A Brief Newsround - Week Ending 25/04/21
The Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe (LIFE) works to improve the welfare of dogs, cats and horses in Roma communities and we reach out to people in need, too.
I've known Ratka for years. In 2009, she drove a horse and cart into my property the day after my house here in Bulgaria burned down. She'd come to offer help by taking away rubbish and old iron. One man's rubbish is another man's gold... Her husband and 2 of her 8 children, teens then, sold scrap iron and she'd "recycle" into cash much else I wouldn't use again, too. We could say such a person is an opportunist. Under the guise of helping she was after gain. It didn't matter to me. My front yard was strewn with blackened and stinking piles of crockery and clothes hurled out of second storey windows from which the glass had blown out. I wanted to be rid of those ruined belongings and thanked her for taking them.
I noticed how thin her horse was; how listless the dogs were that followed her cart. Something stirred in me. I could do something for these animals. That's how the Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe was born.
We're older now, Ratka and I, two very different women with different attitudes and priorities but also much basic in common, including a passionate lust for living. Plus, we share the same shoe size; my desert island plates of meat and her hardened gypsy hooves. A few days ago, she told me, as I gave flea treatment to the family's dog, that she'd been planting garlic in her steeply sloping vegetable plot when she slipped. Her foot and ankle were swollen and her usual plastic slippers hurt. Could we help her with a pair of rubber galoshes? We could. And we popped in a tube of a soothing ointment she favours, too. Little comforts make a difference. We defleaed another dog she's looking after for a relative when we returned with those small items for her, bringing the comfort of an itch-free skin and protection from diseases to him.
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Ratka with the family dog |
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....and with new shoes for the garden |
During the week we dropped in on another woman with a small dog. Over a year ago she'd asked for help with Bobby, who at the time was paralysed in all 4 legs and couldn't move away from where he defecated. Her disabled husband was doubly incontinent and it was hard for her to care for both dog and husband. Her only child, a son, sent support but he was away, working abroad.
We ended up giving homestyle physiotherapy to Bobby after vets did their best but finally suggested euthanasia might be the kindest option. Bobby just seemed to have such a lust for life, we couldn't give up on him. His little eyes sparkled when he took his first steps, supported in a harness. Soon he was not only walking but trotting at quite a pace on his own! Followers of LIFE referred to him as one of our miracles. In fact, we think his muscles had weakened from lying helpless for months. All he needed was massage and strategic exercise.
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Bobby with Sonia |
We thought Bobby would stay with us but then a double tragedy hit his original owner. She lost her son in a gas explosion where he was working abroad and her husband's death followed within weeks. Alone and bereft, she called me to ask after Bobby, and when I said he was no longer paralysed, she asked to have him back now that she could give him more time. We took him the next day and his waggy-tailed response when he saw her confirmed that this was the right decision for them both. We loved having Bobby with us but we're so busy looking after so many animals at LIFE, he could never have as much attention with us as he'll get in his own home.
It was fourteen days since her husband was buried when we last visited. As is traditional, we were plied with snacks and when Ilia admired her tulips, she said she'd dig up bulbs for his new home in autumn and gave him a fistful of lovely blooms for his wife.
Another Bobby joined us at the end of the week, a beautiful boy rescued by a student in a university an hour's drive from LIFE. Unable to keep him in her digs, she fostered him out but the arrangement wasn't a success. Could we help? How could we refuse such a beauty, for whom our dedicated home-seeking team would surely find a place? We're delighted to report that there's already been interest. Bobby 2, like the 3 dogs who travelled to U.K. this past week, could soon be headed to a brand new existence.
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Daniel with Bobby 2 |
Wee rolypoly Sara and Choshko have now arrived safe and sound and are basking in the love showered on them by their kind adopters.
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Choshko (L) and Sara (R) |
LIFE's constant battle to save horses from mistreatment in local Roma communities continues. A particularly frustrating case this week involved an unusually attractive stallion suffering from hooves badly in need of corrective trimming. If treated properly, which means with expertise and patience, this horse could have lovely hooves and legs to match the rest of him within about 6 months. He'd need to rest during that time. Left where he is and made to work daily, his hooves can only get worse, resulting finally in a crippled horse fit only to make money for his owner by impregnating mares. So far, the owners are refusing reasonable offers to get him to the sort of caring home he deserves.
Happily, at LIFE's home site, helper Daniel's excellent calming and trusting work goes on with our rescued and rehabilitated horses.
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Amber having a nose! |
Last but not least, I have two feline success stories to boast of. Calico's chronic lung problem was diagnosed as lung worm, and cured. And a partially blind cat from a local quarry was successfully treated for an intestinal infection, along with a dog suffering from mastitis.
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Calico enjoying the spring sunshine |
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Treated quarry cat |
Catch up with these stories and others on my personal page. Visit the LIFE page for more about our rehomed rescued dogs and those available for adoption HERE. And please remember we rely on your donations to do the work we do with animals here - and with people in need.
My warmest wishes to all our friends and followers for a great week ahead.
Lucy
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