IN LOVING MEMORY OF:
BENJIE AND FELIPE
WHEN BENJIE CAME INTO OUR LIVES WE WERE TOLD THAT HE WAS BETWEEN 10 AND 12 YEARS OLD. LAST WEEK WE WERE INFORMED BY AN INDEPENDENT VET THAT HE WAS CLOSER TO 25 YEARS OLD. THEN AGAIN TWO DAYS AGO A HORSE SPECIALIST, AFTER A CLOSE EXAMINATION, TOLD US THAT BENJIE WAS 30 PLUS YEARS OLD AND THAT HIS CHANCES OF SURVIVAL WERE VERY SLIM...ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THIS STORY OF BENJIE'S HORRIBLE HISTORY; TWENTY FIVE TO THIRTY YEARS OF HARD WORK AND UNTHINKABLE ABUSE, KNOWS THE LIVING HELL HE HAD TO ENDURE...THE ABOVE PHOTO IS ONE OF OUR FAVOURITES. ONE MORNING BENJIE ESCAPED FROM HIS HARNESS AND DECIDED TO EXPLORE THE POLICE COMPOUND. WHEN WE FOUND HIM HE WAS TOO TIRED TO EVEN LIE DOWN.
TODAY MAY 22, 2008 COQUI WAS TOLD THAT BENJIE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH OF A CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL, AND THAT HE MIGHT SURVIVE FOR A FEW MORE DAYS...HE WAS GIVEN A LONG DRINK OF WATER AND THEN HE WAS GENTLY LOWERED TO HIS MATTRESS AND SOFT FOAM CUSHION...COQUI PUT HIS BEAUTIFUL HEAD IN HER LAP AND GAVE HIM A TREAT OF NICE FRESH CARROTS...IT WAS THEN THAT COQUI DECIDED HE WOULD BE MOVED TO HER SANCTUARY WHERE SHE COULD BE WITH HIM ALL THE TIME...SHE WENT HOME TO GET SOME CLEAN SHEETS SO THAT SHE COULD GIVE HIM A NICE BATH, BUT SHE WAS TOO LATE. BENJIE WAS GONE...THAT BIG WONDERFULLY CARING HEART OF HER'S BROKE INTO MANY PIECES.
FELIPE
WHEN FELIPE CAME TO US, WE HAD GREAT HOPES FOR HIM. ALTHOUGH HE WAS BEING BADLY ABUSED, HE SEEMED TO BE IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE THAN BENJIE...AFTER ONLY 12 HOURS OF LOVING CARE, FELIPE COLLAPSED TO THE GROUND. IT WAS THEN WE DISCOVERED HE HAD A BROKEN HIP AND A BLEEDING INTERNAL INJURY...AGAIN COQUI HELD HIS HEAD IN HER LAP UNTIL HE PASSED AWAY. FELIPE WILL BE FOREVER LOVED AND MISSED.
