MAY 2021

Another month full of experiences: beautiful moments, sad times, outrage, anger, hopelessness, strength and passion.

**NIMA
**The little soul arrived at the end of the rainbow bridge and was asked "What was the most beautiful thing in your life?" – "I was loved," she answered.

Nima was brought to Finca Noah in mid-October 2020. It was immediately clear that she was sick and weak. Her fur was matted and dirty. Farah didn't waste any time—she put the cat in the car and drove her to the animal clinic. Unfortunately, they discovered that Nima had a fairly large tumor in her lung, a fungal infection in her mouth and throat area, and was in very poor condition overall. Farah decided to bring Nima to Finca Noah so that she could receive the best possible treatment and care there—for as long as it was ethically justifiable. Nima became our farm cat, and everyone knew she was something special.

Before we had to let Nima cross the rainbow bridge, she disappeared twice for several days. We all thought then that she had withdrawn to die. But both times she came back to her home, to her family. In the end, though, she showed us clearly that her journey with us had come to an end. We miss her, but we're happy that she had a beautiful home here at Finca Noah for seven months, where she was loved by everyone.

**SIMBA
**Simba found his happiness. The sturdy German Shepherd with the sweet look had only been at Finca Noah for about two weeks. Simba was surrendered because his owner's family had no time for him and he had to spend his life alone in the garden of a finca. As soon as the first video of Simba was published, he was already reserved! A few days later, his new mom arrived in Mallorca to pick him up. Just before his flight to Switzerland, Simba was examined, neutered, and tested for leishmaniasis (the topic of leishmaniasis, and proper education about this disease that can lead to death without proper treatment, is close to Farah's heart). All tests came back positive, and nothing stood in the way of Simba's big journey.

We're thrilled for Simba that he can now experience things with his new family that he never knew before. That he's no longer alone, but always surrounded by a person who loves him and cares for him. That he finally has a real roof over his head—warm in winter and cool and shady in summer. We're also happy for the family, that they've finally found their heart dog.

**SHUGGER
**Farah rescued Shugger, a Pointer mix female, from starvation after she was simply left on a property—along with old mattresses, furniture, and garbage. Her family, who was moving back to Germany, had simply abandoned the little dog, thrown her away, discarded her. There are no words!

Shugger is a cheerful, spirited, and funny approximately 10-month-old female dog, 45 cm tall and weighing around 10 kg, who immediately wins everyone's hearts. She's not only friendly with all people but also with dogs and cats. She loves playing with other dogs, going in the water, learning new things (even without treats), and sleeping on chairs.

**MACHO
**Macho is a Spitz, 5 years old, 33 cm tall and weighing about 5 kg, who was brought to Finca Noah by a Spanish animal welfare advocate. The poor guy was abused as a breeding dog and has spent his entire life in a cramped dog crate. Every hour, every minute, every second of his existence was spent locked in this crate—just because one person wanted to profit from him. A poor little dog soul who was abused as a breeding machine instead of being loved as a family member. When we first put him on the ground and he felt real ground under his paws for the first time in his life—not locked up, with the whole world ahead of him—the little guy didn't know what was happening. He stood completely still and stiff in front of us. And then we let Farah's dogs come to him—and within minutes, the small, insecure dog became a happy little Macho with gleaming eyes and a smile on his face.

Macho is a true ray of sunshine. From the very first second, he integrated beautifully into the dog pack. He doesn't react to cats or other animals. Macho can withdraw well when things get too hectic. He loves being petted, but he's still very reserved and stiff when touched. Macho is truly an alert and interested little fellow who can now discover the world for the first time in his life.

**King and Quenni
**Our problem children were rescued by Farah after a concerned employee from a kill shelter called for help. Two broken souls, chain dogs, who were only allowed off the chain at feeding time. They were beaten to the food bowl and had to gulp down everything quickly. Anyone who was too slow was beaten, abused, humiliated, and degraded.

When King and Quenni came to us, they had already refused to eat for 7 days. Perhaps because it triggered their traumatic memories, or perhaps because they had simply given up. We don't know. But not only did they refuse to eat—they were apathetic, frightened, insecure, and broken.

After initial veterinary care (fortunately Farah has a large VW bus), we laid them next to each other in the kennel and began treating their wounds and removing hundreds of ticks from their fur. King and Quenni let everything happen to them. At some point that same day, they both got up and squeezed themselves together into the wooden box inside the kennel. That's where they stayed at first. Since we knew the animal abuser was a man, it was clear that only a woman could care for King and Quenni. And who is always around the farm with us? Of course, Farah! She started right away "bribing" the two with fresh ground meat—which of course worked. King and Quenni started eating, and they did so on the very first day. In that moment, we all felt good—joy, hope, and confidence that we would be able to give these two souls a new, beautiful life without violence, abuse, and fear.

But then came the first night! The two dogs raged in their kennel for hours. They barked, howled, and destroyed everything they could destroy. Farah and Mike had to go out to the kennel several times to calm the two large dogs. (In the following nights, it continued the same way: the dogs destroyed, the people tried to calm them.)

The next morning, we couldn't believe our eyes. Pure devastation! We'd had some dogs with us before who occasionally got into "party mode" and burned off energy at the kennel. But we'd never seen destruction like this. At that point, we didn't know why the two were going so wild. Was it desperation, fear, too much energy, boredom?

