Tuesday 26 March 2013
The heavens
have opened here at Scooby – it is very wet, the dogs are inside and we´re all
feeling a bit frustrated as we´re eager to roll our sleeves up and work but
there is only so much we can do outside during this ongoing downpour. However,
don´t be fooled that the weather can restrict the value that a volunteer can
add; there are many other jobs that are equally important.
We´ve prepared the food, which as anyone who
has already volunteered at Scooby knows, can be a long and tedious process as
the donated food is often in very small packets which need to be opened
individually. With 500 mouths to feed you can imagine how many packets need to
be opened! With each tear of every packet you have to think about the dogs and
the seemingly thankless task becomes a labour of love, okay okay, that´s
probably going a bit too far but it really is an important job!
We´ve spent time with the dogs who are
recovering from their illnesses or operations in the clinic. Cleaning their
crates, feeding them and giving them some tender loving care are vital to
getting them back on their feet.
We´ve cleaned the inside kennels with as
little disturbance as possible to the dogs who are seeking shelter from the
rain. This can sometimes take a while as we´re easily distracted by wet dogs
who look like they need a cuddle! It makes a real difference to them in this
weather to have cosy beds, especially the recently rescued Galgos who are a
little underweight, so we put blankets down and leave knowing that they can
rest in comfort.
Now, we´re
sitting at our laptops and iPads drinking tea writing descriptions of the dogs
for the website and stories for the newsletter; another important job as this
is what helps to attract volunteers, secure donations and find homes for the
animals.
Our spirits
are lifted when Pablo enters the office with a Monk who is interested in
adopting Pedro, a lovely little brown dog; they meet and it´s made official. ´Do
you think he could bless Freddy? ´ I ask Sabine in jest. Freddy is an adorable
young puppy found abandoned in Salamanca who I´ve been looking after since I
arrived on Friday. She jumped up and ran over to ask; the Monk obliged and we
are all moved to watch Freddy being blessed in front of us.
With smiles on
our faces we head back to the office when we notice a young lady waiting at the
gates; she´s also interested in adopting a Scooby dog and after a few
introductions she goes home with a beautiful young black Labrador named Baloula.
And now a
family arrives at the office with Pablo who spends some time with them looking
through the database; could this be the third adoption of the day? There are
lots of smiles and things look positive. It turns out that Dumbo is the one for
them and there we have it; three adoptions on one of the most miserable days of
the year so far :)
No two days
are the same at Scooby and no amount of rain can dampen our spirits or the
lessen the hope that we have for its animals.
