Maria, Haley, Hannah, and Tommy were rescued from the infamous Gido Cave and subsequently brought to the United States for adoption. Maria was adopted by a resident of the Houston area. Haly and Hannah were taken by Best Friends Animal Society to its sanctuary in Utah and were eventually adopted. Tommy was also adopted by a resident of the Houston area. Best Friends update

These four wonderful dogs narrowly escaped a slow painful death from dehydration and starvation when they were rescued a few days after being discovered in the Gido Cave on June 25th by the Homeless Animal Protection Society (HAPS) of Ethiopia with the assistance of International Fund for Africa (IFA), headquartered in Houston, Texas. The Gido Cave, which is actually a pit, has been used to get rid of unwanted dogs for over 20 years. Dogs thrown into the cave died there.

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The rescue was broadcast on Ethiopian television, and, as a result of the national publicity, IFA and the Homeless Animal protection Society of Ethiopia were able to have the cave closed. The rescue was memorialized in a song titled “One Small Dog” by British singer/songwriter Maria Daines to call international attention to and raise some funds to help the plight of Ethiopian dogs.

The four rescued dogs were brought to the HAPS facilities where they were examined by a veterinarian and received medical care. Unfortunately, the HAPS facility had to close due to the inability of several supporting organizations to make good on promised funding, and the dogs would have had to be euthanized.

To prevent this cruel fate for these poor creatures, International Fund for Africa brought the four dogs to the United States for adoption to call attention to the plight of HAPS and the 200,000 to 250,000 homeless dogs in Addis Ababa. Upon their arrival in the United States, these Lucky Dogs were kenneled courtesy of The Pet Palace at its facility in Clear Lake. The Pet Palace also provided free obedience training.

The story of Maria, Haley, Hannah, and Tommy has a happy ending. For millions of homeless animals in Ethiopia, Africa, and other parts of the world the ending is not so happy. One of the primary purposes in bringing these “lucky dogs” to the United States was to call attention to hapless plight of the millions of other homeless animals. In this IFA can claim a modest success. Dr. Anteneh Roba, Founding President of IFA, was interviewed on KTRH NewsRadio in Houston, Texas. News items were also carried in the Houston Chronicle, on KTRK-TV ABC 13 Eyewitness News, as well as on Fox News Channel 26, KHCW-TV Houston Channel 39, CBS KHOU Houston Channel 11 (CBS affiliate), Go Vegan-TX (KPFT 90.1), and Air America.