This is an old one from 2018, but the message is still as relevant today.
Valia Orfanidou:
There are more than a million stray dogs in Greece.
Most of them are young dogs, abandoned as puppies, that barely last a year on the streets. The ones you meet today will simply not be there the next month, but there will be new dogs, dogs that were just abandoned and are literally on death row, living on borrowed time, until they are poisoned.
In the village where Bozo was, there were about 20 more strays. All young dogs, all males (the locals tend to keep the bitches for breeding and abandon the males), all in need.
When you live here, you know for a fact that it’s impossible to save everyone. But Bozo was too human-centred to leave behind. Those three weeks that I was away, I never stopped thinking about him, and I went back with my heart in my stomach, hoping that he was still alive and well.
Bozo is a therapeutic dog. He was therapeutic to me, he made me smile, he made me happy. Every single moment I spent with him, was a moment of joy. I didn't really have to teach him anything; he was perfect since day one, clean, house-trained, social and with manners, as if he already knew how to behave in every situation. Maybe he did. Maybe all dogs know.
He was adopted in Germany by an amazing couple who adore him, and I could never thank them enough for opening their home and their hearts for him. Huge thanks to SCARS for taking him in (like every dog I come back from vacation with) and to Frieden für Pfoten for helping Bozo's dream come true.
Published by The Orphan Pet
20th September 2018