Dog Jason
Jason in free fall
The well-behaved male dog from Greece needed help
One and a half years – that’s how long an animal lover accompanied the fate of a Greek street dog. It took one and a half years for the male dog Jason slowly began to trust people. Today, Jason is on Gut Aiderbichl in safety and can finally look forward to a happy future.
The animal lover, who herself was active in animal welfare for many years, had been in contact with a German teacher in Greece for a long time. In her private life, she repeatedly supported dogs and cats in need and worked closely with other animal lovers.
She kept receiving videos from Greece and one day she accidentally discovered the male dog Jason. In response to her enquiry, the teacher confirmed that the dog had been living near her property for some time. He probably once belonged to a hunter who simply threw him out when he was no longer fit for hunting – unfortunately not a rarity in Greece.
Jason was in a pitiful state.
The teacher also reported that the dog refused to be touched and kept running away. She would be happy to help him – if he could be caught one day.
When fate won’t let you go
“I couldn’t forget that dog. I couldn’t get him out of my head. Viktoria, the teacher, always kept me up to date. I was very grateful for that.” Then one day came the relieving news: “The hunting dog is safe, he’s been caught!”
Jason was to be his name from then on. He quickly realised that he would now experience love and care. The hard times, the struggle to survive on the streets, were over. He settled in well and felt comfortable. However, he did not refrain from occasionally making the neighbourhood unsafe. But running away didn’t seem to be an option for him – he returned to his new home every evening.
But then one day came the shock: Jason came home seriously injured! Apparently he had been in a car accident in which his right front leg was shattered. To make matters worse, he was diagnosed with leishmaniasis during treatment for the injury. Leishmaniasis is an infectious diseasecaused by parasites. It is particularly common in southern countriessuch as Greece, Spain, Italy and Turkey. In later stages, the disease can lead to kidney failure and joint problems.
Jason’s fight for survival
For a long time, things were not going well for the young male dog. Leishmaniasis took its toll on him and his recovery after his accident was also very difficult. But his guardian angel from Germany was always by his side – albeit from afar. She covered his veterinary costs and did everything in her power to ensure that his leg remained intact. Amputation was out of the question for her because she saw a chance for Jason.
“I’m telling you, it was absolute heartbreak from afar. But he always had such a zest for life in the videos,” reported the animal lover. She wanted to fight for him.
In the end, she decided to bring Jason to Germany – even though she and her husband were not in good health either.
“You know, I made a promise to him a year and a half ago – I can’t break that,” she told me thoughtfully.
"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."
– Confucius
When the big day came and Jason arrived in Germany, the joy was immense:
“I remember exactly, it was around my birthday when he arrived – my little Jason. When he arrived – I could cry again – he was such a sweet and good boy,” she said in a hushed voice. You could feel how much Jason was close to her heart.
But in the end, she couldn’t do her boyfriend Jason justice. The couple’s own health situation was simply too bad, and the animal lover herself was also facing a difficult time in her life. So they looked for a new home – and found it at Gut Aiderbichl. When Dieter Ehrengruberfound out about Jason, he was determined to help and took him into his group of dogs. And as if Jason had always been there, he ran along with the pack. He quickly found his place – and friends who supported him.
We had to make a difficult decision
One problem remained, however: his front leg. Jason was presented at several veterinary clinics – all came to the same conclusion: amputation, even if he still used the leg occasionally.
The Gut Aiderbichl vet Dr Marianne Wondrak described the situation as follows: “After the elbow was completely shattered by the accident and grew together crookedly, the young male dog was in constant severe pain. Restoring the joint was out of the question. In the end, we wanted Jason to live a pain-free life – and decided in favour of amputation.”
And what did Jason do? He took it in his stride.He is coping well with the amputation and looks forward to every new day – a day full of love, care and good food. Jason looks forward to every day when he can live and grow old in safety.
