VICTOR TEIXEIRA – LMDI
Remember our DogBlog back in June? It was our Rescue Dogs issue and we asked you for your rescue stories. The idea was to publish a few stories but we never expected the overwhelming response we got – 28 stories!!!
As a result, we ended up editing them and turning them into short stories, basically consisting of name, age, breed and how the dog got to be rescued. Still, many of you didn’t send your short stories in time for publication, so we promised to revisit this subject again. And here we are.
Enjoy!
FLAUSINA SIRI (XINGU, 11 months old)
Xingu is my name. I am from Porto. I’m a Portuguese large wire Podengo, which is a very rare breed. We are primitive hunting dogs that were obtained and distributed by Phoenician traders in the Port of Gaul (Portugal) in the 700’s BC. Xingu is also the name of the people from Amazonia and a river from this area. In Korean it means friend and in Japanese temple.
I was found in the woods in Canelas (Portugal) inside a hole that my mother made to protect me and my 4 brothers and sisters. Except for my mother we all had the privilege of not growing in the wild, but rather have warm houses (1 brother and 1 sister are still up for adoption). I was lucky to fall in love with my hooman Flausina who was looking for me for a long time.
I’m only 11 months old and I’m messy, tender, playfull as much as any other dog, love to eat and try to be as obedient as I can (if you give me treats, I’ll do everything), I love people and especially the little ones’ magic, also cats (I have 2 “sisters”).
Have a nice day, hoomans!
JAYNE SULLY (FOZZY, 7 years old)
Late one night I was scrolling through Facebook when a pair of haunted eyes stared back at me. The words attached to his picture tore into my heart “Is there any kind soul out there? He’ll be dead in the morning”… The dog had been poisoned and badly beaten. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t get his eyes out of my mind… I desperately tried to find his picture again; when I did I found myself typing “I’ll help, please get him off the streets and to safety and I’ll pay!”.
That was 7 years ago. And that poor dog is my special boy Fozzy. Through rescuing Fozzy our charity “1 Dog At A Time” Rescue was founded. Over 600 dogs are now in loving homes back in the UK because of those eyes… ❤️
NAOMI CLANCY (PORTIA, 20 months old)
At 10 weeks old Portia (a German Shepherd Dog) found and ate rat poison. She was taken to a vet’s in Norwich, where she was treated – she was dangerously ill and had to be kept under anaesthetic to reduce seizures and allow the vets to work on her. It was touch-and-go but they did an amazing job and she pulled through. The people who brought her to the vet decided not to go back for her (or pay the bill!), so the surgery contacted Dogs Trust where I was working and I was tasked with going to collect the abandoned puppy.
Working in rescue for years you get used to falling in love with dogs and seeing them into their new homes. However as soon as the vet nurse put the fuzzy blue puppy in my arms I knew she was mine (it took roughly 30 seconds to convince my husband too!). Portia is growing into an amazing dog, not only beautiful but clever, kind and lots of fun. She was recently “Best Pupling” and only guest at our wedding where she totally stole my thunder.
Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong.
IAN GEORGE BUCKLEY-WALKER (BUTCH, 7 years old)
We decided to get a rescue dog from Battersea and saw what we thought was the perfect soppy looking pooch on their website. We went through the interview, passed and met the dog. He was gorgeous, but very, very shy and wouldn’t come near us even after 30 minutes of coaching him. Battersea decided he wasn’t the right dog for us and we were heartbroken.
We decided to look at other dogs in their pens but we’d lost interest. However, we walked past one cage and this ball of energy jumped up and started excitingly barking and wagging his tail. I went closer and he licked my face and from then on I knew we’d found our baby.
He was a 4 month old skinny little thing that had been brought in by someone who’d rescued him as he’d been left to die as a runt. He wasn’t expected to survive even the night he was found.
