It wasn't just little Nerino —the day-old puppy rescued after being abandoned in a garbage bag—who had to face the first chill of the Cagliari winter. On the same day, two other puppies, almost certainly his siblings, were found nearby : two shivering little creatures, hiding in the damp earth and branches of a bush in front of Siotto High School. An unfortunate litter: born who knows where and abandoned haphazardly in the surrounding area, without even a chance of being found all together. Scattered between a dumpster and the bushes, as if their fate could be left to chance, the cold, or—in the best case scenario—the hope that someone would notice them in time.
Two students identified Nerino's siblings when they heard a faint "chirp" coming from the flowerbed. The sound was almost inaudible, but it was enough to make them stop, look closer, and discover the two little bundles of fur—one brown, one black—shivering in the morning cold. "This is a situation that cannot go unnoticed, and must be addressed with awareness and determination," explained the OIPA office in Cagliari, which the girls contacted immediately after the discovery.
But how are the puppies now? The answer isn't simple. " Nanà, the brown dog, was entrusted to one of our nurses, while her black brother was taken in by another student ," explains the association's director. "Nanà had a very cold and, after the vet check, is taking cortisone." The puppies are just a week old: an age where every hour is crucial, and any temperature change can be dangerous. "We can say that a puppy is out of danger only after about 60 days," emphasizes the director of the OIPA Cagliari office. Raising such a small puppy without the right preparation can be difficult and very risky: it requires specific skills, special milk, and constant care.
"For this reason," the association specifies, " we at OIPA Cagliari are available to care for and raise the puppies free of charge until they are ready for adoption." Anyone who has found other puppies in the Siotto area or nearby is invited to contact the organization at 380 2053497. Because at that age, between cold, hunger, and loneliness, it takes very little to make the difference between life and death. And this time, the difference was made by two students and a network of volunteers who, every day, try to sort out abandoned puppies with kindness, expertise, and a lot of heart.