They arrived a few weeks ago as heaps of misery at the animal shelter of Els Adams in Nispen. Terrified, shy and traumatized. Mambo, Truus, Roemba, Nika and Igor, five ‘dogs from Eersel’ who have been through so much in their young lives that they have lost their faith in people.
In May, the five, together with hundreds of other dogs, were taken away from the grounds of a KwispelEnzo breeding farm in Eersel during a raid. The NVWA supervisor had often observed that the animals were kept in appalling conditions, often with too many animals in polluted pens and with dirty drinking water. Many animals were sick and stressed.
They spent some time at a reception address, so-called storekeepers. There it was examined whether the animals have enough resilience to eventually go to a new owner via a shelter. But these five were not doing well and the only option seemed to be to put them to sleep.
Els Adams of the Animal and Project Foundation then decided to take them to her shelter. A few weeks ago it was time.
“Everything will be better from today.”
In the early morning the van arrives at Dier en Project. A green area with a small forest, meadows and several buildings with areas where the dogs sleep. Els and her husband Jan are waiting for the bus. Fifteen ‘dogs of Eersel’ are expected in total and more will probably follow.
When the doors of the van are opened, we see frightened animals, wide-eyed waiting to see what is to come. The animals are so skittish that they hardly dare to leave the van. “It is very bad, but these are the lucky ones. From today everything will be better”, says Els.
With endless patience they try to get the animals out of the van. Carefully put on a leash to prevent them from fleeing. When they are finally outside, there is a lot of resistance. A short walk and then they are in the country house where they can recover from the journey.
Two-year-old male Mambo is unfamiliar with life outside the kennel. Crawling away he sat in a corner, looking around nervously. “But within a few days you already noticed that he is a very sweetheart,” says Els.
“What Mambo found very exciting was walking around the grounds in the dark. The first time he almost crawled across the street. That’s why we often went around the block with him in the evening with other dogs, to get him used to it. Now he’s leading the way. Mambo learns very quickly.”
Springer spaniel Truus barked the whole lot together on arrival. “Just about every dog was given medication, just not this one, and that was exactly the one I thought, he could use some help”, laughs Els. “She was so busy, we even jokingly called her the village idiot.”
Four-year-old Truus turns out to be a hunting dog, who has been trained with in the past. She couldn’t track and hunt in the shelter. She was probably so bored there that she thought of things to entertain herself.
“Truus reminds me of a child with an imaginary friend,” says Els. “She can spend three quarters of an hour diligently working on an ant crawling on the ground. We regularly let her loose in the dog forest and she runs around there full of enthusiasm. Every bird she sees, she goes after it like she’s so out of it can grab the air. She gets along with everything and everyone. A dog like that just has possibilities.”
In the coming period we will also follow Roemba, Nika and Igor in the Nispen shelter to see how they are doing.
