Manny is a four-year-old mutt that loves living in Buffalo. On March 21st, he was flown in from Cartagena, Colombia to meet his new pet parent.
But, before that, the poor dog was tormented and nearly died on a beach thousands of miles away from Upstate New York.
Here is the story of his pan-American rescue:
Maureen Cattieu, founder of the charity rescue group Cartagena Paws, discovered Manny on a Cartagena beach some months ago. Someone scalded the dog's face with hot frying oil, sliced him with a machete, and then abandoned him. Cattieu rushed Manny to the vet and provided him all the care he required to recuperate. He still need a "furever" home.
This is where Anne Darmstedter stepped in. Cattieu and Darmstedter have common acquaintances from rescue groups in the Buffalo region, but they didn't meet until last year at a Christmas party. Darmstedter then spotted a mutual friend's Facebook post about Manny. She was smitten.
It's absolutely awful that people can be so cruel to animals."
Darmstedter, who has two other dogs, commented six weeks ago that she wanted to adopt Manny. Her acquaintance put her in touch with Cattieu, who helped her start the adoption process. Darmstedter mailed Manny a dog bed as she waited for him to join her in Buffalo.
Manny took more than two days to arrive to Darmstedter once the adoption procedure was completed. He was flown from Cartagena to Bogota on Saturday. He flew from Texas to Newark, New Jersey on Sunday. He arrived in Buffalo safely on Monday night.
Manny is not the first dog saved by Cartagena Paws. Cattieu claims she created the charity after observing several cases of animal cruelty and violence toward street animals. If you are able, please consider giving to their charity, and if you are interested in saving one of their street pups, please visit street pups.