Alba And Her 14 Sunrises
A dozen of us tried everything in our power to save Alba. No stone was left unturned.
If she could have survived on well wishes, prayers, crossed fingers, kind comments and people willing her on, Alba would have been the first dog to live to 100.
Her time with us was short but she left a lasting impression…
What Made Alba So Special?
The world feels like a dark place at times. So much anger and division. The vitriol online can feel exhausting. I think so many of us are looking for something positive in our lives to cling on to. For the last 2 weeks that something was the pure and beautiful soul that was Alba.
What I loved seeing were the comments under posts about her. People from different countries, religions, political viewpoints and all walks of life seeing the good in a little street dog from Thailand and willing her on. Despite all our differences maybe we aren’t as different as we all think.
People often ask me…How can you keep going when you see such cruelty? Well the answer Is I see 10X more positivity and love than I do cruelty.
Alba had people helping her on the ground, vets, people donating, supportive messages of and endless offers of help. I think Alba was so loved because she brought out the very best in so many. She was pure.
Refusing To Face Reality
A couple of days before she passed we got some bad test results. The vets told me they didn’t know how she was still alive. Sybille my friend who is a human doctor and who had been helping lowered her voice…”Niall, she will not make it”.
I did the only thing you can in that situation which was to straighten Alba’s bandana, take her out to the sunset and I told her they were all wrong. That evening Alba had a small portion of tuna and kept wagging her tail. I rejoiced the next morning when she again ate some tuna and kept it all down in her stomach. We were going to beat the odds!
That evening my world fell apart when down the side of the sofa I found 2 little piles of tuna. Not even 1% digested. I picked her up and took her to the hammock and as the sun set I could feel her highly irregular heart beat. Her body had weakened. Myself and Alba made peace with the world. Tomorrow would be the last sunrise.
14 Sunsets Nobody Can Ever Takeaway From Alba
Her name meant sunrise or dawn in Italian and Spanish. Because she’d spent her life chained up I wanted her to experience the freedom of looking out over the valley at sunrise every morning. I’d hoped to do it on an ongoing basis as she recovered. Sadly that wasn’t to be.
I see enough dogs to know that they live in the moment and don’t think about what has come before. It’s one of the canine traits I love so much.
Although her body was breaking down I’ve never seen a dog enjoy her gentle walks so much. She loved sniffing the flowers, staring out at the valley and then trotting back in to her couch beside Hank. Alba was a very very happy dog at the end.
What Happens Next?
The work goes on. Alba died on Friday but we already have 2 new rescues on Saturday and Sunday. You can see they need help just as much as Alba did. They’ve been ravaged by life on the streets but their recovery starts here.
While Alba gets all the attention (and rightly so) we actually will helps 1000s of dogs this month. Over 5000 will be sterilised, 30,000 meals served and 100s given medicines.
Something sad like this just makes me more determined and I will use the fire in my belly from Alba’s short life to push on and help more dogs. I’m sad this weekend and drained but the best way I could think of honouring Alba was to go and help more of her doggy friends in her name.
