News
A Happy Ending for "Number 18"
September 06, 2007, 11:33PM MT
By Michael G Rodrigue
A Happy Ending for "Number 18"
A Happy Ending for "Number 18"
This is part of an emotional email that Refugio Kimba received last May.
"......Today I was at the dog pound to save a life..... Well, there she was, number 18. A beautiful black galgo with such a sad face that it brought tears to my eyes. The man working there asked me 'would you like to take here??? She's not one that you requested, but take her anyway.'
He must have said it to me 6 or 7 times.
He didn't seem like a bad guy; sometimes there are those, and other times there are others. But this man, this employee at the dog pound, showed a love for animals.....
I asked him when she was scheduled to be killed. Well, he told me that it was to be today, but that so many new dogs had arrived that they had rescheduled her for tomorrow, Friday the 19th.
"Would you like to take her?????????" he asked me once again....
Ohhhhh dear me, please, please don't ask me again!!!!
We have no room!! The shelter is at maximum capacity. We just can't! It's impossible.
"I can save her for you in 'Yellow' (which means to be killed tomorrow). And in 4 days you'll have found some place for her, right? Surely you would! Surely there is a place for her! Surely there is an angel out there...."
"Okay, but please give me until Monday afternoon. Keep her here; it's not the best place but there is no other option, and I swear I'll find a something for her...."
"DON'T WORRY! I'll take good care of Number 18 for you...."
Immediately we told Mari Angeles that we were going to send the beautiful Number 18, and that Kimba would find a good family for her.
She has been at our shelter now for all these months since then. She managed to overcome all of the fear that she had, and today she is a very happy and playful dog with a huge will to live.
Her name is "ANGIE", her dreadful number disappeared months ago. And yesterday our little galga "Angie" left to begin her new life in Holland, where her new family awaits her; a family found by the wonderful friend organisation "GRH".
Yesterday in Seville we had good news. Our little galga, Angie, along with 18 other abandoned and abused dogs were picked up by Mieke and Paul. They are two very good people who put their lives at risk driving thousands of kilometers to be able to give a second chance at life to those very unjustly abused animals.
We took our little Angie to the Plaza de España in Seville, where at 11:00 o'clock on a rainy morning, the van arrived from Greyhounds Rescue Holland.
We joined various other volunteers from some of the shelters in Seville to wait for the arrival of the Dutch van, and as you can see, it was very difficult for Angie to part from the volunteers from Kimba who accompanied her.
And for some of the volunteers it was even harder to part with their galgos.
The television news media arrived from "Canal Sur" (TV station in southern Spain) and they gave us a few seconds of coverage in their news broadcast (just a little more than that given to a bull fight).
In any event, in the center of the Plaza de España there were several tour buses filled with tourists. Many of them were asking, and all of them were informed, of the reasons why our hunting dogs are sent to live in other countries.
Again, we'd like to thank Greyhounds Rescue Holland for the wonderful work that they do.
Author: Maria José Jaén
Translated by: Michael Rodrigue