Annie's life - her first year from Romanian Streets to a UK Lounge

Annie sat staring through the bars at the outside. She was so afraid. Everything, absolutely everything, frightened her out there. Every sight, sound and smell made her nerves jangle. Her body no longer shook, she was too tired to shake any more.
Annie was barely 9 months old and abandoned. She had wandered alone for months, no mother, no father, no brothers or sisters. She remembered having those things… once, but no more. For a long time now she had been alone, wandering, avoiding the people and many other four-legs as much as she could in a crowded city.
One day, Annie was chased by a human with a knife and in her urgency to flee she ran to the rail yard. It was loud. Very loud. And smelly and dirty. Everything was strange.
Then the rain started so, looking for a hole to shelter in and rest, she found some wooden pallets. They weren’t as dry as she’d like but it would do until the rain passed.
Annie crawled under and crashed, exhausted. Her thick double coat of grey/black, sable and white fur kept her warm and the rain that did seep through the gaps in the piled wood just rolled off her oily topcoat. Wrapping her thick, bushy tail over her nose, she slept.

Without warning there was an almighty crashing and banging around her as more wooden pallets were dropped from a crane. Annie panicked but there was nowhere to go, no way out. The added wood blocked her entrance and exit. She was stuck. Trapped under a pile of wood.

For days and days Annie had tried to escape. She had no food and only the rainwater that she could lick off the wood or from the dirty puddle by her feet helped her thirst. Even that became untouchable as she had no where to toilet but in a tiny corner no more than two feet from where she stood.
She howled. Normally Annie was quiet, howling got you caught or hurt by the humans or chased and beaten by the dominant dogs around. Howling wasn’t good, but Annie was desperate. She was trapped, cold now and starving. So hungry.
Trains rattled by so closely that she felt they would run over her, thunderous metal wheels banging and screeching, but no humans or four-legs of any kind came by.

After many days of fitful sleep, constant pains in the stomach, cramped legs and aching hips, even attempts to get attention, all hope drained from Annie and she sat forlorn in her prison.

As Annie slept fitfully sounds drifted into her semi-conscious state, human sounds. The funny yapping they used was getting closer. Annie couldn’t sit up by this time, she was too weak, but she barked. It wasn’t a loud bark. The wasn’t enough energy to bark loudly. But she barked. Luckily at that point no trains came by, so the sound came over the yard to the ears of a human. He walked towards her, seeing only pallets, stopped and turned to go. Annie barked again, this time mustering every ounce of urgency she could. The human stopped and turned towards the pile of pallets. Annie tried again. He came towards her prison. Peering through the pile of wood he noticed a lump of matted grey/black fur and two empty, wide eyes. The sight was pitiful.

Most humans in this place were cruel to dogs. Dogs were vermin to them. Many years ago, dogs were loved. They lived in cosy homes or clean yards and were fed tasty morsels. Then the government demolished the poor people’s houses, the slums, and built high rise flats, smart; clean; inaccessible to dogs. Dogs were not allowed. So, they were cast out to roam and go feral. These dogs bred and bred as nature called and soon there were many hundreds, even thousands roaming streets and fields and woodlands. People abused them: Kicking, shooting and stabbing them: Chasing them with cars: Using puppies barely able to stand as footballs to kick around in fun.

The majority of people had become intolerant of dogs. Dogs had learned to avoid them, but they also got hungry, so their paths crossed, inevitably.

On this day Annie was lucky. The human that spotted her was a kind-hearted man who used to have a dog of his own. He set about moving some of the pallets. Shouting to one of his companions to get some rope they carefully took the pallets, roped Annie – to which she accepted as she had no more strength to fight – and they took her to a lady they knew that was running a very run-down, shabby, smelly rescue home for these poor abandoned creatures.
She took Annie in and put her in a cage with another dog, fed her, gave her water and talked kindly to her.

A few weeks after being caught Annie was roped again. She was confused and afraid and a lot stronger now. She pulled to strangling point on the rope but the two humans that had come to her cage in the early morning were calm and persistent. The old lady Annie had started to trust was one of them and her voice coaxed Annie to submit. Then Annie was put in a different, smaller cage. This cage was lifted by two sturdy people and she, in cage, was placed on a truck.
Once again Annie was terrified. She shook so violently the cage bars rattled. The truck started moving. Annie went around in the cage. She couldn’t walk round, the cage was too small, but she bottom-shuffled round, looking for a way out, panting, drooling, shaking all the time. The fact that her heart didn’t stop with fear was a minor miracle.

