Dumaguete Animal Sanctuary

Every Life Matters

RIP

Orson

Orson

Orson

Orson

Orson was rescued on 15 January 2025.  We brought him in to the Sanctuary and took him for x-rays but he had a complete fracture of his spine and there is no neurosurgeon here to do the necessary surgery.
He would never regain the ability to move so we released him from his pain and suffering and sent him on his way with love.
Orson, we are so sorry that you endured what you did.
At the very least, we minimised your suffering.
Run free, you were loved even for a short time and you mattered to us.

Sad news of Puppies with Distemper

Sad News of Puppies with Distemper

We ended 2024 on such a high with the completion of the recent fundraiser, however, we are starting 2025 with a challenging, worrying situation. We have another Distemper outbreak.
We are not sure how it got into the Sanctuary as we test every new rescue for Distemper before they come in, but the tests can only detect the virus if the viral load is high enough. 

Finn, male

Finn, male

Distemper, being a viral disease, has no cure. The only way to overcome it is if the immune system can fight it off.  All our dogs are vaccinated against Distemper, but the vaccination does not always prevent the disease. If a dog is vaccinated when its immune system is compromised, it often won't build up enough immunity. 

Rafa

Rafa

Giselle, female

Giselle, female

In some cases, a dog may have just contracted the virus days before, and it doesn't register. We believe this is what happened with the puppies we found in the sack on the side of the road a few weeks ago.
Once a dog contracts the Distemper virus, it can take up to a month for symptoms to show, and in this time it can pass it on to other dogs. 

Gabriella, female

Gabriella, female

Sick, old, weak or very young puppies are always vulnerable even if they are vaccinated.  Our current Sanctuary is too small to provide adequate isolation areas. Ideally, dogs should be put into a system whereby they have no contact with other dogs until at least 6 weeks after intake. This is what will happen at the new Sanctuary.

By the time we discovered that the puppies had Distemper, they had already been close to other dogs in quarantine. It is also carried on clothing and airborne, it's so difficult to contain. We have given all dogs something called Can Glob D, which is an antibody booster specifically for Distemper, but it's not cheap.  We have lost eight puppies already - Garret, Geraldine, Gillian, Gabriel, Rafa, Finn, Giselle and Gabriella.  We desperately hope that will be an end to it, but with many other dogs exposed and testing positive, we just have to everything in our power to help them fight this awful disease. 

Gabriel, male

Gabriel, male

Garret, male

Garret, male

Gabriel, male

Gillian, female

Gillian, female

Kimchi – Adopt a Stray

Kimchi

Little Kimchi's time on Earth was all too short.  Not long after her reporter had agreed to adopt her if we stepped in to recue her, she passed away on 12 December 2024.  We tried our best, but she was just too young to have been abandoned like that.  RIP Kimchi, you were so close to a promising life.

Kimchi

Kimchi

Kimchi

Kimchi

Bruno

Bruno

On Wednesday 4 December 2024, we suddenly lost Bruno. He was around 15 years old and had a bad heart when we rescued him five years ago. He was one of the very first residents of the Sanctuary. He was the victim of a hit and run and had fallen into a sewer. Rina had to crawl inside to pull him out.

Bruno

Bruno

He never mixed with other dogs, preferring to keep himself to himself, until he met Wena.

Bruno and Wena

For five years, they walked 1together, slept together, and stayed by each other's side.

On Wednesday, we noticed that Bruno was having trouble breathing, and as our vets were off, we rushed him to Doc Gama at Animal Wellness. But tragically, he had a cardiac arrest just after we got there.

Wena was lost, wondering where he had gone. We decided to take her to the clinic to see Bruno so that she could ride back in the van with his body and at least perhaps understand that he had died and not abandoned her.

She is still grieving at the moment, so we have staff constantly with her.


Losing these precious souls never gets easier.

Thank you, Catherine, for sponsoring him for so many years.

Run free Bruno, you were absolutely loved by us all, and especially Wena.

Wena

Wena

Bruno

Bruno

Ozzy

Ozzy

On 6 December 2024, Ozzy lost his fight against liver failure and passed away. Tragically, he was only about 3 years old. We rescued him and his mother Izzy when he was a puppy. Izzy was an owned dog who had been severely neglected. We were too late to save her, and she died not long after we brought her in, but Ozzy survived. He has had problems with his legs since we rescued him, likely due to malnutrition when he was a puppy, but apart from that he has been happy and healthy at the Sanctuary.

Ozzy

Ozzy

There were no obvious signs of kidney failure until a few days ago when he collapsed after eating and couldn't walk. We immediately did blood tests, and an SDMA test showed his kidneys were irreversibly damaged. All we could do is make sure he was comfortable and pain-free and help him enjoy whatever time he has left.  He will be missed, especially by Cleo who was one of his pals.

Ozzy RIP

Ozzy RIP

We are sad that you never found a home outside the Sanctuary, but glad that you spent your time here with us, you grumpy but lovable little soul.

Ozzy

Ozzy