Adham's new life in the Netherlands after struggling with death: a warning for the next wave of animal abandonments

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Virginia Solera

, co-founder of the CYD Santa María animal rights association, has the date she saw Adham for the first time.

It was January 8, 2013, a year in which the economic crisis continued to hit hard and in which the numbers of animal abandonment overwhelmed the sanctuaries.

"Some neighbors warned of a strong smell of decomposition in a farm in

(Málaga)" and they came with two agents from the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard.

In front of them they had an idyllic place, a beautiful land "full of grass", which contained the "most terrible case that I have seen in all these years of work" in the association.

Intervention that, in his opinion, exemplifies a trend that will be repeated in the coming years.

And he says it because the cases are already growing.

Solera painfully recalls that "we found

some bloodstained stables. We observed signs that they had tried to bite the walls in an act of desperation to survive, a situation for which I have no adjectives. In the same facilities, at the At the end of the corridor, there was a third

equine

that would also have died, like its companions, had it not been rescued. "

Lisanne, with the horse Adham, already recovered in Holland.

The owner of the animals was present throughout the performance.

"He arrived at the farm in a good car and only said that the situation was difficult, but the Seprona discovered that the water stopcock had been cut off so that the animals supposedly

."

Adham was a bag of bones and could barely walk after being abandoned to death.

His visible physical deterioration was compounded by psychological wounds, so the veterinarians and therapists of the CYD Santa María had to work on different levels to achieve his recovery.

Lisanne, on her wedding day, on the back of Adham, the horse she adopted in Malaga.

Although at that moment they were not aware of it, they were going to have unexpected help.

, a 19-year-old Dutch girl who was volunteering, was going to become the best medicine for the animal.

"I fell in love with him because of his eyes. They told me that he was afraid and that he did not know if he should trust us, but also that he was grateful that we had rescued him," recalls the young woman, who assures that "it took me a lot of time and patience. "get the horse to trust her.

A dead horse in the place where Adham was rescued.

In conversation with EL MUNDO he explains that "

waiting for him to come to me" until Adham began to let him touch, caress and "brush slowly".

"They connected from the first moment," says Virginia Solera, who says that, "being very young, Lisanne had lost her brother, and we suppose that both 'recognized' each other, suffering a rather painful mourning".

Adoption and a long journey

"They became friends, good friends. They wanted each other and needed each other," so when Lisanne's volunteering was about to end "she told us she wanted to adopt him."

"At that time we were still giving away foster horses - this is not the case today - but we explained to him that it was still early, that Adham still had to physically overcome" and that he was too young - "19 years old" - to assume that responsibility.

"I was faced with a decision that I had to meditate a lot because it was for life," says the communication manager of CYD Santa María, who adds that the young woman "replied that she would wait" and that she would speak with her family.

Although it was not long without hearing from her because "after a couple of weeks she called to tell us that she had the support of her parents and her boyfriend Tom."

Lisanne emphasizes that, "when I went to Spain to volunteer at the rescue center, I did not think I would adopt a horse."

"It was never my intention," but seeing Adham "I realized that

."

Those in charge of the sanctuary were facing a difficult situation, but the young woman "behaved in such a coherent, intelligent, mature and persevering way, and we saw the horse so sad that we took a leap of faith and accepted that it go

."

He has been there for seven years and "lives with six other horses in a large field."

"He eats daily, we go for walks in the forest and we do all kinds of things together," says the young woman, who

was going to give her "friend" a leading role.

"Adham took me to the castle where my husband and I were married. I put him on in my wedding dress and my father walked by. He did it very well and I was not afraid of anything. I am so proud of him. He is a horse! happy!".

The wave of dropouts

The Spanish judicial machinery continued its course and "the Prosecutor's Office requested

for the former owner", who "was finally convicted."

The two horses "did not die in vain", Solera sentence, which - "with sorrow" - warns that "there are not as many happy endings" as that of Lisanne and Adham. "And the fact is that there were numerous cases of abandoned animals that died or they had to be sacrificed during the previous economic crisis, a situation that is beginning to be repeated due to the economic debacle caused by the coronavirus pandemic and that heralds some very tough years.

The Nature Protection Group (Gruprona)

Malaga

reported days ago that a 63-year-old individual is being criminally investigated after the agents found

in a few blocks of his property

that presented an evident state of malnutrition .

Same situation in which there were two other horses that were in a nearby field.

The animals

and hindquarters, they had no fat on the neck and their fur lacked shine, said the aforementioned body, which added that during the inspection of the rooms it was observed that there were two drums with water, but that the feeders were empty and there was no food in the entire enclosure.

The person in charge argued that he had not been able to bring food to the animals regularly due to the confinement decreed in the state of alarm, although he is finally being investigated for an alleged crime of animal abuse and his case has been referred to the Environment Section of the prosecution.

"There must be dozens of horses dying right now in stables, farms or limited plots, and that will be discovered over time", considers the co-founder of CYD Santa María.

The agents and associations with which he is in contact "have it clear": "When this happens, it

" now masked by the fact that "there are no complaints" because "people are at home, refugees , worried about other issues ".

However, she has already observed an

, some of which she is feeding and caring for at her sanctuary.

This situation that occurs both in private farms and in equestrian centers.

Virginia Solera assures that they will continue to provide assistance "whatever it is" and despite the fact that they expect a strong cut in aid and donations.

Doing more with less will be the challenge that these associations will face in the coming years, which - despite adversity - will fight to prevent many horses from ending up in slaughterhouses, "as happened a year ago."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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