Adopted!

It's great to be able to start a page about dogs featured on the site who have been adopted. It's encouraging to know there are happy endings and that circulation of pictures and stories on the internet really does work. So here are the dogs that have been adopted so far:

ADOPTED

MESSINA

Good news, this liitle dog has been adopted!

This poor dog was probably abandoned and is completely blind. He lives on the beach under a boat and a volunteer, Giovanna,  brings him food. He’s a  very gentle dog and for this reason is often picked on by the other strays on the beach. He is very frightened and won’t let you touchhim. He just lives under his boat and sometimes doesn’t come out for days.

 

When Giovanna found him he was just skin and bone. Now he’s started to recognise the sound of Giovanna’s car  and comes out from the boat to eat as soon as she arrives.  After a few months an abandoned  beagle also turned up and that has really brought him back to life. They play and seem happy together but sadly the beagle is now very ill with leishmaniosis. If he can be saved then he needs a home too.  

 

He is a  medium sized dog similar to a hunting dog and the volunteers don’t think he is very old It is absolutely vital to find him a new home because he is at risk from the other strays and cars because sometimes, because of his blindness he wansders into the middle of the road

 

He is adoptable throughout Italy after the usual pre adoption checks and completely of the adoption forms.

 

TUSCANY- Ottone is adopted!!!

How cute is this!!! Just as a reminder, read his story below.

 

Ottone is a young puppy who was found in a field and urgently needs a home. He is going to be a small dog, probably reaching no more than 10 kilos. He is affectionate but completely shocked and needs gentle, loving care.

For more info phone Serena:320/0463994 email: serenasabia@katamail.com

TUSCANY -TEN PUPS!

SALERNO Great news - little 'Volpino' has found a new home!!

Volpino was found with his muzzle tightly tied with wire and then shortly after that with his genitals bound with rope – something almost too horrific to imagine. Had the volunteers not found him in time he would have certainly died. Despite careful tending of his wounds, he still bears the scars on his muzzle.

 

Despite this, the poor dog has not lost his trust in people, which makes it very dangerous for him! The volunteers haven’t been able to find a foster home for the dog

and the local asl (the council funded veterinary unit responsible for the emergency care of stray animals) has put him back on the streets, in the area that he knows, and where he is regularly tormented and tortured. He is a very friendly little chap, and he goes up to anyone for affection, which is why these awful people chose to hurt him rather than any of the other strays in the area.

 

Kona has now found a good home. Thanks to all involved!

Kona will be 10 years old in October. His owners are moving to a care home and so he needs a new family urgently. He is a loyal and affectionate yellow labrador who loves running around and chasing god knows what, but who is also very calm when in the house. He is used to sleeping inside and would need a home that would accept him in the house as he's never slept alone or outside before.  He is obviously fully trained but sometimes he can be aggressive with other dogs he does not know.  He is from California and spent the first 3 years of his life running around freely on the beach. It wasn't until we moved to Nice, a small city, where he became aggressive when on a leash. I honestly think it was the noises of the city, which he had never heard before, which made him tense.

He is a lovely dog with a lot of character and  needs someone who would spend time with him as he needs/ loves the companionship. 

AVELLINO, East of Naples and MILAN

I'm delighted to say we have adopted Gaspare ourselves!! See my post here. I am leaving up his story here though...

Gaspare is a five year old setter probably abandoned by a hunter who, after deciding that he was no longer useful, just let him roam free, knowing what would happen when he went looking for food in a nearby town.And this Gaspare did. One afternoon he ventured into the town of Montoro Superiore, near Avellino and tail wagging, he approached a child eating a snack, hoping to maybe get a pat and a scrap of his food. Instead Gaspare was attacked by villagers, who kicked him and hit him with sticks. Fortunately, a volunteer from the local pet rescue team happened to witness this attack, and intervened to help poor Gaspare, nearly getting beaten themselves in the process. They took Gaspare to the vet's where he was found to have two broken ribs, two broken teeth, a severe nasal haemorrhage and severe bruising.

UPDATE: Gaspare was driven 800km to Milan to his new home, but after a weekend the family decided that he didn't get on with their own dog (not Gaspare's fault) and so they wouldn't be able to keep him. He is now staying with a volunteer in Milan but this is only temporary as he is off to the USA for his gap year soon. The situation for Gaspare is VERY URGENT as no-one wants him to go to a pound.

Setters are extremely friendly and peaceful dogs.  Despite being used for hunting because of their great sense of smell, they share the same behavioural traits of Labradors, the most popular breed with children, combining great sweetness of character with a lively and positive attitude. Older setters enjoy nothing more than to laze about in the shade and stay in the company of their beloved family.

Gaspare is adoptable anywhere in Italy.

ROME

Rex is a ten-year-old (estimated) German Shepherd living alone in the streets of Rome. He only survives thanks to a local shopkeeper who feeds him and lets him sleep in his shop on cold nights, while he shelters under a public stairway every other night of the year.

Rex is a sensitive soul, and good with people, but also scared and submissive, probably due to past mistreatment which happened while living alone in the streets at the mercy of thugs. His eyes are very sad, marked by his abandonment two years ago, after years spent with a family that he believed loved him.

Wonderful news - Rex  has now found a new home!

Gennaro landed in the dog pound a few weeks ago at 11 years old.  Having spent his whole life in a family, it was very bewildering for him to realize that his family would not be coming back to get him. They decided to let him die of old age in a dog pound. I'm delighted that this lovely, friendly old dog has found a new home. Bravo Gennaro! 

This little dog is Gelsomina, who was thrown out of a car on the streets of Viterbo. Formerly a family dog she was finding it particularly hard to cope. She was rescued and given a temporary home but is now with her new family in Brescia.

Pasqualino was found in this terrible state on the streets of Caserta near Naples by the carabinieri. He'd been wandering for hours and no-one had helped him. The worry once that once he was patched up he would have to go back on the streets.But that's not going to happen now as he has found a new home!

Lana had spent years in a dog pound before her photo and description were circulated by volunteers.She has a malformed front leg and had also had a broken pelvis, both resulting from maltreatment. But now this lovely old lady has a new family to love her. Miracles do happen Lana.

This poor little soul Lilla had spent all of her eight years chained like this.Her only home was a tarpaulin covered hole, yet despite everything she kept going and was friendly and affectionate towards the volunteers who helped her. Well Lilla, your nightmare is over as you now have a new home.

Polenta is nine years old and this gentle docile dog was abandoned by her family in April last year because she was getting old. Unbelievable isn't it? Obviously she was finding life in a pound very bewildering as she could not understand why she had ended up there. Now she is with her new family, who understand that the final years of a dog's life are as fulfilling, rewarding and important as its first ones.