Over the course of several years, we have met some amazing people who have been our allies and offered us some invaluable help. It goes both ways.

Marianne is a Swiss volunteer who has joined us on our neutering campaigns for a third year in a row.

She is a great friend to all donkeys in the Valley but she’s also a much appreciated assistant in the clinic.

If she doesn’t work in the clinic, she is out there with us as we canvas the region for our new patients. No matter whether it is brushing a donkey, soothing an anxious puppy mom, or simply being a calm, positive presence for our team, Marianne is always someone humans and animals are happy to have on their team.

Lyubka is our most determined and devoted partner in the region. She is a volunteer who runs hundreds of kilometers every time we have our campaigns, travelling between her home town of Sandanski and Banichan to bring over dogs and cats. She finds them, she manages to catch them with patience and inventiveness, she drives them over for treatment or to be neutered – a one woman show we are always amazed to witness.

The latest patient who was lucky to meet Lyubka is a dog that fell into a machine oil-filled shaft. She manages to get him out and drives him over to the clinic.

Together with Marianne, the two volunteers work tirelessly for long hours to clean up the unfortunate dog.

On the same day, Lybka spots a small homeless female dog that bears obvious signs it used to be someone’s pet. It has a huge mammary tumor. She brings it over to our doctors.

Surgery is a success. A nice grooming session follows up. Maybe meeting Lyubka was this puppy’s second chance in life.

Shaban is another ally of our cause. He lives and works in the neighboring village of Breznitza. He has dedicated many a spare hour to the wellbeing of homeless animals in the region, feeding them and looking after their medical needs. Last but not least, giving them love and affection.

He is waiting for our latest campaign and has been preparing – he has gathered in one spot all his furry friends who haven’t been neutered. He takes us to them. His presence is very reassuring for the dogs and makes our life easier.

While the rest of us transport our next batch of patients, Lyubka stays behind with the skittish dog of the lot – a young, large Kangal mix. She is the only person we know outside of our ranks who is willing to spend hours and hours with a huge, strange dog until they bond and she earns the dog’s trust.

Shaban noticed the dog had an infected eye and managed to have him included in the small pack but was reluctant to catch him and bring him over to the clinic by himself, relying on our experience.

Now that we have a chance to examine the eye, we discover that his left eye never developed fully and is smaller than the right, which means it has sunk under the lid. The gap between eyelid and eye keeps filling up with secretion and pathogens, leading to chronic infections.

We consult and decide to operate and reduce the lid – a risky procedure with no guarantee for success but the best option under the circumstances. Meanwhile, Shaban has spoken to an acquaintance who has agreed to adopt the dog and have him guard his vineyard. We are happy to hear it – the street is no place for such a big dog since people avoid him or worse, all out of fear.

Now on to some new faces – those of our friends from The Little Paws of Nevrokop shelter who are all heart. They always run the extra mile to help any of the sixty animals in their care. We are happy to help whenever we can.

Unfortunately, sometimes all of our joint efforts are not enough. The two puppies have no chance against aggressive CDV (Canine distemper virus) that’s too advanced to be treated. It’s always heartbreaking to realize we are too late.

Our assistance is needed to consult on a dog suffering from a severe neurological problem. They saved him from a home where he had been hit repeatedly in the head. We all need a minute to process. No matter how often we encounter examples of animal cruelty, it never ceases to stop us in our tracks.

The dog is completely blind and has bad coordination. We are told that luckily, he is quite lively and feeds himself independently.

Examination shows that the advanced muscle atrophy on his right temple is not from a recent trauma. We decide not to neuter him for the time being, because we are not sure if he will survive the anesthesia. More observation is needed, our patient has been with The Little Paws of Nevrokop for too short a time to obtain a full picture.

It’s only been a week or so but dogs are quick to sense love and kindness. The young guy has already formed attachments with the volunteers in the shelter so he’ll be happy to stay with them. We’ll reconvene in a few months to check on him.

 In the meantime we wrap up our neutering project reassured that until we meet again, our human friends will have their hearts and hands full with local helpless animals.