Rescued February 3, 2019
Beto: the puppy we rescued from the brink of death while on a project at a children’s home on February 3, 2019.
We arrived at the home around 9 am. Every inch of our car was stuffed with volunteers and donations. The kids came running to the car to greet us with excitement and began helping us bring down the donations off of the roof of my car. I was so excited to see them all, however, I couldn’t help but notice this tiny, emaciated, mangy dog walking our way. He was a sack of bones, no fur, emaciated, scaly skin that was covered with dried blood. His poor face looked so painful and his spirit was clearly broken.
I inquired about this pup, and they told me he had been around for a while searching for scraps but didn’t know where he had come from and they had no resources to help him. I turned to my friends and said, I am going to take him home with us. There was a bit of shock in their eyes.
I admit it, I kept looking for this pup constantly during our time with the kids. There was a period of time where he disappeared and I was getting a little worried that we would fail at this impromptu rescue mission. However, with impeccable timing as though he knew we could help him, this pup came walking towards our car ready to leave with us. I scooped him up in a borrowed towel and off we went. After much debate on the ride home, we decided to name this sweet boy Alberto Flea. Over time he became just Beto.
Beto had advanced scabies, malnutrition caused by parasites, and Ehrlichia. He was also covered with fleas and ticks causing more irritation and itching of his sore skin. Just a puppy of about 7 months and his life had been so incredibly painful and sad from the start.
Beto slept for almost 2 days straight after we arrived home. He snuggled up in a blanket, feeling safe and warm for the first time in his life. I was relieved knowing he would never be cold and hungry again.
Three days into our care, Beto woke wagging his tail happy to see us. This was the day he was being moved to our partners’ care. Oddly, he also woke with a limp that we hadn’t noticed before. Our animal welfare partners agreed to take him into their care and we committed to providing for all of his health and medical needs through NicaLove. In our partners’ care he was immediately dewormed, and given many medicated baths for his scabies, treatment for Erhlicia, vitamins, healing foods, and a lot of love. We soon discovered that Beto needed hip surgery and treatment for oral canine HPV, warts.
A month into his recovery Beto was healthy enough for his hip surgery. It was found that the cause of his limp was due to nerve pain caused by a deformity of his femur. The femur was pushing on a nerve making it painful to use it. The surgery allowed for the nerves to have more space, so he would be able to use his leg without pain. It worked!
Beto is truly a perfect dog, calm, good with other dogs, well behaved, loves the car and walks. He and Elisa, our animal welfare partner, would come stay with me upon return trips. He went everywhere with us, and he really loved the beach!
Beto has been fully sponsored by his angel Amy Schure.
Beto is living his best life and has been in the care of his foster father Uriel for nearly the entire time in our partners’ care. We have pushed for his adoption, we have looked for ways to get him to the USA easily. Nothing seemed to line up easily, but, we know Beto is happy! He loves his foster family, he loves the animals he lives with, and he adores his abuelo.
This month I learned that his foster family.. wants to adopt him. They adore him and Beto loves them. He is fiercely protective of his foster grandfather and never leaves his side. There was a connection made early on, and Uriel knew this was a perfect fit for them both.
