Written by Gigi Roper of Help a Paw
Professional photography by Caroline Hartley Photography
We found little Iris tied to an air brick in a backyard. The rope had cut into her neck and she was in a horrific state. Just bones and rope burn, yet her tail still wagged the minute she saw us. She could move perhaps half a metre, that was all. Her owner had tied her up from six weeks of age, because he said he didn’t want her out of the property.
We managed to get her surrendered and immediately put her into foster for her to start recovering. Our foster mom, Abigail Mwenda, did an amazing job with little Iris, and we’re so happy to home Iris to Ailsa and her family.
Ailsa Markram, Ava’s new owner, shares...
I guess the only place to start is at the beginning... on the 3rd of February, whilst scrolling aimlessly through Facebook, I came across a little face and stopped.
The eyes... they looked into my soul. There was something about her and her eyes. I simply couldn’t “scroll” on. I was sitting staring at this little girl when my other half came in and also looked at her. At first he said no, then looked again and said: “Actually, why not?” That was the green light for me! (Note: we hadn’t been looking for another animal!)
I immediately made contact with Gigi Roper of Help a Paw to enquire if Iris was still available. To my surprise, she was. I couldn’t believe that she hadn’t been snapped up – I took it as a further sign. Gigi put me in contact with the foster mother, the earth angel Abigail, and I made arrangements to meet with “Iris”. It was love at first sight. We went through the adoption process, and on the 6th of February, we went to fetch our new family member.
We hit the jackpot with this little girl. She’s fitted in beautifully and loves our other animals. Now that we’ve gotten to know her, we can’t believe that her life started off so badly or understand how anyone could’ve ever been cruel to her.
She’s so unique and undeniably special, an absolute character (she’s actually started chatting – not barking, but chatting). She’s super intelligent, loves the garden, loves our bed, loves her walks in Radloff Park (where, oddly enough, she was recognised by a gentleman who said, “Is this not Iris?”), loves the fact that she actually gets regular meals – and never fails to express her excitement and gratitude in this regard – and basically just loves life. Fortunately, she carries no scars from her previous life.
We’ve renamed her Ava, which means “life, voice, desire to live, to breathe, filled with spirit”, and she’s all of this and more.
Thank you, Help a Paw, Gigi and Abigail, we’re so very grateful and look forward to many happy years with our Ava.
