LILY, a princess from the fairy tales

Lily is a little cat with two colors: black and white. She is educated and gentle, sweet and attentive, playful and very very beautiful. We could say she is the little princess of the refuge.

                          

She is very quiet, she spends the days stretched out in her little bed, sleeping with the sound of her purring.. purr.. purr.. possibly dreaming of her knight in shining armour coming to rescue her soon, dreaming that her prince will fight all these cruel and bad people who have the fate of many many more cats like her in their hands, and dreaming that in the end her prince will rescue her and take her to a beautiful place where they can be happy for ever and ever..

But when she wakes up, her dream ends and Lily sees she is still locked up.  She has become a bit lazy because there is really nothing to do for entertainment. Even though she is still young, she has suffered a lot already. She was abandoned and if this wasn’t bad enough, because of a wound that got infected she lost one of her beautiful eyes. At some point we thought we would loose her but Lily was strong and had such a strong will to live that she got better. And that is why she deserves to be in a better place, a home where she can live like the princess from the fairy tales, where she has places to hide, windowsills to lie on, radiators to give her warmth in the cold days of winter and above all: pillows where she can lie on, dozing off with the sound of her purring.. purr .. purr.. knowing that her dreams finally came true.

Nieves Vázquez

An educational walk in the Spanish Woods

Last Friday a Scooby worker took his dog and me out for a nice evening walk in the pine woods near Medina del Campo. After a hot summer day it was nice to take a walk in the evening, in the shadow, watching the sun set between the trees. But this walk proved to be more than a casual walk, it became a interesting learning experience for me about the Galgueros (the men who go hunting rabbits with the Galgos).

During our walk we passed by a dry water well and the worker whistled into the well. I asked him why he was doing that and he told me the story about one day he was walking here with his dog, when his dog started to bark at the well. He went to see what was wrong and he heard a soft howl coming from the bottom of the well. He called the fire department and they came to get the dog out of there. During this operation the fireman who went into the well even almost died, trying to save this dog, because of the lack of oxygen on the bottom of the well. I know that Galgueros through their dogs in wells to get rid of them, but it is a strange experience to actually see a well that dogs have been thrown into and almost all are never found and die in the dark, wounded and alone.

We continued the walk and he wanted to show me the wholes where the foxes live in the woods. But when we found one he stopped and looked at the ground. There was a dead fox. And he told me with a sad face that the Galgueros had been here earlier to poison the foxes. Why would you want to do that? - I asked. Because foxes eat rabbits and they want the rabbits to stay alive for the hunt. Poor foxes.

We walked on because he wanted to show me the biggest pine tree in the woods. Finally, a positive thing he can show me. And, compared to the other trees, it was a beautiful big old tree! Must be over a hundred years old? - I asked. But he was searching for something on the ground. Last time I walked here – he said- I found a dead eagle. It had been shot out of this tree. Why? – I asked again. Because it eats rabbits…

Wow, incredible. So it´s not only the Galgos and rabbits who suffer a lot from the yearly hunts, also innocent predators that naturally eat rabbits get killed for this stupid tradition. Why?

Bakery Raúl, our loyal source of bread

Since many years, bakery Raúl in Rueda, has given Scooby their old bread to feed to our animals. They are very loyal to us and we are forever grateful to them.  All the farm animals, dogs and even our pigeons enjoy the bread very much. Every week we go to pick up baskets full of bread and Raúl and his team kindly help us carry the bread inside the bus. And sometimes even spoil us with some delicious freshly baked goods.

Thank you, team Raúl! For everything!

The sad story of Boby

Boby is a small sized dog, 12 years of age and his life up till now has been pretty good. He had a bed, food, and most importantly, the unconditional love of his mistress. But all this changed one day, his mistress was an elderly lady who could no longer take care of herself and they made her go into a retirement home. She did not want that because she did not know what would happen to Boby and it bothered her a lot. Her health got worse and finally she had to make the hardest decision ever. According to her Boby was the only family she had, he had been her pride and joy. She got in touch with Scooby so we could find him a new home where he could be loved and cared for the way he deserved.

Scooby came to pick him up and their goodbye was very sad, his mistress was giving him kisses while she was crying, and when Boby saw her leave he started barking and wanted to go with her. It was a sad moment for the two of them.

Now Boby is at Scooby. And for dogs that have been out on the street without water or food, Scooby is like a luxurious hotel, but for dogs that have been spending their life in a home living with people, it is a lot worse. And this is what is happening to Boby, he is having a hard time because he doesn’t know why he is here, why he is not with his mistress, whom he is never going to see again, and he passes the day crying, he is so sad his life has changed so drastically.

Now he is looking for a family to take care of him and who loves him the way he deserves, untill the end of his days. He is a little dog with still a lot of life let in him, would you want to offer him a home?

Meet our kangaroo: Paulli

Paulli is a super happy dog! So happy that she jumps up to two meters high at the door when she sees you coming. And when you enter the paddock she start running through the paddock and comes back to jump at you, runs again, comes back, runs and so on. Until she is tired and calms down and she comes to you for a nice pet.

 She does not try to escape with her jumps, it is just her expression of happiness. Paulli lives happily with other Galgos, male and female at Scooby, but she is still looking for her own front door..

PS:  Paulli is reserved now!

