WONDERFUL WINTER DAY

The last couple of day have been fantastic winter days.

Blue sky, sunshine and no wind.

Olivia wanted to ride out (on her Sunshine) and we also brought with us, her dog Twittie. Twitte is a dog Olivia rescued from a shelter were 500 dogs sat and the adoption rate was a couple of dogs a year. Olivia was only four years old when she adopted Twittie, but showed us all how responsible she already was back then. She has always been there for her dog.

Twittie is to left behind the Pony.

Fire in our House

The little feather was alos burnt like my soul felt !

Sometimes life hits you hard and many times it feels  like; "this is enough"! And then you turn your thoughts around  and you realise how lucky you were. Pity Party is Over!

The Guardian Angels worked for full force together with me that day when I opened the door to our Home. 

Backstory;

Children and me were in the stable that day a quiet beautiful day. The children wanted to stay a little longer, but me, wanted to go home this Friday late afternoon, to have a little "mom time" A glass of red wine, read or write in my room, I only wanted to spend time with me.

Finally we got into the car and on our way home I told them that we needed to stop and buy dinner, something good to eat this Friday evening. The kids shrugged their shoulders on my question what they wanted to eat. 

"I am not going in Friday to the store bouncing around with a lot of people trying to figure out what you want to eat!" I said in a slightly irritated voice. --kind of a high tone to be honest!

Home we went, parked the car. 

It was strangely quiet from the house. I shut my car door to that normally wakes our 12 dogs up in the house. But no now. Silence!

The kids ran over to their friends to play. Me, walked towards the house with a smile on my lips, eventually some mommy quiet time.

I pressed down the handle to our front door. 

SMOKE  hit me down. A dog ran out!

The whole big house was filled with thick smoke. I fell down on my knees and crawled in. 

My mind didn't think, I only acted like a robot. I opened the big gate that divided the house, and dragged some of the dogs back out. 

How I could find them, I really don't know even today

The fire was in the living room into my office room. 

The twelve dogs were secure outside and I started to scream for help!

Lovely neighbours and like a fireman said, "ten minutes later and your house would be down!"

Afterwards, I sat in the garden holding a bottle of wine and my Iphone in my hand. Dogs looked fine. Now I realised I was't! I scrolled down all the names, all hundreds.....but I felt I had no one to call.

How I wished to have a family near by.

My dogs were like, "You saved us a second time!"

I didn't feel gratitude or happiness, and I felt bad for not feeling the 'right' feelings.

Veckans kronika i Tidningen Nara

Ett sårat hjärta kan stoppa godhjärtad hjälp

Krönika

Nere i södra Italien är bensinstationerna ett vanligt tillhåll för många gatuhundar. En del hundar känner att de uppskattas av de anställda när de vaktar bensinstationen under natten. Andra gatuhundar hoppas på att bli upplockade av en vänlig person som tankar bilen.

Bensinstationen som Antonio arbetar på är omringad av sopor och misär. Barn med smutsiga kläder skyndar förbi. Många mammor arbetar som prostituerade och männen dealar med narkotika. Antonio tyr sig hellre till djuren än till människorna. Ett gammalt fuktigt hundhus som han byggt står vid sidan om kontoret där han arbetar. 

På bensinstationen finns en liten tik som är ungefär sju månader. Gracie väntar troget på Antonio varje morgon, hon vet att han har matrester med sig. Gracie har gamla läkta sår efter att ha blivit misshandlad. Någon har klippt av henne öronen och sparkat henne i ansiktet. Hennes högra öga har en inre blödning och behöver opereras. På gatan är det inte bara människan som försöker överleva, det försöker även djuren.

Antonio blir upprörd när vi vill ta hunden till veterinären och börjar skrika. Vi vill inte bemöta hans ilska, det kan göra saken värre för Gracie. När vi nästa dag kommer till bensinstationen är Gracie borta, likaså det trasiga hundhuset. Antonio har flyttat henne till trädgården vid hans hem. Han vill inte lyssna på oss när vi talar om att hon behöver vård. Vi känner oss maktlösa, arga, ledsna och besvikna.

