Nora finds love and peace
CANINE Samaritans ensured an abandoned and ailing hunting dog’s final hours were filled with love and peace after finding her at the roadside.
The Javea family took the ‘galgo’ – a Spanish hunting dog resembling a greyhound – into the comfort of their home; naming the veteran ‘Nora’.
However, because of her condition and on veterinary advice Gillian and Chris Montieth and daughter Sophie Westerman decided it was a final act of kindness to put her to sleep.
Jacky Hazeleger, who runs the Tanamara sanctuary for Spanish galgos and podencos hunting breeds, helped make Nora’s story public to mark the end of the hunting season – she said it was sadly a time when underperforming dogs in a pack are cruelly abandoned by owners to save money.
“I wish Nora could have come to Tanamara, I would have taken her in,” she said. “They were probably the first people to treat her in this kind way; hunters wouldn’t.
“This dog had suffered for months, it was really good they were able to take her into their home and she could experience some kindness she perhaps never had.”
Jacky and Gillian told Nora’s story to CBNews to highlight the plight of hunting dogs and their treatment as working animals.
Gillian said they were driving home to Javea from Benitachell after a night out when they spotted a black dog in the road near the Amjasa water company offices 'just trotting along' in the darkness.
Trust
“Sophie and I got out. The poor dog was trying to get away but couldn’t. I left it with Sophie who has a very gently nature and soft voice,” she said. “It took about half an hour; Sophie just walked alongside and talked to the dog very gently... at one point the dog just sort of gave up... I don’t know if she just decided to trust Sophie.”
They lifted Nora into the boot of the car, noticing she had several wounds, sores and tumours. “We got her home. There was no fuss, barking, whimpering or growling – she had fleas so we kept her apart from our dogs and got her some blankets.
“We gave her food and water, she ate out of Sophie’s hand. She was skin and bone. We got her through the night somehow – Sophie stayed with her - and we were up with her at the crack of dawn.”
Gillian phoned Jacky for advice and she suggested taking Nora to Aliaga in Teulada Moraira, a vet used by Tanamara.
“In the morning she couldn’t even stand up, her legs gave way so we took her straight to the vet – he explained everything that was wrong with her but I think we had realised earlier she was very poorly,” she said. “To give her any kind of treatment would have been cruel.
“She was as good as gold at the vets, she just lay there. She just went to sleep... it was absolutely heartbreaking.”
Jacky said from photos of Nora it was clear the dog was dying. “The vets at Aliaga are used to bad cases but one of the vets said it was one of the worst they had seen for years.”
She said the dog was old and obviously in a state that did not happen 'overnight' and had possibly been used to breed. “Obviously she was not microchipped and was probably just thrown out of a car.”