... will there be a pot of gold at the end of it, in the form of a golden basket?
The old Irish legend states that there's a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. There was a rainbow in the sky the day Fabienne found Rudolfo. He didn't have a name, back then, at the beginning of May. He was scared, skinny, weak and wasted, living on the streets if you could call it living, close to giving up. Children threw stones at him, people kicked him aside. Nobody wanted a sick dog. When the car bore down on him he hardly cared it it hit him or not. Perhaps it would be a good thing, the end to this terrible suffering.
The car missed him. We found him. But he wouldn't come, despite the food that Fabienne and the voluneers offered. Despite the kind words. He wanted to trust but how could he, after what he knew of humans? A few days passed. We didn't give up on him. But he did, in a way. He surrendered to us. Perhaps we'd treat him well, perhaps not. By now he was too weak to care.
Rudolfo in May - skinny, scared, ready to give up
Rudolfo led his friend to us too - now they can both look forward to a better life
But he came, eventually. And he brought a friend and both of them are now with us. We call him Rudolfo and he was not as old as we thought. Just sick and so sad. His friend had a nasty wound which is being treated, and we hope that he too will find his golden basket. Both dogs are so gentle and have accepted us. Fabienne says 'Rudolfo puts his head in your hands and looks with a sweet look and you see him think ... he thinks it will be all right now.'
Now a month later and he is quietly improving. His life has meaning again. He's not there yet, but he's allowing himself to be pampered. He's enjoying the attention. He even has his own sunhat, which he wears happily - a far cry from the terrified dog who wouldn't allow us to approach just a month ago.
Look at my lovely hat ...Rudolfo in June
Rudolfo enjoying the attention - and hoping for a golden basket
As May turns to June, Spain becomes hotter and hotter. Many of the dogs arrive with, to quote Fabienne, 'a little coat with too many visitors, such as ticks, fleas, filth.' This seems to have gone unnoticed by their former 'owners', if as she says you can even dignify them with that name.
Fabienne and the team always try to help the dogs discard their past in all respects and with the long-haired darlings, who arrive in a pitiful state, their dirty stinking coats are one of things that we sort out as quickly as we can. We usually have to remove the coat completely, we have no choice. To do this we employ a lady who is an expert dog groomer and hairdresser. She comes for an afternoon to help us out, because taking these coats off requires skill and care so as not to cut the skin, with the consequences that might entail.
It's not something we could do ourselves. So
we chose her specially for this and we pay 50 Euros for an afternoon. In that time she can usually shear the coats off two very badly neglected dogs, sometimes three if the dogs are very small and occasionally, if the coats are not too matted, she can even do up to four.
Because it's summer now there are many dogs needing a good haircut. It's so great to see them after they've had their turn, they seem reborn and so content - it's really lovely. Maybe if you are reading this you might like to sponsor a particular dog; that would help us get them into their summer 'clothes' - we would be very grateful to you. Just look at our Rock and our Rasta, before and after.
Poor Rock, hot and uncomfortable
That's better - and I still have my lovely furry bear face!
Here's a letter to Fabienne from Elaine Bauld who adopted these two charmers from El Refugio. Yet another happy ending thanks to Elaine and the many other wondeful people who adopt our dogs and take them into their hearts and homes.
Hi Fabianne,
We thought you might like to see how we are getting on, we have been in our new home now for 3 years at the end of July and are very happy, we have been in the mountains in France for the winter we travelled in our Auto caravan, Bo was only allowed to drive some of the way, we really enjoy the Auto caravan we get to go on the beach and have lots of lovely walks in all the different places that we visit we are very well behaved and love to sit outside and watch the world go by, we loved the snow and climbing in the woods Bobo thinks she is a mountain goat as well as a good driver, but best of all we liked the fire and the sofa, we met lots of new friends and we have lots of friends in our street everyone loves us. My mum has enclosed some photos for you to see that we are having a lovely life and she says that we are the best dogs ever. We had a lovely Christmas with all our family.
Lots of love and thank you for finding us our lovely life.
How often do we say this, particularly when a lost dog is found or some poor little creature has been badly treated? Well, perhaps we'll never hear them speak but scientists are working hard to at least help us understand what they are thinking. Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta have been training our four legged friends to lie still in an MRI machine for 15 seconds Long enough to map their brain activity.
The scientists got the idea when they discovered that dogs had played a vital part in the capture of Osama bin Laden. If they could be trained to jump out of helicopters, surely they could be trained to stay quiet in an MRI machine. The first experiments were to see whether appropriate areas of the brain would be activated in anticipation of an award. They were. It's early days but they hope among other things to prove that dogs have empathy with their owners and to see if they use sight or smell to recognise them.
