SUMMER journal entry

SERVICE

As part of my CAS project we rescued a family of dogs from inhumane conditions, with no food or water. The mom who was beaten badly had recently given birth to 3 puppies and was chained up with a heavy metal chain that broke her skin and harmed her neck. When we brought them to the vet, they were covered in ticks and had various skin infections. The mom was also extremely anemic and really close to passing away, the vet told us he wasn’t sure she would make it. Although initially they were going to stay at our house just for a few days till they were rid of the ticks, since they wouldn’t accept them at the shelter, with a little convincing my parents agreed to let them stay and so they never had to go to the shelter. The first few days I bathed them constantly to try and get rid of the ticks, and then for multiple weeks they all had a rigorous treatment to follow with multiple pills to take each day. 

Once the treatment was over we focused on getting them adopted. This was much more difficult than I expected, especially since so many people were leaving on vacation. 

After struggling to find someone for two of the puppies that were left and the mom, and as we were about to leave the country which meant they would have to go to the shelter, I decided to contact Doris Lubi who constantly rescues and gets dogs adopted in the area. Contacting her was super beneficial as a lot of people follow and know her as someone to contact if they are interested in adopting a dog. She quickly helped us find people who were genuinely interested and seemed really great. 

One of the puppies had been adopted by a family from our La Paz community a while back, but the two others got adopted a day before we left. One by a Canadian family that was actually going to take her back to Canada, and the other by a British woman who lives in Tamarindo. 

Although all the families that adopted the puppies are really great, personally giving them up for adoption was extremely difficult after having them at home for so long and getting so attached. The fact that we were splitting them up was also extremely conflicting ethically because I know they had to be split up to get adopted and have a good family but it made me extremely sad to break them up from their mom and each other, especially after what they went through as they were all very attached. 

Lastly the mom, Cookie has been the most difficult to get adopted and she therefore is still staying at our house. She’s doing much better and has regained some body fat. Although she’s extremely sweet and we would like to keep her, she doesn’t get along with my other dog who is very jealous. Therefore we are still looking for someone to adopt her, as we really don’t want her to have to stay at the shelter.