Is a miracle worth more just because it happens abroad?

If you are active in social media, you must have seen the article, in connection with International Homeless Animals’ Day, concerning dogs that were in terrible shape when rescued and then beautifully recovered before they have been eventually adopted. While it is good to watch how incredibly living organizations can recover from devastating health conditions, we are pretty sad to see that people tend to think such miracles happen only in the US or Western countries. The truth is, miracles happen in Hungary, too. Any organization involved in animal rescue or protection has its own stories. The main reason why these stories do not reach a wide audience is that we have not yet mastered Facebook and other social media sites as a way to channel our messages. Maybe, those involved in such miracles are so busy DOING the miracles they simply do not have enough time for marketing and publication.

So, let’s see a few examples for shocking cases at Futrinka. All of these stories happened in Hungary within the limits of possibilities of the particular locality. We would like to stress out again that any other animal rescue organization (do not confuse it with dog/cat collecting shelters) can tell you such stories if you take the time to ask them.

In the majority of cases, photos do not reflect truthfully the suffering a particular dog went through. Photos do not necessarily reveal former fractured bones and diseases. However, what's common in all pictures is the visible consequences of improper treatment, negligence and lack of care. Nowadays in Hungary, you don’t have to go the extra mile if you would “like” to locate and rescue a terribly hungered and thin animal possibly hosting plenty of flea and/or worm. Similarly, dogs with rotting skin under their sluttish hair or dogs that have lost their hair due to demodex or itch mites, are not hard to find either.

When we rescued the wire-haired dachshund called Lubick from the dog pound in Tiszarád, Hungary (he got there after his owner died), he was very thin but you couldn’t see it due to his sluttish hair. Now that he’s finally found his owner, he looks great.

It would be easy if we only had to introduce dogs that have already been adopted and been living happily ever since. Sadly, it's not the case. Below is a selection of our pets that, after being rescued, are still waiting for their perfect owners. If you would like to adopt any of these beauties, please send your email to info@futrinkautca.hu. It is important to understand that all of our animals are given vaccination and microchip and neutered before adoption (for puppies, the owner will be obliged to have them neutered after reaching proper age) and must be kept strictly indoor.

Let’s start up with a “non-dog” favourite called Kistücsök (alias Little Cricket). This beauty was found by one of our colleagues on a rainy day. She was full of fleas and worms, suffered from heavy eye inflammation and was weak like a leaf. God knows how many people had passed by and seen her floundering in the puddle before she was finally found. The first few days after the collection were critical for Kistücsök. She did not have good chances for survival. She was administered strong painkillers and antibiotics and needed to be fed every 1 to 2 hours. She is getting strong. Though she will need to undergo an eye surgery to eliminate her pain and will probably remain blind permanently, at least she has real chances for a life worth to live.

The tiniest one will be followed by the largest one of our transformers. He is the Great Dane B. Hektor. Large dogs often get to our organization because their owners simply cannot afford to feed them not to mention other of their needs. Let’s put it this way: he was not that kind of massive and strong dog when he got to us. Currently, he is living with a foster family and producing slow but consistent recovery. He also had his rectal tumour removed meanwhile and is almost ready for adoption.

Rescued dogs often suffer from demodex and other mites causing itching and loss of hair. We are currently treating a couple of dogs with demodex. The male Dachshund-Pincher mix Virsli (alias Sausage) had the most terrible case of all of them. He had been taken over from the animal shelter in Kisvárda, Hungary. He had lived in the shelter ever since he was a puppy and been suffering from skin diseases until we started his therapy. Now he is almost fully recovered thanks to his foster family who provided him with a great deal of care and proper environment to complement his veterinary treatment. If the soul is healed, the body can also heal faster.

For several reasons, the majority of puppies that are born in poor conditions and not given antiparasitic treatment do not live to be adult dogs. Even if they survive infections and diseases, their owners “take care” of them quite often. Bála, Buxa and Botorka were born under a lucky star. However, being born to a mother dog that lives on a chain does not give you real chances for life, we just needed a mother dog at that time to feed an orphan Dachshund litter. It meant the puppies have been rescued as well. We knew it would be tough. To put this way, black dogs are not the easiest-to-adopt dogs. It was no different in this case. They are reaching the youngster age and are still waiting for their perfect owners…

Vigyori (alias Smiley) was taken from his owner by another organization due to improper care and poor environment. This organization also let him alone and we eventually took him over. It was more than a year ago. And he just keeps waiting… His ear is healed and his thin body has turned into pretty good shape. He looks so good you could not believe what he might have gone through. (However, he insists on keeping his laced ears as a sex appeal.)

If you have lived in Hungary your entire life, you have probably seen, at least once in your life, a dog that has been taken out of a car along the road. These dogs tend to stay still and “protect” the location where they have been left behind. Mindig (alias Always) and his partner Azonnal (alias Now) were also waiting to be rescued along a light-traffic road in the countryside. By the time they were discovered by a caring individual they had both almost hungered to death. When they got to us, they started to recover pretty fast. However, they were both diagnosed with heartworm. Their treatment has already started but they have a long way to go to become healthy. We are looking for an owner who could take these beauties along their journey with our organization bearing the treatment costs in full.

We could go on and on all day and show tons of examples of what can be achieved through great care and love. But for now, the show's over. We believe that the abovementioned cases are sufficient to convey the message: this country also has something to be proud of including incredible and touching before/after photos. However, we would be even more proud if the number of shocking and devastating cases reduced over time. The animal care culture in a society represents a standard of perception and unfortunately Hungary has a great deal of careless owners who let their pets down.

We truly hope that all of our dogs will live to be happy and healthy family members where their owners take good care of them and give them the proper environment to live in. This is exactly what we strive to ensure or at least assist in, whether it be the animals mentioned above or those that have been or will be rescued by our organization. The same goes for our beautiful female Hungarian Pointer Matutka. She was thrown over the fence with earlier non-treated fractured leg conditions. She also started to produce the symptoms of muscle atrophy. She is about to undergo a major surgery.

(This post has been created by Futrinka Organization. Should this post be reproduced or reused (whether in full or in part), the source of information shall be exactly referred to. Thank you!)