The capture of Rosario in Niort lasted only 15 minutes at the most!
After five and a half months of following and tracing her without being able to catch her, we needed to go carefully. It necessitated calling upon a professional of the SACPA (Societe Protection des Animaux) at Poitiers to come to our aid.
The hypodermic rifle needed to be filled for a dog of 30kg. Sebastien spent several different times in front of Rosario to get her used to seeing him. He then shot the tranquiliser arrow into her thigh. Rosario was surprised by the impact.
She ran. She crossed the boulevard Atlantic, at a pedestrian crossing, without looking if there was traffic coming.
The tranquilliser started to take effect. Sylvie, our deputy in La Rochelle, with a beating heart, put her 4×4 at the disposal of Sebastien, and they tracked Rosario through the streets of Niort until she dropped, and they could catch her.
It took long months of patience to capture Rosario without hurting her. Contrary to what was said by malicious gossip on some blogs and forums, we never wavered.
We followed Rosario more than 100 kilometres from Soudan in Vienne, where she escaped, via Couhe, Saint Savin, Roulle, Saint Maixent l’Ecole and ending in Niort in Deux-Sevres.
We waited many nights at the places where Rosario had been seen during the day. We had posters in the windows of cafes, vets surgeries, tabacs; everywhere where Rosario had been seen. On several occasions we failed to capture her.
Bad luck followed us. In Couhe, Jocelyne spent three weeks feeding Rosario, trying to gain her trust so she could catch her. With no success.
Then Rosario entered a church! It would have been easy to close the door and catch her, but she made a mad dash, and that was that. There was a funeral, and the organiser drove Rosario out!
Next she found a school courtyard. The children there cherished her, without frightening her, but the people in charge of the school chased her off. Our posters all around Niort had not touched them.
We put out tens of posters, appeals in local newspapers and on France radio, asking for any listeners who saw Rosario to contact us. At last! A listener said she had seen Rosario nearby. Rosario had travelled more than 100 km since she escaped and now she was in a town centre, in a car park, scavenging food from the Kebab Stall during the day and scavenging dustbins near the market hall during the night.
Several times we saw her without being able to catch her. The local inhabitants were alerted by out posters, but in running to catch Rosario, just threw her into a panic.
It was absolutely necessary to find an inhabitant of Niort who could draw Rosario day by day to the one place by giving her something to eat. But where?
Claudette saw our poster in a veterinary surgeon’s clinic. She telephoned us. Rosario came to the practice in the evening, in front of one of the buildings. Claudette and a friend put out pate for the feral cats of the area. Rosario came to them for food: beef bourguignon, pot au feu, frankfurters, rice, pasta, cooked bones. Rosario began to gain weight.
We began to hope we might make progress.
Claudette progressed each day and eventually persuaded Rosario to eat at the door of the clinic. But she was too intelligent, just 8 or 9 seconds of grabbing food and she was away.
Sadly Rosario became nervous, barked in the night, her arrivals became spasmodic, sometimes 2 or 3 days before she would appear again.
Sylvie is our volunteer in La Rochelle. Sometimes she drove between La Rochelle and Niort (130km out and back again – 260 km!) several times for nothing. Someone was obviously feeding Rosario in an other area, and we were afraid she would change areas again.
We baulked at using a hypodermic rifle, but this was in the end the only solution. This was not without risks. We were afraid of causing a cardiac arrest and knowing that it would take 4 minutes before the tranquilliser would take effect.
A galga can travel a long distance in 4 minutes, and we were terrified that she would get onto a road and be injured by a passing car, as she would be under the anaesthetic But we decided to take this risk. Fortunately the guardian angel of Rosario was looking after he, and thanks to the professionalism of Sebastien.
Rosario had seemed to like life on the street. She is remarkably intelligent, she knew how to escape all traps to catch her. Several times a day she crossed the two main roads of Niort, dodging vehicles! She always knew where to find somewhere to get food, and somewhere safe to sleep. She knew the streets of Niort well!
Rosario had lived on the streets of Spain for nearly a year before she was caught. She lived on the streets of France for six months! We thought she would never adapt to live in a house.
But fortunately Beatrice Monnet, president of L’Europe des Levriers, has found a solution. She had other galgos who were her friends and loved living with her. Rosario cried the first night, but now she has her own basket, she has another galga, Hermana, as her special friend. She loves the fireside, loves having croquettes, loves walks. On a lead.
Everywhere Beatrice goes, Rosario follows. She flinches a little from the extended hand, obviously she was beaten in Spain. But today she is ready to gain confidence, to give thanks to all the people who sacrificed time and effort on her behalf, to save her.
And especially we have to give thanks to our friend Antonio who spent 3 months trying to capture Rosario in Spain, with Martos. It was the first time Antonio had entrusted a galga to us, from the streets, exposed to all risks. Her escape in France has been unbearable to us. We promise you, Antonio, we will never let her escape again, we will take care of her.
We’d also like to thank three remarkable women, Jocelyne, Claudette and her friend who helped. After nearly catching Rosario in Couhe outside her front door, Jocelyne dropped everything to try and catch Rosario. She can now start a new life! Thanks also to Evelyne who helped her.#, with her 2 beaucerons whom she loves.
Thanks also to Claudette, 72 years old. She was there every evening, with a friend, at the bottom of her building, from 7 – 12.00 midnight, waiting for Princess Rosario to appear. And if Rosario did not appear, Claudette was awakened by Rosario barking to her.
Claudette was exhausted by the time we caught Rosario. We wish her peace and long silent nights of sleep! And we wish her friend the same; she spent her evenings preparing appetising meals to attract Rosario. What dedication. Thank you with all our heart.
We also spare thoughts for June, our English friend, who was the foster family for Rosario. Filled with guilt at having allowed Rosario to escape, June has spent many days searching for Rosario, following up every recorded sighting, many sleepless nights. We renew our confidence and all our friendship in June.
Lastly, thank you to Sylvie, our deputy in La Rochelle, who was prepared to go up to 2 or 3 times a week to La Rochelle, to try and capture Rosario – the free spirit, returned to the wild.
As for me, Beatrice, I remain indelibly marked by this experience. We now have to recover from this nightmare experience which, miraculously, has a happy ending.
Copyright reserved Beatrice Monnet.