Woman Who Has 12 Dogs In Her House Encourages Everyone To Be Kinder To Animals
Anyone interested in helping dogs live a better life knows that the ones with disabilities are the hardest to find an adopting or fostering family for. Sometimes, it is easy to forget that these creatures too deserve all the love and affection that any other animal does. Unfortunately, it happens quite often that the special needs dogs in the shelter end up living there for the rest of their lives, without ever having lived with a family. And, for that reason, the shelters are pretty opt to put such dogs to sleep without even spending much time trying to find a family for them.
There are, however, kind people, who want to put every effort into giving the animals with disabilities the life they deserve. Erika, who lives in Mexico, is one of them. It always surprises people to know how many special needs dogs she has adopted. The woman has twelve of them in her house. But these are only the ones that are hers. Along with these dogs, Erika also fosters special needs dogs. As a result, there are sometimes up to thirty dogs living in her house. It might seem like a lot of work and responsibility. And it for sure is! But for Erika, there is no better feeling than knowing that she is helping animals that need it the most.
Vida is one of the dogs that Erika has adopted. She always remembers the days she found her sitting on the grass. Erika realized from the very first glance that something was wrong with the dog’s physiology. As she approached the dog to take a closer look, she saw that both of her back feet were missing. The dog had to put so much effort into walking around. And on top of that, she was all alone, with no one to take care of her.
Erika made up her mind to take the dog to the vet center with no hesitation. From there, the next stop with Vida was the shelter. There, the staff informed Erika that they would put the dog to sleep if no family volunteered to take her in within the next couple of days. Erika waited no more, and let the staff know about her willingness to adopt Vida right away.
Once Vida appeared in Erika’s house, the woman started to make sure that the dog trusted her. It is not very easy to adjust stray dogs to family life. Especially the ones with special needs, as they did not get much affection from people. Erika did her best to show her how much she appreciated her efforts to walk around the house and in the park. Vida also did not hesitate to join the other dogs when playing, which made Erika feel so proud. Erika praised and petted the dog every time she showed signs of integrating with the family and feeling comfortable with her condition. Sometimes Erika jokingly says that she likes to talk to Vida so much that the dog just wants to tell her to stay quiet.
Erika thought of ordering a wheelchair for Vida. Whenever they went for checkups at the vet center, Vida was able to walk just fine when the vet held her body up. She was willing to try to keep the balance of her body. That gave Erika hope that the dog would do great with a wheelchair.
But when she ordered one, Vida was not a fan of it. Erika decided to give it some time. Maybe all Vida needed was a couple of days to adjust to the new equipment. Erika made Vida stay in a wheelchair for some time, but it did not seem to help. All Vida did was just stay still and not make a single move. The other dogs would come to jump in front of him, inviting him to play. But Vida had no idea what she needed to do with that weird-looking thing.
Vida’s reaction made Erika realize that the dog was better off without a wheelchair. Whenever Vida used the wheelchair, she would freeze in place. While the moment she got rid of it, she ran around like the most regular dog. Of course, she was not as fast as her peers. But her confidence and happiness when running on her own was worth it. Vida’s willingness to live without a wheelchair just showed how determined she was. Even though she missed two of her legs, she was ready to show everyone that she was not giving up and that she had the power of will to enjoy her life, whatever it took.
Now, Vida does not see any differences between herself and the other dogs. Erika makes sure that every single one of her dogs feels this way. Erika hopes that her choice of taking care of twelve special needs dogs will serve as an example to all the people who are considerate of animals. Of course, she does not expect each person to take in as many dogs as she does. But what she does want to see is a community where people do not disregard the animals in need. If each person would try his best to help as many animals as they can, that would make a great difference. Erika wants everyone to keep in mind that animals are not just pretty things walking around our neighborhoods. They are living creatures, just like us, and we are talking about saving actual lives.
Erika hopes that she will be able to not only initiate the animal-loving community, but also spread that idea throughout Mexico, and the entire world. And to encourage people to share her mindset, she brings examples of how much difference they can make. Erika says that only in Mexico City five thousand surgeries are being done on dogs each year. That is how many dogs get the chance to fully transform their lives. Imagine what would happen if more people gave the stray dogs the attention they needed. Erika believes that the number of rescued dogs could potentially double, or even triple.
To conclude, Erika says that we should keep in mind that when rescuing dogs, they are helping us just as much as we are helping them. She tells how much her dogs have taught her while she was taking care of them. Especially the ones with disabilities. Each of them is so unique not only by their appearance but by their personality traits. And each of them has something different to offer to you.
Take Vida for example. Erika says that she taught her to enjoy life no matter what kind of difficulties arise. She realized that sometimes it is better to concentrate on today rather than worrying about what tomorrow will bring us. Because life is all about seeing the beauty in this very moment. These are some very simple things that people usually do not realize. Sometimes we are too busy planning our future to stop for a moment and take a break. The animals with disabilities, on the other hand, are the ones who are more likely to realize such very simple things. And if we let them into our lives, we will gain a lot from that.
