A new family for Nightmare

Back to our Nightmare story...

As I mentioned before, we were only going to take care of the big black dog until we could find her a home. We also had a trip to Brasov coming up for a darts tournament and a mini holiday, so we had to get her adopted fast. Those who have rescued animals and tried to find them new homes and families will understand why "adopted fast" is a contradiction of terms... We were also still hoping that her former owners hadn't been the ones to give her the wound on her head and that they would be willing to take her back.

My husband took it upon himself to post an announcement on the lost and found pets Facebook group in our area. Our friends also helped to spread the word and we also checked all the lost black dog posts we could find on the internet. Our searches unfortunately didn't turn out any leads towards the former owners.

This is the photo on the Facebook announcement.

A few people answered the announcement and tried to give ideas or opinions or suggest other lost dog sites to check. We had almost lost hope and were wondering if we should leave the dog back on the street, but really hoping we wouldn't have to do that... My husband and I lost a lot of sleep worrying again.

But then something unexpected happened. Someone contacted my husband saying they were looking to adopt a second dog and would like to take the black dog in. We were both so happy that we wouldn't have to abandon the sweet doggie. We made arrangements with the future new owners to meet at the vet, where we would have the dog checked.

We took the dog by car (here are some car safety tips, if you are interested) and she acted like she had been in one a hundred times before. She was actually less nervous than Aschiuta in the car and wasn't even sick. It made us think she had been on such trips before.

The new owners would arrive a bit after us, so we went in with the dog to have the vet check her. She made friends with the nurses there and seemed to like sitting on the scale.

The vet first scanned her for a microchip, as it is required by law for them to contact the owner if she had had one installed. There was none though, which didn't mean much, because some people never take their pets to the vet and thus don't give them a microchip.

He then started palpating her to check for any hidden problems and also cleaned and felt the wound on her forehead. The new owners also came in, just in time to see him prodding and checking, with the doggie barely showing any reaction. She seemed very tame and never even had any intention of biting or struggling, not even whimpering.

The doctor recommended antibiotics for the infection and said that the dog looked ok otherwise. He also checked her teeth and mentioned they were very worn for her age. Apparently she was young (probably younger than Aschiuta) but had been chewing on something very tough.

The new owners, a young couple, were sitting shyly in a corner. The woman even seemed a bit scared and only touched the dog very lightly after the vet proved the dog would not harm her at all. They also commented that the dog was larger than they had thought and were skeptical about the vet's evaluation about the dog's age.

We also found out that they would be keeping the dog at their new house that was being built and wouldn't be able to go see her too much. When the vet said that someone would have to give the dog antibiotics every morning and evening (orally, of course), they were afraid that the workers at the house wouldn't want to do that.

There was also the problem of their other dog, who was apparently very energetic and they were afraid the two would fight if unsupervised.

All in all, our faith dwindled and we didn't believe they would want to take the dog in anymore. They insisted however that they wouldn't back out on their word, but asked us to meet again the next day so they can take the dog.

My husband insisted that we would pay for the check-up and the medicine the vet had given us and the couple left. The vet had been very open and encouraging about the dog, "advertising" her as much as he could to them, but afterwards admitted that he believed they would back out. We felt the same way, but decided to give those people a chance. They were pretty much our only hope. We were supposed to leave town in a couple of days...

Missing something...

There are some days when we feel like something is missing. We feel an emptiness that we can't seem to be able to fill with fun and games or food and drink.

Sometimes it doesn't bother us. Sometimes we just remember to feel it again, but it's always there. Or, actually, isn't there anymore.

I wonder if Aschiuta ever feels that way sometimes too. And she does have something to miss. Something quite important. Poochie is missing the possibility of ever becoming a mother.

Tucked in, with her collar on

She was looking towards me just now, a bit accusative. Then she put her head back on my legs. She doesn't miss it all the time.

How did this all happen? Well, around her birthday last year (awful present, isn't it?) we had an outing with the extended family and were out of town for the weekend.

We sent her away to the usual dog hotel, where we know she is always well taken care of.

We had been thinking about spaying her for a while already and, since the owner of the dog hotel is also a good vet, Scorp got the idea to ask him to give her the operation.

I assure you I slept very little the night after we decided to do that. Poor poochie would have too if she'd known what was coming.

I had always imagined that I would be there holding her paw throughout the procedure, but we knew she would be in good hands. And she would also get gas anesthesia, which has the least side effects.

We called the vet that evening and he told us she was fine and the operation had been a success. He also told us that we were lucky to have done it at that time, since apparently poochie had had a growth on one of her uterine tubes. He eventually took it all out and there were no complications. Phew! I guess it was a good birthday present after all.

We asked him to bring her back to us the same evening we returned from the outing. It was pouring and I remember they brought her back from the van with the cone on. She was happy to see us, of course, and we her.

I walked her home after the rain had stopped (remember, this was mid-May) and she kept bumping into things, poor girl. She seemed energetic, but she just wouldn't climb up the stairs to the first floor apartment where we live, so I had to carry her. Her tummy still hurt.

Plenty of rest is the key to a speedy recovery

We were alarmed when she peed a little blood the next day, so we told the vet. He came to check on her and gave her an injection, which she took bravely. The bleeding stopped soon, but I still went out with her with a wad of tissues to make her pee on them, just to check.

All in all, she made a full recovery and is now back to her happy self, as if nothing had happened. You can barely see the stitch scar too.

Hey, who knows, maybe she will adopt one day, if she can't have her own.

Adopt the Internet Day. Open your eyes

Today, as most of the pet bloggers out there already know, is Petfinder's Adopt the Internet Day. For their 15th birthday, they are trying to get as many people to promote pet adoption on the Internet. On Facebook, Twitter, talking about an adoptable pet in particular or adopting in general.

