My beautiful Lady was our first rescue dog. We found her in 2001 in a communal rubbish bin, when we lived in the Algarve. A friend of ours tried to take her, but she was unapproachable, she growled and snarled at him. When I got close to her, she rolled on her back and let me rub her belly. I picked her up and we put her in our car. When we arrived home, I put her in the bath, she was so good. From that moment on she would not leave my side. If I moved she moved. She followed me everywhere.
We had opened a restaurant in Portugal after having a successful one in England. We started feeding another dog called Simba, we couldn’t take him home, as he hated cats, and we had two. He was always waiting on our restaurant doormat when we arrived there in the morning. He started playing with Lady and coming on walks with us.
Simba became ill with distemper, and unfortunately, Lady caught it from him, as it is highly contagious. But she recovered.
Lady became my soulmate, she was the most gentle of dogs, who accepted all the other dogs and cats that we took into our home. After 10 years of her loyalty, she developed an inoperable tumour on her muzzle. She lost her battle in August 2012. I loved her beyond measure, but she left a legacy that dozens of other unfortunate animals have benefited from. She was an incredible dog. She will live on in my heart forever ❤️
