When a sweet doggo named Avellana first arrived at Galgos del Sol in Spain, she was paralyzed and can hardly lift up her head to say hello.
Points were not looking great, but after she gave some encouraging thumpety-thump-thumps with her tail, rescuers refused to give up hope!
In the grand tradition of scumbags that do not be worthy of good ideas, a hunter abandoned Avellana after she was no more of use to him.
Think it or not, that in fact makes her among the LUCKY ones!
Usually, hunting dogs like her are not so kindly “disposed” of.
Tens of hundreds of Galgos, a kind of Spanish greyhound, are left to pass away en masse each year. They were when owned exclusively by nobles, but these days they’re bred by “galgueros,” individuals that race them in hare and lure coursing competitors for big $$$.
Similar to the Running of the Bulls, Galgo hunting is a brutal tradition where the pets are always the loser.
According to National Geographic, “Galgos have been thrown down wells, cast into rivers to drown, burned to fatality, and doused with acid.”
Thankfully we have individuals like Tina Solera, the president and creator of Galgos del Sol, to balance the range against the evil-doers of the globe.
The animal-lover taught herself Spanish and established a non-profit in order to save these dogs’ lives.
Veterinarians at Tina’s rescue center rapidly determined that Avellana’s paralysis was because of a unusual immune condition that caused serious inflammation in her nerves.
Although it was the worse day of her life, she still had some swagger left in her tail!
Tina Said, “We have patience, the best physios, and we ensured she was going to stroll once again.”
Her daily gym routine consisted of reps on an blow up exercise ball, and having her foot scrubed versus a textured mat to help stimulate movement in her legs.
” How frightening it must be when you just do not understand why you suddenly can’t move.”
The sweet pup would require to go through lots of intense rehabilitation in order to regain mobility, however “she was never angry, never complained.”
Avellana’s prescription for a long and happy life included walkies in a pram and dips in the swimming pool several times a week.
It didn’t take long before she went from not being able to stand up to taking her first steps.
” The more we were cheering on and praising her, the tougher she would certainly work. It was extremely psychological to see her take those initial steps and not fall over.”
As she started to restore her strength and movement, her tail wags came to be a lot stronger and spunkier too!
Avellana might have come to them unloved and unwanted by her previous life-bringer, but the caring staff at the rescue facility provided her a life worth living.
