Nepal if not in Asia. I am quite convinced of this for I know just how much of our personal money my beloved wife Bev gives him in the cause of street dog rescue, relief and rehabilitation. I went with Bev this morning to see the latest two puppies that she’s scooped off the mean streets of Kathmandu. They’re doing well and Dr Thapa’s eyes glinted as he told us of how one of them had got the day off to the best of starts by passing worms this morning. Nice.The reason for my visit though was to see a bird that he is currently treating
. Someone had picked up a barn owl with a broken wing and brought it to Dr Thapa who, aside from being ridiculously wealthy, is, I suspect, quite clever. He has managed to splint the broken bone with a steel rod and he told me that when he removes the rod in a month’s time the bird will fly once again. Meantime he’s lovingly forcing meat down the bird’s gullet to ensure it lasts the course.
. Someone had picked up a barn owl with a broken wing and brought it to Dr Thapa who, aside from being ridiculously wealthy, is, I suspect, quite clever. He has managed to splint the broken bone with a steel rod and he told me that when he removes the rod in a month’s time the bird will fly once again. Meantime he’s lovingly forcing meat down the bird’s gullet to ensure it lasts the course.Afterwards I consulted the internet to find out the lifespan of a barn owl. In the wild they live for 1-5 years whereas in a more sheltered environment like an owl sanctuary they can last for 20-25 years (I noted in the papers this week that the converse applies to zoo animals). But I also found out that barn owls largely hunt by hearing, not by sight; apparently their hearing is so acute that they can pick up a mouse’s heartbeat in a 30 square foot room. Just imagine how this morning’s owl must have been deafened by Dr Thapa’s pounding heart as Miss Moneypenny arrived at his practice.
Yesterday I met up with my partner Director, Shailaja, in Bhairahawa. She was fresh back from India with the three boys that she and her Deputy Dilu Tamang had rescued on Tuesday evening from domestic slavery in Varanasi. She was in buoyant mood as she told me that circus owner Lakhan Chaudhary, the defendant in Wednesday’s court hearing in Gorakhpur, had placed a 50,000 rupee (£700) price on retrieving our key witness against him. Shailaja said that this girl, who alleges that she was raped by him, gave a perfectly clear – and brave – statement in court as Chaudhary yelled at the Judge to listen to his voice as well as to hers. He was also screaming at his relatives and unsavoury friends in court for having let him down – presumably in part through failing to find this girl.
They didn’t find her because she’s been safely in our care ever since the rescue in January 2007.