Pet adoption sites in Romania

I haven't used Petfinder, since it's only for pets in the USA, but Romania has its own sites, Adoptii Caini and Adoptii Pisici and I recommend people to use these sites to find a new furry friend.

The situation of strays in Romania

I have already talked about the desperate situation in Romania. Our streets are full of stray dogs and the government has decided to euthanise them. There have been protests and you can read about this in my post Our strays in danger. We only hope for the best.

We are responsible

I want to make people think about this. Our streets are full of dogs, yet I see new breeder-bought dogs being pampered by their owners. We are killing our stray dogs by doing that. Overpopulation is not just "somebody else's problem". We can't just solve it by allowing other dogs to be killed when we take such good care of our beloved purebred Fido. Dogs here are often a fashion accessory and we often discriminate between "our dogs" and "street dogs".

Why don't people want to pick a dog off the street and take it home? Because it's too much trouble, it might have diseases, parasites. Well, that's what we have vets for. Our vet helped us a lot with Aschiuta's problems, even if we didn't have a lot of money.

Oh, and of course, it's a bit embarrassing to say "my dog is a mutt", rather than "my dog is a purebred [breed], we have a certificate and all". Honestly. Why should we discriminate like that? Dogs are dogs and they are all wonderful in their own way.
 

I won't even talk about the "puppy" and "cute" craze. It's bad enough to be known worldwide.

The vet that took care of Aschiuta at the dog hotel told us that people abandon their dogs there. They give false addresses and never return for their dogs. And at least they are considerate enough to send their dogs to a nice place, but others just leave them on the streets.

If you live in a place like that, think twice before buying a "ready-made" dog or cat. Pick one up off the streets or from a shelter. It might save a life or two.

Our strays in danger

Often, too often, I feel sad about the cruelty and narrow-mindedness of my countrymen. Lately, they are planning to kill stray dogs in masses, because of the overpopulation. It has been done before and they are planning to do it again, only this time a lot of people have raised to protest against this atrocity.

A photo from one of the protests. From www.adoptiicaini.ro.

What the pro-euthanasia people have to say
 

There is a phobia (rational or not) of dogs, especially stray dogs. People mistakenly believe that these are savage beasts, intent on harming humans at any given chance. They often quote the case of a woman bitten by stray dogs who eventually died because of the wounds. They claim it should be a "survival of the fittest" and that for one person, they have to commit genocide.

Of course, stray dogs will leave a lot of dirt on the streets and it is unpleasant. Taking care of them in shelters costs quite a lot, so most of them are still out there, in packs, trying to survive. Every person who feeds these dogs is frowned upon (at least).

What the sensible minds respond to all this

I myself can say that the majority of stray dogs will not attack people unprovoked. None of the ones I've seen (and there are plenty in my neighbourhood) are violent. Most are frightful, which is understandable, and some are even friendly. The only problems we've had were a menacing bark at Aschiuta from dogs protecting their territory. They rarely get close and try to bite her and if I'm alone, they don't even flinch.

If we can accept having dogs on our streets, population control can be done through spaying and neutering stray dogs. It is actually cheaper than euthanising the dogs (sterilising costs 15 euros, euthanasia 62 euros). I'm sure readers from more civilised countries agree that is the best solution.

Moreover, the whole action is illegal, contradicting the animal rights here in Romania.

What can be done?

There have been two protests against the euthanasia law the past couple of weeks. There is also a petition addressed to the Parliament, asking for the law not to be passed. The petition can be signed online here.

Adoption is always a great solution. I cannot stress it enough. Our streets are full of stray dogs needing homes, still I see almost only breeder-bought dogs being walked by their owners. Aschiuta was once on the street too and if we had the means to, we'd adopt another dog too. What we did, others can do too.

I have heard about a lot of programs for free or low cost spaying/neutering. We talked to one of the shelters here about trying to get our neighbourhood dogs sterilised this spring. I do hope we'll still have what to spay and neuter...

Adoptii Caini & Pisici. Blog the Change for Animals

Today is one of the four days when bloggers write posts supporting causes and organisations that aim to help animals. The project is called Blog the Change for Animals and was started by the Be the Change for Animals site. You will also find a list of links to everyone's posts there.

Blog the Change for Animals

Adoptii Caini (= Adopt a Dog) and Adoptii Pisici (= Adopt a Cat) are sister sites that represent databases of adoptable dogs and cats in Romania.

Adopt a Dog

Adopt a Cat

Why am I telling you about Romania? I know most of my visitors are from all over the world and even if they had the kindness of getting interested in these programs, they couldn't even read the information on the site. Still, I want to spread the word about these people who work hard to also tell people about all the dogs and cats that need homes.

You probably know Petfinder, which is a similar site with a database of adoptable animals in the USA. You can make some parallels between this site and the Romanian ones.

The two Romanian sites are a program created and maintained by volunteers throughout Romania. They are associated with Protectia Animalelor (= Animal Protection) to raise awareness of animals that need a home. They also have a lot of information about other animal care organisations in our country, shelters, vets and even pet shops and dog trainers.

They also create a community of volunteers, who help document the database and take pictures, and other animal lovers. People can share their opinions of a certain shelter or vet and post classifieds about their missing pet.

What is more important, in my opinion, is that they also have information about our famous stray dogs and cats (also see my On the streets post) posted by people who want to try to find homes for them. I've said it before, this is a serious problem in our country.

I hope this post will help those animals even the tiniest bit and that more people will adopt pets. Forget that they chew your furniture or pee on your rugs or leave hair on your clothes. Pets bring a little piece of living nature into our homes and we will have a sweet, loving friend.

Please adopt pets. If you are from Romania, now you know where to start looking.