Reader photo of the day: A broken back didn't slow down Anna Marie, a rescued dog from Romania
Submitter Nancy Janes shares this wonderful shot of Anna Marie, a rescued dog with an amazing story we couldn't keep to ourselves.
Janes found and rescued Anna Marie in Galati, Romania, when she was just a puppy; Anna Marie had suffered a broken back as a result of being hit by a car. "Now, she is the 'wild child' of our family," Janes says of Anna Marie, who lives alongside six other rescued dogs from Romania.
Janes, a California resident, founded the group Romania Animal Rescue after visiting Romania on a hiking tour in 2001. In the capital city of Bucharest, she took time out to feed some stray dogs -- an abundance of strays is one legacy of Nicolae Ceauşescu's rule -- and encountered a young Romanian woman who was also feeding the animals.
"I told her I would go back to America and help Romania's dogs," Janes explained of the encounter. "She said, 'Everyone says they will help the Romanian dogs. Then they go home and forget.' Well, having heard this, I had to keep my word!"
We're so thankful she did -- as, we're sure, are the 300-plus dogs Romania Animal Rescue has successfully placed in adoptive homes in the years since! The group also funds free spay/neuter services for Romanian dogs and raises funds for veterinarians from the U.S. to travel to Romania to help Romanian vets master modern surgical techniques. Anna Marie is just one of the countless animals to have benefited from the group's good works.
Want to share your photo with us? Just head to the Pets & Animals category of Your Scene, The Times' photo-sharing site. Select the appropriate album, click the "submit" link at the top of the page, choose your photo (.jpg format) and include a caption that tells us a little about your subject matter. We'd love to see it!
-- Lindsay Barnett
Photo: Nancy / Your Scene