Friday 13th September I get up at the crack of dawn and get myself off to Stockholm Arlanda airport to catch a flight to Malaga. This is a dream I've had the past 6 months, to visit 112 Carlota Galgos which is a small familyrun refuge in Malaga which works for the plight of the Spanish galgos. Rescuing, healing and rehabilitating galgos with the final goal of finding loving and wonderful forever homes for these dogs. Dogs that have only known gruesome cruelty, at the hands of heartless and despicable galgeros (hunters). These dogs have broken spirits, have physical ailments and are often severely undernourished. And this is where the work starts at 112 Carlota Galgos, headed by Charlotte del Rio and her husband Dioni. In time these dogs will learn what love is, how wonderful the human touch can be, what a full belly feels like and they learn to play, to feel happiness........they learn to be happy dogs. Once there, they are so ready to move on to a loving forever home.....this is the ultimate goal and what all their 24/7 work is about. Every adopted dog is a victory in itself. And every dog that leaves makes room for another broken soul, and so it goes on and on...............
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Charlotte's picked me up at the airport and we've arrived home at the finca.
Can't believe I'm here....that I'll soon meet all those wonderful galgo faces I've only seen on facebook.......... |
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Greetings first by the family dogs!
Dobi, wee BB (left corner), Niebla and Clara. |
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Laughter at Clara who is wondering who this stranger is..........
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| And here.........finally I get to meet Mr Ebro - our miracle boy. The galgo that survived against all odds. Who was a fraction from death but who had the strength and willpower to live. Two crushed hips and severely broken and damaged front legs has seen this boy through extremely complex surgery. Many times we have held our breath abatedly....fearing the worst, but with Charl's love and tender care, day & night he's pulled through. Today he is a happy boy, very talkative, so lovable and adores his Mummy Charl beyond anything. She is his world and he is happiest when he has her within sight. |
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Ebro with his much loved soft toys. His favourite, donkey has been with him through every hardship and following surgery he has always woken up with donkey next to him. If some other family dog happens to walk off with donkey he quickly sets after and brings him back!!
Here I have introduced him to giraffe, a soft toy from Sweden :) |
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| Such a happy boy our Ebb's :) |
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Yepp......giraffie got the OK from Ebro!
Ebro, your tail seems to go on forever and ever........!!!!! |
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| Playtime makes you want to go snoozings after a while..........donkey and giraffe also need a snooze! |
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Our boy......loved all over the world.
He represents what 112 Carlota Galgos is all about. |
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The children - Sofia and Neizan.
Wonderful children so involved in the work with the galgos |
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| ........and Sebastian, the teenage son busily making a delicious Spanish omelette! |
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| .........with an assisting hand from sister Sofia! |
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| There is no lack of cuddles for Ebro. Everyone wants a piece of him :) |
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| Beautiful family.........a family I instantly was made to feel a part of. |
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| Dobi - the family's latest pet. Rescued and only been at the finca for a few months. Today a very social and forward dog but when he arrived so scared and kept a big distance to the humans. He's come a long way in a short while! |
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Beautiful Clara, 6 years old with a horrific past that she has managed to erase.
So lovable and so very loved. |
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Excuse me........but in the kitchen we usually get food!!!!!!
Clara testing me.........thinking she can fool a newcomer into giving her treats!!!!
Did she get a treat??? OF COURSE she did :)) |
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Niebla - the family's loyal watch dog! Keeps a close eye on the humans and the property.
Beware intruders!!!!!!! Nieblas path cannot be crossed!!!!!!! |
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Niebla enjoying a chew!
She is part labrador and dalmation - not hard to guess ;) |
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Adorable wee BB (Belen).
This is Neizan's dog, pure love between them and BB always sleeps with Nei.
Neizan saved BB from a perrera (dog pound). He had come to the pound with Charlotte (who was there on other business), and he sees this poor and so tiny podenco, cowering and petrified. She went straight into his heart and he refused to leave the perrera without her, they HAD TO SAVE HER he pleaded with tears flowing. Charlotte finally gave in and arrived home with another family pet. And the rest is history......this is one very loved little girl and she has grown so much in terms of letting go of her inner demons and fears. |
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.....and I also fell in love with BB and before my departure I finally plucked up the courage to ask Neizan if I could officially be BB's Swedish Godmother?!
