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Dzambala. Photo courtesy of Animal Liberation Sanctuary.

The Animal Liberation Sanctuary near Kopan Monastery in Nepal cares for animals rescued from slaughter by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Mandala was sad to learn of the death of one of the sanctuary’s resident goats, Dzambala, who we have come to know through reports from the sanctuary. Dzambala’s story is an inspiring example of how much we can do for beings in the animal realm.

By Tania Duratovic and Phil Hunt

Dzambala died in March. He was one of the first goats at the Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal. He was also perhaps the first goat in Nepal with an artificial limb (and not just a lump of bamboo, but a proper prosthesis.) He was one of the familiar faces that you could pick out in the crowd.

Dzambala was rescued before Lama Zopa Rinpoche announced the Animal Liberation Sanctuary project. He was there when the new land was first purchased in 2006. He was there throughout the years as the search for a larger piece of land went on and the planning for the new shelters and facilities continued. He survived the deadly peste des petits ruminants (PPR) outbreak in 2010 where half our goat population died (indeed, initially due to some confusion, Dzambala was considered to have been one of the victims!)

Dzambala with Rigzin and Tsering. Photo courtesy of Animal Liberation Sanctuary.

As a young goat, Dzambala was as cheeky as any kid. He would have mock battles with other sanctuary residents, and also more serious battles to establish the hierarchy. He was one of the more senior ranked goats.

Initially, the rescued goats only consisted of males. This is because male animals are sent to slaughter more often as they don’t produce kids or milk. One day, three female goats arrived: Tsering, Sangmo and Jampa. We were not quite sure where they came from, and by the time we found out, they were pregnant. Dzambala and Tsering became close friends. Rigzin, who is the “boss” goat, was also after Tsering. But Tsering preferred Dzambala’s company most of the time. The three of them were often found sitting together enjoying the sunshine.

When taking the goats around Geshe Lama Konchog’s stupa at Kopan, we knew that if we took Tsering up, Rigzin would follow, and hence the others too. And if Dzambala was there, Tsering would go too. But Dzambala would often just take himself around. He obviously realized the importance of holy objects!

In October 2011, we noticed a wound on the side of Dzambala’s hoof. After several months it still hadn’t healed. We then realized it was a tumor. The tumor had grown to the size of a golf ball with quite a bit of dead tissue and would bleed profusely. The options presented were to cut off his entire leg or use a chemotherapy drug that was not certain to work. Rather than take this drastic action, we wanted to get a biopsy done first so we could ascertain just what type of tumor we were dealing with. We were hoping that we could just cut off the affected part of his hoof. When we finally had the sample, we were told that no one in Nepal would accept a tissue sample from a goat. So the sample was hastily preserved in formalin and carried to Australia.

Tests confirmed that it was cancer and that the drug initially suggested would not work on this type of tumor. The only course of action was to cut out the tumor. Unfortunately, by this time, many months had passed (things take time in Nepal) and by then the cancer had spread further. He had to have his leg from just below the knee joint amputated. It was now June 2012.

Life in the animal realm is tough, and not only did Dzambala lose part of his leg, he also lost his “girl.” Tsering spent less and less time with Dzambala, and as Dzambala’s mobility decreased, his health was not picking back up particularly well. Dzambala did, of course, try to keep up with the rest of the herd. He could get around reasonably well on three legs, but it was obviously taking up a lot of energy. (He still insisted in joining the others to circumambulate the stupa even though we tried to rest him.) We decided we would get an artificial limb made for him.

We were told that there was no one who would do it. We weren’t going to give up so easily. If no one in Nepal working with animals could help, we would try those who help people with missing limbs. Fortunately, we were put in touch with a New Zealand organization, MEND NZ, who straight away offered to help.

Shortly after making the connection on our next visit in October, Roshan Thapa from MEND NZ in Nepal came out to examine his new patient. Most Nepalis are familiar with goats as a form of food and objects of sacrifice. “I have seen many goat legs in my life,” Roshan admitted, “but I never thought I would be making an artificial one.”

Dzamabala with new leg. Photo courtesy of Animal Liberation Sanctuary.

After making a cast of the stump and measuring the other leg, obviously a standard procedure for him (but on quite different looking legs), he left to make up a new leg. A week later, he was back with a remarkably life-like design. After some adjustments, it was on and you could see how it immediately made it so much easier for Dzambala to stand. While he wasn’t particularly happy with it, and was not at all comfortable with walking, he soon started to adapt to its benefits while standing, especially as we gave him extra food and eating time away from the “competition” so he could get used to the leg.

Unfortunately, several months later, cancer reappeared, this time in his mouth. Despite several operations, nothing could be done. He rapidly lost weight and increasingly found it difficult, and then impossible, to eat. Several students who were doing Vajrasattva retreat would regularly sit with him and do prayers. Pujas were performed for him by the Kopan monks. After a short decline, he died peacefully on March 15. We will miss him but are happy in the knowledge that he was one heck of a lucky goat to have been rescued by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, to have lived at the sanctuary at Kopan, and to have been exposed to the Dharma.

To get the latest updates, or to help continue work for the animals at the Animal Liberation Sanctuary (ALS), visit www.enlightenmentforanimals.org or, in Australia, www.treeofcompassion.org.au. You can also visit the Facebook pages for Enlightenment for the Dear Animals and Tree of Compassion.

You can read more stories from Mandala on animal liberation activities going on throughout the FPMT world.