Gux - a dog can laugh again

“The pleading eyes of the purebred Wolfspitz almost brought me to tears when I saw him for the first time” admits animal welfare inspector Ewald Scheer from Freiburg im Breisgau. "Gux had the most miserable life you can imagine. At night, he was locked in a stinking, dark pigsty, and during the day he was chained up in an old barrel. It stood on a dung heap. The poor dog could hardly fend off the stench and the vermin." Animal inspector Scheer found the valuable four-year-old animal emaciated, trembling with fear, and with mangy fur. The farmer with whom Gux had to eke out his sad life refused to be even the slightest bit more humane to his dog. 

Mr. Scheer returned secretly, in the night and fog. He didn't rely on the authorities. "It was clear to me that help had to be given immediately, even if it was something outside the legality. I couldn't do anything else." That same night, he secretly untied the Wolfsspitz and carried the shaking creature into the animal rescue truck. "At first, Gux hung his head in deep sadness. Then he smelled the other animals that we had already transported. Somehow he seemed to like the atmosphere in the car. When I spoke to him reassuringly, he raised his head with difficulty and looked at me full in the face. I felt as if the animal was actually smiling at me." In the state animal shelter of the Freiburg animal rescue service, Gux soon grew into a magnificent Wolfsspitz. Animal keeper Gabi took special care of him. She brushed his fur every day until it was thick and shiny again. 

At first, Gux was shy and fearful. If he heard strange footsteps, he would hide suspiciously in the farthest corner. But just a few weeks later, Gux showed his gratitude in a very special way. Ewald Scheer says: "The dog greets all new arrivals at our country animal shelter with a wagging tail and in a friendly manner. He encourages them in his own way. Because almost all the animals that arrive at our home have had a terrible experience behind them. New arrivals who are still with us who haven't settled in, who are restless, who don't want to eat - Gux calms them all down," continues Ewald Scheer. "Gux is given to all sad dogs as a companion. He makes friends with everyone. For example, he shows them how good the food tastes in the new home. Gux is so clever that he only eats a little from the bowl at a time, so that his respective companion still has enough left for himself."

Many enthusiastic animal lovers wanted to take Gux home with them. But he should now stay forever in the Scheers' animal shelter. "This is his home." The Scheers are smiling - and so is Gux. Gux is the good spirit of the animal shelter.