Aura
Date of Birth: 01/01/2013
Gender: Female
Gotcha Day: 07/01/2019
Breed: Dog
There was an animal rescue organisation in a nearby village that was being dismantled because the owner died. There were all sorts of animals such as billy goats (three of them we were able to rehome), about 15 dogs and 30 cats. Most, if not all of them, were not in a very good state. We were initially contacted to go get the cats. We caught all 30 cats, treated their disease and had them all successfully adopted.
The ‘Fondation Brigitte Bardot‘ took in most of the dogs but two of them, Maya and Aura, were not likely to be adopted. The reason for this is because they were mother and daughter and needed to be adopted together. Adopting two dogs at once is not something many people feel ready or capable of doing. What’s more, one of the two is already a senior dog at 11 years old. Senior dogs need a lot more care and are more prone to needing medication or frequent visits to the vet. This is also the reason why shelters have so many old dogs, people just don’t want the burden and financial costs that come with taking care of a senior dog.
The dogs were always outside and we were told by volunteers that Maya and Aura ran away frequently. They only had one small doghouse to share between the two of them. Maya, the mother was incredibly frightened and would never come when called. The only thing Aura, her daughter, knew to do for attention was to jump on people or lay down on her back in a submissive pose.
We went to the site three times in order to get the cats and we always noticed the dog pair looking scared. We were told they had never been inside and the volunteers thought they didn’t even like it inside. Nobody knew if they were clean or house trained.
The first four days at the sanctuary, whenever they felt frightened, they would run to the garage and jump inside the car with which we had picked them up. We had purposefully left the door to the backseat open in anticipation of this. We fed them in the garage because that’s where they felt safe. They slept in the car overnight until one day they became curious about where the humans were staying, and so they decided themselves they wanted to come inside.
What we found out is that not only are they house trained and clean, they absolutely LOVE being inside. As a matter of fact, they prefer it. Since sleeping inside, Maya and Aura are the ones that seek the most comfort.
We don’t know Maya and Aura’s backstory, unfortunately, but we will make sure to let you know how they do from now on.