After a fairly long journey with no food, water or room, Annie was in a mess. She had made a mess in the cage and was ashamed but there was nothing she could do. No place to go and fear took over. The truck stopped and the cage was lifted down. Unceremoniously Annie and cage were simultaneously hosed down. She supped some water pouring from the stream from the hose. Shivering, in part with fear, in part because the water was ice cold, she stood best she could, head lowered, in the cage, and waited. After another while some more cages were brought to be put by her, each with an equally sorry looking dog inside. Raw meat was pushed between the bars, but there wasn’t much. Not enough to make a meal, then things started moving again. Some dogs howled. Some barked, Some cried. Some, like Annie just stood, half crouched and eventually laying down, always in silence.

The cages were all lifted one by one onto a bigger truck and some were stacked, which caused arguments between the dogs above, below and each side. Much snarling and growling occurred.
The more laid back dogs just continued to yap and bark as the commotion gained momentum. The truck started moving. Annie started again to panic. Some others were the same, some didn’t seem to care. Another, shorter journey brought them to a yard. They were all let into the yard. There was a water trough with almost fresh water in, and the yard, for now, was clean. Bowls of chicken carcasses were placed around and all the dogs barked, yapped, fought and submitted over food, water and space for the next three weeks.

Over time each in turn was taken in a small group for a few hours, or a couple of days. Upon their return each had a wound either along the belly for the girls or by the genitals for the boys. They’d all been neutered. They all had received injections, and all had ear tags. Unbeknown to Annie, who was sore from her surgery, she and the others were ready to travel and were being shipped to a whole new world.

After almost 3 weeks in this place some semblance of order was taking place but once again dogs were placed in cages, this time inside a large white van. Most dogs had a cage to themselves, but puppies and smaller dogs would share. Annie was back to shaking. By this time she was barely 9 months old and in her short life had found more things to terrify her than anyone could ever imagine. Wide-eyed, panting and shaking she sat in the cage in the truck as the big open space at the end disappeared with a resounding clang of the doors.

Days went by with the truck rumbling along, stopping periodically. At each stop the dogs were taken out in twos and threes by people to toilet and stretch their legs. They were then fed, water changed and soon back on their way to wherever.

After many days and a recent exercise and food stop the van seemed to stop rumbling. There was a lot of human voices around and the world seem to rock in a strange manner, up and down, side to side as if floating over waves. The dogs were in the dark and had no idea they were on a boat, a ferry, going to another country, another world, another life.

Annie sat in her cage. She had given up crying which she had tried along the journey to get attention, to get released. She was so afraid she still shook. Even when she slept she shook, her sleep was so light, just enough to rest the brain a little. This new sensation disturbed her and once again she was sat, rocking to the back then the front of the cage, occasionally, her stomach jumping as they rose and fell in the dark space around her. She felt queasy.

Hours later and the rumble began again and then stopped almost as quickly. The back doors opened and bright light flooded in. A stranger climbed in, his human yapping sounding different. He poked at some of the cages before more noise came from his mouth. Some dogs had immediately started barking, some cried. Annie sat quietly shaking. The human looked into her cage, nodded and moved to the next. Soon after, the human climbed out, the doors shut and the rumbling of movement began again.

A short while later the rumbling stopped. The doors opened and the humans, sounding even more different started unloading the cages. The dogs were moved to small yard pens, two or three dogs to a pen. It was good to stretch and walk, and toilet, and eat and drink, and breathe.

Annie was in a pen with a mainly black, scruffy haired dog who was about the same size as Annie and a small brown and black fluffy bitch. Neither were too sociable and the three of them gave each other reasonable space, but they didn’t fight. In some pens there was much fighting and one dog had even bitten the ear of his smaller companion. Soon after that event the humans came and removed the bitten animal and placed a large grey matted dog in there. The original aggressor tried again but was soon put in his place and a reasonable truce was settled over the yard by the end of the day.

