I first spotted Dino, back in May, on the road outside the village where I am currently living in Southern Italy. He had been dumped and he was thin and very frightened. When I tried to give him some food, he ran away and would only come back to eat the food once we had driven off. Every day, my patient husband would stop the car and I would leap out to leave more food. We couldn’t stand to see him starving. Pretty soon, Dino started to recognize the sound of our car and as we pulled up, he would emerge out of the bushes and come galloping towards us, wagging his tail furiously. He even dug up the courage to sniff my hand, and eventually he let me stroke him. We called him Dino.
This went on for a couple of weeks. Dino was living by the roadside, amidst the cold and the rain, surviving on the supplies we put out for him. We heard that he had tried to come up to the village but was beaten and chased away. Then one night, as we were driving back up the hill after going out for pizza, Dino appeared out of the darkness and chased our car. He ran behind us all the way up the hill into the village, through the tiny streets and right up to our front door. That's the kind of place it is - much easier to get into if you come in with somebody who lives here! I gave him some food and water and he slept like a log on our porch.
Sleeping on the cold tiles of our front steps, Dino was in heaven. He wagged his tail every time he spotted us through the window and he behaved like an angel. At first, he was scared of everything, even the local cats. But gradually, he grew more confident and more relaxed, and the sharp definition of his ribcage started to fade. We plied him with cuddles, delicious food and fresh water. We could see from his spirit that he was a sweet boy and we knew he deserved better.
We were living in a rented apartment and our landlord would not let us bring him inside. We also didn’t have a garden to put him in. But Dino happily attached himself to us and our front porch, voluntarily. We took him on walks and he followed us without a leash, never straying too far away and always keeping us firmly in his sights. At this point, we began searching and racking our brains for a way to keep Dino safe and to find him a loving home.
Then early one morning, when we were out walking with Dino, we came across a woman in the village who was carrying a large bucket on her head. She pointed at Dino and began to scream that she was afraid. Dino, who was clearly alarmed by the hysterical screaming and the rattling bucket, barked at her. Nothing else happened. We called him away and that should have been the end of the story. But unfortunately... it wasn't.
In this tiny village in Southern Italy where many of the residents are terrified of dogs - and where dogs are often tied up or put in cages to guard vegetable plots - this incident marked a dramatic turn in events for Dino. The woman carrying the bucket went to the local authorities and reported that Dino was dangerous and that he had bitten her. This was not true.
A few days later, while Dino was sleeping peacefully on our steps, a van from the local dog pound pulled up. A man with a rope climbed out. He was accompanied by a police officer. With Dino's trust in humans fully restored, he trotted up to the van wagging his tail. The man from the pound caught him easily. As we ran out to protest, the policeman informed us of the woman's report and told us that Dino had to be taken away. They dragged Dino into the van yelping, and gave us the address of the dog pound.
We went to visit Dino at the pound. It was not for the faint-hearted. The conditions were terrible. They pack them in, four or five dogs to a cage - many of them thin and many clearly suffering from health problems and skin issues. It was hot, smelly and stressful, with only a very basic level of care. We were too late in sorting out Dino’s future, and now that he was in the pound, Dino’s future looked very bleak.
But we couldn’t give up on him. We kept visiting him, and kept trying to figure out how to save him. The kennel workers let us take Dino out of the cage for food and cuddles, and every time he spotted us, his ears pricked up and he wagged his tail so much that he almost fell over. We tried to take him for walks around the compound, but he would wedge himself between my legs for protection and refuse to move.
We were told by the vet at the pound that if we could find a home for Dino, he would be vaccinated, microchipped for free and released. I trawled the internet and asked around locally but I could not find anybody to take Dino. As one local vet said, when a dog goes into the pound here, they stay there until they die. Sadly, there isn't much local interest in adopting dogs from the pound and it was very difficult to find anybody to commit to improving the plight of a little stray dog looking for a new start in life. I posted Dino on YouTube (see links below) and several online organizations kindly put out the word. His story had a following on the wonderful wesbite "Pets in Italy" but still no answer.
The weeks passed, and we just couldn’t find a solution. Even though Dino's spirits remained high, his health deteriorated. He became emaciated; he developed sores on his legs and face; he had bite marks on his cheeks and a piece bitten off the top of one of his ears. Each time we went to visit him, he wagged his tail with joy. But each time we went, he looked worse and worse.
