Alma goodbye

Today we say goodbye to Alma. She's been with us since June 2018, and left us after a short illness.

In 2018 she was posted on facebook as hanging around the Almacen del Installador. When we needed some things there we saw her. She had a chip, registered to someone in Cordoba. Phone numbers did not work. The DNI of the owner was not accessible to us, but to the police it was. The owner was an elderly woman, who gave her to her daughter in Cuevas. That daughter said she had given her away, and did not want her back. Yeah, right.

We could have left her with the police, who would then send her to the council pound. We gathered that would not mean much good for Alma, or Luna as she was actually called. So she became dog no. 4.

Alma means something like "spirit". But, as she was found at the Almacen del Installador we called her Alma.

Alma never was the easiest of dogs, always in front of your feet, and present at the slightest hint of food. Or even the possibility of food. Anything edible or inedible ended up in Alma. Fallen figs, ripe or not, olives, ripe or not, and <unspeakable things > as well. When we got her she weighed 9 kg, the past few years 12! The vet called her a "comilona".

Quite unlike Alma she stopped eating a week or so ago. She started smelling too. Kidney trouble. At 12.5 years that is not good news, and we had to let her go.

Alma playing with Papaya. PLAYING?? Alma??

Alma

Well, a Facebook post said a "bodeguera" dog that doesn't belong had been living at the Almacen del Instalador for a month. The translation of "bodeguera" on Facebook is "sherry," but that's incorrect. It's a breed of dog in Spain kept in wineries to chase away rats and mice from between the barrels. Or to eat them. A feisty little dog breed, indeed. 

I'd already seen her there last week. A melancholy look in her eyes. "What am I doing here?" The almacen staff did put a cloth there, give her food and water, and a cardboard box. But oh well.

We took her home the day before yesterday. Of course, she ran off at the first attempt and went a hundred meters further to see what was going on. We'll come back later. First, a quick trip to the garden center for more lavender, thyme, and rosemary. Should we go home or take a look? Let's take a look. The capture attempt was successful. Lifting

her was no problem. The car isn't either. She looks fine otherwise. Not dirty, no vermin either. Great.

At home, we still had a worming pill and flea drops from Patas/Paws. Those went in and out easily.

The almacen's cloth is next to the refrigerator, and that's her spot for now.

She's a sweet animal, well-behaved, and wags like a tail.

Yesterday, we took her to the vet to check her microchip. She doesn't have a collar, so no address tube either. It's a shame the chip can only be checked by a vet; then you have to catch a dog and take it with you. A hassle, and that's not happening. A piece of paper in a tube works better. Or, if necessary, just a tag with a phone number. Otherwise, your dog is gone, and you won't find it.

So, she does have a microchip. Her name is Luna, and she was born in 2012 in Córdoba. She's not registered as lost. The two phone numbers in the microchip registration don't work. Well, you can't register it yourself here, unlike in the Netherlands; it has to go through the VET, and it costs money. That's another hassle, and so it doesn't happen. Since 2012, anything could have happened. A move? Vacation? Theft?

Well, the registration should contain the owner's name and their NIE/DNI, and the police will then investigate that. Because you can't check citizen service numbers as a VET either.

If she turns out to have a loving family, all the better; otherwise, she'll just stay here, and we'll call her Alma. From Almacen, yes. Nice, huh?