While loved ones betrayed, relatives deceived, and acquaintances gave out unsolicited advice, Alina Dudaladova, the owner of a disabled dog, fought with all her might for the life of her pet. Our author Alexandra Fedorenko spoke to the girl and learned the story of 4-year-old Sandy, a dog who “didn’t have a chance”, but she survived and now lives a happy life with her family.
History of appearance
Source: personal archive
By the time Sandy appeared in our family, we already had a dog – a beagle . We didn’t even think about the second dog. It all happened by chance: the husband was driving somehow along the highway towards a neighboring city and saw a downed puppy on the side of the road – emaciated, in pain. He called me to find out how he could help (I fed street animals, adopted some , treated) – he couldn’t leave him to die of pain – I advised him to take him to the veterinary clinic, consult a doctor and decide what to do next.
We were reassured, they said that the dog’s nerve endings were not affected – the spine was simply broken, and the operation would help. The chances that she will walk again are very high.
“We wanted to take her in”
Source: personal archive
The plan was to attach. But after anesthesia, Sandy was very weak – she whined, howled all three days, and I was with her around the clock. At that moment, I realized that, probably, no one would be able to take care of her like that … to be constantly there. Even now they often say to me: “There’s nothing for you to do, you would put me to sleep, that’s all.”
And how to take life if she no longer feels pain and feels like a completely happy dog?
We decided to leave Sandy for a while longer – for the period of rehabilitation. The husband did not mind, he said “if you want, do it.” My mom made a special walker bag, we gave Sandy massages and rehabilitative therapy, but she never began to feel her hind legs.
From the moment Sandy came to us, my friend constantly asked to give the dog to her: she called, wrote – she had a private house, all conditions for keeping. And we have an apartment, another dog, children. At some point, it became extremely difficult for me: Sandy could go to the toilet, not notice this and smear everything on the white carpet, there was often a smell in the apartment . I literally had a nervous breakdown, I was just tired … (I’m not proud of it, but I’m an ordinary person, and I, like many, have difficult periods). And then my friend continued to attack with requests to pick up Sandy, and I thought that it would be better for the poor girl there: more walks, fresh air … We agreed that I would financially help Sandy – provide food.
About a week later, I brought the meat and saw that the dog had not been washed from the word at all – there was a feeling that the diaper was simply not removed from it for days.
She had ticks , fleas , although before that we had treated her from all parasites. I just took Sandy without any clarification. I don’t know what my friend was counting on – maybe she was attracted by the fact that Sandy had 40 thousand subscribers in one of the social networks, and she thought to earn extra money on a dog … an open question. Now I don’t talk to this person.
“No chance of salvation”
Source: personal archive
We got the fleas out again, washed Sandy and began to live a normal life: I got used to cleaning up after her and preventing a catastrophe in the house, the children fell in love with her without memory, they became best friends with our first dog.
In the summer we decided to go on vacation. Initially, I was not going to leave Sandy for a vacation with a relative – I agreed with a friend (it is almost impossible to find an overexposure for a disabled dog in Astrakhan). But half an hour before my departure from the city, this friend calls and asks to pick up our Sandy. Like, she howls and whines. “I don’t need this,” I heard on the phone. Nothing to do – I went to pick her up. Naturally, for the remaining half an hour before departure, I did not find anyone and asked my relative if he was against it. He agreed without objection. During our vacation, I once asked to send photos of Sandy, but no one sent them to me – a relative joked that there was no time for this, etc. We come home, I go for the first dog – a beagle, my husband – for Sandy. He calls and says that our dog was hit by a car.
The puzzle came together: there was no photo, detailed information, as it happened with Sandy – plus everything, there was no stroller, no things of our dog.
Naturally, I no longer believed this story. I agreed to be shown video from the cameras of the house where the relative lived – fortunately they are at every entrance. And I see that he and Sandy are leaving the entrance, in his hands are bags of towels, with which I wipe our girl after bathing. And then the trail breaks off – where did he take her, what did he do with her, is she alive and if so, how long has she been under the scorching sun without a chance of salvation …
Three days of hell
Source: personal archive
The difficulty was that I didn’t even know approximately where to look for Sandy. No information from a relative – he could take her anywhere. The Astrakhan region is very large, there are many wastelands, fields, where there is not a soul around for tens, if not hundreds of kilometers.
