We are very grateful to our friends in German-speaking Europe for helping save the lives of these innocent souls! This group can be provisionally divided into three groups: babies, dogs who have arrived at the shelter in the last few months and dogs that have been with us for over 2 years. Here they are, our lucky few:
We start with Manfred. You may not believe it, but this excellent boy has been stuck at the shelter for over 2 years now! He was one of the first few that we transferred from the municipal shelter. A very calm, patient, loving and calm dog. His only crime was the fact that he is 5 years old – we have been looking for a chance for him for a long while now. How wonderful is it that he will finally be loved, he has deserved it a hundred times!
3-year old Scully is one of the many dogs we took from Kremikovtzi. Although our work there is finished, we still have dogs from the factory to rehome. Sadly, some of the dogs we picked up there have been ill in a way that proves what a poisonous place that was. It is not normal to have 4-5 year dogs to have tumors, we are glad Kremikovtzi closed down. It was a source of poison for both humans and animals alike.
Don Quixote is one of the very first dogs that came to the shelter. This wonderful 10-year old boy was one of our “hopeless” cases – he lived un-noticed in his cage for long years – 3 of them. A true shelter veteran, Don loves people and hugs and can wait forever for a touch. A kind, loving dog that will be greatly loved in his new home in Germany!
Visa has also been with us since April 2010. She was only 4 months old when we took her – what a wonderful soul! A lively, fun, enthusiastic dog – like many others that grew up at the shelter, she was not sad or anxious with shelter life. We can only regret that we will not be there to see her discover the many joys of life!
4 litters of puppies and 3 more little ones from different families went to their großes Glück!!! We cannot say much about them – they are just another lot of abandoned babies. Each of them – dumped by cruel and irresponsible owners of un-spayed mothers. Dumped on the street like trash…
You may not quite get it, but this is the “mercy” they were shown – just 2 decades ago these same babies would have been drowned in buckets shortly after they are born. Now, people prefer to dump them in different parts of town once the mother weans them.
This barbaric, intolerable practice takes the lives of thousands of puppies every year and inevitably, supplies the population of street dogs with new sufferers. We have no way to find who dumped them, but if each of us talks and persuades the people around to neuter – we would be one step closer to our goal. These babies do not deserve to die in pain.
15 puppies. Their story might sound banal and dull, but these are 15 lives saved, 15 deaths cheated, 15 strays less in the city of Sofia. It is hard and expensive to care for as many pups as we do. But we think it is worth it. Babies deserve a life too.
Zory is a dog known to most of our volunteers as “roadside mommy”. She was found on the road bank with a single baby stumbling in her footsteps – just a bag of bones, so skinny that it startled even us, and you can be sure – we are used to it. Zory’s puppy was rehomed in no time (in Hollans), but she remained behind. Finally, after 2 years we have fulfilled the promise we made to her. Congratulations to the people who adopt her – there will not be a dull day with her!
These two are Marlene and Topcho – tow babies that grew up at the shelter. Topcho had a broken leg when we took him in, so he had to be operated – it was quite a drama back then. And Marlene… she is just one of the many pups that pass through our shelter to be dewormed, vaccinated 3 times and raised to be a friendly, healthy dog.
This young sweetheart is called Charlie. He remained at the shelter for quite a while, but no one took a second look at him. This young, clever boy, who is less than a year old, was abandoned by his owner with her neighbors. She was leaving abroad and simply dimped the dog on them whilst they are not dog people and didn’t want poor Charlie. So, they left him at the shelter. We were expecting he will be adopted in no time, but instead, he remained. For this reason he decided to pack his stuff and head for Austria!
This is what excellent, kind boy Acho looked like when we took him in. He too is a small dog with a perfect temperament, so we were very confused to watch him linger on with the puppies in his cage for a whole year. We were sure we would place him in weeks, but… nothing happened. This rarely fun and loving dog will be the jewel of his family – and what a funny crooked grin he has, he smiles all day long!
Another peanut that did not get lucky for a long time – Minie. This dog is the perfect size for hugging and is a quiet, clever little girl. We picked her up from Seslavci municipal pound, so she was quite shy at the beginning. But, thanks to the hard-working volunteers, Minie learnt to trust people and won the golden ticket for happiness abroad.
This sweet guy is Mark – the only thing we know about his past is that he is a dumped pet. Sadly, huskies are a very fashionable breed at the moment and many dogs pay long years of hardship and suffering, because they are bought as accessories. And when they show their true Northern temperament, they are either put on a chain somewhere, or thrown out in the streets. Mark will go to people who have the time and energy to make his Northern heart steady.
Ramira is a semi-husky too. The breed fashion has filled our shelter with huskies and blue-eyed mutts, dumped in the street by compatriots-barbarians. The funny moment about her is the fact that she came to the shelter herself. Her curious little nose brought her to us and she simply had to stay. We hope she will live many happy years in her new family!
Food, blankets and towels were sent by our friends in Austria for the 500 dogs at the Bogrvo shelter. We are greatly in debt to our foreign friends who realize how much we need their help on order to be able to manage.
We thank the kind donors of Animal Rescue Sofia who have brought so many dogs from the most miserable condition, to the happiest of lives!!!