As
a dog, being born unwanted in Romania means they will most likely suffer the
consequences for it. Justice or logic will not stand in the way of them getting
abused, injured or, often times, killed. Stray dogs are responsible for a
number of things that go wrong in this country, including poverty, as it is a
known fact that their keep in public and private shelters sucks a lot of the
budget funds that should be better used in hospitals and schools; never mind
that public shelters use that money only on paper and that private shelters are
not funded by the government, the general public knows best.
Although useless, dangerous and dirty, stray dogs have
the great quality of being excellent target practice material for professional
or amateur hunters. One can find them dumped all over the fields and, because they
haven’t completely lost their domestic side, they come greeting the hunter in
the hope of being rescued, instead of running away and saving their lives. The
police and media keep silent, because nobody cares about a few stray dogs
getting shot and the general public can sleep peacefully knowing that Bambi
wasn’t murdered...seriously, it’s just a few dogs no one wants, thousands more
will be born in no time...
Lucky is the survivor of such an attack and, because she
was found in time, by good people, she became the leading lady of her sad
story; hundreds of other such victims die alone, unknown, without ever
experiencing anything but hunger and pain.
She
was found this winter on a field, lying in her own blood, after being shot and
left for dead in the middle of nowhere. Lucky was rushed to the clinic and
benefited the Homeless Animal Hospital
program, which means she had top quality medical services for free. Both her
hind legs were broken and dozens of bullet parts were found under the skin in
different areas; she almost lost the fight after the first surgery that fixed
her right back leg. A long and very hard recovery followed, but Lucky’s will to
live touched everyone’s hearts. I was there for 4 days and got to witness her
ordeal. I took her out in the yard a few times a day and fed her, trying to
make her as comfortable as possible, although she had an external fixation on
her right leg and still a broken tibia on her left; she ate, but her body was
too hurt at that time and we were afraid for her life. Lucky had to have a
blood transfusion, after which her health improved a lot.
Lucky spent a few minutes outside with me or with another member of the staff; though painful, she was trying to stand for a few minutes to pee and then carefully get away so she wouldn’t get dirty. Watching her stand still, with her plastic cone and metal fixation, without making a peep, without complaining or asking why did this happen to her or asking for justice or hysterically cursing her attacker...just staring at the concrete or sometimes looking for the sky, humbly accepting whatever we were offering, food and water or even medicine, basic things that should have been hers all along, made me rethink a lot of things. She didn’t know why she was there or what she had done to deserve this, but that small crate was her home where she felt safe and wanted, a home she had earned at the expense of her blood.
This
brave girl pulled through and had her second surgery that fixed the
broken tibia. She is now on all four and recovering in the home of her rescuer,
Mama Hope, where she is also learning about how it feels to be loved and cared
for. Lucky is a very sweet girl and her heart, although stopped for a few
moments on the operating table, was never resentful towards people. Such a
great lesson to be learned by all of us about forgiveness and humility and such
a painful way for her to show it to us! We are lucky to have them as best
friends...while we still do!
Lucky
is one of the fortunate few who make it back from hell. She got to see the
humanity’s worst side, but she is now taking baby steps in finding out just how
great life can be.
If you were touched by
Lucky’s story, please support Romania
Animal Rescue’s struggle in preventing such violence by sparing the lives
of the thousands of unwanted puppies born each year in Romania. Spay/neuter is the kindest, most selfless act of love
we could do for them, as it prevents them having to experience a life full of
torture and indifference. Also, learn about our Homeless Animal Hospital project that helps animal in need and poor
owners and their pets: http://homeless-animal-hospital.org/http://homeless-animal-hospital.org/
Choose to be part of the solution, support free spay/neuter
projects throughout Romania by donating to Romania
Animal Rescue using these details:
USA paypal :
romaniadogs@sbcglobal.net;
UK paypal: donations@animalsni.uk
Please check out our website: http://www.romaniaanimalrescue.org/
Thank
you!