It was just desperation for our entire family. I thought the kids would go crazy. I immediately turned to volunteers with a request for help, wrote announcements, suddenly a miracle would happen, although it was like a finger in the sky. But a miracle happened!
Three days later they send me a photo of the stroller – and I understand that this is Sandy’s stroller, which was found in the middle of the steppe in the Astrakhan region. I wouldn’t believe it if I heard this story from someone. The chance that things will turn out this way is one in a million. A woman from a volunteer organization has a brother who works as an electrician. He came to a small village in the region, and he did not have enough boards for repairs – he decided to go to the wasteland to look. Stumbled upon a wheelchair for a disabled dog. Since his sister helps animals, I immediately realized what it was and sent her a photo with the question “can it be useful to someone or someone is looking for it?”. The photo showed that the wheel was caught on the wire – and in order not to die from the heat without food and water (in our region in the summer it can be up to 45 degrees in the sun), Sandy gnawed through the fabric that supported her paws in the stroller,
All three days I dreamed that I was finding my girl. And suddenly the first clue appears – out of more than 40 thousand square kilometers, our search square has narrowed down to a couple.
Search
Source: personal archive
A lot of people responded to a request for help in the search – about 15 people. Half of them blamed me for everything: they scolded me for allowing this. Then there were rumors that my dog was allegedly on a self-walk – which is contrary to logic, Sandy did not leave me for a walk. Some of these “assistants” had to be sent home – they did nothing but swear, and it was necessary to comb a large perimeter.
To be honest, at first I was looking for the body just to say goodbye – I did not believe that in such a heat, Sandy would last long, because almost two weeks had passed since her disappearance.
On the third day of active searches from 6 in the morning until late in the evening – we had already combed a decent number of kilometers – we accidentally met a local resident who said that he had seen Sandy just a couple of days ago: she was alive, and he fed her, said that she greedily ate bread and tomatoes. Showed where she went. I did not even finish listening to the continuation of the story and immediately ran after it. I see – she is sitting, she doesn’t recognize me, she looks, and in her eyes one can read “how could you even be here?”.
Then she came over, whimpered and lay down in my arms. I roared like crazy – I saw what condition she was in: her hind legs were worn to the bone, her joints were sticking out, due to the fact that she crawled either on the asphalt hot by the sun, or across the field through thorny bushes. A mess of dirt and blood, skinny. It was a dog that ceased to be like itself.
We went straight to the clinic. Huge bills, expensive treatment – thanks to the caring people who helped me with the payment. About a week later, I invited everyone involved in saving Sandy to a celebratory dinner.
Brave
Source: personal archive
Sandy survived thanks to her brave heart. She is a real fighter. There was a case: once a shepherd with rabies appeared in our yard – and you can imagine, my first dog, a beagle, peed and ran away. And Sandy… you should have seen it! She turned on some kind of animal, she began to bark like that, in such a state I had never seen her – she opened her mouth, began to bare her teeth and did not let the shepherd dog near me. It turns out that Sandy can be aggressive if you want to protect yourself and loved ones. The men who were nearby and watched this picture hid in the shops – no one stood up for me and did not help – except for Sandy, a disabled dog.
“They don’t like her…”
I fought with a lot of people because of Sandy. Why? They just don’t like her: “why is she needed here?”, “Fuck on her!”. She is non-aggressive and enjoys meeting dogs. The maximum that she can do is to run a wheel on a sneaker. By the way, because of this, conflicts often begin. We only walk in one place anyway, so as not to disturb anyone … but I can’t always see if the wheel is next to a person’s foot or not.
It is often said that “such” dogs should be euthanized – they say, we torture her, this is a mockery. Well, where does she suffer – if she runs happily, plays, lives a full life ?!
It seems that Sandy simply does not fit into the ideal picture of such people, where all dogs are healthy and purebred. I do not react to malicious comments – I pass by and do not listen to anyone. Maybe they think I’m sick. To some extent, maybe I’m crazy, but it’s still better than shaking for your phones … well, I’m shaking for the dog, what can I do.
Source credit: https://pets.mail.ru/stories/
