for the world to hear.

Our days are now full of cheerful chirps and Wassana’s happiness is contagious. Wham, her new mahout, is literally bouncing with pride. The other elephants are comfortable with our new arrival and even Boon Mee, who is notorious for shoving all our new rescues, stood happily close to Wassana for a while.

The most unexpected occurrence was Pang Noi. During Wassana’s welcome buffet, Pang Noi, who had been standing with Somai, walked up to Wassana and reached out to her. The two of them gently vocalized and then Pang Noi moved on. Those few moments moved me to tears. Pang Noi who has been through more heartache than any other elephant at BLES, who has been pushing everyone away since the death of Star, chose to be befriend Wassana. It was just a small gesture, but I am hopeful it was a taste of things to come.

Mee Chok is still loving being the center of Pang Tong’s and Lom’s undivided attention. The three of them have become a very tight family group and Pang Tong is proving to be protective and is reluctant to let the other females near. Having lost two of her own calves and Star, it is no wonder why.

Tong Jai has been joining us on our walks recently which has been nice. The females have been quite excited by the presence of two handsome males!

We have been making the most of all the recent rainfall and so far have planted 1500 banana trees, several acres of corn, pumpkins and pineapples as well as a field of sugar cane. There is an abundance of fresh lush fodder in the forest and the river is high.

Things are good at BLES. Our elephants are happy, the forest is full and flourishing.

Today, I took a few moments to look around me. I did a 360 degree turn and all I could see was long grass, grazing elephants, sleeping dogs and laughing mahouts. As I stood and breathed in all of the goodness, I thanked all of you. You are the ones who have made this all happen. It is you that has helped give our twelve elephants this euphoria.
 
Wassana being with us means so much in so many ways. She is our beacon and a testament to what can be achieved when complete strangers unite and work together. You all played an important part in both Mee Chok’s and Wassana’s rescues and I thank you on their behalf for believing in BLES and making it their home.
 
Thank you.
 
Trumpets from the elephants and love from me,
 
Katherine