A COLD SWEDEN BUT WITH A BIG WARM HEART

Right now I am in Stockholm, Sweden; cold and a lot of snow. Visiting the warm and wonderful cafe "Himmelska Hundar". Olivia, my daughter, is so happy petting all the dogs that come in for a nice plate of meatloaf or a snack. Look at this site! The pictures! what a difference from were we live in Napoli.

Look at the Twitter pictures on the right side, and become a member on Facebook.

UPDATE ON BRANDY--SULLY

Do you remember this little girl that AWL Todd and Angie went out rescuing? Read and look

This is her now!!! Isn't it wonderful?

Her family is taking so good care of her and Bless is home with her every day. One vet wanted to put her down to sleep and was even very concerned over that Bless would take care of Brandy (former Sully)

Brandy fooled death several times, and suprised many humans. This is so Amore

ONE BIG ONE SMALL BOTH IN NEED OF LOVE

Amore Bella in need of a yard! A wonderful 96lb mastiff named Bella. She is approximately 2yrs old. She is currently living on base, but the base is forcing the owner to find a new home for her. So it is nothing wrong with the dog! (like 97% of the time)

This little sweet puppy was found together with her sibblings in the garbage. For several days no mother was in sight. Bea, a fantastic Italian woman, made sure all 5 got homes, and AWL is helping Abe and Martha's little new friend (above picture) in their house with up-to-date shots and microchip and later steralization.

COBY IS IN A FOSTERHOME BECAUSE HE GOT DUMPED BY SOMEONE ELSE

The foster family named him Coby. He is a sweet, naive and kind Doberman mix who so enjoys life.

His fostermom picked him yesterday and he now stays with them and his new friend. Coby loves to ride in the car, he can sit, stay and give a paw when the food is coming. He is also castrated.

He loves to admire you, with a little kindness, he will think highly of you and give you loyalty; and in return he never wants to be dumped again.

If you can meet his standards, please contact us and we can give you more info from fostermom Karina.

A COLD AND WINDY, SUNNY DOG WALK

This morning we went out to Rossella's shelter to walk dogs, it's a very nice way of getting exercise, and giving some Amore at the same time. Thank you Bruce and Jake. To the left you can see Linda is doing great after the surgery, she got a lot of energy. Thank you all for your donations so we could give her life back.

Sarah is in love with "toothless." I think she named him "Chum" Sarah took him walking twice and she is the first one that have been giving him love and attention. Their spirit found each other--Chum has been in a shelter nearly his whole life. He was "rescued' to Rossella shelter 3 years ago from a Camorra shelter were he was abused.

Sarah, thank you for all the dog bags of food and 7 jars of vitamins--and treats.

Ahhh Lindy our AWL speed walker together with her husband David. They walked many and long walks at that. They are great walkers! Thank you so much for everything you do for the "rescue" dogs--and all the treats!

Sarah and her love "Chum." He doesn't have any teeth, thats why his tounge is hanging out all the time. But he is so full of Amore and he has a old soul...he really deserves some years in freedom.

I had picked up pallets that we put under doghouses so they don't sit on the cold concrete floor.

Thank you Vania for coming out and being such a great translator. Melissa, Bruce, Jake, Sarah, Leah with two friends, Lindy, David, Olivia. I am sorry I was not in big energy, but my fever slowed me down...but you guys thank you for giving the dogs something to look forward. I can tell that many "rescue" dogs have been changing, to the better when they see us. Today I noticed Ginger and Fred's happiness....you are making changes.

ABBY WITH A BROKEN LEG BUT A HEALED HEART

Our little Abby. Found on the gas station bleeding. At the clinic they found her tooth right up her nose and now she got a broken leg! At Dr Damiani clinic they called in a specialist that made the surgery on Abby.

Our little Lady was such a fantastic client and is our true Amore favorite.

Here you can see the fracture, and it seemed like it was an old fracture. We don't know what happened, but suddenly was she jumping on three legs.


Abby's family in Sweden are waiting and waiting. Their little daughter Engla is drawing pictures to Abby. I know Abby will have a wonderful time in Sweden, normally I don'l like dressed up dogs. But Abby is a freezing little spirit and I think she would love a sweater with a big heart on.

