Not every Bambi story is a sad one

Bambi

Baby Bambi came to us this time 2 years ago, one would be forgiven for thinking her chances were minimal. Only two months old and no sign of her mother, we can only surmise as to what happened her, a big pot belly, unsteady on her little hooves, crawling with lice, absolutely covered in rain rash. We set to work but the expectations were low.

Volunteers at HHO became her mammy, they took turns staying with her night after night, the endless rounds of milk, functioning on only a few hours of sleep a night and starting it again the next day, knowing 150 other horses were relying on us. 

Bambi for some reason muddled through, that is literally the only way to describe it, she neither made progress or went backwards, so we persevered and persevered and persevered some more, although her appearance didn’t make any drastic improvements she was a happy little soul, always meeting us with a cheerful neigh, we often wondered how she even had the energy to be so sweet. At this point she loved her foal feed, she loved to have her sneaky foal milk, she just loved to eat! Yet still no drastic difference.

 Summer came and Bambi began to grow. she was independent enough to go out with all the other foals at this point, suddenly, she started to blossom albeit only a small bit but we could see a change, and with change came a chance, a chance to really hope, that summer passed and it was time for the foals to come back inside, one night Bambi had no neigh for us, she didn’t want her beloved food, she lay on the straw not moving and for the life of us we couldn’t figure out what was wrong, thus began the Bambi vigil again, we were sure this was the end of the line for Bambi and we were devastated, a vet even confirmed the same when suddenly she got up went over to her hay and started eating.

 Well from that night on, she never looked back, within 6 months she was strong enough to be put up for adoption, Bambi was so lucky to be adopted by a wonderful lady from Luxembourg with her two best friends, Bambi’s friends, the two who were with her all along, who stayed with her on the days she did not feel so well, who kept us company when we sat with her on all those long nights.
Wasn’t every second of worry worth it, when you see her today? Happy, healthy and absolutely beautiful! It’s what it is all about!

Where one thing falls another grows. maybe not what was there before, but something new and wonderful all the same. – Bambi

It’s a ruff life for Aisha

Rescue dog aisha
Aisha

This morning as we arrived to the office, we were met with this little girl and her so called owners, the same old story, “we don’t want her any moreyou take her”. Oh yes she’s pregnant, it’s too much hassle of to take care of her.
Their little dog, wagged her tail at her owners and had such love in her eyes, they didn’t see this, she growled at us, we meant nothing to her just strangers, not a bad bone in her little body, she was just terrified. Her owners even had the cheek to ask for her collar and lead for their new dog and without a second thought for the whimpering little dog turned around and walked away from her, while she cried for them. Not one second glance, she whimpered and growled until eventually she allowed us to stroke her.
We brought her for a little walk, she saw some of her so called family and tried desperately to get back to them. She doesn’t understand she was a commodity to them, she doesn’t understand they don’t care about her, she doesn’t understand why they left her with strangers. Whilst we’re aware circumstances change, this is certainly not the case here. The little dog was just too much hassle, they have a new dog now, little Asha doesn’t matter to them.
We’re so sick of picking up the pieces from people who just don’t think, all across the board, we spend our days, weeks, months and even years trying to rebuild the lives of animals who simply don’t understand they are no longer wanted. It is so infuriating to think that there is people out there whose attitude is “some rescue will take it, it’ll be their problem now” 2017 has brought so many good animal welfare charities to their knees including ourselves because of this flippant attitude and little support, the same people making demands who would never ever put their hand in their pocket and give a donation to a rescue.
We’d wonder if the person who bred her and sold her (not microchipped or spayed) knows that she’s now unwanted and in pup or was she just a euro sign to them too.

This little girl is warm, fed, vaccinated and laying in a bed now, at least we can draw comfort in that.

None of us can continue making a difference without help.

If the good people of Ireland would like to donate towards little Asha’s care and veterinary attention or for any of the animals in our care, you can do so via pay pal by clicking the link below.
HTTP://www.hungryhorseoutside.com/donate/

Just Foaling around

Fun and Frolics for the HHO Mares and Foals.

What more could you possibly ask for our own little beauties, happy, healthy and ready to move on to their next chapter in life?

To watch them in action now and to recall their stories only a few short months ago, it is difficult to imagine they were once cast aside like rubbish, rejected by their so called owners and left to die. We can’t even describe how wonderful it is to watch them just have fun. The little foals will never know the misery their mothers endured. We’re so in love with them all