He said YES!!!!!!!!! |
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| Ambo: that plate has definitely got my name written all over it!!!!! |
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| Dioni having a nice cuddle with Ambo......... |
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| Charlottes pussy Mocha. Gorgeous wee pussy that once disappeard for 3 weeks and almost broke Charl's heart. She prayed and prayed.....please make Mocha come home! And then one morning she heard a faint meow.....and there she was just skin and bones but alive. |
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| The other family cat is Azlan - a striking black beauty that belongs to Sofia. |
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| What ya want..........? Can't ya see I'm all sleepy......... |
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| Dobi & Sebastian. |
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| Handsome Ambo. Been with the family all his life, so gentle and calm, someone Charl brings along on walks together with dogs that are particularly anxious. |
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| Ambo & Dobi indulging in a tug-of-war with "Squirrel". |
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| Nighttime falls..........Niebla and Clara keeping watch. |
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| Ebro chilling.........checking out the ongoings. |
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This IS THE MOMENT!!!!!!!!
The moment I've been so longing for, finally about to enter the orchard and meet all the wonderful galgos. |
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| Part of the gang, curiously watching, always at the entry as soon as someone approaches...... |
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| Prince howling...........hurry up and come inside!!!!!!! |
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| All excitement........soon to be given treats! |
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| Dentastix to ALL!!!!!! Yummy :) |
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| I could do with another one says Prince :) |
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| Such beauty.......but the scars on her body witness of a gruesome past. |
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| Vida & Lady |
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| Playtime.......this is so wonderful to see. Traumatized dogs having learnt to play! |
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| Dioni at work in the orchard, building a "introduction bay" a confined space where new dogs can be before they are finally phased in with the entire group. |
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| Mummy Charl is "Queen of galgos"........ |
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| Where she goes........they all follow! |
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| Vida enjoying the activity ball I bought but Thor has got his nose out of joint because he thinks the BALL is his and ONLY his.....impatiently waiting to claim it again!!! |
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| Dogs on the outside and cleaning chores on the inside making their beds nice and clean! |
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| Charlotte, the Pied Piper and her followers....... |
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| Lining up for cuddles. Love is a wonderful thing, something to be shared, something we all need, something that heals the dark torments of a gruesome past. So love is something that the galgos are given in abundance and once they learn how to receive love they give love in return. And this is the magic point when they are so ready to leave for a forever home....... |
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| Spirit enjoying dinner...... |
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The adorable twins - Sam & Sallie. Two youngsters that were saved from the perrera. Now a bundle of naughtiness - "double trouble" as Charlotte lovingly terms them :)
Sam & Sallie have been adopted and will be heading to a wonderful home in the UK in November. We are all so thrilled that this brother & sister will be spending their lives together. |
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| Spirit - such a handsome and happy boy. As I write this Spirit has arrived at his forever home in Belgium a few days ago. Happiness and love all around for this gorgeous boy! |
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| Zoe - a black beauty with eyes that touch your heart. |
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| Sallie.........I look at you and think in less than 6 weeks you'll be living in a mansion with acres of land to roam around and play. The best of lives awaits you wee girl...... |
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| Thor - the gentle giant - big as a calf but thinks he's a tiny boy. In a few days he'll be heading to New York to his forever home. This stunning boy will walk the streets of New York and people will marvel at his beauty! |
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| Too hot and tired in the heat of the day to even give the bone a good try........ |
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| Gorgeous Lady. Not reserved as yet but only a matter of time before this lovely girl will be adopted. |
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| Scooping pooh is a daily chore in the orchard and a very important one since cleanliness for the dogs is always a priority. I launched into poo scooping immediately upon my arrival and think it's fair to say that during my week at the finca I became CPS (Chief Pooh Scooper)!!!!! |
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| Bathing the dogs was a favourite pastime. So lovely massaging them with shampoo and feeling how they relaxed and enjoying the human touch and getting clean. |
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| Next in line to get squeaky clean was Prince! |
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| ..........and then Vida. |
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| Prince enjoying a lovely rub down......... |
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| Thor |
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| Darkness falls at the finca, dogs are fed and now time for sleepies. |
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| Good night, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite........ |
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| Time for my first dogwalk with some of the pack....... |
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| ........but must wait a minute as the goat man passes with his hord. |
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| Sofia, with the gentle touch, she has the gift of communicating silently with the dogs, they feel secure with her. This is the girl that at age 11 knows her future path, that she will become a veterinarian. |
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| There is always time for a cuddle.....so important to give the dogs as much human touch as possible, which breaks down barriers and opens up frozen hearts....... |
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| Pool training session with Ebro. He needs this for his legs, having had so much surgery and his hind legs and hips are underdeveloped and lacking in strength from his horrific injuries. |
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| Good boy Ebro!!!!! |
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| Looking good Mr Ebb's!!!! Just a few more laps and you're done! |
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Princess Maya!
