“She knew that I might be her only chance.”
By Lily Feinn
Published on Aug 24, 2021 at 4:48 PM
When Goran Marinkovic walks the streets of Kraljevo, Serbia, he always brings food with him.
Every day he feeds over 100 stray dogs and cats who have no one to care for them, but in March of last year, he stumbled across a tiny puppy he couldn’t bear to leave behind.
“Passing a narrow pathway, I heard crying coming from the rocks,” Marinkovic told The Dodo. “She was cold, hungry and thirsty. I had food, so right away I gave her salami.”
The little dog was living near a pile of trash, using an old boot to shield herself from the elements. The puppy was too young to be without a mom, but Marinkovic couldn’t find any other dogs nearby.
As he approached the puppy, she immediately lay down and showed him her belly.
“She was exhausted,” Marinkovic said. “She knew that I might be her only chance, so she lay down and surrendered to fate.”
Marinkovic scooped up the little dog and brought her to the vet. He wasn’t sure if she’d survive after being on her own for so long, sleeping under the open sky. But the puppy, whom he named Coco, refused to give up.
As Coco gained back her strength, her loving personality started to shine through: “She loves people,” Marinkovic said. “She’s always cheerful.”
After posting photos of Coco on Facebook, Marinkovic’s inbox was flooded with messages offering to take the puppy in. But Marinkovic wanted to make sure she had the very best home.
He reached out to one of his friends and fellow rescuers, who had connections with international animal adoptions. And once Coco had received all her vaccines, she traveled to her new home in Germany.
A year later, Coco looks nothing like the sick puppy Marinkovic found hiding behind a shoe. She’s grown into a happy, fluffy dog who’s always excited to go on adventures with her family.
“[Coco] has a beautiful home and she is currently on vacation. I get pictures regularly — they’re at sea right now,” Marinkovic said. “Every rescued dog from the street who finds a home is a victory for me.”
Marinkovic wishes that every stray in Serbia could be as lucky as Coco. But with help from people like Marinkovic, these dogs are one step closer to getting the lives they deserve.
To learn more about the plight of stray dogs and cats in Serbia, you can follow Goran Marinkovic on Facebook.
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Senior Cat Abandoned In 2023 With Sad Note Still Doesn’t Have A Home
“All she needs is love and food … “
On a cold November night, a cat named Lala found herself in a bewildering situation.
One second, she was safe with her family in their home. The next, she was all alone in a crate on a busy street in front of the Humane Society of Greater Miami.
“She was in the dark in a carrier by herself,” Tiffany Hernandez, the humane society’s assistant marketing and social media manager, told The Dodo. “Anything could have happened.”
When the shelter staff arrived to work that morning, they found the terrified cat and saw she had a note attached to her carrier.
“She has been a part of our family for eleven years,” the note said.
As heartbreaking as it is when any animal gets abandoned, the shelter staff was especially distraught to learn that the cat was 11 years old. No senior animal should have to endure what Lala went through.
“It was really sad to read,” Hernandez said.
Lala was understandably emotionally shut down when she first arrived at the shelter. After being uprooted from her home environment, she didn’t know how to adjust to a completely new setting.
That was back in 2023. Every day since Lala arrived at the shelter, the staff has been hoping someone would adopt her. But no one has wanted to take her home.
Because she initially comes across as shy, people often aren’t as drawn to Lala as they are to the shelter’s other cats.
“She’s just very fearful in a shelter environment, unfortunately,” Hernandez said.
But the people who’ve spent more time with Lala know her shyness melts away once she’s gotten to know someone a little more. She recently had a brief stay with a foster parent, who reported that after just a few weeks, she was much more open and relaxed.
The other day, someone came to do a meet-and-greet with Lala at the shelter. While it didn’t end up working out with that potential adopter, Lala showed off her true affectionate personality.
“Within a few minutes, I had her eating Temptations out of my hand, licking me and letting me give her cheek and head scratches,” one of the people who met Lala wrote on Instagram.
Lala would do best in a quiet home with someone who will be patient with her. Hernandez noted that a foster-to-adopt track would allow potential adopters to get to know her before committing fully.
But the humane society’s staff members are certain that anyone who takes the time to help put Lala at ease won’t be able to part with her. All they want is for the senior cat to live out her golden years with a loving family.
“Once they see her come out of her shell, we know that they will fall in love,” Hernandez said.
If you’re interested in adopting Lala, you can submit an application here. To support other animals like Lala, you can make a donation to the Humane Society of Greater Miami here.
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