And New Lifes Begin

These sweet hearts are up for adoptions. Not through Animals Without Limits but

we are helping spreading the news. New life's new hopes.

This is Amore.....

Lupa Got Her Wings

Lupa finally got her freedom at 14.23 today. I miss you so terrible much.

LUPA

Lupa, I am not ready to have you leave me.

I know it is selfish of me. I love you, and I am proud of you.

The Vet will come tomorrow, to help you on your final journey. But I am not at all ready. I know you are, and that you want peace now. I have to give you your peace that you are asking for, finally. But it is not what I want. I am heartbroken.

You were trapped in the horrible shelter. I wanted so badly to give you a longer time with love and freedom and comfort here with us. Maybe here in our love, now, you thought it has been a long time, and you want to continue your travel on your peaceful road to heaven.

Thank you, Lupa. For your time --- too short a time --- with us. Thank you for your love on this earth, this life. Rest easy. Your work here is done.

Hit and Left... the closure

[This is a update to the "Hit and Left" entry below. Please read it first]

Sad news this evening.

The Vet clinic called to say that the blood tests on Franz were not good. He had a very elevated white-blood count, and signs of severe kidney and liver damage. They also believed he had tumors in his organ(s), and internal bleeding. They recommended euthanizing him.

Reluctantly, I had to agree. He was old and with these injuries, his life was going to be short and painful. Still, it was a tough decision.

So sad, no micro-chip. No collar or tags. No owner to call, nobody to mourn him, or miss him.

Later this night, they did the autopsy at my request. Here is part of the email I received from Dr. Friz:

Dear Mia,

the dog had a bad tumor in the liver and was hit by a car: bleeding in the abdomen, one of the kidneys was completely damaged. Thanks for collecting him and put him out of his misery.

Dorothea

Dear Franz, we are so sorry this was the end for you. But glad you are no longer in pain. Your work on earth this time is done. Bon voyage. Say hello to Morris for us.

Hit and Left

I am now back from LegaProAnimale, --Vet. clinic-- after dropping off an injured stray that was hit by a car and left on the street hurt in front of our Parco.
My husband came back this morning after a training event, and asked if I had seen the dog laying up on the median?

Yes I had, and now I found the opportunity to run up and see if the dog was ok.

Alberto from the animal store spotted me, Antionella from the flower store saw me, I signaled to them that this was an injured dog. I could see blood running from his nose.

When trying to get closer the dog tried to get away wobbling on his back legs. My wonderful husband came driving with my SUV and went out trying to stop the traffic (or slow down) so the dog wouldn't get hit again. Antionella, me and another Italian worked in a circle to try to corner and catch him. The Italian got my leash loop and threw it over the dogs head. Todd pulled up with the "rescue" SUV. The dog tried snapping at us (I would do the same, he was simply acting normal given the situation) so we put a jacket over his head before lifting him into the SUV. And off I went to the Vet clinic, missing my appointment with Jack at the obiedience training.

At LegaProAnimale, Dr. Gigi and Dr Friz came out and brought him in for examination. What I love with the vets AWL works with --- same goes for our own Dr. Inga --- is to watch them work gently, calm and loving with the strays.

Fortunately, nothing was broken, but he was bleeding from his male part, and nose. Probably internal bleeding as well. They put an IV in and did a blood test before I left.

Later today I will call to see how "Franz" is doing (I asked a trainee to name him for me). Please have Franz in your prayers.

Thank you Todd for your support even if you were in a hurry to get back to work. You took time helping this injured stray that was hit by a car, and left to die. Alberto and Antionella and "Italian man", without you I couldn't have caught the stray. Thank you for your big heart(s). And to you who donated money to AWL, he can now be treated, and get good care. Amore thank you all (tutti)

Picture will come up later--and update

Another Cleaning Mission Ahead

"Animals Without Limits" is seeking volunteers on Saturday 4th April 2009 to assist at a local animal shelter. There are approximately 121 dogs at this shelter. Many of these dogs were taken from the “terrible shelter” in Castel Volturno (read from earlier blog). Their lives are much better, and the condition of this shelter is much superior to the one before, but still it needs some help, especially with so many dogs there now.

We will seek to clean the dogs and their kennels-- where these dogs are staying--.
The goal continues to be to make these dogs as adoptable as possible, and having them living in a quality environment both helps in their presentation, and in their mental attitude.