These neglected, suffering dogs were found in Tarifa, right behind a shopping centre where hundreds of people pass daily. Not far from the beaches crowded with holidaymakers, despite the economic crisis. Life rushes by but these poor creatures also have a right to life. They were born to be happy too, to lead a dignified existence. Once they were healthy and full of expectation, both the mother and the puppies.In this case, the Seprona, the division of the Spanish Civil Guard responsible for animal welfare, stepped in and brought the dogs to a clinic. But for some, after already suffering great distress, it was too late.
Thrown out, discarded, ignored and left to die
A mother desperately tries to lick her puppy back to life
You do not expect it. You work and the days go past. For 12 long
years we’ve fought together, fighting for so many lives, each in his own way,
but always together. In daily conversation about what is good or what could e
done better, about which dogs are a concern to us and how to tie the ends
together. When I want to save too many dogs, Ton is the one who will whistle me
back, yes we can save them but we need to save them financially too. That is
the issue.
When he suddenly became ill last week I
did not know what happened, it was such a heavy blow. This could not be that strong man who always defied
everything, inside a soft good man, honest and sincere, and committed to our
dogs, nothing was too much for him, nothing was too heavy, but now … he must
take a step back, to recover and then he will be back.
We hope, as we want it so badly, dear
Ton, we wish you the strength of our entire team, of all of us, of all our dogs
… Know that we are behind you. And we want to give you the time to feel and be
better. Together we are strong, in good and bad times.
A year ago today the Refugio
was badly damaged by a terrible mudslide - but now it’s stronger than ever.
May 19th 2011
When I arrived at the big gates on my very first morning I
had no idea what I would find. I’d left England the day before, May 18th, on a
very early flight. I took the train from Fuengirola, and then a taxi, arriving
at Las Buganvillas at midday. I had no idea how to get to El Refugio, so I settled
into my apartment, slept and prepared to go up the next day.
That night, around 2a.m., I was woken by the most violent
thunderstorm I have ever experienced. The sky was a pulsating electric blue,
the rain lashed the windows, the wind howled. It went on for several hours. Next
morning the sky was blue, the sun shone, the air was fresh. I phoned for a taxi
to take me to El Refugio. I got there at
10, the place looked deserted. I ran the bell – no one answered. Unknown to me
the electricy had been knocked out. At this point I still had no idea of the
enormity of what had happened.
A car arrived. It was Dirk; we’d never met but I recognised
him from the website. We walked up towards the portakabins and that’s when I
could see it. The place was a sea of mud, the dogs were covered in mud, parts
of the hill had slid down in several places. People were busy digging, hosing,
sluicing. Marjolijn, a Dutch volunteer, now a friend, saw me, introduced herself,
showed me where to find a sluicer and we just got to work.A generator was brought in. More helpers
arrived I recognised Fabienne, again from the website, but it was no time for
introductions. She was everywhere at
once, distressed, but practical as ever, trying to sort it all out.
Everyone worked non-stop. All that day, and the next day and
the next. People came from everywhere. Some offering to take some of the
smaller dogs, to help them get warm. Others with masses of towels and blankets.
Ton said the phone never stopped ringing from 7.30 am and into the night. The
people came from the local radio station. Another dog charity brought a van
load of food. I hadn’t known it at the time, but over the next days I
discovered that the deluge had destroyed all the food stores, all the medicine,
all the towels and the blankets and much else beside. The weaker dogs were in
danger and some died. From pneumonia, from hypothermia. It was the saddest of
times. A time that no one associated with A.C.E. will ever forget.
I know I’ll certainly never forget. I arrived knowing no one
at the worst possible time. When I left nearly two weeks later I had a new
‘family’ – and I can hardly believe that it’s only a year since I met you all.
I’m glad I was there when you most needed help, even though I was just one
among many. I’m glad that I shared that experience with you. I’ve been looking
through the Dutch and English blogs for May last year. The posts are heart warming
- offers of help, donations, words of sorrow and support and love. Such a
great, big, warm, loving family – A.C.E.
May 1st 2012
All squeaky clean
Another day, another dinner time
The washroom's all nice and fresh again
A nice lick of paint - there've been many great improvements
May 19th 2012 - the pictures tell their own
story. Bigger, better, stronger.Nevertheless, the demands are great and growing daily. Spain is in a
dreadful state, the dogs are under even greater threat.El Refugio is constantly under pressure. But it’s still going, thanks to the immense
efforts, love and devotion of Fabienne and team Spain, of team Holland and of
Team Belgium – of every single volunteer, worker, student, supporter, donor,
foster parent – everyone and anyone who makes this brilliant organisation what it is today.
Below are just some of the dogs that now have loving forever homes - these are the Dutch adoptees for the month of April 2012. Many more will find their golden baskets throughout the year - in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Austria. Thanks once more to Ineke for the wonderful photos and collages.
So many beautiful dogs owe their lives to A.C.E., many of them like the ones above now happy and adored with their loving adoptive families. The work goes on.
