Locked in a dark, isolated room, without a bed, among dirt and drinking water from a mop bucket. This is how Sofía, a volunteer at the Las Almas de Cocoa animal sanctuary, found Quiro, a 12-year-old mastiff with visible wounds on his neck, skin alopecia, severe thinness and “completely neglected”. The young woman, who managed to raise 2,000 euros for an operation and found a foster family for the dog, filed a complaint with the National Police regarding his condition and demands, as he expressed it to ABC, that the dog be delivered and taken out of “hell” in which he currently lives in. is found.
Last July, Sofía volunteered at this shelter dedicated to welcoming pets and other types of abandoned or mistreated species. At that time he met this dog and Juanjo, one of the people responsible for the space located in Chinchón. “He doesn’t show Quiro to everyone, but I gave him tenderness,” says the young woman.
After the manager told him that the dog “doesn’t go out as much as he should” due to the workload involved with the rest of the animals living in the space and seeing the terrible conditions in which this mastiff was found, he offers to take her with her for a few days, taking advantage of the fact that his family is on vacation. The young woman went to a veterinarian – taking care of the medications and treatments this mastiff needed herself – and treated him for six days. “Quiro’s improvement started to be noticed with just a little attention,” he says.
Quiro arrived at this shelter located in the Madrid town of Chinchón in 2020, after his former owner left him in the care of the managers of this animal care center when his father was diagnosed with an illness and they could not couldn’t take care of the furry one. He has always had health problems, due to his chronic ear infections and acute dermatitis; However, his condition has worsened since his arrival in Las Almas de Cocoa.
Neck bites
In the report from the veterinary clinic where Sofía went while treating Quiro, and to which this newspaper had access, it is established that the dog has generalized alopecia of the skin, an otitis, as well as abscesses on the neck. due to a few bites According to this volunteer, the injuries were caused by the attack of a potentially dangerous dog which “is released from time to time with the others” and which had already committed more than one attack.
Quiro, the 12-year-old mastiff, has skin alopecia and several bites on his neck
In just one week, the young woman managed to raise 2,000 euros to operate on Quiro for an ear infection and returned to Las Almas de Cocoa to offer this sum – which would cover the treatment – as well as a host family for the dog. The “misunderstandings” and the lack of care that Sofía had detected in the facilities of this shelter led the young woman to distrust Juanjo, so she offered to pay her the money every time he sent her the bill proving that she had received these interventions.
To this volunteer’s surprise, the manager refused to accept the money unless the account was fully advanced. “If we cannot solve the problem as I ask, I will take Quiro to have surgery in September, when he has the funding I told you about,” Juanjo said in Sofia in one of the conversations that they had via WhatsApp.
This newspaper contacted the Las Almas de Cocoa animal shelter by telephone and in writing for its version of events, but as of press time had received no response.
After filing this complaint, Sofía hopes that Juanjo will accept her conditions and, above all, that he will think of Quiro “and leave his ego aside.” The 12-year-old mastiff is in the last stage of his life and the young woman assures that her “biggest fear” is that he will die there. “He needs a family who will take care of him with love, I found one for him. “I will continue to fight for him,” insists this Madrilenian.
But he also sees the complaint as a call to the attention of managers on “the irresponsible practices” carried out in this center – financed by donations and the sale of t-shirts, mugs or caps -, in which the most abandoned residents or abused animals seeking to find a safe second life in this sanctuary. “I wish people wouldn’t adopt there anymore as long as they operate like this.”
