Cat on the Porch

---

Friday - Day 16

Because i didn't go to the cente yesterday, I went in for a bit today but didn't stay for lunch. Kelly came round in the morning and we got to the centre at around 11am. The dogs had already been walked so I went in to see some of the shyer, sadder doggies. My main focus today was on one dog who in previous days had not wanted to come out at all. He'd sit and wag his tail while making little whinging noises, but he wouldn't actually come out when it came down to it. I'd managed to tempt him out a few metres the other day, so I was determined to get him to go further today. Today, it was like he was talking to me - a half whinge, half bark which sounded like he was speaking. I got him out into the main 'corridor' of the kennel and put the chain around his neck before I opened the big gate and he went out through it! he walked tentatively beside me and out of the gate of the centre. We walked a 'normal' walk. Up the road, around the corner and out the back of the centre. He was really getting confident now! It was lovely! One day he'd be released back into his territory and he'd hopefully be a happier dog.

Before I left, I tried to buy a t-shirt as we'd talked about going to Arambol so Kelly could have a stall at the festival that was happening - I would have been good to be able to wear one there... but everyone was to busy so I had to go back tomorrow. While I waited, a lady with a bull mastiff dog came in to ask if the vet could repair the dog's ear as it had apparently been bitten by a Mongoose. The vet who she was talking to said that was not likely scenario and that the dog had probably been in a dog fight. This was not something the busy vet would take on as it was merely cosmetic and wouldn't affect the dog's hearing. The woman was rather upset. At the same time, the man who took three of the puppies the other day, had come back with one as it wasn't very well. he wanted to exchange it for a healthier one as he didn't know how to look after it. I'm not sure the outcome of this, but if the puppy had been taken back by the centre, chances are it would have been PTS to avoid the other puppies becoming sick. Sad but realistic.

Denis and I had arranged to meet Kelly at Noble's Nest for some cheap lunch, so we made our way there and on the way passed a very ill looking dog. It was very skinny and looked like it had a big wound on the back of its neck - I've learned that this type of wound is usually attributed to maggots. I rang the IAR while we were waiting for our food - dal and chappati for 60 rs - and they took the details of where I'd seen the dog and who I was.
In the meantime, Kelly arrived at Noble's Nest and told us that after trying to arrange the collection box and items to sell in Arambol at the festival tomorrow, they had told her they thought it would be best if she didn't have a stall. It's possible someone lost a collection box in the past and that it coud turn into a hectic party rather than a fundraising thing. I could see their point, but Kelly had gone to a lot of effort to make things to donate and sell at the festival for the centre. We said we'd go to Arambol anyway.

As we were sitting in the restaurant, Linda from the centre turned up and asked if we could help her apprehend a cow that looked as though it had a maggot wound and was in a bad way. I knew this would be interesting, so I went along with Denis to help! Cows are left to wander freely here as once their milk has gone, they are of no use, yet they are deemed sacred, so Hindus don't eat them. We spotted the cow pretty quickly and it was definitely in a bad way. She also had a calf with her. We went on foot into the garden/piece of land that she was eating in and she noticed us immediately and that something was up. She tried to walk away but we were trying to keep her in one place. We were in a semi-enclosed garden with a big brick wall half-way around it. The other half went out onto the road and along the sea shore. The cow panicked and started to dart around whilst trying to get through little passages away from us. We kept her contained for a while, but she wasn't calming down and she was running around. I had to wave my arms to make her change direction a couple of times and pondered briefly on what would have happened if she had chosen to ignore me... The cow got away as she was going a bit mad and we couldn't find her again. Hopefully someone will spot her again soon, as apparently they walk the same tracks every day, sometimes for miles.

