From Barcelona streets to Djimba and safety in France

This little lady is Cleo, just like my tiny Podenca Andaluz Bebe and, like Bebe, Cleo’s history is a sad one – luckily she is now in the caring hands of Betty at Djimba.

‘Cleo is a very small podenco that was found in December 2012 on the streets near Barcelona, her left fore leg was badly broken. She was taken to a vet and operated on, 4 metal plates were put in her leg. She stayed at the vet in a bench for 2 months and then should have gone to a shelter. However, due to her leg and the fact that she was very scared of people, she went to a foster home in Barcelona.

There she lived for 6 weeks with some other dogs, she entered the house but did not wanted to be touched or picked up. The foster family was worried that they would never find a family for her because of her extreme fear of humans.

Luckily Foundation Djimba heard of her and on April 1st the president flew to Barcelona to pick Cleo up. To get her in the carrier was very traumatic and difficult, despite the calming tablets that she was given. At the airport she had to leave the carrier because it had to go through the x-ray. It was an ordeal.

Now she has been living for one month in France with 18 other brothers and sisters of the Djimba foundation, of which 6 are podencos and 7 galgo/greys.. Even though most of them are very old, ill and / or handicapped, she has found a friend in the young severely handicapped German Shepherd Rex and the young Sarah (cross Greyhound / Barzoi).

She is still not approachable but comes inside the house and acts like a normal dog, despite the fact that she cannot be touched. Very slowly we are making progress and we are now able to stroke her back once a day, mostly in the evenings when she is sleeping on my bed. She bows her head and it might happen that after one or two strokes she jumps up with a cry and runs away, tail between her legs. Some evenings, she allows a bit longer, the moment she sees my other hand approaching she is gone.

With the other dogs she is a little teaser, she chases them over the field. It is good to see that she is so happy but it is sad to know that she has been treated so badly by mankind, that she does not allow herself (yet) to enjoy the love and attention we can give. She has a long way to go but we will give her all the time in the world.

In two weeks she will have to face a difficult day when I have to take her to a specialist vet one hour’s drive away to get the metal plates out, because we do not want her to go through the whole stress situation of carrier / drive / vet twice, all will be done in one day (x-rays, operation, etc) and I will stay with her.

Betty Heideman
president Djimba Foundation
www.dj-imba.com

Cleo is not up for adoption