THE ACE-SHIN ENGLISH BLOG : Poncho's Story

July 07, 2012

Poncho's Story

Fabienne tells the sad story of Poncho: -

Beautiful, sad eyes

"Five months ago I got a call from a Spanish lady to tell me that she knew of a Mastin mother who had recently given birth. All the puppies had been sold but two little brothers were left and they had to go 'either way'. So we made ourselves known as a rescue organisation, explaining that while we don't buy dogs we did want to help in finding them a good home.

The very day the dogs were supposed to come to us we heard that one of the brothers had been given to a Spanish guy, and were assured that he would give the dog a good home.
I immediately had my doubts because the Mastin breed is not well regarded in this country. Too many times Mastin's are tied to chains where they remain for the rest of their lives and they go through hell. And this despite the fact that this a gorgeous, calm breed of dog.

Balou, the other brother, came to us and soon was being treated as a prince in a loving family and is now the happiest dog in the world. Poor Poncho was a lot less fortunate. We heard on the grapevine that there was a young Mastin, a 7 month old puppy, lying on a chain, very skinny and very afraid of both men and animals. He was said to have been kicked and beaten and his tail had been cut off.

After some investigation and research we found out that this was indeed Balou's brother. With a lot of effort we managed to bring him to us, to the Refugio. He is still very afraid, still showing the dreadful effects of his mistreatment, his tail is a cut-off stub. His life so far has been just hell. He's been with us for a few days now. He lies outside the office, close to the patio. No visitors pass by without greeting him warmly. He looks and looks with his beautiful big Mastin eyes, a look of such purity, there's not a shred of aggression in him.

If you don't look directly at him you can see, out of the corner of your eye, that he's glancing at you. "Oh my," he seems to be thinking "these people here are really friendly ... how strange. But I'll stay watchful." Now when you're eating your sandwich he's already willing to take a bit from your hand and if you produce some cookies ... well, that's very interesting too. In short, this gorgeous big whopper deserves so much better than he's known so far. The poor thing hasn't had any luck yet, he doesn't even know how to play.

Poncho is only 7 months - his whole life is ahead of him. He has a whole world to discover. Let's hope that he will find a boss who respects him and appreciates him, because that is what our Poncho really needs. We'll do our very best to get that for you, little Poncho.