A couple of weeks ago while visiting a pub in Notting Hill we had the pleasure of meeting a lovely mongrel from El Salvador. After asking her owners a couple of questions we were very curious about her story.
Wabbit was found in a coffee plantation in San Salvador in extremely poor conditions, she resembled more of a hyena than a dog. the person who found her decided to take her home and bring her back to health. After a month of treatment and love Wabbit recovered well, growth back all her hair and resembled a healthy puppy.
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“Tish and Aldo” an animal lovers couple adopted Wabbit when they were living in El Salvador, she was estimated to be about six months, with the already given name of Wabbit.
Mongrels and street dogs in El Salvador are given amusing names, they’re called Aguacateros, as they’re animals that supposedly eat avocados or ‘agucate’ in Spanish off the trees. Once you adopt a street dog and bring it home, they’re upgraded to Aguaca-terrier.
“Tish and Aldo” lived in El Salvador for two years with Wabbit and then decided to move to London. As part of their preparation work to move Wabbit, Aldo had to micro-chipped her, and checked the various vaccinations and tests she needed done. It was a long trip and Wabbit travel for more than 24 hours. She took a flight from El Salvador-Amsterdam-Milan and then a road trip to London.
Luck was on Wabbit’s side. A dog that was found half dead in a San Salvadorean coffee plantation and now plays in the public parks of Milan and London, walk the mountains of northern Italy and wanders around the pubs of Notting Hill and Primrose Hill looking fabulous with her enormous ears.
Thanks to Tish and Aldo and after a big struggle Wabbit is a healthy and happy gorgeous dog.
Animals are said to be conscious only of the present. They live with no concern for the past or future. Likewise, little children seem to have no notion of the future. They also live in the present until their faculties of memory and imagination are developed.
Lucky those animals who live surrounded by Budas.
Men possesses the faculty of reasoning. The gap between man and animal widens only to the extent that man develops his reasoning faculty and acts accordingly. Buddhists accept that animals not only possesses instinctive power but also, to a lesser degree, thinking power.
In some respects, animals are superior to men. Dogs have a keener sense of hearing; insects have a keener sense of smell; hawks are speedier; eagles can see a greater distance. Undoubtedly, men are wiser; but men have so much to learn from the ants and bees. Much of the animal is still in us. But we also have much more: we have the potential of spiritual development.
If you are looking for a driver and live in New Zealand adopt a mongrel!!
“Porter” the driver dog behind the wheel
To increase pet adoptions from animal shelters Auckland SPCA came up with the initiative of training three cross-breed rescue dogs to drive a modified mini car as a way of proving that even unwanted canines can be taught to perform complex tasks.
The motorized mutts — Porter, Monty and Ginny — were trained for three months to sit behind the wheel and operate with their paws the changing gear, accelerator and brakes.
MOTW came across a very interesting research that indicates that looking at pictures of baby animals could improve your concentration and focus. That is what a study by researchers at the University of Hiroshima in Japan published in PLOS ONE suggest. The Japanese researchers based his study on previous discoveries which suggested that people who looked at cute pictures of animals were able to focus on tough skill tasks better than people who hadn’t. The scientists who carried the earlier study showed that looking at something cute would cause people to behave more carefully – a natural response intended to make sure people handled babies safely.
In the UK dogs and other pets are not normally alloweeed into restaurants and cafes because of our health and safety regulations. Fortunatelly things are changing and dog friendly places are becoming very popular nowadays. We’ve heard of restaurantes and hotels welcoming dogs but we were quite surprised with a sandwiche shop in London welcoming mongrels especially.
Walking by St Pauls Cathedral, one of our Mongrels of the World lovers came across this brilliant sing outside a cafe. We wished more places in the world would accept dogs – especially mongrels.
Mongrels of the World would like to share with you, mongrel lovers, what we have been doing lately to help mongrels around the world.
When we created this blog, a year ago we did it with the aim of just sharing nice pictures and funny stories. But with time we started thinking that we wanted to do something good to help struggling dogs.
For this reason we designed a 2012 calendar which we sold to raise funds for Soi Dog, an organisation in Thailand which helps neglected dogs.
