You may recall Kenric and I rescued a young dog while in Berat, Albania last October (2019). We brought him to Animal Veterinar Hospital in Fier about 45 minutes away. We named him Tiga (the Malay word for 3) because we were quite sure his injured and infected paw would have to be amputated. Luckily, he still has all his “empat” legs, so he’s Pat now; they call him Patrick.

We’ve been boarding him at the hospital since then. Even though he was neutered shortly after arriving, Dr. Luiza Hyka said “he likes to do the sex thing”! 😂 He does bully other dogs sometimes, but he’s still young and has a lot of energy. Recently, he’s been a good boy. He walks with a noticeable limp now. We visited him in January 2020. As expected, he didn’t remember us.

There are many sick and abandoned animals at the hospital – dumped outside, or brought in for treatment but never picked up or paid for. One very sick cat is Coku who is FIV+. I read on the hospital’s Facebook page that a facility in Bologna, Italy has agreed to take Coku, Pipo and Orange. Pipo has only three legs and no tail, and both of Orange’s hind legs are paralyzed. Donations and a travel companion were desperately needed.

Very late on Wednesday night, I read that a passenger on a Saturday flight (Tirana – Bologna) had agreed to help. Orange had been disqualified because she is too young. We made a donation almost immediately because we didn’t want the medical preparations to be delayed. Our condition was if someone else donates after us, we would like our donation to be spent on sterilizing street dogs instead. Luckily, someone else donated and there is enough money to sterilize a street dog.

Later in the evening, he messaged to see if there was any news about Coku yet. There wasn’t. Finally, I received a video of Coku at the hospital in Bologna eating dinner. I would have given him some bologna. I would also rename him Coku Latte!

Yesterday was International Day of Charity. This couple had been more than charitable and I’m pretty sure they are like that every day. I was proud to learn from his Facebook profile photo that he’s from Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Kenric and I have been taking turns having low-key depression because of everything happening in the world, and especially in America. Last night, he said he felt like he’s in the backseat of a car on a windy road going downhill at high speed and there’s no driver. I told him the driver is Trump. I think I made him cry. There hasn’t been any good news from America for us since late 2016. This American couple delivering good news to us in Greece from Albania was very special in its own small way. We’ll take what we can get.

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