From sadness to complete happiness...

Some of you might remember Oli from our website.

He came to Scooby in September 2008. He was small, timid and not very social. His chance for adoption were low. We tried to do everything we could to promote him, but soon he started losing interest in life. He would just sit in the wooden dog houses and not care for anything... except food. As you can see here - it was something of a passion for him. He was one of the saddest dogs at the shelter in terms of sociability, but was quite happy eating.

In February 2010, Eva from Canada and Barbara from 11th Hour Rescue were visiting Scooby. Eva had a list of long time dogs and was showing them to Barbara. Barbara has been a great friend to Scooby over the years and she has always taken the dogs who had the least chance of adoption. When she saw Oli, she knew that he was one of those dogs. The reservation was made and he was prepared to travel in September. Although it was a long time to wait, especially since he arrived in 2008, it was worth the wait!

He is now living with the Liza Tivvy…the daughter of the late Elizabeth Taylor.

Here is Liza’s story about how Oli came into her life…

It seems like a real stroke of fate! I went to the adoption clinic with a friend who was looking for a dog. I had recently lost my old friend Buster, the last dog from a shelter that closed down many years before. A few minutes with Oli at that clinic and I realized my dog number was about to go back up to 3.

When Barb and Chris brought him to my house to meet the gang it was like he had always been here; the other dogs accepted him right away.

Since then, he has settled even more. He is totally into the routine of barn chores for the horses, donkeys etc, even the cats who he was terrified of the first time he met them. We go for walks (off leash now) in the woods every day which is his favourite thing to do, being as energetic and athletic as he is! Hopefully he has learnt his lesson about porcupines which he found out about the hard way on one of our 1st off leash walks. I don't think there are porcupines in Spain!

Being that he is already 7 or so, I will treasure the few years that we will have together, and grateful that the timing in both our lives worked out for our paths to cross!

Anyway I gather that you have the few photos that I had sent to Barbara, but if you should want any more, let me know.

Thank you so much for all you do!

Liza

Thank you Barbara for looking out for the underdog! And thank you Liza for opening your home and heart to Oli. From being one of the saddest dogs, we can see that he is now one of the luckiest dogs in the world and very happy.

Easter visit at Scooby

Dear everyone,

We thought you’d be interested to see some photos from the Greyhound Compassion Easter volunteer visit to the Scooby shelter in Medina del Campo.

During our trip we spent time nursing the nervous and shy dogs to try to help them gain their confidence in people, a very valuable job.  We had a professional builder in our group who (despite the snow, hail and rain in the first few days) managed to build the foundation and walls for 2 large kennel blocks, culminating in sunburn on the last two days!  We spent hours preparing food for the shelter residents and cleaning their quarters.  We also got to work on a mega spring clean of the storage warehouse and washing machine area.  What a sense of achievement when that was done!  We also painted the outside of the on-site clinic. The permanent Scooby team have so much work with cleaning the kennels and feeding the animals on a daily basis that they rarely have time to clean areas like the storage room. So hopefully we were able to help them by getting these bigger tasks out of the way.

There were lots of galgos in residence at Scooby and we were pleased to hear that the van would be taking about 20 of them to France to be rehomed with families there this weekend.  Plus, another transport will take place to France in May.  This is such good news to know that galgos are getting homes.

Thank you to everyone who came on the trip and contributed so much to the shelter and to all of Greyhound Compassion’s donors/fundraisers who make our continued support for the shelter possible.

Greyhound Compassion

Micky, the old charmer...

Micky is our model for April in the Scooby calendar and yes, I have fallen for his charm and beauty as well. His owner was good enough to send us an update, which we gladly want to share with you.

It has almost been two years since I spend 3 months at Scooby, where I met Micky.  There is nobody at Scooby who doesn’t know who Micky is: the best looking male in Paddock 2!  You really can’t miss him either, Micky is a galgo mix and draw attention to himself, not in the least since he was 2 heads higher than the rest of them.

This lovable guy was always patiently waiting at the gate and greeted everyone that came into his paddock, following them every step of the way. He just can’t help himself and if you are not careful,  he would place his paws in your face to greet you. This big boy loves to jump on people and often people got startled having him at eye level all of a sudden.

Before I went to Scooby, my friend said:  “don’t bring home any dog” since we already had two at home. But this decision was quickly made, already on the third day it says in my Scooby-diary, which I wrote in every day: “if someone is coming with me, it’s going to be Micky”.

I cannot really explain what it was, but I loved him from the beginning because if his bumbling, lovable and almost goofy way. When I heard how long he had been at Scooby already, I could not understand why. I had almost never seen such a beautiful dog like Micky. And of course I spend a lot of time in my favorite paddock 2.