• Thank you Jackie (US) and Jennifer (Belgium) for your donations.

IMPRESSIVE RANGER

An update on Ranger. Remember the German Shepard that had his chain grown into his neck, and a long surgery had to be done, removing half of his neck!

I picked him up and drove him VIP to the vet clinic. He is such a fantastic dog, I could lift him up and put him into my car, and of course he wanted to sit in the front seat. It's like he wants to explore life, he looks at everything with a long observing glare. In the waiting room he charmed everyone, so calm. 40 stiches and he laid still, no one had to hold him...wow what a guy.

I stopped by the dog store and bought a harness that Jackie sponsored. We wanted to keep the promise to Ranger, nothing more around his neck.

When I dropped him off at the care-taking family, I told them that if they don't want Ranger, I want him! He is so full of Amore and gentleness that it breaks my heart out of love.

JACKIE'S CAT MISSIONS

Jackie goes out and trap cats to have them spayed and neutered and later on she picks them up and releases them where they where found. AWL takes care of the bills, our way to say, "Thank you for your hard fantastic work!"

Dr. Longo checking out the girl. She needs antibiotics for her skin condition.

One beautiful little female stray cat that needs to be spayed and treated for a skin condition.
Jackie trapped her in Castel Volturno.

Unfortunately some of the neighbors feel that only the females should be spayed, that the males are not the problem...
Difficult to change a mindset.
So we do what we can and if we're lucky we enlighten some people. Ciao Jackie."

Warmhearted Anna picked up the cats, here together with Dr Damiani.

DAISY IS A NADA

Remember the English Setter that collapsed in my arms? She stayed at Dr Damiani's clinic for observation and we also found out that she had an Italian microchip. Dr Damiani found the owner (after some detective work, nothing is easy here) and the owner had made a police report 3 weeks earlier about their missing English Setter.

Daisy stayed at our house and we discovered that something was wrong with her. She constantly bumped into things. When we would open the big pen door, she came out from the dog house and turned to the wall looking very confused. She was acting like she couldn't see. She ran into our dogs, the children's yard toys, and you had to guide her into her pen again and to her food plate.

I called Dr Damiani and asked for an appointment with their eye specialist. It was now lunch time and we were going to meet the owners in the evening.

I wanted to do everything in my power to figure out what was wrong. I couldn't stand myself handing over a dog telling the owner that "something is wrong" I would never get inner peace, constantly wondering what it was, and why and would the owner continue searching for Daisy's health?

The eye specialist made a very long examination with different tests. Daisy had a slight eye infection.

In the waiting room Daisy tried to walk through the glass door, like she didn't see it. She bumped her head into Dr Damiani's desk twice. It was heartbreaking.....

I had seen this kind of behavior in Bosnia after the war, there were many dogs with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Maybe Daisy had it?

We took blood samples that hopefully will tell us what is wrong. We will have the results at the end of this week. Keep your paws crossed for her.

We went home to take care of other things and Olivia walked Daisy. What a wonderful dog.

I was nervous for the meeting with the owners on this evening, so many questions.
At 18.30 I brought Daisy to her--who's real name is Nada--owner, actually the true owner is the father in the family, who adopted Nada from a hunter. His daughter and her husband came to pick up Nada. Nada hadn't qualified as a hunter, and so came to this family a couple of years ago. This couple promised to follow up with Nada's health, and it felt very nice to know that Nada was a wanted --- and missed--- dog, heading to her home.

I cannot stop thinking though that no one stoped and picked Nada up to check if she had an owner! I could see how many there are that just doesn't want to get involved, or have the time. And also, in this region with 70,000 strays, she was one among them all.

Can it be that the amore in the universe brought she and I together so that she could get home again?

Please visit www.animalswithoutlimits.blogspot.com

WORKING WITH GOOD HEARTED SKILLED PEOPLE

Running an organization or foundation, you are seeking good-hearted, skilled and trustworthy people to have around you; ones that have passion and belief in life. Dr Damiani's clinic has showed AWL a lot of those things through many difficult stray cases. Above on the picture you can see me and Dr. Longo who spent more than 2 hours to get out the "object" that was stuck in Abby's nose. He also worked to remove the chain around Ranger's neck. He has the skills, and the passion we are looking for.