Kelly and her broken leg

A few days ago, the Spanish police came to bring a dog that was lying on the side of the road. She had been hit by a car and left there to die. Luckily she was found by the police and brought to Scooby. Our vet examined her and her back leg was broken badly. The bone even protruded her skin. This break can not be fixed with a simple bandage so it has to be operated on. A veterinary hospital in the neighborhood is very kind to operate on her for very little money. But it will still cost € 150,-. So I am asking you if you would be so kind to help us pay for the operation.

Kelly is a very sweet young dog, but now she is depressed because she can´t stand, run or play. I hope she can be helped soon.

Thank you, Fermín.

New puppy house

Six little Galgo puppies are happily living in the new build puppy house! We dreamt about a puppy house for years and now we have one thanks to the wonderful result of an auction last year! It is almost finished, but finished enough to have some small residents. The puppies were found on the street without their mother and came in when they were hardly four weeks old and just started to eat on their own. They lived here in the bathroom at first, but now they have a nice cool part inside, where they can sleep and protect themselves from the burning sun. And outside they can play, eat and look at their strange looking neighbors; cats.

Thank you ,dear auction participants, to make this possible!

Rex and Tobi – a very special friendship

Those of you reading our updates on a regular bases already know Rex. He is a gorgeous big shepherd mix, who unfortunately has a small handicap – Rex suffers from epilepsy. He gets his medication regularly, but suffers from minor episodes nevertheless. Thus he, a young bloke, now lives with the oldies in the garden. This is more secure for him, because for one we can always see him there, furthermore the oldies notice his peculiar behaviour when having a seizure but don’t respond to it.

But who is Tobi? Tobi only recently arrived at Medina. Already a few days after his arrival he trailed Rex every step of the way, making us wondering at first whether Tobi was trying to take over Rex‘ position in the pack. But no! Tobi is Rex‘ guardian angel. As soon as another episode sets in, he won’t leave his side. He lays down beside him, comforts him, licks his face and puts his head on Rex‘ shoulder. Tobi makes sure the other dogs don’t come too close to Rex in those moments and waits patiently for Rex to get his emergency meds from us. Even when we are taking care of Rex he won’t leave his side, watching us intently, but allowing us to get close to Rex as if he knows we are only there to help him. Tobi also supports Rex when he wants to get up and is still a bit shaky on his legs. Then they both saunter off and carry on the daily life in the paddock… and we just stand there for a moment, moved to tears, watching them go on together…

Bande-dog of the week

This week´s ´dog of the week´ is again a dog from the garden; Bande. She is not in the garden because she is old, she is only 5 years old, but she is in there because she is timid and needs to put on some weight, because in her former paddock they did not let her eat enough. And now luckily she is gaining weight. Bande is dog of the week because she surprised me yesterday.

 Before yesterday she was always in the house, lying in her basket or running away when I entered the garden. But yesterday I walked in en suddenly I felt a wet nose in my hand. So I looked behind me and there was Bande, wagging her tail and giving me a big smile! And since that time we are friends and she always comes to me for a stroke on her beautiful grey head. So she is not as timid as I thought, she just needs some confidence and time to be the happy Galgo that she can be. So the only thing left now is a home.

Scooby day 2012

The 24th of June was the day for Scooby day 2012! After months of hard work, preparations and deadlines, finally the day came that we were all looking forward to.

When we arrived at the stables early in the morning it seemed it would not all go according to plan. Although we were hoping for good weather, the sun had decided to stay behind in Spain. It was raining cats and dogs all the time so we decided to built the stands inside instead of outside. But, positive people as we are, we still had lots of fun doing it.

Luckily a lot of visitors had the same attitude since it has been very busy and it had been worth every effort! It was a very special day with lots of visitors, and even more dogs! And while the dogs were running around, the people could see the stands or enjoy a drink on the outside terrace (covered of course!)

We had a lot of stands, one of them being the Scooby shop. Lots of great prices could be won at the wheel of fortune, and the auction came up with some good items too. The highlight of the day was the walk through the Soesterduinen, natural sand dunes, where both dogs and owners could participate.

It was very special to hear so many languages spoken. Visitors came from many countries to show how much Scooby means to them. And they show it in the many donations, the truck going back to Scooby took a lot of useful goods back to Spain. And all the stands combined raised a considerable amount of money, all for the benefit of the animals at Scooby.

In short, it was a very successful day and a lot of good has been done to benefit the dogs. We would like to thank the visitors and people running the stands for their donations, hard work and dedication to Scooby. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and that we will see you again at the next Scooby day. We are already looking forward to it!

Pictures of the event can be seen at:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/annekevanrangelrooij/

And on our Scooby Holland Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/185935418142113/

Neo

This week´s featured dog is the old Neo, a very affectionate Boxer. Neo has been brought in by his owner and is at Scooby for some time now. Neo is looking forward to your visit every day, because then he can play! Although he is already 9 years old he plays like a puppy with his squeaky blue ball. And his next favorite thing is being pet. Neo is a very nice, happy dog that can be with female dogs without problems. But he can not be with male dogs, then he will start making trouble. This is the reason he is not enjoying his old Scooby-life in the garden with the other oldies. He is in a smaller paddock with one female friend to keep him company. And lately he has more bad luck; he had a problem with the cornea of his left eye. The vet is doing everything he can to save it, so we are hoping for the best!

Neo is just a great, clownish old Boxer that needs a home urgently, because a shelter is not a home for an old, but fit dog like him.

Video Neo and Tinga http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3AdXxRFzMM