A dog rescuer’s day: Violetta goes missing and Jorja eats the car
Violetta in last week’s rain / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~
Not the best day:
1. Violetta vanished.
Jorja remodeled the safety belts / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
2. While I looked for Violetta, my foster girl Jorja chewed through both safety belts in the back seat of the rental car.
3. I had to listen, without committing an act of violence, to someone tell me that the reason fearful little Violetta disappeared from the builders’ supply store where she was living, and the reason her mother Vaso went missing last week, was that they read my mind as to why I was trying to catch them, did not want to be spayed or placed in loving homes, and therefore left.
The search
Spent two hours hunting for the dogs—one hour throughout the builders’ supply store vast property. Another hour in the neighborhood, which is industrial, littered, rumbling with traffic, harsh, and includes an impoverished transient community.
I laid soft cushions in the kennel I had brought in hope of catching Violetta, and placed the kennel inside the small pen I’d asked the store owner to make in back of the warehouse. I left water and food in the pen, but the resident cats (also in need of spay/neuter) snarfed up the latter right away.
The store owner said he didn’t see either dog today, but that Violetta did show up on his security camera footage from last night.
The torment of what-ifs
As bad as this day was, it was not unusual. Just another day in the life of an animal rescuer, not unlike those endured frequently by rescuers all around the world.
Almost the worst part—and I know that this is common among rescuers too—is the guilt. What if I had done this or that differently?
Violetta with her mom, Vaso, last week before their disappearances / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
I need to stop tormenting myself with thoughts of what might have happened to Violetta and her mother, and of what lies ahead for them if they’re still out there alive somewhere.
This is all nearly impossible, isn’t it—trying to help animals? Especially in communities like this Greek island, my beloved Kefalonia, and in Houston where I grew up, and in countless other places around the world.
In this case, with Violetta, who like her brother is terrified of everyone and everything, whatever I might have done could have turned out wrong. We animal rescuers often are damned if we do and damned if we don’t, because of the complexity of the messes we’re trying to clean up–messes that other people have made–often far too late.
Maybe we shouldn’t have taken Viktor without his sister on Saturday. Maybe witnessing his trauma as we caught him, or maybe just plain missing him made her leave. But on Saturday when we miraculously managed to find Viktor in a spot where we could trap him, it seemed best to save at least one of them instead of waiting to try to get both.
Things went haywire
The puppies’ mother Vaso, petite and sweet / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makria
Things started going haywire last week when their very friendly mother Vaso disappeared. While she had been on the scene, her puppies were much less skittish and frightened of me. After she was gone, Viktor started leaving the property with Violetta in tow. It seemed it would be only a matter of time before he’d wander too far and get them both into trouble.
Another problem was that I could only go out there for a very narrow window of time every day because of the store schedule. Whenever I went while business was in full swing the puppies would get spooked by all the noise and strangers walking around the store grounds. So I had to go after closing time just for the half hour or so while the owner was doing paperwork. The rest of the day and night, the gates were locked tight with the puppies inside.
I should have begged for a wider window. But for rescuers it’s always such a delicate dance—trying not to annoy or alienate those whose cooperation and help you need.
The next steps
Viktor with his mom Vaso in background
There’s no time to sit around crying, so after coming home home I got in a good hour of sobbing while multitasking—feeding my two foster dogs Agapi and Jorja, cleaning the kitchen, and researching what to do long-term with Violetta’s extremely fearful brother Viktor, who is now being kindly though cautiously and temporarily fostered by Pat Dolman, founder of Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs).
Next I’ll try to create “Lost” flyers about Vaso and Violetta, print copies, and go around the area posting them and asking all the shopkeepers to keep a lookout. Am also posting ‘Lost’ notices on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Agapi, my rescue/foster boy, who only a few months ago was ravaged and bloodied by Leishmaniasis, a deadly local disease, just now came up to me. He rested his chin on my arm and looked up into my eyes, as he often does when he senses I’m in distress, thereby reminding me of one of the many reasons why I care so much about animals.
Agapi wants to help / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
To help these and many more animals on the Greek island of Kefalonia, please donate to registered charity Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs), via PayPal or bank transfer, and to Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK). The author of this article holds no affiliation with these groups other than as a friend and volunteer.
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Questions about animal care? Ask Spicy! Email us at youradopteddogATyahooDOTcom.
Seen our book? Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need, by Shelley Frost and Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, available through Amazon.com.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Her fiction includes 17 novels for Simon and Schuster, E.P. Dutton, Avon, and other major publishers (under the name Kathryn Makris), as well as a teleplay for CBS-TV, and a short story for The Bark magazine. She has written hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for outlets such as National Geographic Traveler, The San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, Animal Issues Reporter.org, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).
