Helping pets through crisis

ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN ISRAEL21C

As rockets hit the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon during the Gaza War from late December 2008 to mid-January 2009, it wasn’t only people who were traumatized, it was also their pets. Many of those seeking help for their traumatized animals reached out to Khaya Dinsky.

The special-education teacher and animal therapist has earned a reputation over her 35 years in Israel as a person to turn to when animals are in crisis. Soon after emigrating from Brooklyn at age 18, she began to rescue stray dogs and cats, keeping some and finding homes for others. The self-imposed project was a constant throughout years of schooling, marriage, divorce, teaching and single motherhood.

“But I reached the point where I physically couldn’t care for more rescued animals myself,” she said. “I’m a teacher and not a millionaire. I realized I needed to have an amutah (nonprofit).”

Hatzalat Chayot (Animal Rescue) was registered in June 2009 and depends heavily on a corps of local volunteers. The group had already been functioning unofficially for six months when the rockets began falling. “During the war, we were in touch with organizations all over the country to line up foster homes if someone needed to get out of their house and had nowhere for their pets,” Dinsky recounted.

She sent out Internet postings offering temporary shelter for animals and she let people know of a local kennel that was taking animals for a week without charge. She advised the owners of traumatized pets, and convinced a reporter to publicize the plight of horses and donkeys left without food or water at a local stable.

In the fall of that year, Dinsky accepted an award on behalf of Hatzalat Chayot from Ashkelon’s mayor, who annually recognizes the city’s nonprofits and volunteers.

It’s nice to have kudos, but Dinsky also needs dollars. Last year, Israeli actress Orna Banai lent her star power to a fundraiser. Money is always tight, as rescued and fostered animals need food and veterinary care for injuries and illnesses.

The volunteer work fills Dinsky’s time away from teaching. “There are days we get a zillion calls because someone’s cats were poisoned and somebody can’t feed their dog, and somebody found a stray dog and a sick cat, and everybody needs advice. Between writing a column for the local paper on animal care, organizing adoption days and answering calls and e-mails, the absolute minimum time I spend on this project is two hours a day.”

Her group enjoys a cooperative relationship with Israel’s other animal welfare organizations, including Let the Animals Live, Concern for Helping Animals in Israel and others based in larger cities. Hatzalat Chayot stands out for serving a particularly large region and for its emphasis on community outreach.

Each month, Dinsky arranges animal classes at the local immigrant absorption centre and she’s working with veterinarians to write a curriculum on responsible pet ownership to present in public schools.

Despite her full-time job, she’s often nursing abandoned kittens or rushing out to aid animals in distress. Recently, she and a volunteer went out just before midnight to coax a stray dog out of a traffic circle. It took two hours to get him on a leash and into a volunteer’s home.

Dinsky houses four dogs, 11 cats and four foster kittens in her own apartment. “We are considering opening a shelter because we serve a tremendous area and don’t have enough foster families or volunteers.”

She has a cadre of professional dog trainers who donate their services to animals and to anyone seeking help with a difficult pet. Her aim is to make rescued dogs adoptable and to keep difficult dogs who have homes from ending up in the city pound. She also recruits teens to help housebound pet owners with animal care.

Dinsky is also involved with various projects of the social justice organization Yedid for workers and immigrants, indigent soldiers and high school children in single-parent households.

“What keeps me going? Over the years, I have had various personal difficulties and the community has been amazingly helpful. I can never repay the people who have helped me, but I can give time, energy and effort to society at large. If people don’t have compassion for animals, it rubs off on the greater society, while if they’re compassionate to animals, it also rubs off, [but] in a positive way. I see that clearly with the kids I work with.”

She recalls an incident at school where two troublemakers began to fight, but when she reminded them that they had left the classroom rabbits unattended, they hurriedly called a truce and rushed back to tend to the creatures. This is the sort of effect Dinsky hopes to achieve in increasingly larger circles.

Israel21c is a nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to focus attention on the 21st-century Israel that exists beyond the conflict. For more information, or to donate, visit israel21c.org.

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