Can you help me save Petra? Please read her story.

Hi! I’m Mekena. I have never had the need to start a go fund me. I guess I never had a cause big enough to need to. But, that was before I met Petra. To give you a bit of back story, I am engaged to be married and my Mom wanted to have a final Mother/Daughter trip together before my marriage. So, she booked a trip for us to the Middle East where we visited Israel and Jordan. Upon arriving in Jordan we almost immediately noticed all of the stray dogs. I would call them feral but in fact most of these homeless dogs were quite friendly. Any small sign of affection seemed like such a thankful gesture for them. Unfortunately, these dogs are born on the streets most never making it much past the point of being weaned for lack of food and water, disease and neglect all taking its toll. We found ourselves saving part of our meals to give to them as almost anywhere you went there were homeless dogs of all ages waiting for a morsel of food or a scratch between the ears. Our driver explained to us that the people of Jordan do not view dogs as pets and in their eyes are considered filthy animals. So, they are treated worse than livestock and are in most cases despised. Restaurants would rather throw food in the garbage than to feed the homeless dogs begging for a scrap. Due to a lack of government intervention through any kind of spay or neuter program they are allowed to breed at will which only continues to increase the population of homeless dogs. Mostly these are a breed called a CAANAN which is one of the worlds oldest breeds used originally and still used as shepherd dogs. For a dog that for centuries has faithfully tended and protected flocks and shepherds it is such a shame to see them treated so cruelly by the very society that this dog has entrusted their lives to.

The story of Petra began on our last day in Jordan when we arrived in Petra to hike to the monument. Upon arrival there is a large courtyard with brick paver stones and around the courtyard are souvenir booths, food/drink booths and lots of tourists milling about to begin the hike. In the desert it gets very, very cold at night so the courtyard becomes filled with dogs that seek the heat from the bricks to stay warm at night and in the morning as the tourists arrive early to begin the hike these dogs are often still sound asleep on the bricks. The morning we arrived we found Petra on these bricks, curled up and trembling in pain unable to move, unable to open her eyes, starving and clearly was left to die. We estimated her no more than possibly 4 months old and we knew somehow we needed to help her. We tried to give her water but she was too weak to drink and could take no food. At one point a shop owner stopped by to tell us the problem was earlier in the morning as she lay sleeping a tourist had stepped on her and most likely had broken her leg. We began to make calls to vet offices but no one was avail or willing to help a homeless dog. Unbelievably, as we were standing next to her a 2nd tourist stepped on her again!! This time stepping on her hip and she screamed in pain. At that moment we knew there was absolutely no way we were leaving her to be stepped on over and over again until she had so many injuries she would die a slow agonizing death. We were able to move her next to a wall and continued to reach out to anyone we could find via instagram, FB and google searches. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a response until after we already had to leave her which was heartbreaking. Miraculously, we finally received a message back just after we had left from Rodica a woman that runs a shelter for homeless dogs in Aqaba a 2 hour drive away. Through her help we were able to get Petra picked up and driven to the shelter to get stabilized. Once stabilized, Petra was moved to a vet an additional 2 hours from the shelter. She has now been vaccinated, microchipped, treated for ticks, her leg has been treated, and she has been fed, watered, and bathed. Our goal for Petra now is to come home to me to be my companion and to live the remainder of her life in good and loving care. There are many expenses associated with making that happen. The vet care that she is receiving now will be expensive and I want to reimburse the wonderful people that have been willing to drive her at their expense to the shelter and to the vet RT, the shelter will have boarding expenses as she must remain in Jordan for 30 days after her rabies shot to ensure that she has sufficient titers to be allowed entrance and finally the paperwork and shipping costs to get her here. Needless to say, this would have required me to save for many months to fit this into my budget and Petra does not have that much time. As much as I would like to save every dog in Jordan I know that I can’t, but I can save one with your help.

My bigger goal is to in some way have Petra gain awareness in Jordan to do more and to help more with the responsibility they have in getting this problem under control and to help raise funds for people like Rodica who are in some ways working to fight almost losing battle. I have such deep respect for her and people like her in Jordan who are fighting every single day to try to help this breed of dog which instead of being despised should be viewed as a national treasure. Thank you for your donation and pls share my go fund me. Any dollars over the amount needed will be directly donated to the Rodica’s shelter to help the 520 dogs currently waiting for a placement. Finally, if you have the means and this post has touched your heart, please consider adopting one of the many Jordanian dogs that would love to find a family they can love. I would love to get you in contact with Rodica herself. Many of the dogs there will never know what it’s like to have someone save them.

How did we get the name Petra? Well... obviously we found her in Petra. But "Petra" translated from arabic means rock: unshakeable and resilient which is what she is.

05/08/23 UPDATE *

Petra is at the shelter with 500 other dogs, waiting to do her titer test. The CDC requires the titer test to be taken 30 days after her rabies vaccine which means we wait until 05/25/23. She is in a cage with one other dog that she gets along with, but the sounds of barking and bigger dogs scare her. With your help, I’ve been able to pay for a vet check, all of the vaccinations she has needed, her first bath and tick removal, a CDC approved microchip, and I have enough saved up to get her titer test paid for. The most expensive part will be the travel expenses getting her here and we are still trying to work out the logistics. I’ve been working on trying to find someone who could fly with her from Jordan to help me cut down the cost, but my options are slim. Please pray for a miracle! Thank you for helping me get half way to my goal, it really means so much.

07/11/23 UPDATE *

Thank you to everyone who donated!! Because of your support, we have officially received CDC approval for Petra to travel to NYC! She will be traveling with Rodica and her husband who run the shelter in Jordan. They happen to be traveling to the US for the first time for vacation on September 1st, so the timing could not be more perfect. I will be booking my flight there to pick her up and bring her to Seattle. I cant believe we will be reunited again soon.