By Emma Koeniger, SPCA International staff
*NOTE: Tyapa is available for adoption. The costs of adopting her are higher than average because of her current location in Russia and the resulting transportation needs. But this girl will be an amazing forever friend to whoever opens their heart and home to her. Please email us at [email protected] for the adoption application.
Many of you will remember this remarkable dog, Tyapa and her story of abuse and rescue from our emails in December. Tyapa had her two left paws brutally chopped off for no reason other than that she happened to wander onto an unfriendly farmer’s property. In an act of unthinkable evil, the property owner caught her in a noose, cut-off two of her paws and left her to suffer and die. She miraculously dragged herself off of the farmer’s land with every ounce of strength she had left and here she found her rescuer. A volunteer from True Friend’s shelter in Astrakhanskaya Oblast, Russia, found her, and immediately brought her to the shelter team to receive veterinary care and attention.
Since this attack Tyapa’s wounds have healed and she has learned how to run around on only 2 legs. AMAZING! She is only physically scared by the event that took place, her spirit still shines bright. The video above shows Tyapa walking on a leash and how sweet her soul is.
We’ve pledged that Tyapa’s story will not end here. We are continuing to work with the True Friend shelter to find Tyapa a home and outfit her with prosthetic legs so that she will be able to run on all fours again.
There are few animal shelters in Russia and only one in the 17,000 sq. mile region known as Astrakhanskaya Oblast. This region has a population of over 1 million people and exponentially more unwanted dogs and cats. The single shelter that serves this huge region is called True Friend, and they reached out to SPCA International this fall for assistance through our Shelter Support Fund program. True Friends helps over 1,000 animals on a budget of only $35,000 USD annually. When we hear of an organization doing so much with so little, despite huge challenges, we don’t hesitate to pledge our support.
Once we started working with the True Friend shelter we learned about many dogs and cats that suffer horrible abused by the locals, like Tyapa. There are countless dogs at True Friend who have experienced similar cruelty, but have unbreakable spirits; we endeavor to provide True Friend with the support they need to continue the amazing work they’ve already begun and do even more for the countless animals in their huge region in desperate need of their love and care.
