It takes a village

Anybody who is involved in the world of dog rescue knows that collaboration is hugely important when it comes to saving dogs. The situations the dogs are found in are often complicated and a happy ending relies on the work of many. The recent rescue of lucky Merlino in Calabria is a heartwarming example of what happens when stray doggy superheroes rally together. The outcome is magic! 

The team at Rifugio Fata work day and night in an effort to rescue dogs in Calabria, and part of their program involves sending dogs to a shelter in the North where they have a better chance of finding a home. Last month, they were called upon to help one lucky local stray make an international move.

The shelter's fundraiser, Katharina Pils-Leimer, received a call from a German woman, Elsa, who had found an abandoned dog living in a hole in the ground while she was on holiday in Calabria. Elsa heard about Rifugio Fata and asked if they could help. Even though the walls of the shelter are bursting during the summer months when so many dogs are abandoned in Calabria, Francesca agreed to make space for this little boy so that he could be rescued.

Elsa bought food and a leash for him and named him Merlino.

 

  
 She was able to get him in her car and take him to Rifugio Fata where Francesca was waiting for him. 

 

Relieved that Merlino was safe, Elsa paid for his vet care and returned to Germany.

As so many of us know, once you have interacted with an abandoned dog and participated in their rescue, they have this way of staying in your heart and your mind and you can't stop thinking about them! Elsa had fallen for little Merlino and so she decided that she had to find a way to get him to Germany. But how to get him there, without paying a fortune?

Katharina put out a request on Facebook, asking if anybody was flying from Calabria to Germany who would be willing to bring Merlino with them. Another German woman, Sandra, who was about to make the flight, saw the post and immediately responded. And so Merlino's trip was booked!

Katharina coordinated the mission: Francesca took Merlino from Rifugio Fata to Lamezia airport to hand him over to Sandra who flew him to Munich where Elsa came to pick him up.  

And now this sweet boy, who was found living in a hole in the earth in Southern Italy, is enjoying his brand new love-filled life in Germany. 

With his doggy brothers... 

...And his new feline friend. 

 

 

 

 

  
Good work team! Thank you to everybody who helped to make Merlino's dreams come true.

Being spotted by a tourist is an amazing outcome reserved only for the lucky few in Calabria. Rifugio Fata is currently filled to the brim with dogs and puppies who are lucky to have been brought to this wonderful safe haven, but who desperately need help and homes. 

Please consider making a donation, however small, to this amazing team of people who work so hard for our four-legged friends and who always do everything they can to help, even when their resources are stretched thin. Your contribution will help pay for food and medical expenses, as well as transport costs so that they can send more dogs to the North. 

If you would like to make a donation, you can do so by clicking the 'donate' button on this blog, or via PayPal: rifugiofata@libero.it 

Or through Rifugio Fata's facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Francesca-Scerbo-Rifugio-Fata-la-pagina/223244014434430

Thank you for your support!