Saturday 28 May 2011

Manisha

Slideshow imageManisha's Story!
To follow is the amazing story of how Tracy and Sue found Manisha themselves in Romania and the journey they took to bring her back to the UK. 
October 2007
It was my second trip to Romania. The purpose of my visit was to stay with my new found friends Cristina and Roger Lapis and help out at their bear sanctuary and dog shelter of which Cristina is the founder and Ambassador.   My previous visit in September 2007 had been an exhilarating 50 mile hike through the Carpathian Mountains to raise money for the 'Libearty Bear Sanctuary' in Zarnesti supported by the WSPA. This is how Cristina and I first met‚ through the animals.
Cristina had just finished filming with Animal Planet at Zarnesti zoo who were there to neuter a very large tiger!  It was a cold but pleasant day and the journey from Bucherest to Brasov was long and tiring following our journey from England the previous day. I say 'our' as I was accompanied through both the hike and my return journey to Romania by my best friend Susan Talbot whom I've known for over 20 years. Cristina was driving and myself and Sue were sitting in the back of the car‚ events of the day having taken ahold of Sue! Suddenly Cristina brought the car to a halt waking Sue and keeping me guessing as to why she had pulled over on such a busy motorway. Cristina jumped from the car and was gone. I knelt up on the chair and peered through the back window and could make out Cristina walking back towards the car with a small grey lifeless bundle that she'd found at the side of the road. I jumped from the car and assisted Cristina into helping her put the poor little dog with the saddest eyes into a dog cage Cristina and Roger carry around for such emergencies. For the rest of the 2 hour journey back to their home there was not so much as a murmur from the cage. The worst thoughts were going through my head and the journey seemed to take a week.
Manisha on the day we found her matted/filthy and after a shower and a trim!
During the rest of our week's stay having showered‚ clipped‚ neutered‚ de-flead and fed this little dog‚ I started to grow very fond of her and Sue and I decided to name her Manisha. Before leaving Romania I'd made up my mind I was going to bring her home to England and give her the life she deserved. I knew I'd have to wait for her passport and documents to be ready but Cristina said she would keep Manisha for me at her home until things were finalised. I was going to be the first person who would bring one of Cristina's dogs back to the UK and was delighted at the prospect.  With my mind made up we returned home and eagerly anticipated the day we would return to collect our Manisha.  
June 2008
I was reunited with Manisha‚ a healthy little bundle of fun and her once sad eyes were now like little stars and twinkled. She bounded up to me like she remembered me. We'd just spent another week in Romania to return with Manisha.  Although Sue and I flew back to the UK the day before Manisha‚ the cheaper option was to fly her to Brussels the next morning and for us to drive to Brussels and collect her. I was so excited and yet nervous at the same time. I have a 11 year old German Shepherd who‚ most of his life‚ has been an only child. Would they get along? What if this‚ what if that? My head was filled with all these 'things' but the biggest one was... will she get through the French Customs and into the UK. Cristina and I had double-checked with the authorities both in Romania and the UK and made all the necessary arrangements for Manisha to fly to England that I knew everything had to be fine. We hit the French border and within minutes having checked the passport and documents we were cleared. I DID IT! Sue and I cried with relief and celebrated with a coffee at the Euro-tunnel cafe!!

Today
Manisha was professionally washed‚ groomed and sadly SHAVED‚ the only fur they could save was her ears and tail. Through her life of neglect it was too matted to comb and would have been too stressful for her to endure. However‚ 4 ½ months on this is Manisha with my GSD Taila. They are best friends and she follows him everywhere. She now knows what toys are for and loves to be cuddled (constantly!).  She is showing her thanks through the love she is giving to both me and my partner Mark and we could not imagine our lives now before she came along. She's given Taila a new lease of life also which is so lovely to see.

1 comment:

  1. I know this is an old post but what a lovely heartwarming story to read.

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