Thousands of dogs are abandoned on the street, some sick, and all need shelter.
It’s a huge task to care for these animals. Fortunately, many generous people try to help these dogs, even when the situation is very challenging.
One of these places that care for stray animals is Takis Shelter in Lerapetra, Crete, Greece.
Takis Shelter rescues homeless and abandoned animals in Crete, and the shelter currently cares for over 400 dogs and cats.
A member of the Takis Shelter found Hugo, a stray dog who was having difficulty walking. After a few days, the dog was completely paralyzed.
“The vets here in my town, they didn’t know what was going on,” the man told The Dodo.
He brought Hugo to the Takis Shelter and began caring for him, even if other people told him to put him down.
The man said he had to give Hugo a chance because the dog was eating and drinking. “He wanted to live,” the man shared.
The man began to work every day with Hugo’s legs.
He had to teach the paralyzed dog how to walk again. In the first week, he focused on exercising Hugo’s front legs.
He still had to hold the dog up and support him because he couldn’t stand alone.
By the third week, they were working on teaching Hugo how to stand by himself. This took another two weeks; by the fifth week, he was standing up for longer periods on his own.
In the video, you can hear the man encouraging Hugo.
“Bravo Hugo, we will make it,” he said.
Throughout this process, the man used a harness on Hugo to help him stand and encourage him to walk on his own. On week six, he stood independently and became friends with the other dogs.
Finally, on week eight of Hugo’s rehabilitation, he took his first steps on his own.
With additional exercises and practice, Hugo began taking more steps without support.
Hugo got stronger and more confident with walking as time went by. On week 10, he tried going down a step independently.
By week 13, he was going down multiple steps and even running.
“Wow, it was so amazing. You see that you did the right thing, and one soul’s so happy, and this is an amazing feeling, ” the man said.
He described Hugo as a strong, funny, and cute fighter.
The next scenes of the video show him running happily with other dogs. In one part, Hugo was so excited and running so fast that he crashed into a closed gate.
He simply stood up and began to run again.
Hugo was popular among the animals at the shelter, making friends with both cats and dogs. He often played with other dogs and snuggled with cats.
Luckily, a family from Belgium fell in love with him too.
They adopted him, and now he has a new family, including other dogs and cats, now his siblings. We’re so happy that Hugo had another chance to live a happy and healthy life with a new family.
If you want to help more animals like Hugo, you can visit Takis Shelter’s website and make a donation.
Watch the video of Hugo re-learning how to walk below!
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Source: Takis Shelter Instagram @hugo_andhistailsquad
