Lady Adopts Starved Dog to Let Him Die With Dignity, Love Changes His Fate After 2 Months

Illustration - moj0j0/Shutterstock

From the archives: This story was last updated in April 2019.

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE INCLUDES IMAGES SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING

This heartbreaking sad story of an abandoned dog highlights the tragic outcome of the absence of love and tender care. The story also brings out the power of boundless love and how it can transform any being.

Valia Orfanidou actively follows several rescue groups in Athens, Greece. She is known to have helped many stray dogs find foster homes. In November 2014, a photo of a dog posted on her news feed shocked her and made her cringe. Valia was so horrified to see the miserable state of this dog that she knew then and there she just had to do something. The dog’s skeleton was clearly visible through his emaciated, hairless body. Valia tried and figured out from the photo that the dog lived next to a railroad station, which was 70 miles out of Athens.

Valia could not get over the thought of this poor animal dying out there, so she called up some of her good friends from an animal rescue and they set out to find him. What happened next is an amazing example that proves the power of unconditional love and how these amazing virtues can transform others’ lives.

Valia was full of grief when she found the dog. The extremely emaciated canine could barely walk and had contagious mange. She thought the dog was unlikely to survive much longer.

“We were pretty sure we had taken him off the streets just to offer him the chance of a dignified death,” Valia wrote underneath a YouTube video about the rescue. But when she came to know that the dog’s disease was curable, she was overjoyed. “When the vet told me that, I honestly laughed. I couldn’t believe it,” she told the Huffington Post. “And then I became impatient. I wanted to see him recover.”

Valia bundled Billy up, took him home, and made a bed for him in one of her spare bathrooms. As the days wore on, under Valia’s wing, Billy gradually healed; her loving care helped Billy overcome his sorrows and ills.

“I foster a lot and volunteer at dog shelters in Athens but never really watched a dog transform step by step before my eyes,” she said. “It was hard to let go of Billy because he and I shared a miracle,” Valia said.

As his mange healed and he gained weight, Billy was looking more healthy by the day. Valia said it was hard to believe that this was the same dog she had found by the railroad station.

In just two months, Billy transformed into an adorable dog that anyone would be proud to own, and Valia knew that it was time for Billy to leave her.

When Emma, a Greek lady living in Switzerland, requested to adopt Billy, Valia agreed knowing she would give Billy a wonderful home. At the airport, Billy and Valia said goodbye. Valia relates how much she felt for Billy and how hard it was to part with him, so Valia and Emma kept contact via Skype, email, and the phone.

Then one day in December 2015, Valia and Billy saw each other again. It was Christmas, and Emma was spending it with her family in Greece. Valia was warmed at the sight of seeing such a happy Billy with caring owners that simply adored him.

Watch Billy’s miraculous recovery in the video below!