We continued our search for a home for Dino, and, in the meantime, we tried to find a temporary place to put him - anything to get him out of that miserable caged existence. After a lot of asking around - begging - we found somebody in the village who offered to let us tie him to a tree 'in campagna' near their hunting dogs, who were all kept in cages. This spot was near the village, but it was not a permanent set-up, and not really conducive to Dino regaining his health. But the people were very kind and Dino’s situation was desperate, so we took the leap. I knew that if we left Dino in the pound, he would suffer and die there.
The day we went to pick Dino up from the dog pound, the kennel worker didn't put him on a leash to bring him over to us as he normally did. He just opened the gate to Dino's cage, gave us a smile and let Dino run freely across the compound towards us. It was a beautiful sight, sadly marred by the backdrop of caged faces behind him - all of them deserving to be saved and given a decent life. I wished we could have taken every last one of them.
Dino soon adapted to his temporary life on a chain with his hunting dog friends. We bought him a collar and leash and visited him twice a day, taking him out for long walks every morning and evening. He leapt about in the sunshine and chased lizards. He was a fast-learner and endlessly eager to please. We introduced him to some basic training, teaching him how to walk on a leash, how to sit, stay and come.
But even though Dino's energy levels and enthusiasm for life were high, he was battling a host of health problems. Unfortunately, the place where he was staying became heavily infested with fleas. Dino was better off than he was in the pound, but he was still hanging in the balance. We took him to the vet and in the following weeks, we discovered that Dino was suffering from several serious health issues. We knew that this would make our challenge of finding him a home even greater.
Finally, we found an apartment with a garden attached, where the proprietors would allow us to keep Dino. And with this, Dino found some stability. We were glad to give him a place where he would have a chance to regain his health. Every day he proved he deserved it. It wasn’t easy, but little by little, things have gone Dino’s way. It has taken two months, lots of patience and several hefty vet's bills to nurse Dino back to health. His sweet-nature and optimism in the face of adversity has been remarkable.
The time has now come for us to return to the States, where we live. In spite of the kind efforts of a community of animal-lovers online, we have failed to find a home for Dino here in Italy. When we first put food out for Dino back in May, we never imagined we would come this far and do so much for this little roadside dog, but now we have, we cannot possibly turn back.
We are trying to figure out a way to transport Dino to the States, so he can live with us indefinitely. He is such a good dog and he deserves a loving home. It is complicated and costly and not at all what we originally had in mind, but it is certainly not insurmountable! And Dino is worth it.
The two things standing in the way of us and a happy ending to Dino's story are logistics and funding.
Logistics: We have to return to the States via England, and Dino cannot come with us to the UK as he does not have a Pet Passport. Through my communications online, we have found a very generous person in Amsterdam who has offered to board Dino temporarily, while we are in the UK, and send him on to us in the States after we’ve touched down there.
Which brings me to the funding: This is where YOU come in. The cost of sending Dino to the States and guaranteeing him a brand new love-filled life is approximately 1400 Euros. Please give whatever you can give and pass this link along. Every little bit will help.
Donating to Dino is easy! I have set up a PayPal account in order to receive donations. You can give by clicking on the 'Donate' button on this page (at the top or bottom.) If you have a PayPal account, it will give you the option to log in.
If you don't have a PayPal account, you can donate using your credit card (without being a member of PayPal) Once you click on the 'Donate' button, you will be taken to PayPal's secure page. Look for the "Don't have a PayPal account?" heading and click "Continue" to donate directly with your credit card.
All money received for Dino and spent on Dino will be documented here. Any excess funds (if we are lucky enough to be in that position!) will be donated towards helping rescue dogs here in Southern Italy, and the details of that contribution will be posted.
I will be documenting our progress on this blog and I hope to soon be able to post a photo of Dino wagging his tail on the beach in California!
Saving Dino has been a long shot from the start. The odds have been stacked against him and us. It has taken a lot to get this far, but Dino has made it; he is just one flight away from a new life where he will be valued the way he should be.
Please sponsor Dino. There are so many more unwanted dogs in this part of the world, but if Dino can be saved, any dog can be saved. As Pen Farthing puts it, "One Dog at a Time."
