Although Spain sees nearly 150.000 dogs and cats abandoned on the streets every year, Spaniards are generally an animal-loving people. Vets keep their fees low so that people who are struggling financially can still afford to take care of their pets.
No one know why this gentle greyhound was abandoned, or why her leg was broken, but when the people from Clinivet Turre Clinica Veterinaria came into her life, everything changed.
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The elegant greyhound was found digging through garbage, looking for something to eat. She was limping badly, and once they got her to the clinic, they discovered a bad fracture in her right front leg. But something else they noticed in the emaciated dog couldn't be overlooked.
Both the blood on her tail and the fact that she was lactating meant one thing for sure. She had recently given birth to puppies. But where were they?
Since the mama dog had been found near a market in Vera, Spain, they decided to call her Vera. Once they had stabilized her leg, they took Vera back to where they had found her and she led them to where her pups were.
Vera kept walking for quite a ways. After nearly two miles, she showed them where she was headed.
In an abandoned car in front of an empty house, Vera had given birth to ten puppies. Most of them were white, like their mom, but one brown one and one black one stood out in the cluster of white. For the condition the mother was in, it was amazing that the puppies were so fat!
Vera seemed to know that the people were there to help her, and she allowed them to take all the pups out of the car and back to the clinic...
...where they are all happy to be together and being taken care of. For now, they'll stay in the clinic until Vera's leg is healed and the puppies are older. Then—hopefully—they'll all find forever homes. But they already have a happy ending. They're safe and together.
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What do you think? Have you ever taken in a stray that needed help? What did you do? Share Vera's story with your friends and ask them to spread it around. Near you, even now, is a cat or dog struggling to live from one day to the next. You can help. Contact your local animal shelter to see what you can do!