PROJECT GALGO RELEASE A POWERFUL VIDEO AND STORY OF ONE INCREDIBLY SPECIAL SALUKI
JAMEELA – “Beautiful; Lovely.”
This is a true story of the remarkable compassion and devotion of an amazing person, whose heart never gives up on the salukis in Bahrain. It is also a true story of survival and bravery… And of an extraordinary connection between one woman and one Saluki.
We share with you the words of Emtinan Zidany, Founder of Rays of Hope – For Dogs in Bahrain.
“Jameela was first spotted in mid of September last year. At that time, she was hardly 5-6 months old. Jameela was running frantically in a middle of an extremely busy highway with a leash attached to her tight collar. She was in such an emaciated state that I thought she wouldn’t make it.
As much as I wanted to, I opted not to chase her! Chasing a traumatized saluki in such horrible condition would have meant that I would be exposing that poor soul to a horrific fatal accident.
After that incident, Debbie and I decided to track her down to help her. We spent over a month trying to figure out her location with not much success. She would sometimes show up out of no where looking for food and then suddenly disappear for several days.
Many attempted to save her since September last year, but no one could catch her. She was so traumatized and the minute she used to spot a human coming towards her, she used to run as fast as the wind. A few people had seen her crossing very busy roads and highways in the area. Many heard her whines, many heard her cries but no one at all managed to come close to her. Catching her was a mission impossible.
Debbie and I continued to look for her. Giving up on her wasn’t an option. I was so determined to help her and was willing to do whatever it took to save her life.
During this time, I found her at certain spots and always made sure to feed her. She kept changing her spot and the places she chose to stay made it impossible for us to try to catch her.. Places like on the side of highways were it was too dangerous to make an attempt to catch her.
In mid January this year, someone spotted her crossing the highway but sadly, one of her paws was missing. She was also in a worse condition and looked like she had been hit by a car, making her lose her paw.
I was so determined this time to save her life. The challenge has always been trying to locate her. I started every morning leaving some food and water for her in a specific location. Some mornings she used to show up and others the food remained there untouched
Unfortunately, Jameela again disappeared. I thought I lost her forever but Debbie didn’t give me any chance to give up, few days down the road she called me, indicating that she saw her in a green area by a highway exit. I immediately went there next morning and brought her some food and water. She stood around 40 meters away from me, and any sudden move from me would make her run further away.
I was determined to help her so I began visiting her everyday at 5am to leave her food and water. My daily routine was to feed her and give her water in the morning. She learned thus routine, and would wait for me everyday. Day by day, that 40 metre distance between me and her turned into 35 meters, then soon it was 20 meters, and finally it reached the point where she would sniff me and run away. Sometimes she would bark and speak to me, indicating that she was excited to see me!
Finally, 8 months later, after feeding her every single day and getting her to trust me, we finally reached a stage where she would allow me to approach her and pet her! I was beyond ecstatic and knew this was my chance to catch her. For a couple of weeks, after feeding her in the morning I would play with her, pet her and was able to remove that tight collar around her neck. At this point she really trusted me, so I instantly reached out to the amazing Dr. Sarah of Nonie Coutts(who also spotted her in September last year and was so desperate to save Jameela’s life) and asked her to help me catch her. Without hesitation, Dr. Sarah was more than happy to help me and agreed to meet me on Friday morning July 28,2022 to catch her. That morning was one of the most nerve wrecking mornings of my life.. I went to Jameela’s location and started playing with her and petting her.. Shortly after, Dr. Sarah arrived with a sedation injection just in case we needed it. As I was petting Jameela, Dr. Sarah slowly approached her, grabbed her tightly and put her in my car. It was a huge success and we didn’t need to sedate her! I drove off to the vet clinic where Dr. Sarah would meet me to conduct a full checkup on Jameela.
Now that we finally rescued her, we desperately need funds for her treatment and travel expenses. She’s only just begun her journey to a better life.. And we’re striving to make it happen soon.”
To donate to this extremely special cause, please go to Rays of Hope – “For Dogs in Bahrain” or alternatively you can email projectgalgo1@gmail.com or PayPal projectgalgo1@gmail.com referencing your donation as JAMEELA.