Nina is a survivor. She has survived living on the streets, a nearly fatal hit-and-run, and living with distemper.
In September of 2019, Nina was found lifeless on the side of the road after she had been struck by a vehicle. She suffered from severe injuries to her head, jaw, and hip. Nina’s jaw was visibly damaged by the accident. After being brought to Fundación ADAN for an evaluation, she was then brought to a veterinary clinic where an X-ray confirmed that her lower jaw was broken and several teeth were missing. Due to her low weight and poor health, from living on the streets, the veterinarian didn’t recommend immediate surgery for her jaw or hip. Over a few weeks, her injuries began to heal and she seemed to handle how her jaw began to heal – her health was improving profoundly. Now, her jaw is the only visible difference to her appearance, but in no way does that impact her happiness or ability to eat. In fact, it’s one of the things I adore most about her.
We met Nina in February of 2020 after helping our partner move her into a new foster home. It was love at first sight for our, then, 14-year-old daughter, Tali. Nina left an imprint on Tali that day, however, I had no idea. Due to the pandemic, we were unable to return until the following January. Tali begged me to foster Nina for our 10-week stay, but I was hesitant. We didn’t know Nina well, and I had no idea how she would behave living in a house. After much begging and pleading, I agreed to give it a try, and on January 10, 2021, we welcomed Nina to our house. Our goal was to show the world that, despite her visible differences and neurological symptoms, she was a truly amazing and happy dog.
Nina adjusted incredibly fast. She began to thrive in our quiet house where she had lots of one-on-one attention and a place to relax. The shelter-life she had experienced thus far was extremely chaotic and noisy. It’s hard to see the true personality of an animal due to the chaotic nature of the shelter. Soon after we brought her home, her personality emerged and she was thriving in no time. I hadn’t expected her transition to be so easy, making me realize how amazing this dog truly was. She had never been trained, but she bonded with us so fast that training her was easy. She had great manners, was potty-trained, and loved walking on a leash. She loves long car rides, sleeping with humans, and short walks (because of her hip). She quickly developed an obsession with stuffed animals, likely having never played with toys before.
Seeing this transformation and still knowing that finding a forever family for an older special needs dog in Nicaragua would be difficult, we made a promise to Nina that we would find her a home before our trip ended. We attempted to eliminate beliefs that special needs dogs are not adoptable.
We brought her with us everywhere and created an Instagram page to show the world just how amazing she is.
We wanted to spread the news as far as we could, so we brought her to adoption events, fairs, aired her on live TV, and a segment of a radio show. We had several American families interested in adopting her, but no one came forward in Nicaragua. Due to the pandemic, no airlines were allowing cargo out of Nicaragua, making it impossible to bring her state-side. Determined to find her a family, we brainstormed countless ideas and ultimately came up with an adoption fair.
On February 6, 2021, Fundación ADAN and NicaLove hosted their first partnered adoption fair. Twenty adult dogs, including Nina, were introduced to prospective adoptive families. It was a very successful event and several dogs were adopted that day, but no one came for Nina. It was at that moment I realized it was going to be much harder than I had expected. A month later, we had another adoption event in a city park, which allowed prospective adoptive families to walk, play with, and get to know the dogs available for adoption. I remember seeing a young couple interested in Nina and even filling out an application for her adoption. I was cautiously excited, but sad that more people hadn’t shown interest in Nina. I needed to figure out how to find her the forever family she deserved, before the end of our trip. I didn’t want her to go back to a shelter.
Then it happened.
We had to bring Nina back to the shelter because we were bringing home two puppies back to the states. A few days later, less than two weeks before our flight home, our partner called. She informed me that the couple who had spent time with Nina were interested in adopting her. It was a surreal moment – Nina had finally found her forever family! Tali and I cried, both out of happiness and knowing we would have part with her. This was one of the best moments of our 10-week trip.
Nina was adopted on March 12, 2021. Her family had found her on Instagram and followed our posts of her journey and transformation, before ultimately deciding they needed to adopt her. Nina joined an animal-loving family, with other adopted dogs and cats. My family and I will truly miss sweet Nina, but knowing she has the most amazing forever family makes me immensely happy. She is adored, loved, and has all she could ever ask for.
Nina’s forever family ♥ 