Now this is a REAL rescue story.........
Meet Vera, a 2-3 yo fawn Mastiff. We can only guess what
this poor girl has been through. One day a gentleman was
driving on a desolate road in South Florida through
sugarcane fields & couldn't believe his eyes, there was
an English Mastiff on the side of the road.
He stopped to see her & he knew then that he must do
something to save this beautiful girl from an awful fate
which surely awaited her. While he was stopped, the farm
manager for the sugarcane fields arrived. He told the
story of finding Vera, starved & hiding fearfully in the
fields.
He imagined that someone must have abandoned her when
they moved out of some of the farm housing. Initially,
she was very skittish when he would approach to feed and
water her, but over a 4 month period of being fed by her
only friend in the world, she gained some much needed
weight & began to trust the farm manager & his workers.
In fact twice a day the men would gather where Vera
lived in the brush. They would feed & pet her & she
thrived on the attention, & of course the good food they
were feeding her.
At last SOMEONE cared about poor Vera.
Soon SSMR was contacted by the gentleman that came upon
Vera that first day. He told us the story & sent photos
and we knew we had to help her.
The farm manager agreed to catch her, but timing was
oh so important. It was a 2 hour drive for Pam, our
wonderful volunteer & the farm manager had no where to
keep Miss Vera, once caught & while waiting on her.
His first attempts at catching her failed - she
wasn't at all sure that she could trust what was
happening so off she ran. He tried just a few days later
and this time thankfully their mission was
successful.Vera was terrified, but compliant.
Pam drove her to Ft. Lauderdale where Vera met her
foster mom. Although initially terrified Vera has
been nothing short of an absolute sweetheart. She
was filthy & covered with fleas. Her 1st day in her
foster home, she got a nice bath & went to the vet for
her vaccinations, smelling pretty and clean.
We all believe that Vera must have once been a much
loved pet at some point in her life.
She was already spayed & at one time even has had
surgery on one of her legs. Unfortunately she did not
have a microchip. She has a limp on the leg that had the
surgery & will be having some x-rays soon to
diagnose the limp, but it may just be residual from the
surgery. Amazingly, she was heartworm negative which is
wonderful news and probably means she was not 'loose'
for too long.
Vera's foster mom reports that she is an absolute doll.
She is housebroken, & gets along beautifully with her
new dog brother & sister. She has not met one
stranger & greets everyone with enthusiasm. The
pictures you see are from when she was living on her
own. New pictures are coming soon.
Her foster mom reports that Vera has nightmares where
she barks & growls, probably still warding off the scary
things in the fields where she was living. But with
time, we hope that she will come to forget those bad
times & enjoy her life, never having to worry where her
next meal is coming from & knowing that she will always
have a warm, safe place to live and a forever family to
love.
This was truly a team effort to get this girl to a safe
place. Thank you.... Kirk, Julio, Pam & Andree....
without you her rescue would not have been possible.
If you think you can give me a permanent
loving home please fill out an
adoption application
online
mentioning me by name and state.
If you have specific questions about
me please contact
adsantora@aol.com
