A 12 year old dog, sick and suffering from vision
problems, dies after his owners abandoned him and left him tied at the fence of the animal
shelter.
Judit Calvo
He could not beat the infection of the parvovirus that
he had, but most of all he could not overcome the fact that his people had left
him in the harsh new conditions of the shelter that was such a strange place to
him.
“He could not stop crying during the whole time he was
with us, he only wanted to be carried around in someone’s arms and did not
respond to any treatment, this was not normal but it looked that he wanted to
die, he didn’t have any will to live anymore.” one of the volunteers of the
shelter Scooby Adopta in Zamora told us.
Towards the site of the municipal dogpound in Poligono de los Llanos did the owners of
Daddy ( a name the people at the shelter gave him) bring him, on a one way trip
without return.
The volunteers of the dogpound that were working there
at the time found him there, tied to the fence. Frightened and weak he already
showed symptoms of being depressed and his willingness to die, which happened
only 10 days later.
At the shelter the people were very upset and saddened
with this dog dying, 12 years old and with vision problems, and problems with
the virus that attacked him. Although not normal, a lot of dogs are abandoned
in the last stage of their life, that is why the people at the shelter are anxious
to find them a home in the shortest possible time “because at this age and also
after spending their whole life in a home, they are not accustomed to the life
in a shelter, even though they had all the care needed, they have a vet, a roof
over their head, food and a lot of love, the shelter is still a cold strange place
and a lot of them cannot start a new life there” complain the people at Scooby.
Daddy has been one of these cases, he lived with his
owners his whole life, and at the end of his days, sick and disoriented he had
to leave everything that he loved the most, so much that not even the good care
and attention the vet gave him could make his strength and will to live return.
Nobody knows what made the owners take the decision to
leave him, and a lot of comments were made condemning the situation. Even so,
people in the shelter don’t understand how someone could get rid of an animal
with whom you have shared your life, one of the theories is that maybe the
owner has died or moved to a residence, and nobody in the family, friends or
neighbours could take care of him.
Whatever happened, Daddy is not the only example and
sorry to say, he does not seem to be the last. “ A lot of times we find animals
in the same condition, tied to fences, left behind in cages, in the garbage bin
and even dogs thrown over the fence with broken bodyparts as a result from the
impact” A harsh reality for the volunteers to witness and they at least hope
that people will realize the “serious results of getting rid of a dog, and
mostly the older dogs because the moment they leave him, they condemn them to
death. Unfortunately very few people want to adopt an adult dog” they inform us
from the shelter.
Daddy did have a home in the end, the people from
Scooby in Medina del Campo had found him a place to stay with a family of his
own when he was a bit better, but “unfortunately it was too late”. At least in
the end he died surrounded by care and love.
