Beautiful Bobby! This poor boy had an owner in Bali, but he was in such poor condition, his owner agreed to surrender him and thank God he did. From the beginning, we had suspected Bobby was a golden retriever but it was hard to tell–he was skin and bones and had large chunks of fur missing.
Bobby was taken to the vet and was found with a terribly uncomfortable skin condition and a blood parasite, which explained his skeletal frame. This sweet boy was put into foster care where his foster carer tried to fatten him up.
When Bobby was rescued from his neglectful owner, he was in a terrible condition
Slowly, but surely, his fur started to grow back and he started looking more and more like the gorgeous golden retriever he was born to be. However, Bobby’s skin condition never fully cleared up and today, he still suffers. This is because many western breed dogs don’t belong in the Bali climate. The climate here is lovely for humans, but for dogs, it can be too hot, harsh, and humid and can be a breeding ground for bacteria. The native Bali dog is a tough breed and they have adapted over the decades.
The owner finally decided to give Bobby to professionals, so that they could properly take care of him
Bored Panda reached out to Mission Paws’ible and Bobby’s owner with some questions. First, we wanted to know a little bit more about Mission Paws’ible and the work that they do for the animals.
“Mission Paws’ible isn’t a shelter. We rescue, rehabilitate and rehome abused, sick and neglected dogs from the streets of Bali. We have a large network of foster carers who take in the animals while they are healing and the founder, Prue Barber, currently has a lot of dogs healing at her home. We support solo rescuers with advice and resources. However, because the stray dog situation here in Bali has become so bad, we are raising funds to build The Healing Centre as we simply don’t have enough foster carers to help us look after all our rescues. The Healing Centre will be a special place to help our rescues decompress and heal. We will only ever have 30-40 at a time and our treatments will include music therapy, coconut oil massages and a lot of vitamin D and rest.”
The poor pup was diagnosed with a blood parasite and severe and uncomfortable skin condition
As we mentioned before, we also reached out to Bobby’s owner to find out a little bit more about the dog’s personality.
“Bobby is the most mellow dog who loves the beach and rolling in the sand. He’s starting to become more confident and explorative. You can tell he’s had a rough life – he’s slow to warm to people, dislikes busy streets, and sticks close to my side whenever we’re outside. But more recently, he’s started to have moments where he acts/looks like a young dog. He’s started to sniff around more, to run a little further on the beach from me. Above all, he’s just a mellow dog who loves a rub and is happy at home.”
Safe and sound (though he didn’t like the cone!) in foster care
We were also curious whether Bobby was the only dog in the house or if his owner had more pets.
“Bobby is the only dog I have (although I wish I could get him a dog sibling) and he is actually my first pet. While I’ve lived with roommates who’ve had dogs, I’ve never had one of my own. I’ve learned so much about dogs, dog care, and myself in adopting Bobby.”
Out of all dogs that Bobby’s owner could’ve chosen she still chose him, so we wanted to know what was the reason behind that.
“The pandemic has been really hard for everyone in Bali, but particularly difficult for dogs who have been abandoned at an unbelievable rate. Months into the pandemic I rescued a little puppy out of a drain in front of my house. While my neighbor went on to adopt the puppy, I felt bad knowing that I could take a dog in now because I was working from home. Bobby caught my eye on Mission Paws’ible’s Instagram account because he has these sad, loving eyes.”
Then Bobby finally found a caring and loving owner
Soon enough, Bobby found his furever home and was adopted by a loving woman who lived next to the beach! These days, you can find Bobby running along the sands of Bali, tail wagging, happy as can be.
Bobby is living a happy life now, so we asked the owner to share some funny stories about her dog.
“Despite living in Bali, I think Bobby had never been in the ocean. Although he is a golden retriever mix, he’s a bit afraid of the waves/water. On our third or fourth trip to the beach, we were playing in the sand and I ran into the ocean (ankle deep) and he ran after me. When he realized what happened, he grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go, so I had to carry him out of the water. It took me months to get him back into the water. While he’ll never be an ocean swimming dog, he now loves a stream, tide-pooling, and rolling around in the sand!”
In his forever home, he started the long journey to recovery
Bobby being the brilliant dog that he is we also wanted what his owner’s favorite thing about him was.
“My favorite thing about Bobby is how sweet and gentle he is. I’m impressed that despite being treated poorly by people in the past, he still is able to receive and give affection.”
Bobby’s story also went viral on the internet, so we asked the owner how she felt about that too.
“I’m surprised that so many resonated with his story. He really deserves a better life than when he was found and I hope that I’ll be able to give him that!”
Lastly, we asked the golden retriever’s owner to tell us what she’d like people to take away from this story.
“This would never have been possible without the true heroes in Bobby’s rescue story, Tara and Mark, Bobby’s foster parents. They nursed him from the brink of life and took care of him when just his smell could have repulsed a person. I couldn’t have imagined how hard it would be to support Bobby’s rehabilitation, but every day has been an adventure and learning lesson with him and I’ve been so supported by his foster parents. Sometimes looking at Bobby makes me want to run up and hug him thinking about the transformation he’s undertaken.”
Bobby is an adorable and very photogenic pooch
Bobby’s first trip to the beach!
As the months passed, he was almost a completely healthy dog
And finally, he turned into the golden retriever he was always meant to be
To help more dogs like Bobby, we are on a mission to build The Healing Centre – a place where abused, neglected and ill dogs can find respite and finally heal. If you would like to support us, please donate!
