Local doctor saves dogs a world away

(10/31/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- There's an amazing story of survival, but in this story, the end is still being written. A number of "cave dogs" of Ethiopia are in Houston, putting a face on the plight of unwanted animals here and around the world. A Houston doctor who saves lives in emergency rooms is now saving the lives of pets in his homeland.

Haley, Tommy, Maria and Hannah -- four dogs that just a few months ago were tossed into a cave a half world away to die. Now they're the newest guests at a luxury pet hotel in Clear Lake.

The Gido Washa cave in Ethiopia has been used for years as a pit into which unwanted dogs were thrown. Dozens of animals died here every month until the Homeless Animal Protection Society in Addis Ababa intervened in July to save the last four dogs to be trapped in the cave. It took a week from start to finish.

Efraim Legese was one of the rescuers. He keeps going back to the day he saw them and the smell and the misery and suffering they were in. He says he'll never forget it for the rest of his life.

That was only the start of the journey. No one offered to adopt the dogs in Ethiopia. So a Houston trauma care doctor born in Ethiopia who had funded the rescue paid to bring the dogs to Houston to look for new homes. He also wanted to highlight the cause of animal welfare -- here and internationally

Dr. Anteneh Roba explained, "That's what I'm doing - that's my responsibility. Someone has to take care of the animals. They have no voice. We're their voice."

The cave is now sealed. But unwanted animals are suffering other cruel endings, often thrown in dumpsters now. Dr. Roba is trying to raise money for the Homeless Animal Protection Society there to spay and neuter pets.

The cause has these new ambassadors -- four dogs with happy endings, who don't recognize international borders or language barriers, only that someone cares.

Haley, Tommy, Maria and Hannah are all available for adoption. You can meet them this weekend at Cooper Animal Clinic in the Heights. Find out how you can help Dr. Roba's foundation set up to aid homeless animals in Africa.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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