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Ira - an ex 'barrel' dog
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On a recent visit to Greece, Vesna Jones, the founder of Greek Animal Rescue was interviewed for a feature on Paratrixa, an animal related programme on Greek television. In the first part of the interview, to be screened over several programmes, Vesna talks about Ira. A dog who Vesna had encountered on a previous trip to Greece...
To watch part 2 of the interview CLICK HERE Ira's story in brief............ I 'met' Ira when I visited Verena, an 'animal friend' on Crete in August 2008. She lives just outside Iraklion, hence the name I gave to the 'barrel' dog who captured my heart. Although I see dozens of 'barrel' dogs during every visit to Greece and each one breaks my heart, I couldn't forget Ira after first 'making contact' with her .... just stroking her cheek, as she looked at me in mistrust .... but remembered that small gesture the next time I stopped by...... and that was the beginning of a subtle 'campaign' to free Ira. Verena told me that her 'owner' had had many different dogs chained there over the years and one by one they all 'disappeared'. To cut a long story short, I told Verena that if she managed to persuade the owner to give Ira to her (and then prepare her for homing in the UK), pointing out that she served no purpose being chained where she was (she wasn't 'guarding' anything), he kept refusing, so then Verena asked him if he would let her build a pen for her, so she would have a bit more space to move around. Well, on 8 November last year, the man decided she could take the dog!!! When Verena told me that, we both 'celebrated' (cheered over the phone!). A few days later, Verena took Ira to her vet to have her spayed, microchipped and vaccinated against rabies, the first step of the procedure to prepare a dog/cat for entry into the UK. Verena took care of Ira from then on, sending a few photos every few weeks and then we started talking about transporting Ira to the UK and that's when I thought that the easiest way would be for me to 'collect' her when I went to Greece this year and that's exactly what I did. .....and so, another ex 'barrel' dog has a happy future to look forward to. Incidentally, she and Benji hit it off immediately and started to play as if they had known each other all their lives. VesnaP.S. About 3 months ago, Ira's ex 'master' disposed of the barrel which was Ira's old 'home' and this is a result Verena and I could hardly have dreamed about last August..... Sunday, 4 October 2009Seeing Ira for the first time since she arrived in the UK (one of 2 dogs I came back from Greece with after my annual visit to some of those we support) ..... As soon as she heard my voice (calling her name), she jumped and before long I was hugging her in my arms ... what a wonderful reunion. She looked FANTASTIC and soooo happy!!!!!
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Updated: 27th October 2009