We decided to go and relax now and went to mine so I could grab my beach things. While we were there, I had a call from one of the dog catchers in the Ambulance of IAR who was out and about looking for the dog I'd called up about earlier. He wasn't too sure where I meant, so after two lengthy phone conversations of me, in my own version of very broken English to make things as simple as possible, trying to explain that the dog was at the end of the sea front road with the beach on his left in Chapora, around the big bend at the end of the road and under a staircase on the side of a building called 'Anna Fashion Centre'... I decided to drive to met them and take them there myself. It didn't tak very long and we spotted them in the completely wrong place straight away! :-) I rode on my scooter in front of the International Animal Rescue Ambulance all the way through Chapora guiding them to the aid of a poor little doggie. I felt quite important :-)
Unfortunately, the dog wasnt there and the lady in the shop there said she'd seen it wander up the road about an hour beforehand. We had a look in the nearby area, but there was no way we'd spot it unless it was in the road, due to the plants, people and buildings around. The lady said she'd ring if she saw it again as she has seen it before... not sure why she never reported it before, but i guess that's not something that'd necessarily be thought of here in Goa.

After the animal crises, Denis and I continued with our day by going to Little Vagator beach to relax and have a swim. Little Vagator was the one I went on on my own one day and found most people both quite miserable and Russian... down the steps in the cliff to where the carving in the rocks is... in between Vagator and Anjuna, as I'd recently started to describe it.
It's impossible to relax on the beach completely and I should be aware of this by now and I should stop trying to pretend. All afternoon long (although I guess Vagator is quite a busy beach) I was approached by women and men trying to sell me things: sarongs, "ali baba pants", sunglasses, DVDs, CDs, fruit, jewellery... same same. When I didn't want to buy any of those things, I was (like everyone else) offered massages, manicures and pedicures and the most regular thing (which those of you who know how hairy my legs are will know that I couldn't care less)... threading hairs out of my legs and eyebrows by twisting a length of cotton in between their fingers to use as an alternative to tweezers!! The first woman told me 'it doesn't hurt'. I said 'yes it does'. She basically let me have a go for free and I decided, after around two seconds, that yes, it did hurt... a lot! I didn't want my legs threaded and I didn't want to be made to feel that my hairy legs were something of a sin, so I told each woman that come up to me offering the same thing and that I like my hairy legs. The last woman simply said 'oh my god'. But, now I refuse (out of principal) to thread, wax, pluck or shave my legs for the rest of my time here... whether that's my time in Vagator, Goa or India as a whole, I'll let you know.

A tiny swim involving possible photos of crabs in the water brought to light the fact that my two-year old waterproof camera was now letting water in, as the sceen was fogged up and the lens showing condensation. It's a known issue with these cameras apparently and it's recommended that the rubber seals are replaced every year or so. I retreated from the water, took the battery out and left it open so it could dry out a bit and see if that made any difference. I don't seem to be having much luck with technology at the moment 😞

After leaving the beach, going to have a proper coffee at Mango Tree, Kelly, Denis and I walked to Apana Punjab, a restaurant in Vagator we'd been told was very good and reasonably priced by Vijander who owns Robert's Place guest house. As we walked, we were accompanied by Jaya, kelly's landlord's dog. She chaperoned us all the way to the restaurant, sat by our feet and then walked us most of the way home after waiting for us to finish our dinner! We were on a dessert mission at this point, so popped into a new place called Life be Good to Me!! They didn't have a great range of desserts on offer so we decided on going back to the German bakery where Kelly had had an apparently Vegan Strawberry mousse a few nights ealier. I had the biggest piece of Black Forest gateau I've ever seen!

On getting back to Robert's Place, a noisy, black dog confronted me in the tiny street, making me slightly nervous, but I thought I'd try him by holding my hand out and calling him over... he barked as he came over for a big stroke... all mouth and no trousers methinks! He was a really sweet dog and we had a nice 'cuddle' and I gave him some crisps before he went off for his night time outing as all the dogs do.
As I sat relaxing at the end of the evening on the small bench outside my room, a white cat passeed by on the top of the wall that ran around the outside of the building. I called the cat with the normal sound one makes when they call a cat, she hesitated a bit, but then jumped down from the wall and came for a stroke. She got more and more friendly and ended up snuggling up on a cushion I was resting my arm on... she essentially ended up in my armpit and pawed at my arm in comfort (as cats do) for about half an hour until I gently moved myself away from the chair to go to bed. I had a bit of milk in the fridge so I poured a tiny bit into the lid of a tupperware container (and to think I wasn't going to bring those - I've also used them for cups!), which she lapped up so daintily. After finishing the milk and curling up again, she stayed in the same position for quite a while as I spyed on her a bit as I was getting ready for bed :-)

---