“I made a little hole for [her] to breathe.”
Alexandra Sava was cleaning kennels at Sava’s Safe Haven in Romania when the shelter dogs suddenly began barking.
When she went to investigate, she noticed a car parked outside the rescue.
The people inside explained that they had brought a dog they could no longer care for. The pup had belonged to a family member who had recently died, and they said neither of them was able to keep her.
Sava agreed to take the dog in.
Then they pointed her toward a white cloth bag.
The dog had been wrapped tightly inside it.
Sava immediately made a small opening so the frightened animal could breathe more comfortably.
“I made a little hole for the dog to breathe,” Sava said.
Rather than completely opening the bag outside, Sava carefully carried the dog into a secure room at the shelter.
She worried that the traumatized pup might panic and run if she was released in an open area.
“I entered the shelter because I was afraid to fully open the bag outside because the dog was traumatized, so I didn’t want to risk the dog escaping and just running away from me,” Sava explained.
Once inside, staff slowly opened the bag.
The little dog barely moved.
She appeared confused, overwhelmed and frightened by everything happening around her.
“The dog was very, very scared … She was shocked,” Sava said.
From her appearance, Sava suspected the pup was older.
A microchip scan confirmed it.
The dog was 9 years old.
Sava’s Safe Haven later described her as a “9-year-old little old lady, terrified and confused.”
Fortunately, a medical evaluation brought some reassuring news.
Despite her age and stressful arrival, the dog appeared to be in good physical health. Once she receives routine veterinary care, including vaccinations and spaying, rescuers expect her to be medically ready for the next chapter of her life.
“She’s healthy,” Sava said. “She’s not a sick dog, but she’s very afraid in the shelter.”
Sava named her Lica.
For now, Lica is being kept apart from the shelter’s other dogs so she can slowly become accustomed to her unfamiliar surroundings without feeling overwhelmed.
Her rescuers know that emotional recovery may take much longer than physical recovery.
“It’ll take a few months for her because she needs to settle,” Sava said. “She needs to start to eat and drink normally and to find some peace in the shelter.”
The team isn’t rushing her.
Instead, they’re giving Lica space, patience and the chance to learn that she is safe.
After losing the person she knew and suddenly finding herself in a completely unfamiliar place, adjusting won’t happen overnight.
But Sava believes that with time, Lica will begin to relax and show more of her personality.
And when she is finally ready, rescuers hope a family will see past her frightened beginning and give the senior dog a peaceful, loving home for the rest of her life.