The sale of the calendars was a succes and we managed to raise £455/$715 profit in the US and the UK which we sent to them.
Nowadays more and more offices are realising the benefits of allowing dogs in the workplace.
A recent study from Central Michigan University revealed that benefits include increased morale and productivity, happier employees, lower absenteeism rates, and even improved relationships among co-workers.
MOTW recently visited the Huffington Post/AOL offices in London where lucky employees are allowed to bring their dogs into work.
Tilly at the Huffington Post/AOL offices in London
These days New Yorkers have the pleasure of being helped by a mongrel to cross the street. Sophy a German Shepherd labrador mix, has the duty of leading the way as kids cross a busy road. She and her owner, Clifford Mealy, are the Greenwich School District’s newest crossing guards. Equipped with her own stop sign Sophy carrys it proudly while kids follow her to reach the sidewalk harmless and happy.
For Mongrels of the World it is always a pleasure travelling to Colombia and seeing the huge amount of mongrels living on the streets of the capital city as well as the countryside. Although the street dogs represent a problem in some areas of the country the majority of them look in very good shape and people seem to look after them. It is also becoming more popular for people in this part of the world to adopt a street dog. We came across many people who had decided to share their lives with a struggling animal and were very pleased with all the love and happiness the street dog brought into their lives. We are looking forward to going back to this beautiful country and hearing some more nice stories of people adopting mongrels.
Merry Christmas to all our lovely readers. We hope we can continue raising the voice for those that cannot speak for themselves and making the world a better place for our four legged friends. Best wishes and all the best for the year to come from Mongrels of the World.
This story has astonished Mongrels of the World. A stray dog in Russia remained beside the lifeless body of his female dog friend in temperatures below 50 degrees for more than two weeks.
The loyal dog refuses to leave his dead friend
The dog has been trying to warm up his friend’s body and he has been celebrated as a true hero on Internet forums.
Not long after the story was posted online, Animal lovers started bringing food to the dog. Later, they decided to take him to a shelter until new owners could be found, fearing he might die of cold.
MOTW has heard of many cases in the last few days of people falling in love with stray dogs while working abroad or holidaying and then paying a fortune or doing everything to relocate them.
Here are some encouraging, sad and great stories:
The family of Justin Allan Rollins, a dog-loving soldier killed in Afghanistan, have just moved military mountains to relocate a stray dog from Afghanistan to the US.
The dog has been name Hero and it means the earth to the Rollins family.
MOTW is delighted to introduce Rocco Diogge Mandozzi an adorable three-year old mutt from East Greenwich, Rhode Island, US, who managed to win the 2011 Cutest Mutt Alive. Gorgeous Rocco beat nine other cute contenders in the competition to become top dog after receiving more than 1,000 votes.
Mongrels of the World is excited to announce the release of its 2012 calendar. Each month features truly spendid, original photographs of irresistible mongrels taken by MOTW founder Juliana Velez and her friend Ehud Ambar who kindly donated his time to this project. MOTW has created the calendar to raise money for a special foundation which shares our belief.
This is Louk the famous Greek mongrel that has become a celebrity after braving the tear gas and petrol bombs of every Athens riot since 2008. Whenever there is a riot Louk is there.
TV Chef Hugh Fearnley has caused controversy by claiming he has no objection to puppy farm.
Fearnley-Whittingstall told the Radio Times: ‘In principle, but not in practice, I have no objection to a high-welfare organic puppy farm.
‘You can’t object, unless you also object to the farming of pigs.
‘It’s an artificial construct of our society, a cultural decision, to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs.
‘Both animals could be used the other way round – although pigs probably do make better meat than dogs and dogs better pets than pigs. But it’s not a foregone conclusion.’
Mongrels of the World came across Lauren Udwari and American photographer who travelled around Chile for a couple of months. She took some amazing pictures of street dogs that then turned into a wonderful project. We hope to inspire some animal lovers to take action and help in some way those who can’t speak for themselves.
Please read the rest of the entry and check all the amazing pictures by Lauren Udwari.
