Homeless Paralyzed Dog Lost Her Wheelchair to Cruel Humans, But Ended Up Gaining a Home

While it is heartbreaking to hear stories of animal cruelty and neglect, the flipside of the equation (when kind people step in to save animals) can’t help but make a Green Monster cheer!

An example of this occurred recently when Martin and Eugeniya O’Regan–Pevchikh, two avid animal lovers in Ireland, were so moved by the plight of a desperately ill dog in Lima, Peru, that they set up a YouCaring fundraising page to help cover the costs of her care. The couple – who run a free pet minding service called Mind My Pet in Ireland – first heard of the dog, Chiquita, via a Facebook video that had been shared by a friend. The fifteen-second-clip showed, in harrowing detail, just how ill Chiquita was.

Both of her back legs were paralyzed. It was known that she had once had a little wheelchair that enabled her to move around, but this had sadly been stolen from her. After her rescue on September 17th, by an animal welfare group in Lima, a medical examination revealed that she was also suffering from mange, ehrilchiosis (canine typhus), anemia, mange, a painful ear condition, and a suspected tumor.

Martin and Eugeniya explained that the video of Chiquita “struck a chord. This little girl, thousands of miles away from us, needed help. It would have been easy to simply click ‘like’ and move on, but she needed more than a ‘like.’ She needed help.”

The pictures below, taken by Chiquita’s rescuers, show just how badly she needed that help.

When Martin and Eugeniya originally set up the YouCaring page on September 20th, Chiquita had outstanding medical bills of $200. She had been offered a forever home in Rhode Island, so her transportation costs also needed to be addressed. The couple said, “Chiquita is at the vet clinic ‘Charterhouse’ in Lima, Peru, under the care of veterinarian Tito Bezada Chavez. There are dedicated, selfless people on the ground here in Lima, animal welfare activists, who are dealing with the day to day issues. They do not speak English, they are having a really hard time raising funds and are very limited in their knowledge of English language platforms such as YouCaring.”

However, the good news is that the YouCaring campaign has now met with success! With over fifty days to go until the appeal ends, it has already raised $1,078 – more than the required amount for Chiquita’s treatment and transportation to her new home.

The excess funds are now being used to help other homeless dogs in Lima. Martin and Eugenia declared their intentions to donors on the YouCaring page: “Folks, we were now thinking of using the raining funds wisely. We were thinking, if it was okay with donors, of dispersing the remaining funds for homeless dogs who need veterinary care, whether it’s sterilization or more serious issues such as an urgent operation or a stabbing (yes, sadly this happens in Lima). … We think that using the remaining funds to help other dogs in Peru, dogs who haven’t been as lucky as Chiquita in finding a loving home and veterinary care when needed, is the decent thing to do.”

If you would like to contribute to the appeal, you can do so here. Let’s hope that sweet Chiquita makes a full and sustained recovery, and will get to enjoy many days of peace, love, and kindness in her new home!

All image source: YouCaring