En vecka senare kontaktar Antonio oss och ber om hjälp. Gracie är väldigt sjuk! Antonio berättar med sorg om sin tidigare hund, som han älskade mer än livet. En kvinna lovade honom att köra den hunden till veterinären en gång när det behövdes. Antonio (som tjänar ungefär 200 kr om dagen) var tacksam för hennes hjälp.

Men kvinnan kom aldrig tillbaka med hunden. Antonio sörjer fortfarande sin hund och hans smärta från det förflutna gör honom rädd. Kärlek kan stjälpa oss, när vi av rädsla håller kvar det förflutna. 

När vi vågar släppa ilska och rädsla kan Universum pussla ihop oss alla till en lösning. Vi behöver ha tillit och tro, hur djupa ärren än är i hjärtat. 

Alla vi släppte våra rädslor. Antonio släppte sin rädsla för att förlora Gracie och vi släppte vår rädsla om att inte kunna rädda henne. 

Gracie är nu i ett fosterhem under veterinärvård och Antonio hälsar ofta på.



That’s Amore!

ATHENA: MISSUNDERSTOOD

Remember earlier on the blog I wrote about Athena and her partner.

Well for Athena it hasn't turned out so very well for. I am frustrated since AWL got a problem that we didn't ask for and we made clear in the begining that we only would help with medical bills. Now, I am so sad because this girl Athena doesn't deserve to sit locked in a cage, she had it great with her freedom. She got fed, she had her partner and most important her freedom. But some people didn't like to see her in an abandoned car--with broken glass--with K9 dogs they practise to walk on smashed car window glass and its not dangerous for their paws.

The "rescuers" saw the scars and thought it was from the car but it was actually from dog teeth, and they were old scars. As you read they were in Rita's garage and Athena defended her bone when her partner wanted to take it. That is so very "normal." I wasn't there when it happened, but those involved were upset and Athena was the one to be blamed. She slept outside in a crate as you can see in the video with her partner in the garage. Many times this sort of interaction between animals sounds worse and we get scared, its like hearing two adults arguing in a different language. Because you don't understand what is being said, it sounds worse than it is. We don't know what the dogs are saying, but it sounds bad. But think about it, if they wanted to kill each other it would have happened already, and how could they live together outside in their freedom with no problems?

Rescuing dogs in distress or bad situations is a nobel thing. But like anything, it should be done with cold calculation, not in the moment of high emotion, or solely with your heart. When rescuing, you have to have many different plans. And, unless you are an expert, why not get advice from someone who knows a lot about strays? I have heard people say "I have had dogs my whole life!" But how many of them were strays you rescued? I have been cooking for 30 years but I am not a chef!

AWL is against putting dogs in shelters and here I am with a dog someone rescued and dumped in our lap. No foster homes, no adoptive homes, we can't take her in. She can't go back on the street, especially without her partner. No donations are even given to help defray the costs, only silence from the rescue people who were so happy on Facebook that they had "rescued" dogs. Where are they now? Where is the "follow-through"?

I was visiting her today and walked her, she is wonderful --- so loving and gentle. It is dangerous when someone starts a rumor that destroys the possibilities for a dog's future. Much the same for when people talk bad about another human, and start unfounded rumors. If you are going to play "rescuer", get the facts straight! I have so many stories about people screwing things up for the animals, and I still get many emails from good people who are being dumped on with others' problems.

What is worse, in Cumberlain County (NC, USA) 800 dogs euthanized every month, or the ones roaming free in Campania, Italy?

So thanks to some "bleeding hearts" who thought it was uncomfortable watching this pair in an abandoned car...look at this picture...this is the result of your actions!

I want to thank Rita who is still there for Athena.

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!