Meet Zaheer and his adopted rescue dog Harvey!
Harvey is one of the luckiest (and not-so-lucky) dogs we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.
Harvey was surrendered to us over one year ago. His owner couldn’t care for him any longer and accepted he couldn’t maintain a pedigree Golden Retriever in this tropical Bali climate. He wanted the best for Harvey and we were willing to help.
The first week of rescue in photos.
Harvey arrived at the clinic broken.
His skin was a fungal mess. He was sore, itchy and depressed. We did a call out for a foster home and several awesome humans offered their help.
One person was Zaheer, but he was hesitant. He had just lost his beloved Golden Retriever Bobo and he was scared of his heart being broken again.
It might sound strange but we believe Bobo sent Harvey and said, ‘I may be gone but there is someone else out there needing your love’.
This is their story. Warning: Get the tissues out!
May 13, 2017 was one of saddest moments of my life. I’d lost my Golden Retriever Bobo to a tumour. He was just 9 years old. I had adopted him when he was just 3 years old.
The loss of Bobo didn’t just affect me but also Mojo, my other fur-kid, and my houseboy. Mojo would wait at the entrance of the house waiting for Bobo. The sight of that was unbearable. My houseboy, said, “the house is so empty without Bobo.”
A couple of weeks later my friend mentioned to me there is a Golden Retriever posted on Mission Paws’ible and I should go check it out. I saw the pictures, and I immediately contacted Mission Paws’ible and went to visit Harvey in Ubud. Once I reached the clinic I was brought in to see Harvey in his cage. Hairless, smelly and skin looking raw. I put my hand in and he licked my fingers. I knew then, this dog was special. But I still wasn’t ready.
I took some pictures and went back home as Harvey was not ready to be released, and, also, I wasn’t ready to take on a new dog. I showed my family his photos and they all said, ‘Are you crazy to take this dog?’. Only my cousin, Sandra said, “Do it!”. I spoke to Prue and she said meeting Harvey is a gift from Bobo. Seeing Harvey in that cage, I had to do something, and decided, I’m going to do it.
A month after Bobo passed, it was time to take Harvey home from his foster family. He was still hairless and smelly. He was under medication for his skin and needed another 3 months of visits to the vets. I brought him home, introduced him to my alpha dog Mojo. Mojo, of course, ignored him for a couple of weeks.
Harvey was a quiet dog. He slept in the corner of my room, looking all sad, while slowly healing day to day. I gave him the best food, filtered water, kefir, supplements and coconut oil. As time passed his hair was slowly growing back, the smell was going away and his wounds were drying up. He was looking like a healthy, loved dog again. His moral changed too. Lively, playful, and most important, so loving. He would follow me everywhere I went in the house.
Getting Harvey, in a way, saved me from losing Bobo. I guess you can say we both saved each other from misery. Harvey kept me busy, even though I was still hurting from losing my Bobo.
June 2018 makes it exactly one year having Harvey with me. He has become my companion and best friends with Mojo. They play every day together. Rough housing, fighting for toys, fighting for my attention. Harvey has transformed into a beautiful loveable, totally spoilt Golden Retriever. We have a special bond together, and I think he knows it. Without fail, at 5:30am, Harvey jumps up into bed, plumps his 29kg body ontop of me, licking my face and waking me.
He will lay his head on my chest, looking at me with his dreamy eyes, wanting his head to be stroked. He does this without fail every morning.
Are you crying? Yeah me too!
It’s never easy telling this story as there is a lot of sadness wrapped in this happy ending.
Check out Harvey today!
Harvey’s story is one of our all time favourites for many reasons, but there are so many more stories just like this one
We want to encourage people to adopt and rehome animals in need. Open your hearts and homes to these very real stories of love, companionship and connection you can form with a rescued pet.
Google a local shelter and see whose life you can change forever.
Live in Bali? Please visit our adoption page to see who we have looking for their human.
Special thanks to Zaheer for sharing your story and loving Harvey.
