LARISSA & ALFA

In the summer of 2006 we wrote about the story about Larissa, the woman from St.  Petersburg, Russia, and the disabled dog, Alfa.  We wanted to give a brief update.  Again, thanks to all of you who responded to Larissa's call for help in finding a new home for Alfa. As a result of your generosity, Alfa will be adopted by a French woman who works for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. Larissa also wrote this week to say that the St. Petersburg television stations have all expressed interest in covering the departure of Alfa to her new home in Paris.  A television producer wrote to Larissa and inquired about picking up the story there for a program that reaches 30 million viewers in France.  She thinks it is an amazing and wonderful story of how animal lovers around the world united to help one little dog in need.

So, you see?  You are worldwide ambassadors of good will. And this story, if it reaches such a broad European and
Russian audience, will inspire others to rescue animals. Who knows how many will consider going to their local
animal shelters to adopt because they want to be yet another heartbeat in our universally shared love for animals?

Larissa wrote, "The Angel Animals newsletter and its editors Linda & Allen Anderson told their readers about my request. After that I received hundreds of letters from all over the world. Some people just expressed their solidarity and thanked for the help to this homeless and helpless creature.  Some others sent me the e-mails of the organizations, shelters, and people that could help me.  I had so much information that I really felt lost.  So I wrote letters to a lot of addresses.

The answers came immediately.  Alfa could be adopted in the USA, Canada.  Austria, Belgium, and France.  The French family sent me such a beautiful letter that I understood it was the best place for Alfa to go to.

"At the same time I found on the Internet the American company DOGGON' WHEELS, which produces wheelchairs
for disabled pets.  They offered to make such a chair for Alfa as a present.  The chair has already been made and now it is being shipped to Paris.  To buy a ticket to Paris I collected money from my friends and all those who wanted to help the poor dog.  As for the TV, two local channels will make programs about her the day before the flight.  The central channels like the ORT and RTR promised to contact me on Monday. They also want to show the happy end of the story."

The French TV producer wrote to Larissa, "It's a great story that shows that we can do beautiful things when we walk together.  It's such a nice proof of solidarity."