Stray Kenyan Dog Saves Abandoned Baby Girl

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Aug 13, 2003
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NAIROBI, Kenya (May 9) - A stray dog saved the life of a newborn baby after finding the abandoned infant in a forest and apparently carrying it across a busy road and through some barbed wire to her litter of puppies, witnesses said.

The stray dog found the infant, clad in tattered clothing, in a poor neighborhood near the Ngong Forests in the capital of Nairobi, Stephen Thoya told the independent Daily Nation newspaper.

The dog apparently found the baby Friday in the plastic bag in which the infant had been abandoned, said Aggrey Mwalimu, owner of the shed where the animal was guarding its puppies. The seven-pound, four-ounce infant was taken to the hospital for treatment on Saturday.

''She is doing well, responding to treatment, she is stable. ... She is on antibiotics,'' Kenyatta National Hospital spokeswoman Hanna Gakuo told The Associated Press from the hospital, where health workers called the infant Angel.


Kenya's media often report the abandonment of newborns by mothers. Poverty and the inability to care for the child are seen as the root cause of the problem. Most people who abandon babies are never caught.

The child had not yet been claimed.

''Abandoned babies are normally taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital because it is a public hospital,'' Gakuo said. ''People are now donating diapers and baby clothes for this one.''


AP-NY-05-09-05 1117EDT

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050509114909990012&ncid=NWS00010000000001
 
I saw it on the news. . . nice, and at the same time so sad that a dog's instincts saved this baby's life.

it blows my mind thinking that a parent can possibly do this. just leave a baby to rot. And there's no excuse.. . imo, lock the parents in a room, and let them starve to death. regardless of whatever situation they're in... bunch of animals.
 
It happens all over the world--families aren't given the ability to control their size, but can't support the children they have already. Which is worse--letting the baby die, or taking food away from their other 5 children, who are already starving? In most 3rd world countries, few women have access to birth control, and many have little to no control over their sexual activity, meaning even things like the rhythem method aren't options. I wouldn't want to have to make that choice, and won't criticize someone who does. I will criticize First world governments who judge and refuse to fund birth control...The blame for this, and most other abondoned children, lies at their feet.
 
Leave it in front of a hospital. . . Don't leave it to die .. What must be going through your mind knowing that you have a baby that you dumped in a forest, left to die? How can you live with yourself? How could you ever pernit yourself to ever smile again, knowing that you did something like that?
 
We're talking about a country where there isn't much hospital care, and certainly not in every village. You're expecting people to have the same facilities and options you do--but they do not. People living in poverty face starvation every day. Many have 4-5 kids to care for--and no job, no money, and no welfare. They don't have the convenience of insurance, or an extended family to rely on, or even a government. Read the article--there are around 2 abondoned babies brought to the hospital every month--who do you think cares for them? Do you think they are all adopted and given loving homes?

I imagine the parents were thinking that their other children might have a better chance at surviving. I don't agree with the practice, but nor can I judge based on the options that are available to me, but denied these parents. I don't think it's right to toss a child out--but I do think it's a symptom of a much bigger problem that my government--and many others--contributes to. Rather than criticize those forced to make these hard decisions, I criticize those who have the power to effect change and refuse to do so. The US government is wrongly denying funding for birth control to these people, failing to educate and empower women to control their own fertility, and allowing babies to be tossed aside.
 
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I have no clue if it's true here, but I've read that women who've been raped will sometimes not want to care for/nurse the baby and will abandon them.

The whole situation is sad - because most aren't found by amazing stray dogs.
 
you're absolutely right. But, still, birth control isn't the only way to prevent having babies. It's called being careful. I know, life is different there, but whatever happened to taking blame for your own actions ? nowadays, it's always someone elses fault. Even though world is very unfair, and we're the lucky ones that have all the privelages we do, they can still prevent pregnancies... don't shoot inside.. Sorry for using that language, but I like babies... and having to hear that this happens everyday really gets to me. .
 
That's my point--they do NOT have the options we have. Most women do not have the option of saying NO, they don't have the education to understand other options, and no power to enforce them if they do. This is not a matter of someone willfully getting pregnant and then tossing the child out. It's a matter of someone who doesn't have any choice, trying to keep themselves and their other children alive. Yes, it's something to be angry about--but being angry at parents who aren't given any option? Be angry at the people who can make a change!
 
I will never get to understand how those people live. It must be harder than anything I could possibly imagine.. . Then again, still, I cannot accept hearing that babies are left alone, abandoned, to die alone.....
 
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