A story by Alex

They say that a dog is men’s best friend. And if you ask me – I’ll tell you that this is the truth. Because for us there is nothing more wonderful than being there for our person, sharing a life, no matter good or bad. Because our human is the only one that matters.

It’s good to be a dog, but not a stray dog. We stray dogs have friends, but there are many ill-wishers too. We have to fight for their survival every day – with people, other animals. We fight for food, water, love… The life of a stray dogs is a never-ending battle. And the end is usually bad.

Here in the shelter we are part of the lucky tribe. Not that our lives are a fairytale – we still live in a cage, but there are people who take care of us – real heroes. So, yes, we are lucky dogs. Because these people really care about us and do their best to find our best friends. Until that happens we count the passing days and dream big, hoping that tomorrow will be the day that He or She will come and will ask for us. And we’ll finally have a real family and everything else we’ve been listening about. And then our fairytale will be with a happy end unlike the once of the stray dogs still out there…

In our story there are also one other kind of heroes, different from the people who take care of us and from the adoptrve families. And those are the volunteers. They are a special type of heroes which we really love. The volunteers are very tough – they can spend a whole day in walks and games with us and never complain or ask for a break.  They are also really dedicated to us – they don’t know holiday or rest. All they know is that they are all we have – them and our weekends together. That is why they keep coming to us all the time and never forget about us. But most of all – they love us a lot – just as we love them.

It is because of the volunteers that we are such adorable, social and good dogs. Because they surround us with love and attention and show us what e pet’s life is like. They teach us games and train obedience. But most of all, we learn from them what friendship is. They show us that there are many beautiful things in life waiting for us. And they say to us all the time that one day our people will come. The volunteers are a shelter’s dog best friends. And they always send us to our new families with joy and a little sadness that they won’t see us again.

Yes, it is good to be a dog – especially a pet! And until that happens we thank to all volunteers for the great walks and time we spend together. They didn’t forget us this weekend too and we all had the chance to run and play! There is so little time left until we meet our heroes again!

Europe day. Day of the victory over fascism. A day to remember the horrors of World War 2, the war that drowned our planet in the blood of milions of people. People. That’s who we are. Amazing creatures. Strong, smart, abstract, organized… and capable of killing ruthlessly in the name of monstrous ideologies.

Today is a day to remember. The Russians say “We have not forgotten anyone. We have not forgotten anything.” Are we remembering as well? This horrid event has taken place in the lives of our grandparents. Today our children whine about not having the new i-phone.

Do we remember? Besides people, there were many animals “fighting” in the WW2. From dolphins who gave their lives to make water mines safe; through horses who entered the bettelfield amongst ashes and blood, often just to be eaten in a moment of hunger; to dogs – used to disarm mines, blow up tanks, bring messages, carry medications, pull sledges, guard, seek out berried people etc.

Let us remember today – we are only human. That we have made and will keep making many mistakes. That we have to learn from our past and walk forth with a clear knloedge who we are and where we come from. Today is a day to remember. Remember the millions of boys and men who have fallen in this battle for our freedom.

In the end, a very rough translation of Bulgaria’s amazing poet Valeri Petrov:

Do you know any such vicious predators
who have so much hate and malice between them
that they have begun to use other animals
to guard and protect them from their own kind?

You probably haven’t seen this gentle dog in the shelter. Not only she doesn’t have a shiny appearance to grab the attention, but she also spent only 20 days in the shelter.

She was found in the beginning of March, a 2 year old dog, extremely pregnant, close to a pumping station in Lozen village, with counting ribs despite her huge belly. If she was not brought in Bogrov, right now she was probably going to be even skinnier in an attempt to care for her 8 puppies which she carried. Out of these 8, probably about 4 were going to die painfully from cold, illness, hit by cars, or victims of human aggression, and the other 4 were going to be around 2 months old now, each of them surviving the way they can, protecting themselves from people and cars in constant search for food, water and shelter.

We decided to leave Mommy, as the doctors in the shelter named her, in the shelter, because her chances of survival at the place where she was were quite slim. This place is inhabited only during summer, when eventually people working there can be a source for food. From her appearance it was clear that the rest of the time, her life is a hard fight for survival – counting ribs, outlined chest… We also decided to leave her with us, because she is very social, she absolutely adores being petted and stroked, even only with a glance, she hi five’s, sits obediently and walks perfectly on a leash.

Тhis is how Mommy moved in Bogrov for longer. First she inhabited the operating room. She was just sleeping and was almost invisible. She was eating with desire, now that she had food abundance compared to before, and then she immediately hurried to go lie down again. This is when she was noticed by one of our volunteers – Raia. In the second week, as she was coughing a bit, she was moved for a while in the quarantine room. This weekend Raia went to see her again. Mommy wasn’t that happy, because the other dogs constantly occupied her bed and she had to lie down on the ground, while she loved her tub-bed so much. On the third week of her stay, right before she was moved in the big building with the other dogs, where, her slim chances of adoption would have decreased even more drastically, Raia adopted her. She was pre-destined to have a home.

Mommy is now named Bambie and from a month and a half she has a home, where Raia’s other dog – Zara keeps her company and they like each other. She gets food and water every day and has gained weight, after a massive record catch-up on food for the first 2 weeks. Bambie is very obedient, as every grown up dog, she came with hygiene manners, did not chew on furniture, and overall made her new owner feel very proud with her J She is already walking without a leash, her hobby is sleeping, eating and finding hedgehogs. She even takes the courage to swim in the close by river, she is only afraid of thunders and abandonment. She is dying for attention and tenderness, and she is always waiting for her owner to go to bed so she can jump in the bed too.

Bambie is one gentle creature that spreads its love appreciating her home. She would never cause harm, she would never abandon. If you would like to gift such happiness to one of our dogs, visit Bogrov shelter, you would see all sorts of dogs, all 500 of which, longing for a home.

Just a few lovely images from our Facebook page:

Do you remember sweet Rafaelo? A lovely little dog who was hit by a car and had to have a complicated surgery at the Central Vet clinic. He was rehomed by a wonderful family and has been doing absolutely great. Unfortunately his family is going through a togh time and can’t give him the best of cares anymore. Raffy is looking for a loving home again. Here is what his human mother has to say about him:

“It’s become impossible for us to keep Raffy, please help us find him a good home. He has no breed, but he’s handsome and obedient. He’s 7 months old, has received all the necessary vaccines, anti-parasite treatments, has a microchip and will soon be neutered. We would like to cover his food and vet bills until the end of the year, but we are only going to give him up to a good family who will love him. We have to give him up through no fault of his and we’re so sad to do it. We would be so grateful if his new family allowed us to visit him or take him out for walks every now and then.

Raffy is a good student and very eager to please – he follows instructions like “stop”, “sit” and “stay” (especially before crossing the street or going up/down stairs), also “no”, “here” and “give me your paw”. He still needs some coaching, but he’s definitely very clever. He is very much aware of the zones which are out of bounds for him – doesn’t walk into the kitchen or climb on furniture, he’s careful around our child and doesn’t bully the cats (well, not too much anyway). He’s obedient during walks, we’re now working on the command “by me”, but of course we walk him on a leash as he’s still very curious and wants to sniff every other person and dog. He’s quite happy to be tied up and wait for me when I go into a shop or sit down at the park. He’s playful, like every other pup, but he runs out of steam pretty quickly. He’s kind, has very gentle eyes and it just a generally goofy good-natured dog.”

CONTACT US if you would like to give Raffy a loving, permanent home.