Saving Pimba, from neglected puppy to much-loved family dog
CONTENT WARNING: This blog post contains images that some readers may find disturbing
In the past, we have written about stray and abandoned dogs in Spain but we haven’t touched on animal hoarding. Cases of animal hoarding do occasionally come to light in the UK, with dogs kept indoors in terrible conditions. Animal hoarders keep a large amount of animals and fail to meet their basic needs.
In 2021 the RSPCA attended a house in Liverpool after the owner was admitted to hospital, they found cats, dogs, ferrets and snakes living in awful conditions and the owner was banned for life for owning animals.
“Veterinary surgeon Vanessa Whitfield, based at the RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital, concluded the three kittens, five of the cats and two of the German Shepherd dogs had all been allowed to suffer by their owner. She said he had also failed to provide for the needs of all the animals by not providing a hygienic environment, a suitable amount of space, food and water, places for the animals to rest and play and to urinate and defecate, as well as failing to provide suitable veterinary care.”
A research article about the Characteristics of 24 cases of animal hoarding in Spain reported that the animals were mainly collected from being strays or from uncontrolled breeding. It therefore stands to reason that animal hoarding cases are more common in countries with a high population of stray dogs, such as in Spain.
Saving Pimba
In 2020 it was reported that “nine dogs are rotting” on a farm in Spain in horrible conditions. This was first raised in 2018 but it took until 2022 for action to be taken and the dogs to be rescued. One of the rescued dogs was 3-month-old Pimba. Pimba spent 2 weeks at the vet hospital, it was unknown if she would survive, but against all odds she did.
We have no photos of Pimba at that time, but we do have some photos of some of the dogs that were rescued and the condition they were in. Pimba’s parents were also rescued from the farm, but sadly they did not survive.
Pimba aged 9 months
PImba had been rescued from a terrible place, and although she did not have home to call her own, she was in the care of Sonia and Carmen at the shelter. There is no heating over the winter but there was shelter from the rain, clean water, regular meals and outdoor space to run and play with the other dogs.
Foster in the UK
Fast forward to October 2022 and we were delighted to have an adoption in the UK lined up for Pimba. The application and homecheck had been completed, ID checked and the adoption fee paid, however the adopter decided not to proceed. Pimba was booked on to travel to the UK but she had nowhere to go.
That’s when one of our volunteers stepped in, they suggested that Pimba still travel to the UK and come to them for foster while we looked for a new home for her.
In late November 2022 Pimba arrived in foster care, she settled incredibly quickly and slotted in perfectly with the two resident dogs. She was unsure about walking on a lead and passing traffic, both common for rescue dogs from Spain.
On the 4th of December Pimba nailed a sit and from then on she did it like a pro. She was taught to sit to wait for her meals and also to sit and wait before exiting and entering the house.
She loved pinching a shoe if it was left out at home (top tip, never leave anything about that you don’t want to be chewed, just in case) and walking around on the covered trampoline!
Pimba went for walks around one of the local parks close to a primary school, she was noticeably overwhelmed when the kids came out at the end of the day so her foster carer made a point of visiting the area at the same time, keeping a distance and getting closer each visit, to help Pimba become used to this very new experience.
PImba would do the toilet in the back garden but it took until early January to start doing a pee out on a walk, it is common for a rescue dog not to be comfortable doing the loo on walks straight away.
Her recall was good and this girl loved to run, she enjoyed the freedom with the safety of a long line.
Pimba was very comfortable with other dogs but more wary of people when she first met them, this was to be expected as she had been in the shelter since she was a young puppy. We wrote about shelter puppies on our blog, you can read more about our thoughts here.
The stars aligning for Pimba
Pimba started going to a local dog daycare once a week for off-lead socialisation. Red Collar Retreat has acres of farmland with doggie-loving owners who provide a fantastic experience for the dogs in their care.
It was there that someone fell in love with Pimba and the rest is history! This fantastic dog, who had been through a horrible time in her first few months, who had lived in a shelter in Spain for over a year, found her forever family in the UK and she could not be loved more than she is. We could not wish for a better home for her and we are lucky to be able to continue to see her beautiful little face popping up in the day care photos.
We help rescue dogs from Spain find loving homes in the UK. Adopting a dog from Spain is more straightforward than you might think, we deal with everything for you and with full Rescue Back Up, we are there for you from adoption and every day after that.