Dr. Damiani made the biggest impression on me when we brought in Benjamin, our stray with mange and scabies all over his body. Nobody wanted to even look at him, but Dr. Damiani showed true professionalism, skill and compassion in his treatment for Benjamin, and his guidance to us to help bring about Benji's recovery. Above picture, Dr. Damiani is working with another of our clients, Chloe, as she is getting prepared for sterilization.

Dr. Damiani (right) and Dr. Longo, with "the miracle kitten", Francesco, during the checkup after numerous sessions where he was anethetised and had stitches removed and bandages changed. This was another client where Dr. Damiani's clinic and personnel showed their "true colors". And because of their skill and caring, the kitten can now walk, and is on the road to full recovery.

Dr. Damiani's clinic, and doctors have what it takes for the animals here in Campania. They are some who help with what we are trying to do here. Thank you.

LILLY CHLOE

Olivia's school teacher had found this beautiful young dog roaming around on the streets. She and her family took her in and named her Lilly. The teacher asked me if AWL could help her pay for the steralization and they would be able to afford keeping her.

Like we have said before it is very expencive here with the medical treatments.

AWL always try to help those who help. So this morning when I dropped off Olivia and Max I got Lilly. What a sweet heart! She sat so quiet and nice the whole way in to Dr Damiani's clinic.

I told that we would also pay for a health check up, microchip and vaccination. We want a happy healthy rescue dog together with a happy family. That's Amore!

KEEGAN WE LOVE YOU

BACK AND FORTH TO THE VET CLINIC

This morning I dropped off our dear Abby for blood work and for Dr Damiani to examen her right front leg. Lately she has not used it, jumping around on three legs. I left her there for x rays and are soon going to pick her up. Keep fingers crossed.
So I went on base to do some shopping. When I walked out in the rain I saw something more or less crawling in the rain. A young Setter maybe pregnant.

She was in a horrible shape, skin and bones and "dead' tired. I called her, and it took long time for her to move, she was in a lot of discomfort. I took out some food and she took only three bites. She was to tired to eat.

My animal friend Jackie came and helped me lift her into my SUV and the poor Setter collapsed. In high speed I drove 30 minutes to the vet. clinic were wonderful Dr Damiani came out and carried her in. She will stay there under observation. Keep your Amore fingers crossed for this young beautiful soul that I named Daisy.

Dr Damiani thank you for your fantastic help! That's Amore.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING THE STRAYS TO A BETTER LIFE

• Ulla Linders for your generous donation "again"
• Brian Hill, Bank Manager at the Community Bank (US)
• Fransesco the miracle cats rescue lady donated 2 more dog bags
• Gerry A donated money to buy dog food for the strays.
• Elizabeth Frey and her mother donated 2 bags of dog food.
• Thank you so much for your heart and belly warming Amore.
  

POWER OFF--ON--OFF--ON

We have had hard wind and a lot of rain! Our power have gone on and off constantly so I have not been able to update my blog for two days. Arghh!!

Today is a sunny day so after my missions this morning I am back with some updates.

Picture: Jackie's rescue cats that got adopted to Miss Elisabeth. More updates on them later!

RANGER RECOVERING

Today my family and I went to visit Ranger. Remember, the German Shepard from earlier blog this week? He had been abused/neglected, and Dr. Longo had to remove half his neck since his chain had "grown into" his neck. Ranger is getting his strength back but we have to have some blood work done on him. And it also seems like his eye vision is not the best.
He is curently staying at a wonderful, warm home with a great animal-loving family. Ranger is such a sweet old man.

IN THE WAITING ROOM AT THE DOC'S CLINIC

At the clinic I always enjoy watching the patients that are walking in with their owners. Most of the time it is a dog (or cat) that has an caring owner. That makes me feel hope while I am sitting waiting together with a found, wounded stray that no one owns (or wants, seemingly).



This is Abby and she is 14 years-old. Her family loves her and cares about her a lot. Dr. Longo thinks poor Abs has had a small stroke, because she suddenly had a hard time getting up, and started peeing on herself. We all wish Abby the best and strong health!

