I will never understand how people can abuse, neglect or abandon dogs. For many people they’re amongst the most wonderful creatures on earth, fast friends who are loyal to the end and always ready to offer love and support.
Even so, every day, dogs all around the world are found in horrid states, left injured and alone on the streets. One pup named Menios knows exactly what that feels like.
As per Metro, he was found abandoned on the streets of Nafpaktos, Greece, weighing just 8lbs. Worse, he was exhausted and his dislocated kneecaps popped out when he walked.
Vets at the Hellenic Hound suspected he had been tortured and beaten before being left for dead by his cruel previous owners.
Joanne Lowen, a woman from Kent, England, heard his story and knew she simply had to intervene. He moved in with her and made an exceptional recovery. According to Joanne, a retired primary school teacher, he is the reason she’s alive today.
After a period of living together, Joanne noticed that Menios was “frantically sniffing” at her whenever they cuddled up together on the sofa.
She told Metro: “He was getting more and more agitated, I could tell. First of all I kept thinking was it my antiperspirant he didn’t like?”
Menios just wouldn’t leave Joanne’s armpit alone, so she went to a doctor to have things checked out. She told her doctor that she had felt a lump, as opposed to saying she was trusting the instincts of her rescue dog, for fear that she might not be taken seriously.
With Joanne having survived breast cancer 20 years ago, the doctor thought it best to send her to a screening. There, an ultrasound and biopsy found the mom-of-three had an invasive lobular cancer, one that begins in milk producing glands.
Joanne underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Afterwards, scans showed it had not spread to her lymph nodes. Even so, there was yet a chance the cancer had traveled elsewhere in her body – Joanne had to wait weeks for her tissue to be tested before she would know for a certainty.
Menios, meanwhile, still continued to sniff the same area whenever he got the chance.
Joanne told Metro: “In between that he still kept doing it, I said to my husband “he’s freaking me out”.”
Then, following a second operation in June of 2019, Menios stopped. Results soon came back saying Joanne’s cancer was gone.
“He has pretty much saved my life hasn’t he?” Joanne said. “I think you have to have a sort of bond with the dog as well, as soon as he came over he followed me everywhere.”
Joanne explained that Menios had undoubtedly had a torrid time of things before he was found:
“The vets said he must have been in excruciating pain. His legs were very weak, kept falling over, he had no muscles there. Every time he moved his knees were popping out.”
Now, though, he had found his forever home with Joanne, and quickly paid back her kindness by saving her life with his nose.
Thank God Menios was there to save the day, and thank God Joanne was able to give him a loving life he deserved.
Dogs are a man’s best friend for a reason. Share this article if you love dogs and stand against animal abuse in all forms.
