Some of our Residents
Pinochio aka Steve – long term resident
Steve is 24 year old and a Lusitana / Arab cross. He had worked in a riding school for many years… one of those that works the horses too hard and starts them too young. From here he was given to someone as payment of a debt but this man was not interested in having a horse so Steve was left on his parent’s farm… in their 80’s, they were not capable of looking after him so he was locked in a stable for four years… they put a large bale of hay outside that he could reach but he had no company and very little exercise in his prison cell. He was rescued by an English woman who heard his painful cries when she rode past the farm on her horse. At this point he was in quite a state; covered in his own faeces, his feet in a terrible condition and suffering from malnutrition. He was taken in by a friend of the English woman who found him, his initial rehabilitation was undertaken by her but due to changes in her circumstances she was unable to look after him properly so he came to Oasis. When he arrived he was under weight, he had ulcerated lesions under his tail which were found to be melanoma, his teeth were in poor condition and he had advanced arthritis. He is now getting the care he needs; he was seen by a equine vet dentist and a vet physiotherapist and is now on treatment for his arthritis and melanoma. Steve is now a healthy weight and enjoying life cantering around the land with his tail in the air… oh so very Arab of him!
Mateus aka Maurice – long term resident
Maurice (pronounced in the French way) became homeless when his owner died. He lived rough in a local village for five years… people would feed him scraps but no one looked after him… he slept out in all weathers (the 40 degree heat of summer and the cold, wind and rain of winter). Oasis was alerted to his plight by an English man who lived in the village… he and his wife had been feeding Maurice but they were emigrating and were worried what would happen to him when they left. When we took him in his fur was matted and he had a large cyst on his toe… so large that his toe had to be removed. The cyst was cancerous but thankfully a follow-up chest X-Ray 6 months later showed that it had not spread… this X-Ray also showed that in the past poor little Maurice had been shot… a pellet was lodged next to his spine. Maurice is elderly, we do not know how old, he has a very odd way of walking (our vet thinks he was born this way), he has arthritis, is partially sighted and a little deaf… but now he is living the good life at Oasis; on medication for his arthritis, running around the land doing ‘dog things’ with the rest of our dog family, curling up in front of a warm fire when winter hits, with regular meals and lots of cuddles and love… he is now a very happy little boy.
Julie – long term resident
Julie found her own way to Oasis – maybe she had heard rumours about us! When she arrived she was very scared, her fur had mats and she was under weight… with lots of patience and time Andy managed to win her over but she is still very scared of anyone but Andy so she cannot be re-homed. She now has her own little house on the land. She is very sweet and will follow Andy around when she is seeing to the horses and loves to have a stroke but only on her terms!
Juna
Juna is 9 years old and is a big girl… she is a Cão de Fila de São Miguel (a cattle dog from the Azores) and weighs about 33kgs. Her elderly owner became ill and went to live with her daughter so Juna was left in the house on her own for 4 months, visited twice a day to be fed. The living conditions in the house were bad so another relative took Juna in but as they lived in a rented flat once their landlord found out (Juna is not an easy dog to hide!!) they had an ultimatum… Juna had to leave or they all had to leave. They contacted a Portuguese animal charity called ARCA who then contacted us as they had no where for Juna to go at such short notice. Juna is very strong and can get very excited so is still ‘a work in progress’ to see if she can be integrated safely into the Oasis family.
Charlie
Charlie is almost 5 years old. He came to us because his elderly owner died and the people looking after his farm while it was being sold did not have the time to look after him properly… he had become obese with badly matter fur and was very lonely as there was no one on the farm most of the day. He is now enjoying running around with the Oasis dog family and has just found his ‘forever family’ … a lovely young couple who have actually bought the farm Charlie used to live on… so now Charlie is going home!
