After all our troubles with dogs, described in The Wild Wild West of Ronda, we thought things were beginning to develop positively this week. First of all I got a call from José’s mum to request my bank account details for the transfer of the payment for the damage to my car, and also to say that the last dog, a setter, had been removed to a loving family on Sunday. To be sure, it had certainly gone quiet next door.

Then, last night, a very frightened, bedraggled-looking, undernourished, dehydrated and tick-infested setter turned up in our garden. It must have escaped somehow and got through the fence into our garden.

We gave it food and water and started to de-tick the poor animal and give it some love and attention. Last night my stepson and his girlfriend slept with her in our newly-built summer house and this morning we took her to a vet in Ronda.

On examination, the dog was found to have no microchip – a legal requirement in Spain - , was underweight and riddled with ticks and fleas. The vet thoroughly examined her, inserted a chip, injected her against God-knows-what and after hearing our description of the whole sorry story, suggested we would be perfectly within our rights to claim the dog as ours, if we wished.

Which we have done ... so we are now the proud owners of an 18-month-old English setter, which we have named Cleo in memory of our cat that was poisoned in Montejaque a year or so ago.

Just in case there are any repercussions, we’ve barricaded the house and garden against any further violent attacks by José and his junkie mates, although we hope that the matter can be laid to rest now ...

There’s just the environmental health issue to sort out, although from what I’m told that could take a while ...

© Paul Whitelock

See also:

The Wild Wild West of Ronda

Montejaque Murders

Tags:  dog, frightened, bedraggled-looking, undernourished, dehydrated, tick-infested, setter, English setter, vet, Ronda, Cleo, microchip, tick, flea, environmental health, paul whitelock, www.a1-solutions-spain.com