The following day Annie and her companions the black dog and the fluffy bitch were joined by three more from another pen. All three were of a similar size, just shorter by a little to Annie’s height. All three were matted and dirty and smelled. All three were female. The six dogs sorted out who was in charge, dog fashion, and then it was time for food. They ate, Annie getting not a lot as she was quite submissive. They drank, Annie getting dirtier water as she was almost last in the queue. Then they slept, lightly, so as not to miss any attack or intrusion from either dog or human.

Night fell, dogs played, howled, cried, sulked and made it through to dawn.

Not long after sunrise humans came to the pen that held Annie and the other five. Each in turn was roped. Each in turn pulled and fought their captors but to no avail. They were placed one by one back in cages. As they were taken to the cages a human stopped them, poked, prodded, pulled at them then let them go on in the journey. The cages were loaded into another van and once again the Annie found herself in the dark, rumbling noises all around and the smell of other dogs far too close for comfort.

This journey lasted a few hours and then once again they were taken from the van, let out of the cages and into pens. This time though the pens were HUGE, like a big concrete field. And there were lots of other dogs there of all shapes and sizes. Some were small and yappy, some large with deep throated barks. Some were fluffy, some smooth, some with curly tails, no tails or long, low fluffy tails like Annie.

Annie had made friends with another submissive female the humans called Tasha in the last place. After a few days in this new place, plenty of good food, and clean water, they started to relax.
There were a lot of humans here and a lot of other animals. There was another area with more dogs, there was a big enclosure with cats in too. Annie could smell the cats but couldn’t see them. There were odd smells too. Annie didn’t understand but these came from pigs, goats, horses, a cow and some donkeys. Annie was in a rescue centre in the east of England.
Annie wouldn’t know that of course. All she knew was that the memory of the truck journeys was fading as she played with her new friend and sometimes some others, and she had a full belly every day for the first time in her young life.

Annie had her first birthday in this place. Annie didn’t know that of course. A lot had happened to her in her short 12 month life so far and it was all about to change again.

Annie was playing with Tasha when some humans came and started looking at her. They looked at some other dogs but then back at her. Without any warning Annie was roped by one of the female humans who had come to feed them every day. Annie didn’t like this and pulled but the pulling hurt her throat. She had found this out a few times before and learned it was best not to pull too hard. She was unceremoniously dragged from the pen and her rope was handed to another female human. There was a shorter female and a taller male with her. They half dragged her towards a field. Gentle sounds came from the female holding the rope and Annie relaxed a little. Her ears remained back and her muscles tense, ready to run, but she let the rope lead her. They went along a path she had never been on before. The wind rustled the leaves of the bushes and made her startle. She tried to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Then a monster with wheels that rolled inside tracks and a monster roar that sounded worse than the truck she had lived in for days came rolling by. Annie pulled and squirmed but the rope pulled tighter and the female holding it carried on talking quietly to her. The smaller female joined in and once the digger truck went by Annie settled again. The four of them walked into a field and then for no apparent reason returned the way she had come.

The three humans stopped before they got to Annie’s enclosure, pulling on her rope, forcing her to stop too. Annie’s nose twitched rapidly as she picked up scents from all directions. There was a cacophony of animal sounds and smells. The humans were talking to another and Annie recognised her as one of the feeders. They made strange noises to each other and then another dog appeared with another human female. This dog was a male, somewhat taller than Annie, a black and white, long, silky coat, a black face with a white stripe along his nose and he was very handsome. They called him Joe. He too was on a rope. Annie went towards this boy and greeted him quietly, submissively. He returned the greeting just as the female human rope holder took his rope too and started walking back down the track they had just travelled. Joe walked without pulling. Annie copied. Joe walked with his head high. Annie copied. She liked Joe already. He hadn’t tried to dominate her, just greeted her then went about his business. He seemed confident with these humans. Annie copied.

After a walk along the tracked, around the field and back Annie found herself being once again put in a cage, and Joe was put beside her. She was afraid, but Joe oozed confidence and just settled down, nose between paws and started to snooze, and as the cage picked up the rumble of the road, the people sitting with her cooing and petting her through the bars Annie had the feeling life was about to get a whole lot better.

Annie is a rescued Romanian dog. We know some of her history. We know here fears. We know what the streets of Romania are like, especially for unwanted animals like feral dogs. I have pieced together what we know and tried to see what life may have been like for our beloved, still scared Annie. Next time, how Annie and Joe adjust, adapt and get separated.