Vanderful / Seeds of Hope ODV

2019 - 2024

by | Jun 24, 2019 | News | 0 comments

The pets are all set:

Bronzo’s story

Despite other people’s reservations the animals’ paperwork, vaccines, permits and certificates have gone quite smoothly, at least our first 3 countries are covered!

Bronzo’s story

Little over a year ago, Bronzo came to be part of our family in quite a complicated way. It’s a difficult story to tell, but with a happy ending that always warms everybody’s hearts. Bronzo was born in our dear friend’s dog’s litter, but had been to two different homes before he came to live with us. Unfortunately, those 2 homes didn’t work out. 

I was very fond and familiar with Bronzo’s father, mother, brother and sister; I saw them almost daily at the horse stables I rode at, I always admired these gentle, playful giants. The second home that Bronzo had gone to was in fact with a colleague, and at that time I thought was a friend.

One afternoon over Christmas 2017 I had the misfortune of witnessing him in a terribly neglectful state, and there was no way I could turn a blind eye. I alerted my friend (the breeder) of what I had seen. We tried to tactfully offer my colleague support, all of which were refused. I saw him on another occasion and this time he was looking even worse! He even escaped whilst I was there. We had to do something. All our approaches were met with aggression. Finally, a warrant was issued for our arrest. Bronzo had escaped, and we were held accountable.

He was picked up by someone who took him to the SPCA after Bronzo had been roaming the streets. We later found out that Bronzo had already been detained there twice in the last few months, again found wandering the streets of Walvis Bay. The owners managed to persuade the SPCA to release him back to them. It wasn’t long until karma kicked into play, his owners had been stupid enough to lie about their employment status and were kicked out of their rental property. Both being alcoholics, they abandoned Bronzo on the streets, attached to their belongings. He then was picked up and taken back to the SPCA, who then finally realised how they had been manipulated.

Eventually Bronzo was brought back to the original breeder. Without going into too much detail, this house was not meant for Bronzo either.

My friend, the original breeder, approached me; to see if we could care for Bronzo over the Easter weekend. We accepted and of course fell in love with this kind, gentle natured animal. Despite everything he had gone through, he was affectionate, playful and clearly happy in our company. Being thrown from pillar to post most of his relatively short life, he was obviously desperate to find ‘his family’. Being foreigners and on work permits, we never planned to adopt such a large animal, but it seemed we really didn’t have much choice.

Bronzo had chosen us and in a way it was destiny. We admitted that we were smitten and we believe he was too.

It’s funny how things worked out in the end, but the drama didn’t stop there unfortunately. The next couple of months we had to move house as our landlord didn’t accept him. Bronzo had obviously been terrorised or beaten when eating food; for weeks we fed him by hand, 3 times a day. He weighed 36kg; 6 kg less than the average weight. We had him microchipped, vaccinated etc.

It wasn’t until September that we could really see a transformation. From a dog that you could count every bone in his body, to this muscular, handsome confident Rhodesian ridgeback! Early 2019 he weighed 44kg, still suffering from separation anxiety but fearlessly over protective of all of us, including Zuzu!

He’s come on many adventures across the country already and is sure to be leaning his head on the dashboard, watching the roads we travel during our Vanderful Project.

Give children the chance to play.

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Seeds of Hope ODV 2021®

Seeds of Hope ODV is an Italian registered

Volunteer Organisation / Organizzazione di Volontariato (C.F 94148280301)

Make a direct donation to Vanderful / Seeds of Hope ODV's Bank Account:

IT94 S087 1512 3000 0000 0727 402

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