Soi Dog Fundation would like to update you on the actions being taken to introduce stronger animal cruelty laws in Thailand and towards ending the illegal dog meat trade.
Let’s forget about the car wash. The new thing is the dog wash.
If you’ve had trouble bathing your pooch, now you can heave a sigh of relief. A new business idea has opened in Leipzig, Germany. A dog washing station which is as a quick cheap way to clean your dog without getting your own house and bathroom messy.
First dog wash station in Leipzig - Courtesy of the Daily mail
Good news for mongrels in Malawi. The Lilongwe Society For The Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA) is Malawi’s first animal welfare organization and it’s making a massive difference for struggling animals. MOTW came across a touching story with a happy ending.
Tanzania, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Jamaica and Romania – these are just some of the great places you could travel and help animals with World Vets.
World Vets is a non-government organisation providing veterinary aid around the globe. Their work spans 34 countries and 6 continents and addresses not only veterinary issues, but also human health issues impacted by animal diseases in developing countries.
Mongrel saved by the World Vets team in Granada, Nicaragua
Mongrel lover Ashley Hart wants to share some delicious ideas for your pooches. Why not to treat your dog to a healthy doggie burger or a big pot of wellness?
Mongrels of the World was delighted to meet Ruddy and Lucky Hart, two very fortunate American mongrels living in the UK. We talked to their lovely owner Ashley Hart who wanted to share their story with you mongrel lovers. Enjoy:
Mongrels of the World is outraged after hearing that thousands of mongrels were discored by the Thai authorities as they were being smuggled out into Vietnam where they would have been sold for meat.
Police intercepted four trucks packed with animals bound for Vietnam
Millions of stray dogs roam the streets in the suburbs of Bogota, Colombia’s capital. On its last visit to this country Mongrels Of The Morld travelled to Cazucá a place in the south of Bogota where the variety of mongrels is incalculable.
How many of us have fallen in love with a mongrel to the point of wanting to take it home? That was what happened to english tourist Debbie Edwards when she saw a mongrel terrier begging for food at a restaurant in Marmaris, Turkey. She couldn’t resist the dog’s look and decided she wanted to bring him home. She paid £3500 to fly him with her and now Hector is living in New Port, Wales with the family.
Hector the lucky turkish mongrel. Courtesy of Metro
For many people dalmatians are just white dogs with black spots but this breed goes much further than that and when the breed is mixed with a mongrel the possibilities are infinite.
Inspired by dogs that imitate their master’s morning yoga routine, photographer Daniel Borris created some really cool Yoga Dogs calendars and books with different dogs and puppies doing human yoga poses.
Date a dog is a new advertisement campaign for all shelter dogs in Holland who are trying to find good homes. This campaign uses really creative images that catch the eye with unusual images of people interacting with dogs.
This is one of the posters the foundation is using for the campaign. If you want to know more about the campaign, see the cool images and practice your Dutch visit http://www.dateadog.nl/
With the recent tragedy of widespread flooding in Colombia thousands of people and animals have been left with nothing. Valeria Martin Ethology Foundation has rescued a huge amount of dogs and are looking for people to take them into adoption. If you are interested in adopting a dog or helping this organization with donations in kind or cash please contact Andres Varon on 320 461 4823.
Every year on the beaches of California dogs get off the streets and into the sea to surf the waves and compete in the Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Comeptition. According to the organizers website each dog had 10 minutes to catch his or her top two waves and is scored on confidence level, length of ride and overall ability to “grip it and rip it.” Winners score the ultimate pet vacation at Loews Coronado Bay Resort and endless bragging rights. If you want to see some of the coolest pictures from this year’s competition visit the guardian online.
Mongrel surfing in California. Courtesy of the guardian.co.uk
Mongrels of the World has found a really cool blog about Bangkok’s street dogs.
