Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe

The Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe (LIFE) has rescued many horses, dogs and cats over the years but some stand out in my memory more than others. Maybe because she was the first foal I rescued, the story of Amber’s rescue is special to me. I've chosen to tell it here. My mission that day was to treat dogs against ticks and fleas in a rough Roma area. To this end, I was walking between mud-brick hovels, followed by a mob of barefooted children dragging dogs on leads made from string. I’d already treated several puppies and had stopped to remove a wire collar cutting into the neck of another, when a shout made me look up. Yanko, a man whose stallion I wormed last year, wanted me to look at his mare. He said she needed an injection because she’d had a foal he must ‘throw away’. I finished fastening a collar onto the puppy and told its five year old owner to loosen it as the puppy grew. I’d seen deaths due to throats severed by string or wire collars on older dogs Yanko showed me hi...

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 car...

For a joy-filled celebration of Easter, head over to the Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe Facebook page where there's a heavenly host of photos featuring lots of our happily rehomed dogs in the U.K. In Bulgaria, the past week at LIFE has been dominated by a single saga not yet ended.. Here on the ground at LIFE we've been locked in battle with a family whose horse we've been trying to help. When we first encountered her, she'd just lost a foal. A vet was sent to ensure there was no infection of the womb and when he called to report on the examination he said it was no surprise she'd aborted as he'd seen her hauling an enormous load the day before. He - and we - cautioned the family to at least let her rest for a good while after losing her baby but she was harnessed again within days. LIFE arranged to meet the owners (in my mind now, the unwitting or otherwise abusers) and because it was cold at night, provided a rug, barley and bales on condition the mare was re...

We thought we'd post this article written by Lucy about Amber, LIFE's first rescued foal, who after such a terrible start in life,  has now grown into such a splendid horse.  Read her story here: My mission that day was to treat dogs in a rough Roma area against ticks and fleas. To this end, I was walking between mud-brick hovels, followed by a mob of barefooted children dragging dogs on leads made from string. I’d already treated several puppies and had stopped to remove a wire collar cutting into the neck of another, when a shout made me look up. Yanko, a man whose stallion I wormed last year, wanted me to look at his mare. He said she needed an injection because she’d had a foal he must ‘throw away’. I finished fastening a donated collar onto the puppy and told its five year old owner to loosen it as the puppy grew. LIFE has seen deaths due to throats severed by string or wire collars on older dogs.    Yanko showed me his mare, who, tied to the cart she pulled, wa...