For Farah, it quickly became clear that we needed outside help. She posted the story of King and Quenni on social media and received many pieces of advice, opinions, and suggestions. At the same time, she tried to figure out what breed the two dogs might be.

By the third day, the two dogs became more lively, present, louder, more noticeable, and aggressive. But only when no one was in or near the kennel. As soon as someone approached, they disappeared into their box. And suddenly Farah had a feeling she'd never had before. A feeling of fear. She couldn't describe it—it was a gut feeling and it had to do with Quenni's look. From then on, Farah didn't dare go into the kennel in the evening without female company. Her fear grew bigger, and King and Quenni became more noticeable. The two dogs began to see their kennel as their territory, and their behavior reflected that. Now we knew that advice from people on social media wasn't enough. We needed professional help.

Farah contacted the renowned wolf expert Anna Hein (www.camchatca.de), with whom she had often collaborated on animal welfare issues. After Anna learned all the facts about King and Quenni, she advised us to separate the two as quickly as possible. Anna also said that the two dogs were most likely livestock guardian dogs and therefore nocturnal. Such dogs are hardly trainable because protecting the herd is deeply embedded in their genes (such dogs know deep in their hearts what their job is: to protect the sheep in their territory by any means).

And she went on to say that such dogs shouldn't be underestimated. Because when it comes to protecting territory or sheep, livestock guardian dogs might even attack their own master if he entered the territory at night. After these statements, Farah's fear didn't really get any smaller… The fact that one of the two dogs could flip out and we had to separate them as soon as possible occupied not just Farah, but the entire team.

And then came Jutta. A down-to-earth powerhouse with over 40 years of experience in animal welfare. A trained animal shelter expert. She didn't waste time—she went into the kennel and without hesitation leashed Quenni. Of course, she started to resist, but Jutta remained calm, professional, and confident. She's very experienced with dogs and you could see it in every movement. Quenni tried to resist as Jutta pulled her from the box. But when the dog realized that Jutta's will and determination were stronger, she gave up. She collapsed and immediately became apathetic, helpless, fearful, insecure, and broken again. Farah eventually had to carry Quenni to her new kennel, even without a muzzle.

The two dogs were separated—and we felt relieved but also sad that we had to take away the one thing they had always had in their lives: "the other one." Quenni buried herself in her new box, where she stayed for days. King also just lay around. You could see the sadness, the fear, and the "brokenness" in his eyes. What had we done to these poor creatures? We animal welfare advocates. We were to blame for breaking them a second time. Our guilty conscience stayed with us every minute from then on. The two dogs just lay in their boxes. They didn't even get up to do their business. Farah could hand-feed them, but they only really ate at night. But that wasn't all: at night, the two became active again. They howled and barked and of course destroyed everything that wasn't bolted down (boxes, floor, rubber mats, walls, etc.). One night, King even tried to destroy the solid bars of his kennel. With his enormous strength, his determination, and a goal to somehow reach Quenni, he actually managed to push the bars apart with his nose.

A few days after the separation, one morning things became very fast and very hectic on the otherwise peaceful Finca Noah. We just heard Mike shout: "Quenni has escaped!" In shock, the whole team sprang into action. The six dogs that roamed free on the farm were brought into the house, someone grabbed a leash and muzzle, and everyone rushed out. But where was Quenni? Nothing by the horses, nothing by the rabbits, nothing by the dogs in the kennels, and nothing by the cats either. We couldn't find her anywhere else. Finally, we found her by chance in a dark corner between the property fence and the garden shed. In the same condition as we'd seen her twice before: apathetic, helpless, fearful, insecure, and broken. And Farah had to carry her again. This time, back to her old kennel, to her brother, to their shared wooden box.

That was the most beautiful moment for us in May. The first contact between the two dogs after they'd been separated for days. Quenni nestled against her brother and he gently licked her snout. In that moment, there was a stillness, a contentment, a relief, and pure happiness_._

In retrospect, it was wrong to separate the two. It made it easier for the team to work with the dogs and better for building a relationship. But for King and Quenni, the days of separation were simply hell. The second time.

During the days when the two were separated, Farah was able not only to deepen her relationship with King but also to build one with Quenni, and now she has respect for them but no fear.

We honestly don't know what comes next. Farah will continue trying to make the right connections. The fact is: King and Quenni can't just be rehomed. They need to go to a professional who knows about livestock guardian dogs, can train them, and/or needs them for work. But that won't be easy for these two, because they've experienced massive violence. Violence inflicted on them by a man.

**Spring Kittens
**Spring is here again, and the island is sinking once more under a sea of unspayed cats and their babies. We currently have three mother cats with lots and lots of babies with us.

**Mike
**No, we're not looking for a new home for our farm manager—we're keeping him! But Mike had bad luck. He had such an unfortunate skateboard fall in his free time that he broke his left arm and is now walking around in a cast for two weeks. We miss Mike's hard work in every corner of Finca Noah, and we wish him a speedy and full recovery.

And finally, a few beautiful spring impressions from Finca Noah.

**![](/images/blog/mai-2021/13.jpg)**![](/images/blog/mai-2021/14.jpg)**![](/images/blog/mai-2021/15.jpg)**

Written by Nadia & Roger