"Happy", clean, well cared for dogs are easier to adopt, and people are more able to picture the dog in their family if he/she is clean and well behaved.

Refreshments for the volunteers will be provided, and rides can be coordinated/provided as required. Time for wet Amore!

We Do Have Heros Too

Denver's KUSA-TV reports on a tragedy averted, but with a shocking end. It started when a house in Golden, Colo., caught fire:
The home was a complete loss, but when firefighters heard barking coming from the basement, they learned that not everything was lost.
"We heard a report that there were dogs in there and we were like, 'Oh no,' " Nathan Wilis said, a firefighter with the Pleasant View Fire Department.
When firefighters reached the basement of the home, the same area where it is believed the fire started, they found two adult Yorkshire terriers and 15 puppies.

"They were pretty scared," Wilis said. "They were cold, they were wet, so we wrapped them in blankets and towels. They actually didn't have enough, so they had to cut them in half to get them in blankets."

Amore Fire Fighters....

Still Remembering Flower

(A dog AWL found dying on the street, brought into vet clinic were she finally could find peace)

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing"
--- Edmund Burke

Update on Puppy Project

Here is a picture of three of the five puppies at the "skeleton houses". They are growing up fast.

These three are now comfortable enough with me to approach. The other two are still not sure. Good for them!

They all seem healthy at present. Mom is making sure of that. We are continuing to visit and feed them regularly, and when I can get them all to come to me, we will be ready to move to phase II: vaccination and taking them to a safe foster place.

Please keep your fingers crossed for these amore siblings.

Internet Down

Italy has struck once again!

Our internet in the house is down. Italia Telecom assures us that it will be restored "soon".

We will post as soon as it is up and running again.

Keep your fingers crossed for the amore electrons!

Two Amore Goofs

So meet Jack....his name Fox didn't suite him, everyone that met him thought so. Do you like the name...Jack?

Ok Trooper that drives me many times crazy with his DUH!!?? He is a toilet drinker and my husband tells us to put the lid down--normally isn't it the other way around, wife tells husband? Well yesterday he came roaming down with the seat around his neck....I could just Amore laugh.

Devotion & Love Makes Time

Olivia feeding carrots to the horse that lives behind our house.

Devotion and love make time, and gives the animals hope. When you turn away from an animal in need, you are giving the evilness your power. When giving to the animals, you are giving the light strength, and you give the animals life.

This video is why I work every day. (It is not about being strong, it is about being true to yourself. No justifying.... )

If my daughter could watch it, so can you. Are you true to yourself? Can't you devote some time and love to help us help the animals that cannot speak?

They are speaking through this video to you.

Mumnemia & CompassionFatigue

I have been diagnosed by two friends--the two of them don't know each other--

My friend Ylva said to me, "Mia, you work to much, you suffer compassionfatigue."

I actually became happy hearing that beautiful word.....compassionfatigue....lovely.

And today, in the afternoon I took the kids and went to a British Forces Pub. Wow, since I am suffering from compassion fatigue, I thought I needed to be around happy loving British people having a cider. It was like walking into a big wonderful family. I like their relaxed way of having a pint on their way home. I ran into a friend, Jane, and I "complained" that I forget a lot of things lately and it drives me crazy.

Jane said, "Mia, you are suffering mumnemia!" (get it? anemia but since I am a mother of 2 small children and 12 dogs = lack of sleep=mumnemia)

Gosh, there are a lot of beautiful names, and I love wearing these names. I received them because of Amore.

Tragedy in Southern Italy part 2

Read the article from yesterday's blog.

According to my friend who lives here, the media in that article did not write the following: The young boy slammed rocks and stones at the dogs to get to the puppies that the mother dog had hidden.

This is of course not an excuse, but one more explanation to what happened that the media didn't fully cover.

Also the German tourist had thrown something to eat and didn't have enough for all the hungry dogs. She became afraid when one of them got too "close" and started running. Of course, that triggered the dogs' reaction.

Once again, not an excuse but an explanation of what made these dogs do what they did and it turned out to be a big tragedy. Understanding the animals will go a long way to avoiding such incidents. Their behavior is not irrational, when you understand it and can see from their perspective, it is actually quite rational indeed.

Good Morning World

I want her land, her animals...this is so much Amore!

A Tragedy For All

It made my heart ache when I read this article, please read the whole article so you can see the whole picture. It is a tragedy.

