Valia Orfanidou was on a vacation in a small tourist town by the sea, a hundred miles outside Athens in Greece when she first spotted the stray dog that will change people’s lives.
During one of her walks with her three dogs, she spotted a stray dog laying on the sand looking desperate and alone. In Athens, there was a lot like this stray dog and it was a matter of just getting used to it. But she felt a different sense of urgency to rescue this one, something she had never felt before with other stray dogs in the area.
The dog looked fine, she wasn’t sick or hurt or emaciated but she was extremely vulnerable and needed company. When the stray dog spotted them as well, she joined them and even rolled over her back asking for some belly rubs. Valia watched the dog for a few days who she estimated was around 7 months old. The next two days, she couldn’t sleep as she thought of a way to get her out of there.
And then one day, she just finally went for it and rescued the stray to foster it. She named her Blue after the blue sea which was her home for the most part of her life. Blue was out of the streets for now but she still needed a forever home.
Luckily, Valia found a family who wanted to adopt her. When the Folkerts saw a picture of Blue through Second Chance Animal Rescue Society (SCARS) in Greece, a rescue organization dedicated to giving animals a second chance in life, they just fell in love with her.
It turned out that one of their therapy dogs named Abbaio passed away that summer. Abbaio and Rincewind, their other dog, worked as therapy dogs visiting nursing homes and making people with dementia and Alzheimer’s feel happy again. They deeply missed their dog and the people in the nursing homes did too.
They immediately contacted SCARS and Valia. Valia and the Folkerts had a few conversations just to see if Blue was a good fit for their family which included cats aside from the other dog Rincewind. In just a week, Blue was on her way home to her new forever family and home.
She didn’t have a hard time adjusting since she and Rincewind immediately became the best of friends. Blue was also enrolled in therapy training and became a full-fledged therapy dog and it was like she was made for it. When she first visited a nursing home, everyone’s faces lit up. And she never felt afraid even if it was too loud.
Blue first found her home by the beach with no one to take care of her but now she has a warm home with a family to love her. More importantly, she found a way to give what love she had to so many people.
Source: Kingdoms