We took Butch home and we were asked by Battersea to appear on Good Morning TV. They wanted to do a follow-up story on how he was doing and we appeared on TV being interviewed and filmed, so that was our claim to fame. Butch has been with us for over 7 years now and he has brought us so much love and happiness and we love him so very much!
ALEC DE FALAISE HILTON (PIPOCA/POPCORN, 3 years old)
That’s Pipoca, she will be 3 years old on the 07th of January, the day after my birthday. Pipoca came into our lives (mine and Minnie’s) 4 months ago, after my Harry crossed the rainbow bridge. I knew Pipoca as a puppy as my neighbour lived across the road and couldn’t have her any longer; the landlord wouldn’t accept new dogs in the premises. Anyway, as Pipoca was hidden between homes, the owners contacted me to find her a new home. I got her a posh place around Belgravia (I walk dogs over there), I called the owners and told them about it. They said that I should have Pipoca, I said no as I was still grieving for my Harry… 5 minutes later I called them and made my mind up: Pipoca came over to us, a beautiful independent girl. She gave Minnie and I happiness; she’s a Shitzu crossed with Lhasa Apso (all Tibetan).
MELISSA SMITHSON-FARRALL (LOUIE – 2 years old – and Cody)
This is Louie, he is 2 years old and a golden retriever found abandoned on the streets of Turkey. He was then taken in by a fosterer before coming over to us.
The first couple of weeks were hard for both him as us – he’d been taken away from his fosterer and come to a foreign country to complete strangers. When he arrived he had rubbed most of the fur off his nose through the stress of travelling. ?
Our other golden retriever Cody played a big part in helping him settle in. They are best friends now, like they’ve been together their whole lives. He’s a totally different dog to the dog who came to us 7 months ago. He loves nothing more than snuggling up on the sofa (and taking up all the room!). He also loves to sleep on the bed with my husband when I’m away ?.
TRIX VENTURA (LADY – 17 years old when she passed – with Scorpy R.I.P., Bonny & Freddie, plus old 1950s photo)
I first met Lady, a retired racing greyhound, when she was 11 years old. She’d just fought off cancer and was starting down the tough road most greyhounds end up on – arthritis.
None of this mattered to Lady though, even by the time she was 15 she was still doing 90min walks in the mornings and another 30/40mins in the afternoons. She was an unstoppable force.
As long as we kept her warm in the winter and cool in the summer she just kept on going with a smile on her face and a wag in her tail.
Lady woke a passion for greyhounds in me that I had no idea existed and I went on to work with many more, the most recent being Bonny & Freddie.
A couple of years back a cousin sent me a picture of my grandmother with one of her beautiful greyhounds from the 1950s, reminding me that this beautiful breed is in my blood.
Lady continued until 3 months before her 17th birthday, rare for a larger breed but I just know it was because she was so lucky to find a forever home full of love and people who would do anything for her. So if you’re thinking of adopting please consider a retired racing greyhound, even if you are in a small flat, since they fold up small and are super lazy so ideal for busy city people. There’s no love like greyhound love ?
IYAD QASEM (PACHA – Great Dane; BLUE, BUZZ, FIZZFIZZ & FLIP ((recently passed)) – the cats; and hundreds more rescued and rehomed cats and dogs)
My family has a long history of loving animals and caring for the needy ones. We grew up in Amman (Jordan) adopting and fostering cats and dogs… We miss the ones that passed and we love those with us today. We have rescued and found homes for about 100 cats and possibly 25 dogs. I have also rescued 5 cats in the streets of Beirut and found homes for 4. One ended up staying and we have been together for 5 years now.
My niece Rozana Jabri is now running an animal rescue group in Jordan – “Animal Rescue and Adoption in Jordan”. Rozana has found homes for hundreds of cats and dogs. And now we are looking at protecting donkeys and mules from overworking in farms and tourist sites. You can find all this on the Facebook page “Animal Rescue and Adoption in Jordan”.
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1 – Anitta Autumn
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