Menina's Story |
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MENINA - MADEIRA’S LUCKIEST DOG?
By Sheila Toney
A lace tablecloth or a bottle of Madeira wine were the sort of souvenirs the family of Reg and Sheila Limpkin expected them to bring back from their holiday on the Island last year. However, this retired couple from Battle, East Sussex in England surprised all their relatives with a much more original memento of their visit.
The unique souvenir - a small brown dog called “Menina” (young lady in Portuguese) recently arrived to join the Limpkin household.
“It has not been easy”, Sheila, aged 77, comments with a smile. That may well be the understatement of the year! It has taken nine long months for the Limpkins to bring Menina to her new home in the U.K.
Sheila continues: “We would not have Menina with us now if it had not been for the wonderful help given to us by the staff of SPAD (Madeira’s Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals). They have all been great, including Veterinary Dr. Sofia Vasconcelos.
How did grandparents Sheila and Reg, who is 78, come to adopt Menina? Sheila explains: “We were staying at a hotel in Funchal when we noticed a little dog, apparently living as a stray with her puppies in the hotel gardens. She was so friendly and sweet that we decided to help her. We contacted SPAD and the dog together with her pups were all taken into the care of the Society. We visited her regularly during the rest of our holiday and decided that we had to adopt her”.
She adds: "It was difficult for us to leave her behind for her period of quarantine but our holiday came to an end all too quickly. Luckily, after we returned home to England, we were able to keep in close contact with Sofia and SPAD”.
Menina is already happily settled in her new home and is having to be persuaded gently that it is better to sleep in her own bed than on the Limpkins’ furniture. Reg (a former senior Building Clerk of Works at the British Museum) and Sheila, who was Personal Assistant to a Sixth Form Co-ordinator with the London Education Authority, are both delighted with the ease with which Menina has taken to her new surroundings.
"She has bonded completely with us and already, she is a member of the family. Even the fireworks on Bonfire Night last month did not worry her; she just slept contentedly through all the noise. Our son, Andrew and our daughter, Susan as well as our two grown-up grandsons, Kenneth and Nicholas all think the world of our little souvenir from Madeira" Sheila says. She adds: "We are so lucky to have her with us at last".
Menina is rather lucky too. In fact, she may just be the luckiest Madeiran dog ever.
SPAD website: To make a donation or to look at their website simply click on the spad info image at top of the page
7.5 - 2 votes |
Comments |
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tina Menina's Story - on 24 Feb : 15:05 | |
 Regards Tina Andersson, Sweden |
sam Menina's Story - on 02 Mar : 19:39 | |
 Good luck MAC  |
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