“You’d never guess she doesn’t have eyes.”
Three years ago, while walking by a park near her home in Mexico, a woman happened upon a heartbreaking scene.
There, shivering all alone by a chain-link fence, was an abandoned dog. Adding to that distressing discovery was the fact that the poor pup had been left to fend for herself in a world she could not see.
A closer look revealed that the dog had no eyes.
Unable to take the dog home herself, the woman who’d spotted her turned to social media, posting an appeal for help on Facebook.
That’s where Mauricio Perez first learned of her plight.
“Without hesitating, I went to go find her,” Perez told The Dodo. “She was super skinny. Her bones were showing.”
But in that instant, everything began to change.
Perez lifted the frightened dog into his arms and carried her home.
“My girlfriend helped me bathe her, and then we took her to the vet,” Perez said. “The vet told us she had not been born without eyes, but that something happened to her — like an injury or an untreated infection. I think her former owners mistreated her, but it is something we cannot know for certain.”
Though nothing could restore the dog’s sight, Perez committed himself to healing her soul.
Perez named the dog Concha, and he began the work of earning her trust.
“It was a process,” Perez said. “We gave her time to know that she was safe, caressing her every day until she started to let go of her fear.”
In time, as Concha’s timidness subsided, it was replaced by comfort and trust.
The light of love had managed to pierce the darkness of Concha’s world.
Initially, Perez fitted Concha with a “halo” implement to prevent her from bumping into things as she navigated her new home. But she soon learned to move about the house without it.
“She knows where every door is and every piece of furniture,” Perez said. “She knows where her food and water dishes are. She’s super intelligent. You’d never guess she doesn’t have eyes.”
Best of all, Concha always knows where to find affection.
“She loves being next to people,” Perez said.
It’s been three years since Concha was abandoned to face the world alone. But now she’s virtually unrecognizable from her former self, thanks to Perez’s love and care.
“She is very well, happy and healthy,” Perez said.
Concha had found a forever friend in Perez, as he did in her.
“Concha means so much to us,” Perez said. “She changed our lives. And I am so happy that we could change hers.”
