Dona - happy dog!

Published in About Animals

Dona finds a good home, three years on.

Dona, April 2015 Dona, April 2015 Photo: Vivian Grisogono

They say dogs, by some magical process, are given the names which suit them best. Dona could not be anything other than the prima donna. She has everything going for her, fabulous looks, intelligence, character.

Dona and a sibling, June 2013. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

Dona was born in February 2013 in Jelsa. Her mother Simba is a beautiful golden retriever, so it is not surprising that Dona and her siblings were all born beautiful. Homes were found for most of the puppies. One, Lord, was destined to stay in the family and, true to his name, become the Top Dog in Jelsa, the canine king who watches over his compatriots, polices the streets and keeps order. 

Dona's brother Lord on his rounds, November 2015. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

With the tourist season approaching, which meant that there was no room for extra dogs, Dona was the last one in need of a home. Via the internet, a potential owner from northern Croatia responded to the plea. But when he refused to provide his full name and address, suspicions were aroused. Dona was born into a loving family which cares for its pets. Delivering her to a street corner in an unknown town to an unkown person was out of the question. So she stayed, but urgently needed to be moved.

Dona, 4th June 2013. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

By June 2013, the situation was getting desperate. So, Eco Hvar came to the rescue, offering a temporary home, in the hope that a good permanent situation would not be far away.

Dona with her mother Simba, 15th June 2013. Photo Vivian Grisogono

She was terrified as she approached her new territory, and for some time sat in a corner eyeing her new companions with fear. After about half an hour, she perked up and accept water, then food. Life was not so bad after all. It did not take her long to establish her position as a strong contender for pack leader, in a gentle, feminine kind of way.

Dona enjoying her food, March 2015. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

She was happy to make friends with all around her. Harley was her Big Friend. 

Dona and Harley, April 2015. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

Rocky was her Little Friend.

Dona with Rocky. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

Young newcomers were made welcome, provided they knew their place!

Dona with newcomers Bobi and Tina, September 2015. Photo Vivian Grisogono

Dona loved her outdoor life, but was always adaptable, and settled in well when she was kept in the house for a while.

Fitting into the smallest basket. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

From the start, Dona was treated with love, and has never known anything else. And she has always responded with love. So it was no surprise that when Mariana and Toni came visiting, looking to give a dog a good home, mutual love arose at first sight.

Dona with Mariana, April 2016. Photo Vivian Grisogono

Mariana and Toni, true dog lovers, would have liked to take more of the dogs, especially Bobi, but their rational limit was one.

Toni and Mariana with Bobi and Dona, April 2016. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

True love at first sight:

Dona finds true love, April16. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

So, on April 13th 2016, Dona took her leave of her friends, and set off with enthusiasm for her new life.

Dona saying goodbye. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

As she went off to her new home, her former companions were sad to see her leave. It was a day of new experiences for her, particularly her first journey on the ferry. But she coped bravely and settled in well. A happy outcome for all concerned!

© Vivian Grisogono 2016

Follow-up: Dona visits Jelsa frequently, and is in the best of form, clearly much loved and well cared for. Bravo Mariana and Toni!

You are here: Home about animals Dona - happy dog!

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Almost all countries failing to meet mark for PM2.5, tiny particles expelled by vehicles and industry that can cause health problems

    Only seven countries are meeting an international air quality standard, with deadly air pollution worsening in places due to a rebound in economic activity and the toxic impact of wildfire smoke, a new report has found.

    Of 134 countries and regions surveyed in the report, only seven – Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand – are meeting a World Health Organization (WHO) guideline limit for tiny airborne particles expelled by cars, trucks and industrial processes.

    Continue reading...

  • Court of appeal’s removal of ‘consent’ defence means defendants on trial for criminal damage can no longer use it in England and Wales

    It took a matter of minutes in the court of appeal, where demonstrators were strangely absent, for the dial to shift once more on the rights of protest in England and Wales.

    The decision taken on Monday by the court of appeal to, in effect, find in favour of the attorney general, the Conservative government’s premier legal officer, has removed a defence for climate protesters that had been available on the statute books since 1971.

    Continue reading...

  • Academic experts also criticise UN Food and Agriculture Organization for dismissing alternative proteins

    The omission of meat-eating reduction from proposals in a UN roadmap to tackle the climate crisis and end hunger is “bewildering”, according to academic experts.

    The group also criticised the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s report for “dismissing” the potential of alternative proteins, such as plant-based meat, to reduce the impact of livestock on the environment.

    Continue reading...

