Molly's life began as a guard dog in an East African capital. We do not know much about her first “family”, but we do know that when they were moving back to their homeland, they threw Molly out on the street.
From that day onward, she faithfully sat in front of the house that used to be hers, but no one came for her. Street life was hard for Molly, as she was too sweet to defend herself from people who threw stones at her. She also struggled to feed herself, and to care for her puppies which inevitable came. Still, she kept waiting by her “family’s” gate, sad and confused, but also always willing to love on any human who was kind to her.
Her perseverance didn’t go unnoticed, and some kind neighbours alerted a lady who managed a local dog rescue network. And so, one day, she was finally able to pull Molly off the streets and get her into foster care. Shortly after, Molly got to meet her new family - a Swedish family who had been living with their three kids in Ethiopia for a few years. They could not resist her beautiful eyes and big smile - yes, Molly can really smile!
As soon as they saw her, she ran up to them, lifted her paw as if to say hello and immediately asked to be scratched and patted without interruption. And so Molly was happily adopted! Her family was totally in love with her, as Molly really was an amazing dog, in every way. Sweet, responsive, and cuddly! Gentle with every living being she met, humans, children, or other pets.
She became a security for her children, as well as for the children in her community. Molly also helped her family take care of many other dogs that they have fostered, while looking for permanent homes for them.
Molly has also become a loyal friend of many anxious people (many who lived with severe PTSD), which her family supported through their missionary work. Molly helped them to relax and open up – just like a true therapy dog!
Molly and her family have survived several large and small setbacks. Among other things, they were hit by a terrible flood in August last year, which tragically killed eight of their neighbours. Molly and her family were left homeless but were incredibly lucky to have made it all alive - especially Molly who used to hang out exactly where the waters hit, but fortunately was not there on that day.
In November, the civil war came closer to their city, and they were forced to quickly evacuate the country. They thought Molly's paperwork and passport were in order, so she accompanied them home to Sweden. But to their despair, Molly was stopped at Stockholm airport because a date was wrong in her vaccination records. Molly’s home country does not use the same calendar as European countries, so her veterinarian had made a mistake when counting the days between her rabies vaccine and her blood test, and - amid all the chaos - her family didn’t realize.
The family could choose between putting Molly down, or placing her in a four-month quarantine (which would cost several thousand dollars). The family could not pay that amount themselves, so things were looking gloomy, but then Molly’s story took another surprising turn! The lady from the local rescue network which had rescued Molly all those years ago started a fundraised to pay for Molly’s quarantine costs and so a community of generous people got together to save Molly one more time!
It is heartwarming to see how many people - from different parts of the world - came forward to support Molly (https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-molly-by-contributing-to-her-quarantine-cost).
Now Molly is sitting in quarantine in Stockholm airport, where she continues to charm everyone (even the staff of the quarantine facility has donated to her fundraiser!). Despite her numerous ordeals, this sweetheart has never lost faith in people, and never lost her smile! She is a survivor and a role-model. We cannot wait for Molly to get back to her family and live the life she deserves: Swedish green forests, lots of love and new adventures!
Stockholm, Sweden