One of the many days I was there, I was overcome with homesickness and went back to Paddock 2, where Micky followed me around. He seemed to notice that I was feeling sad and tried to cheer me up by putting his paws in my lap. That moment clinched it for me, Micky could come home with me.

And now he has been accompanying me for the last 2 years and I am overjoyed I have made the right decision. OK, sometimes it is exhausting since everybody, really each and everyone loves Micky. There is hardly anyone that can withstand his charm. So we are being constantly stopped on the street, even when we go by bike, by people asking us about the beautiful dog we have, what breed it is and if they can pet him. But of course they can pet him, he is one of the cuddliest dogs I have ever seen and sometimes it is even embarrassing to see how he just begs for cuddles from everybody. He is good at giving paws and wags his tail and when you say jump, he knows he can jump like in the old days. We had to train him not to do that since he was jumping up to strangers in the street, out of sheer enthusiasm and happiness.

Popular is his “Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu”.. it doesn’t matter in which situation, whether he is happy, playing, or has done something wrong and wants to appease us. He lets out this long loud howl which sounds like “Ruuuuuu”. And he knows very well he can wrap us around his little finger when he does that, and everybody who knows us won’t let us go before he does it.

Micky, the old charmer..

I recommend everyone to take a look at the mix breeds at Scooby. A lot of them wait for years for a great home and are nothing less that their purebred Galgo friends.

Ivonne

Correction:Time Scoobyday Soest: 11:00-17:00 h

SWEET AND TENDER GORDITA

One night more, lying here in my corner I close my eyes with the hope that my dreams will come true.

I came to Scooby Zamora 3 years ago from another shelter, where I had been dumped as puppy already.

I have lost the count of the days that I´ve been here … abandoned.

I hardly remember if I had a home. The years pass by, and every minute that passes I´m more away from my dreams.

I´ve seen a lot of friends passing away here by my side, some went to heaven because their lifes were dying without strength to fight more. They went without having known the warmth of a home, they aged alone and abandoned like me.

I have a lot of fear that the story will repeat itself, fear to spend the last minutes of my life here in loneliness, that is what I fear most.

I just ask for a home where to spend the last years of my life, where to show that I have a young heart full of love.

I am afraid that nobody is going to choose me. I´m not young, I´m not pretty, I´m not athletic, I´m not a tender sweet puppy, I´m an old lady and a chubby dog and what I like most is to spend the hours lying in the sun , dreaming of  care, a gesture of universal affection that transmits a deep message… trust in me. That is what I want, trust in you.

PS; Never in my life I will lose the hope of finding a home , in the last minute of my life I will still have the illusion to know your love.

For you , my future owner, my rescuer, I will always wait for you.

GORDITA

Little sweet person frightened and valiant, your life didn’t have importance for the one who abandoned you, your eyes and body are small but you hide something very big inside… ONE HEART, ONE EMOTION , ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

Help us to save GORDITA

PROTECTORA DE ANIMALES “SCOOBY ZAMORA” ( Tlf; 678 198 376)

info@scoobymedina.com

Pal, one among many of our abandoned street dogs

Little Pal was abandoned in the province Salamanca and has been wandering the streets already since October, felt cold, hunger and fear and suffered from the human´s carelessness who wouldn´t stop to rescue him.

He fed himself on rubbish that fell to the ground or was lying around and from the food,that very few people gave to him.

Every day he waited rolled-up in the entrance of a bank. We think, Pal has been left behind there and was waiting now for his “owner” to come back and pick him up, hoping everything was a mistake, that he was forgotten there and would come back to get him – he waited every single day at that door for the human, who had given him affection and took care for him until then, to finally come back and set an end to this nightmare.

Although he was kicked, people didn´t pay attention to his little paws and stepped on them while scolding him, he waited faithfully and good for the one who had once taken care of him.

But one day his fate changed. Somebody came along who saw him and did not hesitate one moment to go for a leash, take him home and call us for picking up the little fellow.

Now he belongs to the Scooby tenants, looking for a home. He is a good little boy, very cuddly and always looking for affection and understanding. Pal goes along well with other dogs and behaves perfectly.

Do you want to help Pal to make him forget his past? Give him a chance and adopt him!

Scooby Auction!

