I take Blaze into the senior's lodge to go visit Grandma (in a town of less than 300), sure enough, there's a gentleman there that knew what Blaze was. He was an archeologist back in his day. His last dig was in 1976 deep in the Congo, and he stayed with villagers and witnessed the hunts and the lives of the basenjis in the village.
He told me about one hunt.
The basenjis chase antelope into huge nets that are strung up in the forest like barriers. The nets are handmade with ropes and vines. Some of the hunters stay near the net and hide, the majority of the hunters take the basenjis to the water hole and wait. When the antelope arrived, they release the basenjis and chase behind almost soundlessly. You can really hear the gourd bells, which are mostly around the loins. The antelope hit the net and are shot with arrows. The basenjis have to get beaten off… they get a little too excited.
He has some amazing pictures. I'm trying to borrow his album to scan, but he's not comfortable with that idea.
He loves Blaze though and he knows the african word for the breed which I can never remember or pronounce.
Declan the Basenji
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A while back, there was a very involved thread about a foster dog named "Declan". Many of us have wondered what ever happened, so I thought I would share this link and image. Either BRAT did not reclaim Declan, or they did and this is just a scam, or they didn't and this is still a scam. I have no way to know, but.... for the curious:
Declan the Basenji "Fundraiser"
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@elbrant For sure it’s a scam one way or another. I hope it’s just a pure scam and BRAT took the dogs back. My heart goes out to the poor dog, BRAT really does need to learn from the process and screen applicants thoroughly.
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Sad if it is a scam - unfortunate that they would take advantage of people that have a genuine concern and empathy for living creatures.
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This dog is still LEGALLY owned by BRaT. She is a foster gone rogue.
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@mrscastro That is what I thought. I know it’s hard for BRAT but she is IMO seriously not capable nor mentally stable enough to care for the dog. If you read her full post, she tells several confirmed lies and also confirms that she is experimenting on the dog again (if in fact she is not just pocketing the money).
Either way the dog is in danger. Would be nice if someone from BRAT could give us an update from their end.
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@dagodingo said in Declan the Basenji:
Would be nice if someone from BRAT could give us an update
I have asked... we'll see.
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I cannot speak on behalf of BRaT. They are aware of her activities and working to correct the situation.
We lost our Rascal (Rock'n Rowdy Rascal of Thor-Judy Brader's Thor Basenji litter 2005) to a combination of Cushings and cancer. It is a horribly painful way to die. He was sick for less than a year. I cannot imagine making an animal suffer so many years with such a diagnosis.
I cannot follow "Her" as she has made public attacks against me for a favorable opinion I made regarding my personal experience with BRaT. I have her blocked on FaceBook for that reason. It would be helpful for the situation of someone could follow her to see recent photos of the dog. Could the dog even survive this long?
I will not participate in any drama.
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@mrscastro said in Declan the Basenji:
I will not participate in any drama.
That would make you a wise woman! And with her (Heather) it does seem to be all about the drama. My personal take involves many concerns which depend on things that I can not be certain of (at this moment).
First, for the dog's welfare:
- Is "Declan" alive, sick, and still in her care?
- If so, is the dog getting proper medical care by a qualified and accredited Veteranarian?
- Or, is Heather playing nursemaid and administering her own special drug cocktail(s)?
Second, regarding Heather's online persona:
- How much of this is true v. how much of this is "not quite accurate"?
- Is Heather using this dog as a way to scam people out of money?
- Is Heather "healthy" by society's standards, or is this a subconsious cry for help?
So, yes.... I guess I am involved in that:
- I want to know that this dog is not in danger, and
- I want to be reasonably sure that Heather is "ok", and
- If she is running a scam, I want to make sure the right people know what she's up to.
Disclaimer: I do not know Heather. But if I saw someone in my 'hometown' doing these things and acting this way, I'd be calling local "animal welfare" officials to have them check into it. If that's not the case, then I'll back off.
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Official response: "Declan is no longer a BRAT dog".
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@elbrant Kind of sucks as the poor dog (according to her own FB posts) is not being cared for and given proper veterinary care. It is one of those things that sucks but life can be very unfair.
The only good that can come out of it, is if BRaT learn from it and improve their vetting process. Even that is sketchy because maybe the foster was fine when she originally took the dog. Reminds me of someone at work that I had to let go, someone asked me why I hired them and as I told them, they were fine when I hired them. A lot of mental illness around these days.
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@dagodingo sad, but true