A stunning beauty but a girl plagued by her dark past, suffering from severe anxiety but has made huge progress in the past month. |
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| Wonderful snoozings in the cool grass.......... |
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| Maya has "Milou ears" :) |
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| Walkies with Maya........I stopped for a minute and said: Maya, strike a pose cause I just have to capture that beautiful face of yours! And she did........gave me her prettiest smile. Such an adorable girl......and yes, she's been adopted!!!!! Her "parents" will be coming for her in January when they move to Spain :) |
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This simply has to be A COVER!!!!!!!
Look at these beautiful girls, their eyes are amazing.
Maya, the anxious one feels safe with Sofia. |
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| Shower time for Maya........ |
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| ........and here is Georgia. She went straight into my heart, I really bonded with this girl and loved spending time with her. A girl used as a "puppy factory", one litter after the other. And puppies taken away from her......until finally she was dumped somewhere, considered no longer worthy...........such a sad, sad life. |
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.......but Georgia was saved and has been at the finca some 3 weeks. She has not as yet been introduced to the dogs in the orchard since her health tests are not yet finalized. But she has made big progress and simply looks at you with her beautiful eyes begging for love. This girl is so loving and all she wants is to please.
Only days ago a person visited the finca.........someone that wants Georgia, someone that has opened his heart to this girl. So yes, Georgia is reserved!!!!! I cried happy tears when I heard this, such wonderful, wonderful news! She's going to her forever home. |
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Hmmmmm............that's not a galgo butt!!!
It's the lovely family horse Bailey :) |
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The galgos got most of my attention but Bailey had her share too. I really got very fond of her and got in to the routine of feeding her breakfast and dinner.
Loved giving her a cool shower and shampooing her beautiful soft skin.......... |
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| Peek-a-boo says Bailey :) |
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| Dinner is served. Bon appetite........hope it's to your liking! |
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Parcels and packages are often delivered at 112 Carlota Galgos. People from all over the world send generous gifts/donations for the dogs.
Huge excitement when a new parcel arrives!!!!!! What can it be???????
Neizan quickly opens........... |
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..........awwwww, how lovely! This time the gift was for Bailey from Carol Cox in the UK.
A cool summer cover to protect her from nasty mosquitos that bother her a lot. |
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| David hard at work, fixing drainage, one of many projects that needs attending to around the finca. |
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| ..........and Dioni on the inside slogging away. |
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| Men at work deserve a kiss......... |
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| ........and even more so a delicious bar-be-que!!!!!! |
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| Great afternoon bar-be-que, a break enjoyed by everyone! |
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| ........and Ambo just abides his time. Patience is a virtue and sooner or later something yummy is bound to come his way he thinks....... |
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| Neizan, our future road engineer and city architect!! |
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| Ebro keeping a watchful eye.......he has many important duties, one being as CFC (Chief Fly Catcher)!!!! |
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| Two news souls saved.........Hazel and Echo have just arrived home with Dioni who drove to pick them up. There is no room for them at the finca at the moment so for the next 2 - 3 weeks they will be staying in residency at a nearby perrera. |
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Arrival at the perrera.........Echo so confused.