Scooby Day 2012

Dear animal lovers

The second Scooby Day has been planned for Sunday the 24th of June, and this is your official invitation! We are sure this next one will be even busier and better than last time!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Scooby Day:  it’s a day of fun for both dog and owner! We have several activities planned, such as a nice walk through the dunes of Soest, get some excitement by taking a bet with our Wheel of Fortune, the possibility to have your dog checked thru the HPK (the periodical dog check) and you will be introduced to the loveliest Scoobydogs that have been waiting for a new owner too long already.

Besides all that, we will also have very interesting and fun stands, like the Scooby shop, May’s collars and Galgolicious. You can have your picture taken together with your dog and if that’s not enough, your dog can have the time of its life (provided he or she acts socially correct of course!) running around in the training sandbox inside. In short, a day that must not be missed.

This event again will take place at the stables Nieuw Eldorado, located at the Bosstraat 82 in Soest (this time we have more space made available to us than last time),  and all of you are welcome from 11.00 till 17.00 hours.

For a description on how to get there, please see: www.nieuweldorado.nl/manege/route/27/

You will be able to meet the people behind Scooby, members of the board and of course meet each other, get together with adopted dogs, get to know Scooby a little better and at the same time have a great day, for both dogs and owners!

See you June 24^th!

Scoobyteam Holland

GINY

This is Giny, a very sweet and gorgeous galgomix female also saved by Scooby from the perrera where she was brought to by her owners and where she was to be euthanised in a few days although she was only 7 months of age then. But this did not seem to bother the owners, they did not want her anymore and were not interested in what her faith would be...

She has the bad luck not being a galgo but a mix from that breed what makes it a lot more difficult to find her a forever home.

But Giny deserves it so much to have her own family. After her very bad start in life she did not lose hope and she stayed a very sweet and happy girl.

She loves to play and loves all other dogs, big ones as well as small ones, she is always even glad to see them and play with them. She behaves also very well on the lead.

She is now some 5 months in Scooby and it is time that she finds her own family where she can enjoy more of her childhood with people that love her and give her the life every young dog should have and also deserve, to become a healthy and happy dog with a hopefully long life ahead. Make her happy and adopt.

Rex - Everybody´s darling looking for home

Our wonderful Rex has been picked up by us in an empty finca in the hills of Salamanca.

From the very first moment he conquered everybody´s heart at Scooby because he is such a gentle and peaceful young boy. He is really smart, nice with humans, with male and female dogs, big dogs, small dogs, even gets along with the cats at the office. Spanish people shared our opinion and adopted him.

But his luck didn´t last for long, some days later he was returned to Scooby because he had an attack.

It happened again here and we it is Epilepsy according to the diagnose from the vets from the university of Zaragoza. At the moment we are trying to figure out how often it happens, if it is rather seldom, there is maybe no medication needed but if it happens regularly  he´d need a fine-tuning on medication but this is very difficult to practice in a shelter and so we are looking for a loving home for this wonderful dog.

Here are 2 videos of Rex. In the first one you can see he is already good on the leash without any training and in the second one you see that he´s just a normal young dog who enjoys to play and have fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unT3WtyNIuk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgaHdKKnD8s

If you think you are the person who can bring even more joy to his live with giving him a loving home, please contact us!

Petition for the protection of street animals

Dear friends,

Please read and sign this petition as it affects directly our work and goals.

It will be shown in German first but you can choose your language by clicking on the according flag at the top.

Thank you !

http://www.eu-protest1.aerztefuertiere.de

Snow in Medina

After 2 weeks of sunny and very nice and sometimes even hot afternoons here in Medina, surprisingly enough in the morning of the 6^th of April there was snow all over the place and we started up working in the morning while snowing!  6^th of April Spain, Medina del Campo!

At this moment there are a lot of volunteers present to help us. Several come from The Netherlands and the UK, they´re pretty comfortable in this weather, like homeJ

A Saturday at Scooby

Again a Saturday at Scooby and again one of many Saturdays I am feeling happy with  taking care of our animals at Scooby, spoiling them, washing them, giving them treats, etc…

At one moment I was full of joy when people looking for a dog to adopt popped up and fell in love with a galgo. “How nice!” I thought, “Again a dog who has a home.”

But this joy vanished immediately when I saw 2 persons approaching with Toby, a very playful and super affectionate dog of just one year of age. His “owner” gave us a brief excuse to get rid of him und left him at the shelter. While they disappeared Toby didn´t stop crying as if saying “Why do you leave me behind here? What did I do wrong? Please come back, I will be so obedient.” But they didn´t come back, neither they turned around for a last glance at him, they didn´t even say good bye to him – left him alone at a place he didn´t know with people who were still strangers to him.

Now he is looking for a home where he is loved, where he is taken care of and where he will never be abandoned again. Do you want to give it to him?