It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

Remember the blog post that included a story about delivering puppies on the sidewalk in Aracataca, Colombia?  You can click here to see the story in a new window on your screen.  But be sure to come back here to see the ending to this story!

In that blog post I told about a wonderful  young lady who helped during the entire situation.  Before we left we gave her a small gift for her efforts and several bags of dog food and supplies to give to the foundation when they arrived.  Here is a photo of the two of us working with the sweet momma-dog on the sidewalk.  In this photo she has four puppies. 

When you reread the story you will be reminded that we had to leave before the rescue group arrived for her.  And although a crowd came and went, only the young lady in the blue shirt seemed dedicated to the situation.  The wonderful young lady was going to stay with her until the rescue group showed up to take the Momma-dog and her new little family to be cared for. 

We peeled ourselves away so we could get to our destination before dark.  It was hard to leave, but we felt that all would work out.   I thought about the wonderful, discarded momma-dog and her litter of puppies frequently.  I searched rescue group websites to try to find a photo of them.  Every search came up empty and I felt frustrated but tried to remain hopeful that it turned out fine.

Then, a few days ago I received contact on our Facebook page from an unknown person in Colombia.  She asked if we remembered her!  Within moments I was in tears, as it was her, the amazing sidewalk helper!!!  Her name is Giselle and she had follow-up information for us!

The first news was bad news…… the animal rescue group that promised to come and take the momma-dog and her puppies, never showed up.  At sunset it started to rain. As it was becoming wet, cold and dark, Giselle had to make a decision about what to do with the momma-dog and her now seven puppies.

The next news was good news, and it just kept getting better!  Giselle decided to take the momma-dog and her puppies to her house.  She found a space in the barn where she could care for them.  She used the supplies we had left for the animal rescue group to help fund their care.

Then when they were ready she found homes that wanted all seven puppies AND she found someone to adopt the momma-dog.   The new owner of the momma-dog had her spayed right away.  And now she lives with love, inside of  home!

Before I show you the photos that Giselle shared with me, I want to point out something about Momma-dog.  I did not mention it before, because it was not the focus of my story.  But she is a difficult dog to ignore, and a difficult dog to adopt out.  Her new name is Boqui.  That is an affectionate twist of the word “boca” which means “mouth” in Español.  This sweet play on words comes from the fact that Boqui survived some sort of accident many years ago when she was living on the streets.  The result of that incident is an appearance similar to a cleft palate.  Her upper lip, jaw and nose are split wide open.  It has since healed and she is able to breathe, eat and function normally.  But it is a startling thing to see when you first look at her face.  If you look back through the old post and these new photos, you can see the features of Boqui’s unique appearance.

In this little video, Boqui is being carried by Giselle so they can take some photos to send me! Look at how happy and friendly she is.  Such a sweet dog, even after all she has been through.

Many of the puppies went to homes out-of-town.  But Giselle was nice enough to track down one of the puppies at its new home.  She sent me this little video clip of a wiggling, happy, healthy four-month old puppy!  This pup is beautiful and loving and it brings tears to my eyes when I watch this clip. 

The entire incident was emotional, exhausting and so important for all of us.  From the moment I glimpsed that dog laying on the sidewalk to the searching and hoping for the best, I have been thinking of this little family.  Now to have follow-up and closure to the situation makes us all very happy.

Please do your part to stop animal over-population at home and beyond.  Hug your dogs and give them lots of love.  And if you have room in your heart and wallet, make a little contribution to help out animals that aren’t receiving hugs.

Thanks for reading this little follow-up.  Stay with us for the next story from the road as we explore more of Colombia!