I never let Olivia, my daughter, out of my SUV when we are "on mission". She can sit on her knees at look out from the window while I am working with unknown animals. ---Those few times she goes with me-- Normally I do the missions in the mornings when she is in school.

AWL NEWS

Animals Without Limits receives interesting requests from people around the world. Let me share two of them;

"I'm a vet, worked in a private clinic in Israel for 4 years and currently I'm doing a shelter medicine internship with the University of Florida, USA. I thought maybe I can volunteer [with you] later on, after my internship ends, on September 2009 for a period. If it is something we can do we can meet in April, to discuss it. I'm very into animal welfare, early spay and neuter programs and infectious diseases."

And this summer one hard working animal worker will come down and help us out. Her resume is very interesting. She went to the Philippines to rescue dogs in slaughterhouses, thousands of dogs waiting in terrible conditions to be slaughtered in a harmful way.

Back home in Stockholm, she and her best friend run a dog cafe. It is in a very wealthy area, I used to live there, so I know that many women wear fur. So I love the sign on their door "Here only the dog wears fur"

More news will come up later!

One Brilliant Student

I have to say it: Fox is brilliant! It's more me who is having the problem (in 90%, it is the owner confusing their own dog)

Fox is learning so fast, I am very proud over him. Fox, who had been locked inside a small lot his whole life; never have been in a car, never played with other dogs, never got to read human body language. His "human contact" consisted of a plate of food pushed in under the gate. When the plate was not reachable the person used an umbrella to pull it out for refiling. That is the extent of his "socialization". Pretty pathetic, on the part of the humans.

Our teacher said today that Fox is well behaved, since he allowed me to hang over him when trying to figure out how the heck his harness worked. It was tough, a brilliantly designed harness, in two colors so you knew which was up and which would go under the stomach. But still a struggle to put on for the first time.

Then he learned how to listen when hearing his name, and he who didn't even know his name, but after few minutes he got the hang of it. It took me the whole lesson (not my name... to keep track of the different commands, and when to reward!)
We tried a clicker. And gosh that was great, so on our way home we bought a yellow one....important with colors so I can spot it in a heartbeat were I put it the last time.

On our way home Fox and I went and fed the new puppies that AWL is going to try to help at the skeleton houses.

Fox was a brilliant student, like the teacher said, "he is very curious." And that is a good grade for a beginner.


This is Adonis. He is up for adoption. He is one of the five puppies at the skeleton house. More on him and his siblings in a later post.

Some You Can Save ~ Some Not

Giove was saved from a terrible shelter, and is now waiting to go to his new family in Sweden. We are waiting for the results from the blood work that was sent in to an Italian laboratory, to make sure he is healthier than healthy.
Also, we are waiting for the paper work, change of owner, that takes forever, or so it feels. And another one could not be saved.

It's a rollercoaster Amore work.....it is not always about saving lives.

What A Weekend

The weather was fantastic this weekend, and together we worked and fed our wonderful new mission-puppy, and worked with our loving goof Fox. Even the Vet thinks he is doing great in progressing with his manners.

We walked, washed and loved up on our own twelve dogs, too. This weekend was a lot of sunshine Amore.

Photos copyright (c) 2009, Todd A. Mercer. All Rights Reserved.

Today's Mission

Always when I worry it goes great! The obedience lesson went very well. But first I took "Harvey" to LegaProAnimale for castration. He was dumped in Sara and her husband's yard one morning, no microchip, no collar of course. He stays at a foster home, and is the sweetest thing, child friendly, loves to go in the car. Thank God my husband is not home or he would have kept him.

Ok, Fox concentrate please! I went out and picked him up at the kennel and hung like another old rug after him as he pulled me out of his shelter area. He refused to jump into the car so I had to go and get help. 45 kg is not easy to pick up! The whole way to the obedience class, I told Fox we "will make this". I even stopped to meditate since we had time and we both needed to calm down.

We were greeted by the dog trainer Nikola at Agility Club Campania (professionally operated for 10 years and I have heard such good things about her from different nationalities and different problem owners ). I liked how she talked, I liked how she observed every movement I or Fox made, she really has the eye.

