‘Psycho lover’ Rodolfo Valentino is mangy no more!
‘I’m in the mood for love,’ says Rodolfo Valentino, now hairy and healthy thanks to Achaic Society for the Care of Animals. Photo: Achaic Society for the Care of Animals
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~
For me it was love at first sight, even though he wasn’t exactly attractive. It’s hard to be attractive when you’re suffering from mange. Still there was something irresistible about him.
Unfortunately, though, I had to resist. Another rescued dog waited for me in the car, battling a bad case of motion sickness. We still had several hours of driving ahead of us on our long journey via sea and land from the Greek island of Kefalonia to Athens. The next day Diamandi (now known as Mandi) and I, along with two more street dogs from the island of Santorini, would be flying to Denmark, where the pooches would all find loving homes under the kind auspices of rescue group Graeske Hunde.
We were already running terribly late, having to move at a crawl on the treacherous national highway where other drivers are in a house-on-fire hurry, and where we had to find places to stop every 30 minutes due to Mandi’s ferocious carsickness. I worried about even making the flight. There was no way I could help the scrawny, scraggly dog who stood in front of me there in the quiet port city of Kyllini, searching my face for a sign of hope.
All I could do was promise I’d come back. But keeping that promise would be tough.
‘Is this the dog you saw?’
While in Denmark I frantically emailed rescue group Achaic Society for the Care of Animals (ASCA) in the city of Patras about an hour away from Kyllini, but they were well beyond capacity already, and couldn’t drive that far to search for a street dog they may or may not be able to find.
Rodolfo on the streets of a Greek port town, pre-rescue and pre-treatment – a mess / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
Later, though, I got another email from ASCA president Anastasia Aravantinou: “Dimitris Karabalis [ASCA founder and treasurer] was in Kyllini yesterday and collected one of the mangy dogs. I am not sure if it’s the one you saw but he sure is mangy too! The skin condition is demodex, the type of mange that is not contagious but costly to treat due to special shampoos, ointments, etc.”
Friend and fellow writer Anneloes Wagenaar Hummelinck also emailed me from Holland. She knew of my heartbreak and had spotted the mangy dog on the ASCA Facebook page. “Is this the dog you saw?” she asked, attaching a photo.
I don’t know if any emails have ever made me happier.
“Can you hear me screaming?” I wrote back. “Screaming with joy!!!! YES YES YES that’s the poor boy I saw back on May 2! Wow. Sometimes life offers unforgettably sweet moments. Receiving these emails was one of them.”
“I know how you feel, seeing him but not being able to rescue him,” Anastasia replied. “As I explained in my previous emails we cannot save them all so we have to choose. At the moment I am fostering 27 dogs. Dimitris another 10, Katy 22. Other friends and volunteers foster cats—around 10. Anyway, I am so happy for this one!!!”
“This is what happened,” she continued. “Dimitris went to Kyllini because our guardian angel from Germany is visiting us so he went to pick her up. There he saw the dog and of course he collected him. I am fostering him now. The photos are from my land. He is with another female in an enclosure. He is very friendly with other dogs. He is under treatment for demodex at the moment. We expect to see him getting better within a month or so.”
To help out a bit, my husband, a.k.a. The Saint, sent ASCA a small donation.
Rodolfo Valentino, flirting with the females
“I’ve named him Rodolfo (Valentino),” Anastasia told me in a subsequent email. “He is flirting with all the females.”
Why was I not surprised?
And as soon as his skin condition improved enough, ASCA planned to send him to their rescue partner group in Germany, where they would help him find a forever home.
“I just can’t tell you how happy y’all have made me by taking me in,” I told Anastasia. “It’s silly, I know, because there are still countless millions around the world in just as bad or far worse shape, but this fellow came up to me with his horrible skin condition, hungry, asking for help, and I said ‘no.’ Of course if I hadn’t been in a panic to get Diamandi and the other dogs to Denmark it would’ve been ‘yes,’ but that’s the way it was.”
Anastasia reported later, “He is obsessed with Lisa [another beautiful rescue they had at the time]. He is in love with her, so another aspect of his personality is that he is a psycho lover.”
Recently I wrote to Anastasia again to check on the lover boy’s progress. With a name like Rodolfo Valentino, he totally needed to be featured on Spicy Stories Save Lives.
Q&A with Anastasia Aravantinou of ASCA about Rudolfo Valentino:
Spicy Stories Save Lives: Is Rodolfo still enjoying life at your ASCA Canine Resort and Healing Spa [which is what I call her home], or has he moved on by now to conquer the hearts of German ladies?
Aravantinou: He is still in our resort!! He is a strong candidate to travel to Germany in March. He recovered from his skin condition two months ago. It is not easy to fight demodex especially for a dog that was left with it for so long. He is in perfect health now. No sign of demodex whatsoever.
Spicy Stories: Any info on his latest adventures?
Aravantinou: Rodolfo is in love with several dogs, both males and females. He has a best friend, a Labrador retriever who we adopted because he destroys everything! His name is LabraD’Or (we are playing with his name… D’Or meaning golden). Rodolfo is sleeping with LabraD’Or, no matter if he is sleeping in the rain. As long as he is with LabraD’Or he is fine.
He occasionally falls in love with new entries, males or females. Tries to hump everyone…but my old ladies taught him how to stay away from them (the hard way).
He respects the leader (a shepherd named Troufolinas) and his friends. He likes puppies, and doesn’t challenge anyone except my deaf American bulldog, whom he absolutely hates. They bark at each other all the time. Fortunately they are separated by a wire fence, otherwise they would either kill each other or kiss each other! You never know with males! Boulis, the deaf bulldog is neutered but you know…old habits…
Apart from that, Rodolfo is a wonderful dog. Really connected with people and a good member of the pack.
***
Well, then, German ladies (and perhaps gentlemen, too) get ready. Rudolfo Valentino is headed your way soon!
To learn more about adopting Rodolfo, please contact ASCA.
ASCA account number: 052 1764 403
IBAN: GR3802804300000000521764403
SWIFT: EGNA GR2T
Όνομα: ACHAIKOS SYLLOGOS MERIMNAS ZOON
Feb 26, 2013 @ 17:25:37
Talk About Lucky Dogs! From Mange To Mighty! You can just see the Love in Rudolpho’s eyes! Thank- You, Wonderful People, your wings are on order!