December 2012. A memorable time for us at Animal Rescue Sofia:
our precious bus “Kalcho” has toured Europe there-and-back twice and what is more – we will be sending 20 more lucky sweethearts to their new destiny later on this week!
As a result, so far we have 57 lucky angels who are already in the caring hands of their new people, and 20 more waiting to go down Lucky Lane.
We proudly introduce you to the heroes of our December 4th transport. Some of them are puppies – babies from the Vivacom Puppygarten to whom we promised to spent their first Christmas warm and loved. Well, thanks to you – we have fulfilled this promise!
We start with Azumi and Mononoke. Two tiny birds, dumped in the outskirts of Sofia in a horrible state – skinny, full of parasites and very miserable. After a few days of being fostered they became happy and bad-looking and today, a month later, they are the beautiful ladies you see on these photos. We actually thought they were pinchers when they were found – they were at least a month old and could fit in a palm – this is how pathetic and malnourished they were. Well, now, no more hunger for these two, Holland has so much joy to offer them!
Marvin – the Jedi! Yes, it is true – he can fly! And you can’t hold him still even for a photo. He came to the shelter with his sister (dumped yard-dog puppies in case you were wandering), she found a home quickly, but he remained behind. A whole year passed. Even the photos you see here were taken 10 months ago. But nothing changed in the life of Marvin, no matter how he and we wished for it. Now, finally, the good boy will have soil under his feet and wind in his ears, going on long walks and chasing his owners’ bike…
This sweet guy here is Sammy. A puppy that was hand-reared by a kind woman. She picked him up from two girls who had found a box of abandoned sucklings and were giving them away to passer-byes at the National Theatre. Sammy was raised, vaccinated and prepared by his loving foster and spent very little time at the shelter – he quickly left for the land of tulips where he will make a family very happy…
Stefka… She was dumped in a Sofia neighborhood with her tits hanging, recently neutered, no sign of puppies and very confused. She must have been released in the wrong place by the Ecobalance dog-catchers. Somehow, she got accustomed to her new life and kind people took care of her on the street until one day they found her with a severely broken front leg. She was operated, but the surgery was complicated and she needed a 3 month recovery before her metal plates were removed. This is how she came to the shelter and after she was successfully recovered, she remained with us – such a good girl deserves a good home. She waited long, but she knows good things are worth the while, such a patient and kind soul… We wonder how she will be called in Holland?
One of our “tulips” – Negritta was lucky to find a chance in Holland as well. Such a lively, energetic, fun and outgoing creature! We are glad that she finally has people to love and can only hope her siblings are as lucky as she…
Maybe the most important promise that we managed to keep with this transport was the promise we made to sweet Matilda.
She is the dog on page December in this years’ calendar. And as such – she was promised a home by the end of the year by our chairlady Nadia Stancheva. We were about to brake our vow, when our Dutch friend Selma came to the rescue – she met Matilda during her visit last month and pow! Problem solved. Congratulations, Mati!
In order to avoid such situations in the future – we began with the heroes of our 2013 calendar early! The lucky souls of May and November left with our last transport. This time – the lucky ones were January and August!
Raffy – Mr. August 2013! 1,5 year old boy who came to the shelter in a most bizarre manner. Rossy and Vessy saw him one morning on their way to work. He was just a dumped puppy with a small wound on his leg – there was no room at the shelter, so they checked how bad his leg was. And since it wasn’t that bad – they pet him and left him there. We cannot help each and every one of them… But, a few hours later, to their absolute amazement, the two found this exact same puppy in the shelter corridor – nobody knew how or why it appeared there, but it was the same little dog – with the same wound on his leg. What a mystery! He has now miraculously appeared in Holland J
One more lucky calendar boy – lovely Rufus. One of the puppies we tried to rehome exactly this time last year, you can see him as a pup back then. You can also see we were unsuccessful – his siblings Grafitti and Saima went home, but it wasn’t meant to be for him. This lovely dog finally got lucky. He will get the love he deserves!
Two of our “Children of the North” left the shelter on this trip. Momma Husky and Locca (finally)!
Mamma Husky was found dehydrated and confused on the highway together with a puppy of hers. We called the baby Helly (because of her helicopter ears) and managed to rehome her quite quickly. Mommy didn’t have to wait long either – her good looks and kind soul quickly sent her on a journey to happiness. Her new, lovely name is Riven. Well done, Riv!
Poor Locca waited much too long! It took two and a half years “behind the bars” to get her home and that can be a hell of a time for a crazy girl as herself. Sadly – one blue eye is not enough to convince the world you are a Child of the North and she spent a long, long time dreaming of the thing she desired most – freedom…
This here boy is Botev! His name comes from the road he was found at – named after a great Bulgarian Revolutionary and poet. The boy was found after being hit by a car, but he must be a strong one – nothing broken on him! Botev quickly recovered and later on became of those sad faces that just make your heart melt. We can only wonder if his new family will know how he came to be called Botev.
Tiny Kiwi. Together with her sister Africa she was found by two of our volunteers volunteers on a remote road in a Sofia suburb. They were found accidentally and Kiwi was with a badly broken leg – it was the chance of their lifetime, they would have both been long passed away if it wasn’t for this precise moment. Sweet Africa still waits for love at the shelter.
Yara – a wonderful Labrador mix found wandering on a busy road. She was obviously a pet who was lost or abandoned. Some speculate that she must have been bought as lab and then was dumped when they saw she is not “purebred”. But we prefer not to think that, because that means some dangerously crazy people are loose among us. Black dogs are usually hard to rehome, but in her case – one look can be enough to love her forever. Good luck in Holland, dear girl!
Just briefly, as if they weren’t separate dogs, each with their own faith, each – a life saved – the puppies that left – the new “duchlings”. Most of them don’t have a special story or even names -just numbers, counting the vulgarity that surrounds us… They were all small babies who came in boxes – the dumped offspring of unsprayed yard dogs that were “humanely” dropped-off in the street.
Sweet Ruby will be noticed immediately even from a distance!
Random angels from different litters:
This is it – 26 dogs that were lucky to get their biggest dream fulfilled this Christmas – to be with their loving families in the comfort of their own home.
We thank the donors who made the difference between life and death for these 26 good animals!
We thank our colleagues in Holland for always being there for us and out dogs!