I told her the whole story about Fox and that I knew inside of myself that he is a good boy. Fox has nearly his whole life (well 1 or 2 years) been locked into a small lot without anything to hide inside for shelter. Kids would throw rocks or fire crackers, but one English lady fed him every day. As she was leaving, she asked AWL for help and I got this picture taken from above so he looked like a Jack Russel sized kind of dog. So I said yes to the lady's tearful, begging eyes. To my surprise when I met Fox he was not a 10kg Jack Russel, he was a 45 kg Goof!

But there is something he is sending, since many people that meet him, in person (dog) or through pictures, like him. We are a professional team and can be realistic in dog cases. (Well if I am not, hopefully someone else in AWL is, or our AWL vet Inga.)

Fox simply doesn't know anything. But it's not his fault. He has not grown up on the street learning how to think and survive in different situations. He has never lived with a family (or person) so he doesn't know what jumping into a car, or walking into a house means--it makes him insecure. He has never socialized or lived with other dogs, so he doesn't know how to read doggy body language. He is just a big goof that needs a calm, secure, motivated, consequent, hand....love comes through this. He needs a calm leader that can guide him, and he will give back a lot. I'm sure of it.

After one hour together with Nikola, not training, just talking and observing, she said "I thought he would be worse."

Also, "He is an honest dog!" Meaning, he will not try to fool us. If he is demonstrating something, it is real not a ruse.

Nikola thinks that if nothing else comes out (behavior) he should not be difficult to work with." Nikola, a million thanks today for your advice and great observing eye(s).

See you next Tuesday!

Yesterday's Mission

( The mother is on the second floor looking down on her puppies that are hidden under the big thorn bushes. This way she is confusing people and animals from where they really are. She is a smart mother)

Yesterday's mission together with Dr. Inga was a short "observation" mission at the skeleton place (you who have followed my blog are familiar with this place).

The puppies there are now getting big and my fear that someone will poison them, or have their dog kill them are tremendous. My instinct was right and confirmed when we stopped at the place nearby were a big dog lives and Dr. Inga asked the men to keep their dog under observation and let us be able to come and go for a couple weeks to work on the puppies.

I froze when I followed the vet into this place, like I could sense danger, the whole inside of me started to get nervous. I just wanted to leave. Thanks to Dr. Inga and her brilliant ability of telling them about our project, we have their permission and hopefully now can work on this mission. I am going to the puppies feeding them to get them to know me so we can catch and vaccinate them; we already have a foster family who can take care of them until May.

Ana it is so wonderful of you. The puppies are very hungry and have started to eat from the carcasses of the puppies from before. We have to hurry but we cannot hurry the puppies, this is what makes it difficult.

We cannot catch them since they are hiding in a big area of bushes with big thorns. That's also why it is easier to give hungry animals food with poison in, they come out and eat and then the poison starts working in them slowly and painfully.

We need a lot of good pates', good luck and good speed.

Visit My Tail Wags For You (animals for adoption) blog today too.

Mother Love ~ Amore

This is an uplifting touching Amore video, enjoy!

Giove and Fox and Me

Giove (Jupiter) is doing fantastic after his surgery, and he is so full of joy and happiness. Even the vet thinks he is such a sweet dog. When the same vet went to get Fox his comment was, "Gosh, he is so strong."

Fox is a 40 kg dog who's never been walked before, and he pulls. Mightily. Last Saturday when my husband took him out, he hung after Fox like an old rug. I was laughing so hard that my tears rolled down. My big strong husband didn't think it was funny!

But, that means that Fox is going with me to an obedience class this Thursday!

And I who dislike obedience classes! I always look like the biggest idiot among everybody, and I am always dressed wrong, and I am always freezing. See how passionate I am, I rather pick poop for a whole week (well hey there, I already do that) than walking in the rain hanging after a dog who doesn't listen.

Ok, we want to give Fox a really good chance in life. Even if he is a 40 kg heavy dog with a mind of a four months old dog. Stay tuned for lesson number one this Thursday

(For you who doesn't know Giove or Fox, read earlier blogs)

I am going to try to write a little differently on the http://www.animalswithoutlimits.blogspot.com/ from what I am writing here on my own personal blog. So please don't forget to visit AWL's blog.
Picture taken by Dr Inga at the local beach of her rescued dog Bella the Amore!

What A Wonderful Weekend

It's been like a Swedish summer today, we loved being outside today after what has felt like a long period of rain and dreary weather.

