Mona Lisa’s life “before” is a big question mark. We do know she was about six and blind in one eye – probably from a blow to the head – before she landed at Scooby, the largest dog shelter in Spain. But her “after” is anything but a question mark. Now, she is a beloved pet living large in Oklahoma.
Getting from before to after, though, was not easy.
First, Mona Lisa got attacked in the shelter and missed her first transport to the U.S. due to her injuries. But SHUG didn’t give up. We would just wait until she was ready. And when she was, and her travel patron went to get her, she had just been spayed. Bad timing. Would she miss yet another transport?
The decision fell to Michael Owens. She had to weigh the concern that Mona Lisa might get attacked again against being transported a bit soon after her spay. No one wanted Mona Lisa to miss another opportunity for a forever home.
So Mona Lisa kept her appointment with the Madrid airport and made the trip just fine. Then she spent several weeks in a SHUG foster home before Monica Whitman and friend Jane Pace drove 23 hours straight from Oklahoma City to Falls Church, Va., to get her.
Monica takes up the story:
I was surfing the web and “liked” SHUG on Facebook and knew about galgos. I wanted a fuzzy – a brindle fuzzy. I loved Mona Lisa from her picture. After we got her and headed home, she sat in the back seat and didn’t make a peep for the 23 hours back to Oklahoma.
All introductions went well once we got home (she has two greyhounds for companions) and for the first few days she was a perfect angel. Then, for three weeks, the two-year-old in her came out. Anything on the ground, she had to taste. She tore up a lot of things, including two pairs of shoes. She spent one day in the crate and has been perfect since. Although last week she did eat the alarm clock and remote control.
She does bark. Greyhounds don’t. Otherwise she acts just like them. She likes to run around the backyard and sleeps a lot. She’s happy to get up on the bed. She is a big cuddler. That’s one of the things I love about galgos. They love you and they curl into little balls and give kisses.
She’s perfect. It was the perfect match. I love her to death.
brought tears to my eyes – I remember following Mona Lisa’s story –
Mona Lisa is so beautiful! Her name is very appropriate and being blind in one eye adds the her gaze. I love the story, except the part about greyhounds not barking – someone forgot to tell my greyhounds that 🙂
Wonderful Story!