  • Perhaps our government imagines bulldog spirit will protect us from the dangerous substances that Europe rules unsafe

    It’s a benefit of Brexit – but only if you’re a manufacturer or distributor of toxic chemicals. For the rest of us, it’s another load we have to carry on behalf of the shysters and corner-cutters who lobbied for the UK to leave the EU.

    The government insisted on a separate regulatory system for chemicals. At first sight, it’s senseless: chemical regulation is extremely complicated and expensive. Why replicate an EU system that costs many millions of euros and employs a small army of scientists and administrators? Why not simply adopt as UK standards the decisions it makes? After all, common regulatory standards make trading with the rest of Europe easier. Well, now we know. A separate system allows the UK to become a dumping ground for the chemicals that Europe rules unsafe.

    George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

    Join George Monbiot for a Guardian Live online event on Wednesday 8 May 2024 at 8pm BST. He will be talking about his new book, The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism. Book tickets here

    Continue reading...

  • Installations must speed up 11-fold as advisers say latest changes to scheme likely to make 2028 target even harder

    The public spending watchdog has criticised the slow pace of the government’s heat pump rollout just days after ministers postponed an important scheme designed to increase the rate of installations.

    A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that heat pump installations would need to accelerate 11-fold if the government is to reach its target for 600,000 heat pumps installed in homes every year by 2028.

    Continue reading...

  • Ballachrink, Isle of Man: My monthly bird survey started so slowly that I nearly gave up – I would have missed a ‘first’ for this site if I had

    Quietly opening the shutters of the hide, I have before me a “lake”, which almost anywhere else in the world would be termed a humble pond. I am smug to have the whole reserve to myself and settle down, marvelling at seeing the same view twice at once, reflected in the serene, mirror-flat water.

    Each month, I and thousands of like-minded volunteers, undertake bird surveys across the country for the British Trust for Ornithology. At first glance, my visit today appears to be a disappointment. After five whole minutes, I haven’t seen a single bird on the lake. Dejected, I consider moving on, but my instinct tells me to sit for a while.

    Continue reading...

  • A traditionally male-dominated industry is being quietly transformed by an influx of talent who don’t fit the stereotype

    Back in the 1970s, Holly Collins was studying for her A-levels in Sussex. While her friends sent off their university applications, she wrote to the Royal Agricultural College asking for an entry form, hoping to follow her dream of becoming a farmer.

    “They wrote back with the following answer: ‘Dear Miss Collins, we do not admit women.’”

    Continue reading...

  • GPs with convictions over protests face tribunals to determine whether they can keep licence to practise

    Dr Sarah Benn has long been concerned about the climate crisis, diligently recycling until she was “blue in the face”. But the rise of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion in 2019 inspired her and her husband to go further. “We thought: well, if we don’t do it then who else is going to?”

    While working as a GP near Birmingham, Benn became increasingly involved in direct action over the next few years, and once glued her hand to the door of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in protest at the government’s inaction on the climate.

    Continue reading...

  • Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: On a day spent picking horse poo from the pasture, I welcome this Celtic charm

    I am up to my ankles in thick mud, scraping horse poo up from a waterlogged pasture. It’s been a tough winter for anyone who spends lots of time outdoors. East Anglia has recorded its wettest (and warmest) February on record, with endless drab days of persistent rain.

    Poo-picking helps to keep the pasture palatable and reduces the parasitic worms that can infect the horses, but it’s hard work. My wheelbarrow is nearly full of muck, and the hill looms. I wonder if I may give up halfway, stuck in mud, my lifeless body waiting to be found. Yet I push through the mire and take a breather halfway, heart racing.

    Continue reading...

  • Researchers found that the Victorians brought so many seeds and saplings to Britain that experts say the giant redwoods now outnumber those in their US homeland

    Three giant redwoods tower over Wakehurst’s Elizabethan mansion like skyscrapers. Yet at 40 metres (131ft) high, these are almost saplings – not even 150 years old and already almost twice as high as Cleopatra’s Needle.

    “At the moment they’re some of the tallest trees in the UK and they are starting to poke above the forest canopy. But if they grow to their full potential, they’re going to be three times taller than most trees,” says Dr Phil Wilkes, part of the research team at Wakehurst, in West Sussex, an outpost of Kew Gardens. One or two of these California imports would be curiosities, such as the 100-metre high redwood that was stripped of its bark in 1854 and exhibited to Victorian crowds at the Crystal Palace in south-east London, until it was destroyed by fire in 1866.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds