Ruzgar the gorgeous Boxer was locked in a world of sadness until fate took its hand and brought him into the AFOT rescue network. Today the once sad lad is living the life of his dreams in wonderful rural Yorkshire. This is his story

This beautiful Boxer boy had such a sad early life devoid of all kindness and care.

Ruzgar was initially bought by a Turkish man from a respected lover of Boxer dogs over there, and Ruzgar had been with him for around two years when his new owner became terminally ill.

The breeder found out about the situation and immediately agreed to take Ruzgar back if only to keep him out of the hands of more disreputable individuals who were pushing to get hold of him for a breeding farm.

That would have been no life for such a beautiful dog who would have almost certainly been destined to spend the rest of his life either caged or chained 24/7.

The Boxer lover was shocked when Ruzgar came back to him as the poor boy was so horrendously malnourished, scarred and it was obvious that he had been tied up for hours on end on a chain.

So Ruzgar was now reunited with his Mum and sister and the Boxer lover did all he could for a while to help the poor lad.

However, it was clear that he was struggling to cope with three Boxers and it was obvious that there could be no permanent place for Ruzgar there.

It was then that an English neighbour and friend pointed him towards Animal Friends of Turkey and it was they who contacted us on his behalf.

We sent one of our volunteers to collect him and the contrast between the health and condition of Ruzgar and that of his Mum and sister was shocking.

Ruzgar, which means ‘Wind’ in Turkish, was moved straight into AFOT foster care where the work began to slowly nurture him and bring him back to health with medication and huge dollops of TLC.

It was clear from the moment that he arrived into our care that this special boy somehow realised he was safe at last.

He responded really well to the care he was given and his wonderful character soon started to emerge.

The task then was to find just the right home for him in the UK and we were extremely lucky in our search.

As it happens, experienced Boxer owners Mark and Joanne Molloy had just started their own search for a new family member after sadly losing their family Boxer dog Peaches.

It was during this search that they spotted Ruzgar’s story online and immediately fell in love with him.

They applied and it was soon very obvious that we had found just the perfect home and the perfect family for Ruzgar.

This all happened in the early period of the Covid pandemic which meant a delay before eventually getting Ruzgar over to the UK and united with his new family.

Mark and Joanne were kept up to date with Ruzgar’s progress by the AFOT foster carers in Turkey and they also got to hear of all his antics as his character started to blossom.

Ruzgar had gained weight and grown in confidence in foster care but it was still a rather small and very frightened three-year-old Boxer who eventually arrived with the Molloys.

He soon settled though in his wonderful new surroundings in rural South Yorkshire.

He was moved on to a raw food diet and they were soon able to build up his strength and muscles through gradually extended walks around the lovely countryside there.

In early 2021 he had to undergo some dental treatment and it was then that it was spotted that he had a number of broken teeth and a misaligned jaw. 

It was thought that this may well have been caused by a combination of malnutrition and abuse when he was a young pup.

Later in the same year he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture while playing with one of his many new doggy friends.

He is now recovering well and gradually rebuilding his strength and there is one thing that is for sure – he could not be more loved and pampered anywhere than he is with the Molloys.

Mum Joanne Molloy has since stepped forward as a volunteer to help lead the much-needed push for income generation for the AFOT charity in the UK.

And Ruzgar himself has become something of an AFOT star, even featuring on one of the AFOT Christmas cards at the end of 2020.  Joanne is an extremely talented artist and it was one of her paintings of Ruzgar that was used on one of the cards.

Followers of the AFOT Facebook page will also no doubt have been kept amused by the regular posts showing his antics and progress in Yorkshire.  This lad has certainly fallen on his feet.