Puppy dumped in the road

Blacky nearly ran into our car. He had no road sense, had been dumped by the roadside and was being watched by a group of men who were standing outside a bar laughing as he tried to dodge the cars. We stopped and I managed to persuade him into the car. We rushed to the vet and made sure he had no microchip. We were about to fly back to the UK (the August heat in Spain is too much for me) and although the wonderful lady who has our dog would have taken Blacky - we had no time to give him his vaccinations etc. I took him to the Guardia Civil because I heard that they would take him to Algeciras to the refuge. Enrique, the director of the department in the Guardia Civil who deal with abandoned animals told me that the shelters were overflowing and nobody would take him. However I pleaded and finally he made a phone call to Peter, a wonderful Dutchman who runs the charity animal in need in La Linea.
He wasnt pleased to see Blacky and I was so sad to have to leave him. However now the law is changing from January 2012 people will be able to bring their pets into the UK provided they have an up to date rabies injection, no more six month waiting.
Anyone out there in Spain or the UK who thinks they can help do have another look at Blacky and all the other hundreds of dogs in La Linea. Unlike the Uk there is really no effective coordinated government sponsored organisations to help animals - just wonderful groups of volunteers and people like Peter and other individuals who work tirelessly in Spain to help all the neglected, abused and abandoned animals.

www.animalinneed.com

Pepe the donkey

Pepe the donkey lives in the field behind our house in Spain. Since we have been there his pitiful constant lonely braying has made me want to sob. My Spanish neighbours dont even notice him. He is hobbled, in fact Ive never ever seen him free to roam. Spasmodicaly his owner, a local farmer, checks on him. I take him a carrot every day and have bought some food for him. I want to try to buy him and rehome him with the wonderful refuge with whom Ive recently been in contact. A friend of mine has told me that donkeys are escape artists but it makes me very sad to see him so neglected. Im told by another donkey owner that donkeys can bray to communicate and can be heard by fellow donkeys by up to 7 kilometres. They can live for more than 40 years, Pepe is 7 years old. My Spanish neighbours who all know how upset I am about him nod sympathetically when I talk about his plight and all breathe 'yes the English think differently about their animals.