A very beautiful boy and in quite good condition. |
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| Hazel, extremely stressed and anxious and quite thin....... |
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Here they'll stay, feels sad leaving them but at least they are safe and have a few weeks of just calming down.
Bye for now and see you soon......... |
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| Five days later we are back at the perrera to visit them. Echo is extremely happy and playful, jumping up and down, tail wagging........ |
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| Beautiful Echo..... |
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| .......and then darling Hazel, still quite stressed and even thinner. Thinner because Echo has eaten her food as well as his own :( So now they will separate them in different shelters (but next door to each other)......... |
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| Sweet girl........Charl promises that all will be well. Just have a little more patience and soon she will be going to the finca where her new life will begin. |
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| So hard leaving this girl.....tears. Want to take her to the finca NOW!!!! |
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| The van is packed with eight dogs and we're off to the vet for booster injections and getting passports in order, all final preparations for their coming departures over the next 6 weeks to their forever homes. |
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| Your turn now Prince to get up on the table....... |
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| Good boy Buddy.......standing so still! |
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| And here is beautiful Dante. Saved from a perrera the day before he was to be killed. Dante has been staying at Paco's clinic since he has a very "sick" leg. He can barely let his leg touch the ground and Paco is brooding and thinking how best to go about the surgery. He wants to avoid having to amputate the leg so is thinking of various options. We still wait and see what decision he arrives at........ |
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Dante will need a forever home that can accommodate his special needs, a quiet home with bundles of love.
And guess what????? YEEESSSS - Dante is reserved, he already has a forever home waiting for him. Happiness all around for this gentle sweet boy who deserves it so much! |
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Here we are Charlotte and myself, in the van one evening waiting for Miguel that is coming from Sevilla, a 2 1/2 hr drive to Malaga. Miguel is a professional "galgo catcher" and he is coming on a mission, to catch a galgo seen in an area about 5 minutes drive from the finca.
The galgo has been seen for the past 3 - 4 months and he has remained because a lady has been feeding him every night when she's gone walking with her dog. Charlotte has pleaded with the lady to stop feeding him because if fed and with a belly full he will never venture into a trap. Charlotte sat in her car night after night for a few weeks, hoping he would go into the trap but the galgo just wandered past, not interested because he was being fed elsewhere. This night the woman has been told NOT to lay out food. We go to the residential area, park the car along the pavement and Miguel takes a bucket, lines it with liver pate and places it some 20 - 30 metres down the road on the side of the pavement. A thin rope with a loop attached to the outer rim of the bucket and rope leading back to the car. We sit in the car and wait and wait.....darkness has long since fallen, I am hugely sceptical thinking the chances are close to zero of catching this boy. And as I'm almost about to fall asleep we see the lady with her dog coming along the pavement............and there!!!!! OMG!!!! there is our galgo boy, some 10 metres behind following her in the street. She walks past us but the galgo feels the smell of luring pate, he approaches the bucket extremely cautiously, very suspicious, goes behind it, then to the side, walks away and then returns. He is so tempted yet very apprehensive and we can't believe our eyes when he stands behind the bucket and carefully nudges the loop of rope round the bucket so it falls to the ground!!! This is one smart boy!!!
Miguel then quickly makes himself seen, collects the bucket and rope while the galgo passes close by in the street and turns a corner in the direction the lady disappeared. We quickly transport ourselves down the road close to where the lady lives. This time the car is parked out of vision and Miguel is crouched behind a wall with vision up the road, the bucket in place yet again. We wait and wait........yet again. Suddenly, Miguel gives a signal with his hand and seconds later he pulls and we hear a piercing panic stricken scream - YES!!!!! the galgo is caught. My heart is pounding so hard, adrenaline pumping and I can hardly believe what I'm witnessing..................
