Hoje foi um dia estranho.
Acordei a pensar que seria mais um. Teria de ir a aulas, ao
estágio de Anatomia Patológica e de limpar a cozinha. Depois talvez tivesse
tempo para ler um pouco. Não podia estar mais enganada.
Saímos (eu e as minhas amigas) de casa atrasadas. Enquanto
eu reclamava que não queria correr, porque detesto começar o dia a mil á hora,
olhei para um monte de pêlo acastanhado encostado a uma árvore e disse: “Oh não!
Um gato morto!”
As minhas amigas abrandaram, aproximando-se do animal,
aparentemente inanimado, e gritaram: “Lu! Está vivo!” Voltei atrás e
debrucei-me sobre a triste cena. De facto estava viva. Era uma gatinha (porque
tinha três cores no pêlo) e estava completamente imóvel, excepto pelos tremores
nas patinhas e pelos movimentos da respiração. Toquei-lhe e a gatinha miou.
Abriu os olhos e olhou. Voltou a fechá-los. Apertei-lhe a pata posterior. Nenhuma
reacção. Sem sinal de hemorragia. O meu primeiro pensamento foi de que a gata
ia morrer. Devia ter uma lesão a nível da coluna e por isso não sentia a região
posterior do corpo. “Deve ter sido atropelada. E agora?”, pensei. “ Vamos
levá-la para o Hospital Veterinário da Universidade”. Fui a correr buscar uma
caixa de cartão e improvisamos uma maca para tentar levantar o animal sem fazer
grandes alterações na sua posição.
Conseguimos!
Entretanto fomos abordadas por uma senhora de certa idade
que nos perguntou se o gato era nosso. Alguém o tinha colocado no jardim dela e
a senhora sem saber o que fazer com o animal, colocou-o ao lado da árvore. Não
consegui impedir-me de ficar zangada com a falta de interesse da senhora, mas
mais tarde, depois de pensar com mais calma, que podia a mulher fazer? Se
calhar não tinha dinheiro, ou não sabia a quem recorrer; a verdade é que este
nosso Portugal mal sabe cuidar das suas pessoas, quanto mais cuidar dos seus animais.
A ajuda grátis que conseguimos, devemo-la a um conjunto de pequenas
associações, que nunca conseguem responder a todos os pedidos. É triste, mas é a realidade. Gostava que a
realidade de Portugal em relação aos animais fosse a do Reino Unido, por
exemplo, onde até polícia especial para a defesa dos animais existe. Aqui ainda
estamos muito longe. Muito longe mesmo.
Continua...
Today was a
strange day.
I woke up thinking it would be just one more regular day. I would have to go to school, to do the stage in Pathology and to clean the kitchen. Then maybe I would have a little time to read. I couldn’t be more wrong.
We left (me and my friends) home late. While I was complaining that I didn’t want to run, because I hate starting the day racing around, I looked at a brownish and hairy pile leaning against a tree and said, "Oh no! A dead cat! ".
My friends slowed down, approaching the animal, apparently lifeless, and shouted: "Lu! It's alive! ". I went back and I looked into that sad scene. Indeed it was alive. It was a kitten and was completely still, except for the paws that were shaking and the breathing movements. I touched her and she meowed. The kitten opened her eyes and looked at us. She closed them again. I made some pressure in her posterior paw. No reaction. No sign of bleeding. My first thought was that the kitten was going to die. Maybe she had a lesion within the column and that could be the reason why she could not fell anything. "It must have been an hit and run situation. What should we do now? ", I thought. "Let's take her to the Veterinary Hospital of the University." I run into getting a cardboard box and improvise a stretcher to try to raise the animal without making major changes in its position.
We did it!
However we were approached by a lady of a certain age, who asked us if it was our cat. Someone had placed her in her garden and the lady didn’t know what to do with the animal, so she chose to put it next to the tree. I could not prevent myself from getting angry at the lack of interest of the old lady, but later, after thinking more calmly, what could the woman do? Maybe she couldn’t afford the kitten’s treatment, or did not know who to turn to. The truth is that our dear Portugal barely knows how to take care of the people that live within its borders, let alone care for their animals. The help we can get for free, we owe it to a small set of associations that can never respond to all requests. It's sad but it's our reality. I wish the reality of Portugal towards animals were the same as the ones that exist in the UK, for example, where there even special police for the protection of animals exist. Here we are still far away. Very far from it.
I woke up thinking it would be just one more regular day. I would have to go to school, to do the stage in Pathology and to clean the kitchen. Then maybe I would have a little time to read. I couldn’t be more wrong.
We left (me and my friends) home late. While I was complaining that I didn’t want to run, because I hate starting the day racing around, I looked at a brownish and hairy pile leaning against a tree and said, "Oh no! A dead cat! ".
My friends slowed down, approaching the animal, apparently lifeless, and shouted: "Lu! It's alive! ". I went back and I looked into that sad scene. Indeed it was alive. It was a kitten and was completely still, except for the paws that were shaking and the breathing movements. I touched her and she meowed. The kitten opened her eyes and looked at us. She closed them again. I made some pressure in her posterior paw. No reaction. No sign of bleeding. My first thought was that the kitten was going to die. Maybe she had a lesion within the column and that could be the reason why she could not fell anything. "It must have been an hit and run situation. What should we do now? ", I thought. "Let's take her to the Veterinary Hospital of the University." I run into getting a cardboard box and improvise a stretcher to try to raise the animal without making major changes in its position.
We did it!
However we were approached by a lady of a certain age, who asked us if it was our cat. Someone had placed her in her garden and the lady didn’t know what to do with the animal, so she chose to put it next to the tree. I could not prevent myself from getting angry at the lack of interest of the old lady, but later, after thinking more calmly, what could the woman do? Maybe she couldn’t afford the kitten’s treatment, or did not know who to turn to. The truth is that our dear Portugal barely knows how to take care of the people that live within its borders, let alone care for their animals. The help we can get for free, we owe it to a small set of associations that can never respond to all requests. It's sad but it's our reality. I wish the reality of Portugal towards animals were the same as the ones that exist in the UK, for example, where there even special police for the protection of animals exist. Here we are still far away. Very far from it.
To be continued...
