Rescue Ioana

Ioana – and the reason why we sometimes think that animals have more soul than many people

If this dog could speak, she would say: “It’s been over 6 months since I couldn’t properly eat because I can’t close my mouth.” I can speak but I would prefer not to, especially when I have to tell you her story. However, if this dog survived for 6 months like that, I must find the energy to speak up for her. Even if it’s so painful!

When meeting the ROLDA rescue team, a tail started to wag. The tail belongs to a medium size dog that looks like a German shepherd. Her head and entire body are full of healed wounds. Yes, wounds look healed and emotionally, she is even better than she looks because she wags her tail to strangers.

Strangers who beat her, almost killing her, some months ago. Since that moment, she couldn’t close her mouth, but her head full of wounds got better, and her body stopped being in pain … months after, her mouth still couldn’t close ..and therefore she vomits everything she is trying to eat.

This dog lives in a very poor village, she is fed by the mercy of a lady that sees her every day when going to look after a 98 years old woman. The dog follows this woman back and forth to her house because this is what she knows doing – taking care of the people she loves. She ignores the danger of being hit by cars, which barely avoids her. She is following the person who gives her the rest of the meals, even if she can’t even properly eat the meals.

She is desperate for human attention even if people were beating her to death. But this doggy has good instincts because this woman turned out to be her guardian angel because a few days ago, she called to ask for help.

A woman named Ioana called me around 6 pm. She apologizes for calling so late. (It wasn’t late because some call me at 22:00 or later. Dog’s emergencies don’t run based on a “working with public” program.) The lady was calm, coherent, and spoke from her heart. She told me that she is taking care of a senior woman, located 45 km away from Galati, in a little village called Baleni.

Close to the lady, she is taking care of, it’s a very old house, more ruined and there, she found a dog hidden. She tried to remove the dog from the house and had a stick in her hand. Seeing the stick, the dog went on the belly, lying down, leaving head down, ready to be kicked. She said: How I can hit that dog, I was so impressed by how the dog left to head down… knowing that it will be hurt. I would never hurt a dog.

In the house it was dark but when the dog finally exits to light, Ioana could see the dog’s proper skin was full of wounds, and the head was also wounded; the dog was severely beaten before.

The dog is a female. She suffered a lot, Ioana said. Every day she goes to the ruin to feed the dog. The dog is always there. Probably she belongs to people who used to stay there. Even if the signs of past injuries are gone, months after, the dog continues to feel sick. Every time she eats, she vomits. I guess she has something stuck in the way to her stomach. Obviously, the dog needs urgent medical aid because she is vomiting for months!!! After every meal.

In the village, the vet only gave this poor animal some pills, which have no effect because the dog won’t take the pills and even when she does take them, she instantly vomits them.

The dog is only bones and Ioana feels sad. That’s why she called me. From Ioana’s voice, I felt this dog’s pain. Without knowing, Ioana is this dog angel on Earth – it’s the woman kind enough to never use a stick against a dog, to carry food for this dog, to protect her when she is following Ioana on the road (Ioana is afraid the dog not to injured by cars). There are many ways in which this story is special. I simply can’t decide what part moved me so deeply.