Technical Issues...Human Error...Nobody's Purrfect

rhondak(68)

Published in

#life

Words

876

Reading

4 min

Listen

Play

A few days ago, I made a post here by accident as I was trying to help a friend format something for his new account. Even my mistake got some nice upvotes, though, so I feel I should at least put something here to warrant that.

So how about an update on my current situation? It's not like we live in a world with nothing to talk about these days.

For those who don't know, I managed to get myself locked inside Morocco when they closed the borders due to coronavirus. While it sounds dire when phrased that way, I'm actually quite happy about it. Morocco is among the nations leading the world in coronavirus response, to date reporting fewer than five thousand cases and only 173 deaths. From a personal standpoint I have lacked for nothing--not food, prescription medications, sunlight, internet access, not even toilet paper.

Shopping is not forbidden here, as long as one complies with the enforcement protocols the government has in place. These include exceptional movement permits (very easy to obtain) and the wearing of masks in public spaces. In fact, just this week I was able to make a larger purchase that pleases me to no end. Have a look at what I bought!

This is my very own semi-automatic manual washing machine, a contradiction in terms if I ever heard one but the most efficient and effective device for cleaning clothes I have ever used in my life.

Forget the industrial front loaders. This little plastic tub with a few moving parts is really all I will ever want to own from now on. I can control everything about it, from the precise water level and temperature (because I control it from the tap) to the number of wash, rinse, and spin cycles depending on need. And it doesn't waste water because I never have to use more than I need.

Why aren't these all the rage in America? I had never even seen one until we rented a house for our second month in Sidi Bouzid. My heavens, they're perfect for apartment use or mobile homes because they're tiny and lightweight, but I think every garage and basement regardless of house market needs one. Well, whatever the case, I have one now and I could not be happier with it.

Then There are the Cats

Since being in Azemmour, @michelios and I have volunteered a lot of our time feeding street cats with ERHAM, even taking several litters in to try and save them after being dumped without their mothers far too young. Feline panleukopenia has killed nearly every one of them so far, but we have a few survivors, like Ittens and Brutus (pictured below) and the tiny little Squee stuck there between them with his tail poking out. Squee (probably not his permanent name) is only about four weeks old so his battle with panleuk hasn't even begun yet. He still has maternal antibodies, but not for long. Hopefully the vet will be here tomorrow with an emergency vaccine, which Koret UC Davis Shelter Medicine protocols say is appropriate for kittens as young as four weeks in the absence of passive immunity from the mother.

Veterinary medicine in Morocco has come a long way, but it still has quite far to go. There is no protocol in place for front line rescue workers to obtain and administer vaccines the way there is in the U.S.--in the States, nearly every shelter and certainly all modern successful shelters vaccinate on intake, and thereby greatly minimize disease transmission and death among the animals housed there. While the very last thing Morocco needs is shelters (God forbid,) there are instances when animals need emergency housing such as abandoned litters and sick or injured street dogs and cats. In those cases, we need to be able to control the spread of contagious illness, including zoonotic diseases like rabies.

WHY on EARTH Are Rabies Vaccines So Inaccessible for Most Pet Owners Here?

I have been mortified to learn that not only are rabies vaccines not routinely given here to TNR street cats, but rabies vaccines for animals in general are beyond the reach of most pet owners. At the current rate of 250 MAD (Moroccan dirham,) they cost a day's wages for most laborers. What the actual hell, people??? Rabies is a public safety issue. There needs to be some type of government response to this problem, either in the form of subsidized vaccines or other support for local veterinarians and workers on the ground who are able to immunize the animal populations they work with on a daily basis.

In the meanwhile, I'm back to trying to raise funds for these projects. ERHAM is raising money for sterilization. If @tarc can jump back into the ring and raise money for vaccines, that would be excellent. But something has to be done, or ... or ... or ... I dunno. Things will continue the same way they have forever, I suppose, and Morocco will miss the opportunity to rise as one of the new world's leaders for animal welfare and public safety the way it did for the coronavirus pandemic ....