We brought home our two kids from the kennel over the weekend, and it was wonderful. Twelve dogs in the house and everyone got along so great. Ariel and Nebbia are two of the dogs we rescued from the "terrible shelter" back in February. (more on earlier blog)

Nebbia was labeled as "aggressive" and sat alone in a small cage. When I met her the first time I knew it wasn't true. And it isn't. She's been tested several different times, in different ways, she lives together with Ariel. She's been with us at Carney Park playing with many different dogs. And, now this weekend, together with the whole pack. She is brilliant.

That's the danger when you label someone, the label sticks and it takes some great heart to see past the label and give them a chance (same goes with humans). If Nebbia wouldn't have told me that she was a kind-hearted dog, God knows what would have happened to her.
Nebbia the "aggressive dog" is resting on our patio and Roberto, who also comes from the same place (remember him with the ligament injury, also earlier blog). Roberto is doing great, happy, yappy and charming and his leg is completely healed.

Ariel has been in four shelters, her whole life; Nebbia in only one but they think for three to four years. Neither of them had ever been inside a house and it was so sweet to see them standing in the doorway, kind of thinking "what do we do now?"

We had to lift them in and they walked around just smelling and looking and then they laid down on their blankets and cuddled up with us. I am so proud over our pack, they are great Amore dogs.

One Day In The Park

You remember I wrote about the chained Labrador that is up for adoption. We went and picked Stella up from the kennel and took her to Carney Park. She was fantastic.

Little over weight but she ran, played with other dogs, a great working dog too, she learned so fast.

Fox was very insecure, everything was a little scary. This big goof had never seen grass or played with other dogs.


Of course we brought one of our own Zara. She was dead tired after a fun afternoon playing with

former strays in the beautiful park. It was a playful Amore day.

Love in the Air

(Earlier blogs about Fox )
I have to say both these breathing male souls are very sweet. One is still up for adoption, the other one stays home with me.
But both have great big Amore hearts, and are kind of goofy.

Morris Medication Memorial

Animals Without Limits wants to thank the organization Chans in Sweden for their generous donation. Thanks to them, we can continue our work on the streets helping the wonderful strays.

Medication, prevention and spay and neutering will be done in Morris' name and memory (see previous entries last weekend).

We will work in the territories he lived in, helping others who may share his diseases or circumstances, document and prevent, return every week to make sure that no one suffers in pain.

Also we want to thank Linda who donates one bag of dog food every week.

Now, we can feed the hungry ones in Morris' area as well.

All money goes to veterinarian care, that's what AWL's Amore policy is about

Thank you so much to everyone who make our work possible.

And by the way, Giove is recovering great from his hernia surgery that he had yesterday.

Happy and playful! Wouldn't we like all our patients (human adults) to be like that?

Others in Need

I got a phone call from another Animal Worker who wanted to ask me what to do with some dogs (5) that are trapped in an empty warehouse area. Two of the dogs are pregnant. I went there to look at the situation. Traffic around the area is horrible.
The phone number posted on the fence didn't exist, and the company name.... well, nothing.

Currently we are feeding through the gates and providing water.

This fantastic Animal Worker called the Carabinieri (national police), and hopefully they can do something.

I think we need help!

A Picture ~ A Hope

This is Giove (Jupiter) from "the terrible shelter" I think many of you remember this picture from past blog entries.

A wonderful Swedish journalist Erika, followed our story --- me and AWL --- and is making a reportage for an upcoming new magazine. I sent pictures, she visited the blog and fell in love with this little guy. Thanks to Ylva who took this picture, now Giove is going to have a family for the first time.

After "the terrible shelter" was closed the dogs from there were taken over by LEDA, an Italian organization. I went there today and picked up Giove. It is one month between the pictures.

This is Amore, Amore. Erika thanks for making this guy happy!

Mission Morris

Bella, one of our wonderful reader, sent in a donation today in Morris' name. She suggested that she wanted AWL to help other dogs with medication on his behalf.

That made me think "what a wonderful idea", a focus area as a memorial to a long suffering soul who really touched my heart well beyond the time I knew him. (And judging from the comments, his plight touched many others, too.) To go on "Mission Morris" and medicate strays to prevent them from what caused Morris' sickness in the first place.

Why does one have to give his life and suffer for us to work harder?

Don' t let us forget Morris, let his work begin through us, to show his spirit that his life taught us something about ourselves and others.

He didn't judge us even for what the humans had caused him.

Morris, my little mini Buddhist! Let us show you that we can change.