YOU ARE THE ONE MAKING EVERYTHING GOING

Thank you so much

• Family Schmidt, USA
• Herbert Boutwell, USA
• Christina Platou Sweden
• Sara Hoover, Sweden/USA
• Tracey Nettles, USA
• Karin Ericsson Organization Lexia Rio de Janeiro (Sweden)
• Elizabeth Frey donated 2 bags off dog food
• Cat Franscesco's fosterhome Rita donated 2 bags off dog food

Thank you so much for your donations, you are making the changes. That's Amore!

CRUELTY TO OUR ANIMALS

People had seen him wondering around on the streets, until one family had it.

Please watch this video, ask yourself "Can't I afford to help Ranger with a donation today?"

Will I close the computer without looking? Will I let the people deal with all this alone or will I show them that I am on their side, AWL and Rangers side?

Its your heart!

MARIO OUR AMORE HERO WELCOME HOME

Mario, our gas station dog, is a happy stray. You read on earlier blog entries that we picked him up for castration and would later on release him. His guardian angel, the coffee lady at the station's cafe, doesn't want him to be adopted away. He is her friend and he also guards her. The gas station people love him, he greets everyone and he escorts the car to the exit.

At LegaProAnimale it turned out that he had a microchip, and according to Italian law you are not allowed to do anything to a dog with a microchip until you find the owner. Of course it was the holiday season, Internet was down and finally the name was found, but no phone number.

We just hated to put him in a kennel box, Mario who was so used to his freedom and work at the gas station. He was a happy stray.

The address was a closed industrial area! For ten days LegaProAnimale and us tried to find someone to get permission from, yet nothing. We couldn't reach the owner. Dr Friz was frustrated and so were we, and Mario.

To make matters worse, LegaProAnimale was closing for the month of January, it's their vacation month, so keeping him there would be made more difficult. I just felt like we had to release him, his soul would die in that kennel. I asked Tracey for her opinion and she felt the same. I asked Jackie to visit him during the days.

Jackie wrote,

"What a warm and wonderful greeting I received from Mario today! It was worth the drive out in the yucky rain.
The first thing I did was give him some wet food. You can't tell by the photo, but he was wagging his tail as he ate! "

Tracey and I went out to pick him up, and we met Dr Friz who was very kind and carried Mario out since he refused to walk with a leash on. We took off to the gas station and when we got closer to "his" fields, Mario started to whine in the back seat.

We have never seen such a happy stray! He jumped out from the SUV and ran around the place like crazy, the gas station people came, the coffee bar owner came out together with the coffee lady and greeted us with big hugs and thank yous.

Mario was home, and you could tell it. I loved Tracey's warm comment, that she was happy to have seen/explored that there indeed are happy strays.

This was a warm Amore day!

MISSION WORK LAST WEDNESDAY

The rescue dog Phillipo finally got a home after two years in the shetler, alone in a cage on conreate floor. He is now getting ready to change nationality, a true Swedish dog. Ulla in Sweden will be his new "mom" and we are so happy about that. The veterinarian Mariagrazia came out and gave him everything that's needed to get a passport, and also on my request bloodtest to see that he doesn't have any infections.

AWL supporter Tracey from LA, USA visited us for a couple of days. She joined us at the mission and walked dogs, gave them a lot of treats and love and attention. Thank you Tracey for your interest in us and all the strays, rescue dogs. Olivia is still asking after you!

AWL volunteer had this fantastic tatto made. Wowiii did I feel flattered! Thank you Keegan I know you are leaving Italy today but you have been an amazing volunteer, truly. We all love you and we will so dearly miss you. I wished I could have cloned you.

Once a year at Christmas are my husband and I holding our yearly Christmas party. This year it was for the AWL volunteers. Instead of bringing me flowers or wine we have a tradition that every guest brings us a bag of dog food or wet caned food. To our delight our whole SUV was full. Thank you all guests (se earlier blog December 13)

Thank you all for joining up last wednesday, walking dogs, putting dog houses together, cleaning the puppy section and giving treats and love.

Keegan, Todd, Eric, Jackie, Tracey, Brandy, Me--we are making a difference.

More picture on www.animalswithoutlimits.blogspot.com