by Jairo Castillo Izquierdo
Love for animals is one of the most powerful human emotions, especially when this affection is reciprocated. Despite the quarantine, there are people who have the capacity and the heart to help; such was the case of "Milagros".
Who is "MILAGROS"? What's her story?
One ordinary day, I was walking on the road towards the Avenue Santa Rosa, located behind the Castro Castro prison. Along the way, at a very busy part of the road, I saw a stray dog and her puppy walk by. I could see that they were super nervous and in addition to that they were totally uncared for, looked hungry and very dirty. I approached them and the mom ran off, leaving her tiny puppy behind. I had to do something, so I decided to take the pup home with me.
When I got home, I cleaned her up, gave her food, and a few days later I discovered that the puppy had some serious health problems. I consulted with various vets, and they told me that the puppy had rectal prolapse (this is typically caused by parasites). They said that the only solution was to put her down, since the surgery was going to be expensive and because she was so young, she would not survive. It seemed like there were no other options, so I started to think for a while about what I could do.
In that period of time, it occured to me to look for help from a charity or shelter. I started to google organizations and found one that helps all kinds of animals. I decided to write them a message asking for help, but they did not answer me. Having no answer, I began to write to different people to see if any of them knew someone who could help me. I even reached out to Make a Miracle, the organization that sponsors my college scholarship.
After a couple of minutes, I received a message with a very friendly response from the nonprofit Make a Miracle. After reading their message that they would like to help my puppy, I felt tremendous joy, and knew in my heart that she was going to be fine. They took me to a vet who very kindly decided to perform the surgery, but because of the puppy’s age (only 6 weeks old) she said it was very risky. I anxiously waited the entire time for the operation to be finished. After a while the doctor came out and said that it was a complete success. All of us present in that place were very happy. Even the puppy herself began to play. Because of her struggle to live and to heal herself, I named her "Milagros", which means miracles in English. After all this, I decided to adopt her, since her desire to live moved me so much.
To conclude with this little story, I want to thank “Make a miracle” enormously and also leave you with this phrase:
"It doesn't matter how little money or belongings you have, if you have a dog it makes you rich."
Jairo is a Make a Miracle college scholarship recipient and dog-dad to Milagros. He said this event has inspired him to start an animal shelter one day.
*Update: Jairo and Mili are inseparable. Here are some updated photos of them at our veterinary clinic hosted February 27, 2022. Mili is beautiful and the picture of health!
El amor por los animales es una de las armas más poderosas del ser humano, sobre todo cuando este afecto, es correspondido. A pesar de la cuarentena existen personas que tienen la capacidad y el corazón para poder ayudar, tal fue el caso de "Milagros".
¿Quien es "MILAGROS"? ¿Qué ocurrió con ella?
Un día común y corriente, estaba caminado por la carretera de un asentamiento humano, ubicado a espaldas del penal Castro Castro, me dirigía a la AV. Santa rosa. En el transcurso de mi camino, vi pasar a una perra con su cachorra; ellos estaban con rumbo desconocido; pude notar que estaban súper nerviosos y además de ello presenciaban un descuido total; tanto en su alimentación como en su aseo, no obstante, tome la perrita y la lleve a mi casa.
Al llegar a casa; trate de asearla y darle de comer. Pero al tercer día vi que la cachorra tenia el recto salido, de forma que, tuve que llevarla a una veterinaria. Al consultar con varias veterinarias; me decían que tenia prolapso rectal y que la única solución era colocarle una ampolla para que muera en el acto, ya que la cirugía me iba a salir costosa y que por su edad no iba a sobrevivir, pero al ver que no había otra opción, me puse a pensar un rato.
En ese lapso de tiempo se me ocurre buscar una ayuda de alguna entidad o albergue, entonces comencé a googlear y de repente encontré a una organización que ayudaba a todo tipo de animales , decidí escribirles un mensaje pidiéndole ayuda ,pero no me respondieron, al no tener respuesta comencé a escribir a distintas personas para ver si alguno de ellos conocían a alguien que me pueda ayudar. Mandé una mensaje a Make a Miracle, la ONG que me dió una beca para estudiar.
Espere un par de minutos , y es donde recibo un mensaje con una respuesta muy amigable de la ONG "Make a miracle" ,en ese momento me comunique con ellos y decidieron aportar su ayuda , al leer su mensaje pude sentir una alegría tremenda , ya que la cachorra iba estar bien .Me llevaron a una veterinaria , donde una doctora muy amablemente decidió aplicarle la cirugía , pero por su edad era muy riesgoso, ya que tan solo tenia 1 mes y medio de vida .Entonces la deje y espere a que termine su operación ; al rato salió la doctora y dijo: su operación fue todo un éxito ,todos los presentes en ese lugar estábamos muy contentos , hasta la cachorra misma comenzó a jugar. Debido asu lucha de vivir y de curarse se llama "milagros”, luego de la gran ayuda decidí adoptarla, ya que sus ganas de vivir me conmovieron demasiado.
Para concluir con esta pequeña historia quiero agradecer enormemente ala ONG “Make a miracle” y además dejarles esta pequeña frase.
"No importa que tan poco dinero tengas y cuan pocas pertenencias tengas, el tener un perro te hace rico."