Roadtrip to Germany and Paris!

Pablo had his very own little adventure a week ago when he took 47 dogs and cats to Germany. The shelter he volunteers at has many adoptions from Germans- they love cats and dogs! So every couple months a truck load of animals goes up and this time Pablo volunteered for the adventure. He went with two other guys and they rotated the driving duties, with one as a co-pilot and the other one sleeping. They left the shelter around 2 pm and drove all night until they arrived at the first drop off point in Germany around 8am. The animals did really well to be in cages for 19+ hours. Only one dog was super freaked out and peed and pooped on himself but the rest of the animals held it!! Can you believe it??! In total they had 4 drop off points before they headed to the house they would be staying the night. Some of the animals were met by their new owners with treats and new leashes and others were dropped off at local animal shelters. Overall it was really positive and Pablo really admired all the Germans that adopt animals in the worst conditions and whom they've only seen pictures. They do it because they generally love animals and want to help. One woman was brought to tears when she saw her dog, a greyhound, (which are severly mistreated and abused in Spain) because she looked far worse than I'm sure she imagined. She had all 4 paws bandaged up, a ripped ear and many visible scars. But the dog was so happy to see her that she was whining for attention and wanted to be scratched with her tail wagging the whole time. I'm sure it was a wonderful and heartbreaking scene.

The Truck!

On the road

Sleeping area in the truck

Meal at a gas station at 8am

Gas station

One of the dogs and its new owner- finally taking a walk after
a long trip!

They arrived at their host's house around 8pm and were invited to dinner at the local brewery. There Pablo got to eat a typical German meal and drink real German beer- he was in heaven! Pablo really liked the beer so he bought a mini keg to bring home. I'm really glad he did because the beer was SO GOOD. I loved it! The hosts were very friendly and Pablo got to act as translator as they only spoke German and English. The other two Spaniards didn't speak a lot of English so Pablo was the center of attention!

Authentic German Dinner!

 

The crew and German hosts

They finally had a good night sleep a good meal and a shower and then headed back on the road around 11 am Sunday. They took their time coming home because they didn't have 47 dogs and cats to worry about so they decided to stop in Paris. Pablo had never been to Paris so he was pretty excited. They luckily found parking for the truck and then played tourist for the next two hours checking out Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower's light show. They also did the driving tour and passed by the Arc de Triumpf on the way out of town.

Notre Dame

Officially in Paris

The light show they got to see

Pablo finally got to our house around 11 am Monday morning baring gifts- tourist goodies from Paris and sausages, beer, mustard and breads from Germany. Pablo had a great time even though it was really hard to drive so much in a short amount of time but it was a great experience and he helped so many animals find new homes and that is the best part of it all.