“I received a call from Marianne, my daughter in law, that they found a dog in Albania that looked exactly like a miniature version of an English Setter we had years ago. He had been burnt around his neck and was starving on the streets, living on bread scraps. A local shelter took him in and he lived mainly on a concrete slab , drank water off of that slab and would not come out of a dog house very often. When potential adopters came by, he was aggressive and protective of his dog house and would not leave it. His chances of being adopted were minimal at best.
He arrived on Halloween night in 2018 and was exhausted from the long flight. Our doorbell never stopped ringing with trick-or-treaters, but that didn’t phase him. He loved children even in costumes! He bonded immediately with my husband, Gary. If Gary was in the garage, so was Beau. He was his sidekick.
He weighed in at 33 pounds, so definitely underweight when he arrived. The vet felt his burned neck was from an overuse of a very strong shock collar and he most likely would never have hair there again. I contacted the Albania shelter and was told that many times if a hunting dog doesn’t respond, they are just turned out on the streets.
We tried to learn a few Albanian words but decided Beau could learn English faster than we could learn Albanian! His autumn years were filled with more love and he even was in a doggy commercial. No royalties but he felt pampered. Most unfortunately, in the spring of 2020, we found out that he had developed an aggressive cancer. Beau lived for a few months and passed away in September. This little guy never complained and was grateful and happy everyday that he wagged his little body and made us smile. Though the time we had together was cut short unexpectedly, we don’t regret one minute of the time that we were allowed to show him how comfortable a good life could be. Thank you Marianne and Street Dog Hero for doing what you do! Saving one dog at a time.” – Beau’s Mom.