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| Miguel is a true professional, he works quickly and swiftly. He has the galgo pinned to the ground within 30 seconds.......then strokes him gently and speaks soothingly, trying to diminish the fierce panic our boy is feeling. |
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| ..........then equally quickly gets a rope round his nose and head. It's so obvious he's done this many times before. |
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| A stunning boy, beautiful, in good condition, nice coat and no obvious scars. |
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| Now transported him back home to the finca. He's in shock........we robbed him from his freedom, the world he knows and from this minute onwards the rehabilitation commences. He will never return to the arduous and dangerous life on the streets, from this point onwards he will learn what love is, how wonderful the human touch can be, he will always have a full belly not having to hunt for food and he will learn to play and to embrace happiness......... |
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| This is where our boy will be, in a confined space for the next few days. He will be left alone, apart from feeding and he will simply be left to observe and take in his new surroundings. Seeing and hearing us coming and going, the children talking and playing, the horse Bailey walking past him..........sensing that this new "world" isn't a dangerous one........ |
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| Our boy has been named Tarzan! |
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| Sadness and anxiety in those beautiful eyes........but soon Tarzan they will shine with confidence and happiness because here you will feel LOVE for the first time in your life......... |
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| The next morning..........so bewildered, still in shock. He seems a very gentle boy, you are allowed to touch him, to stroke his head carefully. This is magic to me.......... |
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| Not ready for food yet ................ |
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| But then suddenly he carefully dares eat from my hand. I feel his soft nose against my palm and am overwhelmed by an emotional rush. He then eats, one small mouthful after the other from my hand..........I'm so HAPPY!!!! |
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| The morning of my departure........I leave his bowl of breakfast and only minutes later see him standing there eating. A breakthrough.......and when I later go to collect his bowl and see that he's gone pooh pooh for the first time in 2 1/2 days I cry with joy :) |
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I love you Tarzan!!!!
I felt so sad saying good-bye to you but as I write this 1 week later I have had reports that all your tests are good and show no sign of diseases. You have been castrated and you have been on the lead and have met Maya and Georgia. You are very shy and anxious but are making good progress. This makes me so happy and I want you to know that I am your Swedish Mama Susie because I will be sponsoring you with food each month.
Bless you darling boy.........in time your are going to be some ones wonderful pet in a loving forever home. |
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| My last evening at the finca.........the week has gone far too quickly. It's been wonderful and I've felt part of this loving and very special family. |
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Cuddles with Ebro!
Ebro represents all that 112 Carlota Galgos stands for. He is loved by people all over the world..........and his relentless fight for survival, his will to live when all looked hopeless has made him a "living legend", that special galgo that stands at the forefront for ALL the galgos that need rescuing!
You are "THE ONE" Ebro.......you truly are, and we love you to bits. |
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........but there is ONLY ONE special person for Ebro - Mama Charlotte that saved him, that nursed him back to life.
They have a unique love and connection that will forever intertwine their hearts and souls...... |
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| Words are superfluous..........the picture speaks for itself! |
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| A new day breaks at the finca......the morning of my departure. My heart feels heavy even though I have my beautiful boy Milou at home, waiting for me........of course I look forward to our reunion. But life here at the finca lodges itself into your heart and there is such an overwhelmingly strong feeling of the meaning of it all...... |
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Bye bye Sofia. You are such an adorable and lovely girl.
The love and special communication you have with dogs will guide you going forward in life..... |
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| .........and wonderful Neizan, the boy that gives hugs like no one else. Hugs that you want to be never ending. Those hugs are in themselves a good enough reason for me to return sooner rather than later....... |
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| .......and Sebastian, don't think I'm leaving without a hug from you too!!!!!! |
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Thank you Charlotte & Dioni for making me feel so welcome in your family, I truly feel as if I've got a new "family".
New people in my heart, so enriching.......that's what life is all about, being open to these new encounters and letting love flow........ |
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| I knew that holding Ebro's head in my hands a last time, saying farewell would be a tearful moment........and so it was. |
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| At the airport......I'll miss getting in and out of the 112 Carlota Galgos van like I've done so many times during my stay....... |
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A final wave BYE BYE Charlotte............ but I'll be back and that's a promise!
Please visit www.carlotagalgos.com |