After reading the posts you’ll get a great idea of the challenges Bangkok street dogs face, and perhaps better appreciate their ability to stay positive during all the hot, dusty days and hungry nights spent scraping out a living in the Thai capital. You can follow the blog at http://bkkstreetdogs.blogspot.com/
I'm Back After A Long Nap -- What'd I Miss? Courtesy of Bangkok Street Dogs
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is appealing for donations of pet bedding and blankets after a tumble dryer caught fire in a laundry room, BBC News reports. Read the rest of this entry »
The Bali Adoption & Rehabilitation Centre is a non profit organization that houses over 120 rescued dogs and puppies; they aim to relieve suffering, starvation, abuse and neglect of the street dogs in Bali. They endeavor to provide medical care, food, rehabilitation, bedding, sterilization, vaccinations and love to all dogs and puppies. In doing so they wish to educate people on how to care and respect animals and provide adoptions services to suitable homes. If you would like to know more about this great project or help have a look at their website. They welcome volunteers!
These two mongrels were found in Koh Tao – Thailand trying to fish for their lunch. Although many people think fish is bad for dogs some experts reckon that fish is one of the best foods you can give them. It’s great for their skin and coat, joints and muscles and it’s brain food. If you give it to puppies it can actually make them easier to train. The picture was taken by Juliana Velez in April 2011.
Great news for mongrel lovers in China. More than 500 dogs have been rescued from being killed for food by our new heroes – Capital Animal Welfare Association an animal activist group in China.
If you decide to buy/adopt a pet you should know there are many advantages when owning a mongrel.
Several studies have shown that mixed-breed dogs have a health advantage. A German study finds that Mongrels require less veterinary treatment. Studies in Sweden have found that Mongrel dogs are less prone to many diseases than the average pure breed dog and, referring to death rates, Mongrels were consistently in the low risk category.
This lovely dog was found in Luang Prabang – Lao. According to his owners he is a mix between Labrador Retriever and mongrel. Although he is not pure he keeps one of the main characteristics of this breed, his webbed paws for swimming which are useful for the breed’s original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. This and their subsequent use as hunting companions, gave them the name retriever. This breed of dog is very loving, kind, loyal and compassionate to their master. The picture was taken by Juliana Velez in April 2010.
Why get an Alsatian, a Doberman, a Poodle or a Pomeranian when you can have them all!
Get everything you are looking for in the all-in-one Indian Dog. Indian Dogs have the intelligence of an Alsatian, the tenacity of a Terrier, the loyalty of a Labrador and the speed of a Greyhound – phir bhi dil hai Hindustani!
Hard to believe but these two baby mongrels belong to the same mother. What a pair of beauties! They were found in Mui Ne – Vietnam. The picture was taken by Juliana Velez in March 2011.
This powerful KHAN-nine was found in Shine Ider – Mongolia. It is believed his ancestors were allies of Ghengis Khan and helped in the conquest of most of Eurasia. He looks friendly and harmless but according to some experts these dogs were brutal and ruthless in the times of Ghengis. The picture was taken by Juliana Velez in Augusts 2010.
This magestic animal was found in the pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico by mongrel lover Luisa Unda from Colombia. His overall appearance denotes elegance, grace and intelligence despite being a mongrel. Who said that mongrels can’t be sophisticated?
Found on the outskirts of Irkutsk-Russia. This little beauty is a mix between Jack Russell and mongrel. Jack Russells have gone through several changes over the centuries and this one is a perfect example. The picture was taken by Juliana Velez in August 2010.
This preciousness was found in Vietnam. He had been adopted by rice farmers in Hoi An and they had designed a tiny hat for the mongrel to be protected against the sun when working in the rice fields. Apparently he is a mix between Pit Bull Terrier and a Vietnamese mongrel. The picture was taken by Mongrels of the world correspondat Ehud Ambar from Israel in February 2011.
These Island Shepherds were found in the Bacuit Archipelago of The Philippines. They were the guardians of the island. Nobody could get off the boat without a sniffing. We heard Swedish tourist Fredrik Stehn had trouble as he tried to go on the island without their mandatory security check. Don’t underestimate mongrels, they can be very cleverer than humans!
These beautiful twins were found on a freezing winter’s night in Paris by Viviana Martinez. A thoughtful homeless woman had adopted this cute pair and was looking after them as if they were her own children. Apparently the twins made it through the difficult winter and now are two gorgeous and healthy mongrels. Follow her example, adopt a mongrel.
