Stray dog saves baby abandoned in Kenya

KENYA: A stray dog has become an instant celebrity in Kenya after finding an abandoned baby in a deserted wood at the weekend…

KENYA: A stray dog has become an instant celebrity in Kenya after finding an abandoned baby in a deserted wood at the weekend.

Witnesses say the dog carried the baby girl across a busy road before leaving her nestled among a litter of puppies for safekeeping.

Well-wishers have delivered bundles of clothing and nappies to Kenyatta National Hospital where the baby - named Angel by nursing staff - is under observation.

Doctors believe the baby girl had been abandoned two days before being found and would not have survived much longer.

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Unwanted babies are regularly dumped in remote locations or even pit latrines in a country where abortion remains illegal. Few mothers are traced and even fewer prosecuted.

Stephen Thoya said he was passing Lenana Forest, close to the slums of Dagoretti Corner, when he heard a baby crying.

"I looked closely and I saw a dog carrying a baby wrapped in a black dirty cloth as it crossed the road," he said.

"I was shocked at first and when I tried to get a closer look the dog ran through a fence and disappeared along a dirt road."

The stray made its way to the home of Mary Adhiambo, close to where it was raising a litter of puppies.

"Two of my children came running in and said there a was baby crying in the compound but they couldn't trace it."

Mrs Adhiambo warmed some milk for the baby and cleaned maggots from her umbilical cord, which had not been completely removed, before dressing her in clean clothes and alerting local police.

Beth Ngila, the nurse in charge of the paediatric ward caring for the baby, said: "We decided to call her Angel, since she is truly a miracle baby.

Jonathan Micheni, acting hospital director, added that Angel was doing well despite days of neglect. He said Angel, weighing just over 3½kg (7lb), was being given antibiotics to prevent respiratory infections.