Saving Scooby .... and hopefully Vinny too!

One of the (only) heartbreaking things we come across on our travels around the world, is the way animals are treated in some less 'developed' countries.  Having just come away from six months in South America we saw so many street dogs in such terrible condition.   These countries aren't able to look after their poor people, let alone manage the stray dog population and the problems it brings.  If a dog is lucky (?) enough to have a home it is generally for security and it is common that they are chained up at the property or fenced into an avocado (or similar) orchard and rarely, if ever, let free or given much human affection.  They are also generally not well fed, not provided with shots, flea and tick treatment etc.  They are also not treated as pets and certainly not as part of the 'family'

 It is not often we stay somewhere long enough to become involved in the really sad cases but an extra long sit in the south of Spain provided just such an opportunity.  When we first arrived at the sit we were kept pretty busy with the two dogs and four cats we were caring for.  However, we did notice a very scared wee dog had moved into the no-mans-land between our property and the neighbour's on the quiet rural road where we were.   He remained there until he found a hidey-hole in the basement underneath the neighbour's house.  Many Spanish people are scared of dogs and behave aggressively toward them if they consider them to be a nuisance.  Fortunately not our neighbour, who let the dog stay and provided him with shelter, at least. 

Halfway through our sit the homeowners, of the place we were house and pet sitting, returned and collected the two dogs and their camper van and headed for the UK for a couple of months.   This left us at a loose doggy-end and we were able to turn our full attention to the problem of the little dog that had moved in next door.

We called him Scabby (and later Scooby) as he had a terrible looking skin condition that we initially thought may have been mange.  We had been feeding him daily for a few weeks and continued doing so in an attempt to win him over so that we could handle him and get him treated.  The neighbours have two small dogs of their own and, not only were we worried that all the neighbourhood dogs were at risk of infection, but whatever was wrong with him was making him miserable.  He was also very, very afraid of human contact which led us to believe he had been treated really badly by humans for most of his wee life.

Some time during this period of befriending Scooby, a gorgeous Podenco pup moved in with him.  It quickly became apparent that he, too, was a homeless waif.  We called him Skinny (for obvious reasons!), later changing it to Vinny.  Unlike Scoobs, he was full of character with a larger than life personality and playful enough for us to assume he was still a pup.  Like Scooby, he was also very wary of human contact.

Vinny

Morning feed routine

When it became apparent we were running out of time to catch Scooby before we were to be moving on, we went to the local vet to see if they could give us some broad spectrum oral medication, that could be slipped into his food, for control of the pests that were harbouring in his fur.  He was starting to lose the hair on his body too.  The vet didn't want to prescribe anything (understandably) without diagnosis but gave us the fortuitous idea to contact the local rescue center, Axarquia Animal Rescue (AAR).  

We made an impassioned email plea for Scooby's rescue, providing lots of photographic evidence of his ill health.  And it worked!   The committee made the decision to provide the medical care he needed IF we could catch him. 

Our first plan was to sedate him with Calmivet pills provided by the vet.  People use them to calm their dogs for long car journeys.  This didn't work so well when we failed to give the medication long enough to take effect (relying on the information provided by the vet nurse!) and tried to catch him in a blanket.  We abandoned the project when he became too distressed, for fear of losing his trust completely.  He wasn't particularly fazed though and came straight away for his breakfast the next morning.  All was forgiven.

To cut a loooong story short, we ended up borrowing a carry cage and dog trap from AAR. We decided to bait the trap with his favourite food, boiled chicken, during his normal feed time. Instead of setting the trip mechanism, which would be quite scary for him, James tied some fishing line to the door, stood out of site on a wall above the trap and gently let it close when he went in for his chicken.  He hardly reacted at all and sat quietly while we all took a deep breath.  (This makes it sound easy.  It was not!  There was a lot more planning involved to ensure our success and the least possible stress on Scoobs.)

Off to the vet we all went, Scooby making no fuss at all which surprised us.  He stayed the weekend having all manner of immediate treatments and blood tests.  On the Monday we received the call to pick him up and take him to a local shelter way out in the country.  When we picked him up we couldn't believe how much better he was already looking!  The shelter, Sam and Jo's Doggy Ranch was going to be the perfect place for Scooby's recovery.  He had a lovely big kennel, with a day bed   AND a night bed and lots of love heading his way.

Peace at last!  Scoobs as we introduce him
to his first home

During this process we had also asked AAR if they would be able to find Vinny a forever home so he too could look forward to a better life.  Their response was that the Spanish didn't much care for Podencos, they were all too common in the Spain.   They were not meaning to be unhelpful, but resources are tight and it was Scooby who really needed the intervention on offer.

The day after we dropped Scooby off at his new hotel, we received the delightful news that AAR were offering to help Vinny too.  The neighbours were delighted when we went to tell them as Vinny was making a mess of their yard with his chewing and playful adventures.  Weirdly enough, Vinny succumbed to being picked up in Clare's arms and put into the carry case without any fuss at all.  We were expecting to have to go through the trap fiasco again.  It was almost as if both these babies knew that whilst it was a little scary initially, they would eventually be better off!

Outside the vets, waiting for the fleas to vacate
so we can get back in the car

A quick trip to the vet to deal with his fleas, ticks, worms and blood tests and we were off to reunite him with his buddy.  He was impeccably behaved throughout and again made no fuss during the half hour journey to the shelter.

A little bit shy

The two amigos together again

Scooby was delighted to see both us and Vinny and made an approach for affection for the first time ever in the months we had been feeding him.  Heart melting moment right there!

That wee smile on his face :-)

Butter wouldn't melt ;-)

We stayed long enough to put on their first ever collars.  They seemed really happy, especially to be back together.

We were delighted to be able to move on from here with a feeling of great relief that these worthy pups were receiving the help they so desperately needed.  We feel very privileged to have met these two adorable souls and wish them all the very best for the future.

A video of the lads venturing out of their room for the first time :-)

POST SCRIPTS

Scooby's blood results came back positive for Leishmaniasis, a nasty infection responsible for his skin condition.  Very common in Spain, it is carried by the common sandfly.   He will be on a pill a day for the rest of his life. He was also infected with heart-worm, carried by the mosquito, for which he would take a heavy dose of medication over a seven week period.  All paid for by AAR - Legends!

We are awaiting clearance for Vinny's blood tests, and all going well, he will hopefully be headed for a forever home in the Netherlands :-)

Oh, and the biggest surprise of all was discovering that Vinny was a girl!!!!

POST POST SCRIPT

Vinny's name has been changed to Minnie and her blood tests came back all clear.

Enjoying their rawhide chews at the 'Hilton'

Gorgeous girl

Heart breaker