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Stephenville, Newfoundland, Canada
SCAPA is a NO-kill, NO-cage animal shelter serving the Bay St. George area of Western Newfoundland. SCAPA survives solely on the support of the community and it's volunteers.

Sunday 12 February 2012

What To Do In An Emergency Situation

On Saturday Morning (Feb. 11th) SCAPA got an emergency call regarding a cat who was believed to have both legs broken. This cat had spent all night, unable to move, in someone's driveway. When Dolores and Gwen approached, the cat hissed (as any injured animal would do), but once they gave him some food and showed them they were there to help by petting him gently and speaking to him softly, he was more than happy to accept their aid. What they then came to realize was heart-breaking.

The cat was literally frozen in the ice on the driveway overnight. Both of his back paws/legs and rear end were frozen in ice. Several buckets of warm water were required to free this poor creature. Once freed they wrapped him in a warm blanket and rushed him off to the veterinarian.

Once at the vet clinic he received warm saline solution via IV and was wrapped in blankets and heating pads. The circulation has begin to come back to one of his hind legs. Here he was aptly named Trooper. Trooper will be heading to Corner Brook tomorrow for some X-Rays where it can be further decided what medical care he needs.

The story of Trooper brings up a point well worth discussing: What do you do when you find an animal in desperate need of help.

Whatever you do, DO NOT just leave the animal there to fend for itself!

You can:

-Get as close to the animal as possible to see what the issue is. A hurt animal will most likely give you a warning (hiss or growl) in an attempt to protect itself. You can take the time to approach slowly, with food, to show you mean no harm. If it's cold and exposed to the elements you can cover it with a blanket while you get help.

-Contact SCAPA. 643-2811 and LEAVE A MESSAGE! But don't stop there...

-If it's after hours and you cannot get a hold of SCAPA there are other places you can call that will get in contact with SCAPAs volunteers any hour of the day/night.
These places are:
Police Station 643-2118 or 643-2119
Fire Station 643-2176
Local Vet Clinic (they have an emergency line!) 283-3200


PLEASE, whatever you do, do not leave an injured animal to fend for itself. While we are a small shelter and cannot help every animal in need, we will NEVER allow an animal to suffer the way Trooper did. We will ALWAYS find a way to help.

Trooper's story could have had a very different ending. And his fight isn't over yet. We will keep everyone posted on his situation. If you would like to donate to Trooper's medical bills you can get in contact with us or do so one of the following ways:

Anyone from the Corner Brook area wishing to donate money can drop it off at Alteen's Jewellery on Broadway, in an envelope labelled with his name.

You can call the vet clinic at 709-283-3002 to make a credit card donations over the phone.

Or send an email transfer to janh1@nl.rogers.com , sending a separate email with the answer to the security question. The same email can be used for PayPal transfers.


We will be updating the paypal and email information some time tomorrow. This is a trusted volunteer's account being used temporarily while we set up our own Paypal.

Help Us Help Trooper!

9 comments:

  1. Bless you for all you do for the animals. This situation with the cat is heartbreaking. I look over at my little Siamese Jasmine resting on a warm pillow. I can't imagine what Trooper went through this weekend. Healing prayers and energy sent! And donation also this week. Best wishes to all, and especially to Trooper. xx

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    1. Thank you Mary! Trooper is on his way to recovery!

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  2. I rescued a feral queen cat that got beat up badly fighting off a wild animal that had gone after her 4 week old kittens. This cat had many injuries and her leg looked like it should be amputated. Along with horrible injuries she had an L-form bacterial infection. She was in the animal hospital for 21 days, then I nursed her at home and she learned how to walk. I released her to the colony and she is Okay. I am praying that Trooper recovers; just as the feral cat I call Lucy. It would be good if he could be adopted into a forever home.

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    1. We have many people interested in adopting Trooper once he recovers. Be assured that we will choose the perfect home for him!

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  3. Get a hold of these folks.
    They help out a lot with things like this..
    http://www.onyxandbreezy.org/

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    1. I just posted on their facebook group, thank you for the link!

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  4. There is a Chip-in out there, is it valid?

    http://trooper.chipin.com/trooper-scapa

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    Replies
    1. Yes it is! I just added the link to our blog here!

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  5. I can't imagine how I'd feel if such a horrid thing happened to my sweet Frankie. Lots of hugs and kisses for Trooper from Europe and I wish I could adopt him he looks so sweet, instead I just donated a little because that's all I can do.

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