Love at first sight

Harriet and her family weren’t really looking for a dog when, as she put it, ‘Alma popped up on her screen’.  They took one look at the fluffy, grey mongrel on 1 Dog at a Time Rescue’s Facebook page and they were hooked.  They immediately contacted the charity and were delighted to discover that Alma was very friendly and good with children and cats – all-important tick boxes for Harriet and her family.   A home visit followed, to check that they would be a good match for Alma, and then the missing pieces of the puzzle started to come together as Harriet explains:

“1 Dog at a Time Rescue didn’t know too much about Alma’s past and so they recommended that we contact a lady called Salvati Cateli, who with an elderly aunt had been looking after Alma in a chicken coop in the garden – of all things.”

One Dog against all the odds

Slowly and quietly Salvati told Harriet that Alma and her little friend Smarty, a smaller, male dog, were well known in Bistrita as they had been living in the mountains around the town and came down most nights to try and find food. Some residents felt sorry for the two gentle souls as they made their regular visits and left out food to help them in their constant struggle for survival. Others were less charitable and, in one particularly barbaric act of cruelty, both dogs were viciously beaten, Smarty ending up with a fractured skull and Alma left severely injured and tied up with barbed wire.
The story could so easily have ended tragically there with Alma bloody and broken by the side of her little friend’s inert body if Salvati and her elderly aunt hadn’t taken her into the chicken coop.
Alma’s broken body was gradually fixed, but the puppies that they discovered she was carrying had sadly died due to the beating and had to be removed. Not even allowed a chance at life. Salvati and her aunt had helped to mend Alma’s body and the team at 1 Dog at a Time Rescue had found her a new home, but how could she possibly recover from the emotional scars of what had happened?

A chance for a new life

Alma arrived on 1 Dog at a Time’s Freedom Bus and was met by Harriet and her excited family. Slowly but surely over the ensuing months, she recovered her strength and started to adjust to family life.
“Given her tragic circumstances, I can’t believe how well she’s settling in,” continues Harriet. “She’s gradually coming out of her shell and gets on well with everyone, but is particularly fond of the children. On a couple of walks, we’ve come across some fairly aggressive dogs, and Alma never responds with aggression, but deliberately positions herself between the children and them.”
“Even more surprising is that she’s proving invaluable in my business, helping me treat dogs and horses with behavioural problems. It’s her gentle, calm demeanour that shines through and even fairly troubled animals seem to respect her and react positively to her quiet, calming influence. But it’s not just animals; she’s also helping a friend of mine overcome her phobia of dogs….. Alma is truly remarkable.”
So it looks like the answer to the original question is a resounding yes. It is possible for a dog, albeit an exceptional one, to overcome unimaginable cruelty to become a healer – whether it’s helping to heal humans or animals.
And what of Alma’s little friend Smarty with the fractured skull? Well, we believe that he was adopted by a family in Germany, which proves that kindness really can cross borders and that we can all right terrible wrongs – regardless of where we live.

If you have what it takes to transform a Romanian dog’s life, then please check out the dogs available on our website and get in touch.  As usual, we’re full to bursting at Happy Tails so you won’t just be saving 1 dog, you’ll be freeing up space for other desperate dogs waiting to have their lives transformed.

Please click here to contact us if you would like more information on 1 Dog At A Time Rescue UK.