Liberty, as the charity SCARS, the charity that rescued her named her, is an elderly dog, who has been to hell and back.
She was one of the dogs that were rescued from Inferno island in July 2018 – a small, uninhabited piece of land in the middle of the Aegean sea, where somehow, dogs and cats we trapped there with no way out.
The only person that visited the island was an elderly woman who keeps some goats there. When the volunteers confronted her, she claimed that she was taking care of the animals, but this could not be farther from the truth.
Liberty was found chained next to a shed. She was underweight and sick. In front of her was an empty and dirty metal bowl, marked from her teeth as she was chewing it from hunger and stress. The old lady instructed the volunteers not to go near her, because she was “aggressive”.
Of course, Liberty was the exact opposite of aggressive. She was removed from the island, together with all the other animals. She made the journey back to Athens, with Floyd, another one of the islands dogs that lived chained there next to some chickens, and is now in a foster home.
Her teeth are completely damaged from chewing on the metal bowl for who knows how many years. She has tumors in her mouth and her body and she suffers from leishmaniasis. But she is a fighter, and the charity is doing everything they can to help her have a good life from now on.
She is being treated for leishmaniasis, she is gaining weight and she is being fostered by a volunteer who adores her and spoils her every day. Liberty is a model dog. Kind, tender, submissive, sweet and easy going. She never complains, never asks for anything, never causes any trouble.
You would think that a dog who has been through hell would have some behavioral issues, but Liberty doesn’t, and this is the case for most dogs like her. Maybe it’s their past that has softened them, maybe their age, maybe it’s just who they are, and they were just unlucky enough to be trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you wish to adopt Liberty, you can email the charity at: [email protected] or message their facebook page. Senior dogs have a lot to offer, and besides, it’s not about the length of time we spend with our forever friends, but about the quality of it.