by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

If you care about animals, there are times when you wonder if you’ve stumbled off this world and into hell.

That’s how I felt when we saw him through the car windshield—a monster in the road, stark and alone under a full moon, eyes rimmed in blood.

“What is that?”  I gasped.

“No,” uttered my friend Melissa, in the tone of voice you use when you’ve just heard very bad news.  “Oh no.”

“A dog?” I peered through the glass.

He shambled off the road toward Melissa’s side of the car.

“I’m afraid so,” she said.

We had been minding our own business, Melissa Beamish and I, returning from our car tour around the island. It was one of the few days off either of us had taken in months.

Rescuer and friend Melissa Beamish

For nearly half a year Melissa had been on her extraordinary mission volunteering in animal shelters around the world, including Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK).

I was trying to rehab our old house here in Kefalonia and working on articles, while rescuing, fostering, and rehoming several dogs and cats.

Relaxed after a day of chatting and enjoying the eye candy—beaches, archaeological sites, and spectacular views of Greece’s Ionian Sea—we were headed to my house for a late dinner.

Then suddenly, in the tiny foothill village of Troianata, there he was.

How foolish to have hoped we might make it through a day of sightseeing on this island without finding an animal in need. And dire need at that.

Lesions on face and ears bled onto his cheeks and shoulders.
Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

In decades of dog rescue I had never seen anything more jolting. The eyes: red, raw, bloody.

Wait. Bloody eyes?

My foot moved to the brake, but indecisively. Of course we had to stop and do something. The question was what?  Out in the middle of nearly nowhere, at ten o’clock at night, with all three of the island’s veterinarians’ offices closed?

I pulled the car over and killed the engine. That triggered the dog to bark.

One of Kefalonia’s spectacular beaches. An enchanting island with a distinguished cultural history. We need to do better by our animals so that visitors and residents alike may enjoy it without witnessing misery like Agapi’s.
Photo: RescueDiva.com

Melissa didn’t waste a second. She jumped right out.

“Careful!” I warned. “Keep your distance.”

Telling Melissa Beamish to stay away from an animal in need is like telling a fish not to swim.  But she’s no fool; she gave the dog his space.

“His legs,” she whispered.

We stood together in the road staring at one of the worst things either of us had ever seen: a tall, emaciated, black and white dog

Lesions on legs and twisted, brittle nails
Photo: RescueDiva.com

covered in lesions.

In a mask of horror, blood oozed from the open sores and the inflamed skin around his eyes, as well as from the lesions on his paws and legs.

I could barely believe my eyes.  I didn’t want to.

Read next article about Agapi:

Finding a severely ill street dog turns rescuer’s life upside down

Rescue Diva proudly sponsors needy animals in the U.S. and around the world.

For example we help Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) provide free spay/neuter for hundreds of animals per year, which is one of the best ways to prevent the abandonment and misery of puppies like Noah and Kyla.

We also do in-the-trenches rescues of angels like Robin, Chance, and Tiger, with help from San Diego Animal Support Foundation, and of Marisol and Lisa, with help from Last Chance at Life.

Fun romantic story just $2 ! 50% of profits donated to animal rescue groups!

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.com, Sass101.com and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).

Together with coauthor Shelley Frost, Katerina wrote a step-by-step guide for hands-on, in-the-trenches dog rescue, Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need (The Lyons Press).