Some dogs seem to just have unbreakable spirits, and no matter what happened to them in the past, they continue to enjoy life to the fullest. In this case, it’s this dog named Amira who is living proof that no hardship is impossible to overcome.
Amira was born with only two back legs and wandered around the streets of Thailand for nine years. While she was trying to survive another day, someone shot her in the head. Luckily, she was rescued by the Soi Dog Foundation just in time, and she managed to survive.
Her sad story was seen by a Canadian woman, Lara, who “follows hundreds of dog rescues on Instagram.” Lara made it her mission to give Amira the best possible life she could and, therefore, adopted the dog.
Now, Amira lives a fulfilling life in Canada, and besides counting 13 years, she is full of life and joy.
Meet Amira, the resilient two-legged dog who finally found the happiness she deserved after 9 years of enduring life on the streets
Originally from Thailand, Amira was rescued by the Soi Dog Foundation after being found with a gunshot wound to her head
Bored Panda reached out to Amira’s mom, Lara Pleasence, who shared more about Amira’s story.
First of all, Lara introduced herself: “I live in Montreal, Canada with my husband, 2 teenagers, and 4 dogs. I have always loved animals a bit more than most, and I follow hundreds of dog rescues on Instagram. The work that these rescues do always amazes me.”
Despite all the hardships, Amira recovered and was wagging her tail with an unfaltering spirit
Lara explained what motivated her to reach out to the Soi Dog Foundation and ultimately adopt Amira despite already having three dogs.
“It was Soi Dog’s recent video of a sweet street dog who was born without front legs, and lived 9 years trying to survive until someone shot her in the head. Seeing Amira, as they called her, so sick, with a thumb-sized hole over her left eye, but as the vets at Soi Dog Foundation were treating her very painful wounds, her tail never stopped wagging. That shattered my heart and I knew right then I couldn’t risk that she would go to somebody who wouldn’t give her everything that she deserved. I just wanted to love her and give her a happily ever after,” shared Lara.
Lara, now Amira’s devoted mom, stumbled upon posts about her story in 2020. Since then, she made it her mission to provide Amira with the loving home she deserved in Canada
The overseas adoption process can take a long time, therefore we asked Lara to describe her experience and the challenges that their family was faced with.
“When Amira first arrived at the shelter they feared that she was too sick to ever be able to leave the shelter, since her liver and kidneys were in such a bad state due to eating garbage for all of her life. I was heartbroken, but I knew that I still wanted to help out in any way, and the adoption coordinator was kind enough to send me videos and updates about her health and I even got to FaceTime with Amira. Finally, after six months, by some miracle, she healed enough to travel all the way to us in Canada.
Unfortunately, it was 2020 when I first saw Amira and Covid was going on, so Soi Dog Foundation had no flight volunteers, who would normally be flying between Canada and Thailand for business or leisure, and they are asked to bring the dog as their cargo, which greatly lessens the expense of flying a dog to the adopter’s country.
Since no one was flying back and forth to Thailand, we had to pay the full price of shipping her to us, but I really think that I would have mortgaged the house to get her here. I felt that strongly about her.
She finally made the 22-hour flight from Bangkok to Montréal, and unbelievably, she bounced out of her crate as if she had known us forever. It was the most beautiful homecoming and I will never forget how happy she was and that her energy matched ours, almost exactly. She was so excited to meet everyone and there seemed to be no adjustment period whatsoever. It was as if she had been waiting for this moment for her whole life,” wrote Lara.
After the successful adoption process, Amira embarked on a journey to a new life, finding safety and comfort with Lara and her family, a household with 3 other dogs
Thousands of kilometers away from the familiar streets Amira once knew, she now resides safely in a cozy home in Montreal. Lara shared how Amira adapted to her new, very different lifestyle.
“Amira is a true miracle and has taken to home living without missing a beat. She taught herself the 14th stairs to our second floor on day two, without us even being there to witness it. I had lost sight of her in the kitchen, only for a moment, and then started running around asking my husband if he’d seen her, and he said no. When we couldn’t find her anywhere on the first floor, we looked at each other and at the stairs, and then thought that there was no possible way she could be upstairs… but when we ran up the stairs, there she was, asleep on our bed.
You would never think for one minute that she spent her life on the streets since she has adapted so incredibly well to the life of an indoor and very pampered dog. She wants to be beside you on the couch, she wants to go in the car if we’re going out anywhere and she loves to go for boat rides and out on the paddleboard. She just wants to be with her pack and her people and it is the sweetest thing to see. She’s slowly even getting used to our winters, which has taken a couple of years, but she doesn’t seem to mind it anymore (we have loads of sweaters, jackets, and hats for her),” wrote Lara.
Amira arrived in a wheelchair, but nowadays, she uses prosthetic legs to navigate her surroundings
We were curious to learn what impact Amira has had on Lara’s family and the community around her since her arrival. Lara happily shared: “Amira is such a warrior and has never let anything stop her. People were so amazed to see her out in her wheelchair, zooming through the streets and at the dog park and then we got the most amazing chance to have prosthetic legs made for her by 3d.pets. She was 11 years old, and most people believed that an old dog would never be able to learn how to walk in these new legs, but with time, patience, love, and lots of cookies, Amira proved everybody wrong.
She started off with lower sets of legs and finally worked her way up to her new “Barbie pink” legs, and she is more mobile now than she has ever been. She’s obsessed with going for walks, and actually hops up the curbs to get on the grass to smell anything and everything and then jumps down off the curb back on the road to continue on her way. It still amazes me every time I see her walking. Turns out that you can teach an old dog new tricks.”
Lara takes Amira on walks, kayaking, and all sorts of fun bucket-list adventures to count for the time in Thailand
Lara’s Instagram account dedicated to Amira has garnered significant attention and support. We asked how it feels to receive such positive feedback, and what message Lara hopes to convey through Amira’s story and adventures.
“I love Amira‘s Instagram family so much. She has so many incredible supporters and they write so many beautiful comments, and it renews my faith in humanity. What was done to Amira was horrific, but the people who support her now, who cheer her on and know how incredible she is, make my heart smile.
I love that Amira is an ambassador for special dogs that maybe don’t look like your typical purebred dog or a dog with all of their limbs. She is perfectly imperfect and she is showing the world that even if you look a bit different, you can still have such an incredible impact.
That special needs dogs, shelter dogs, street dogs, and senior dogs all want and deserve a loving home!!! She is inspiring so many, spreading the word that different doesn’t mean broken and that older doesn’t mean washed up. She has so much life to live and loves to give. We joke that she’s aging backward and it’s this incredible spirit of hers that has encouraged so many people to keep moving forward if they’re having a bad day or to stop focusing on their past, but to stay in the present, like Amira does, because you might miss the fun that is right in front of you. We all need to be a little bit ‘more like Mimi’,” wrote Lara.
Amira proved to be the sweetest dog, winning over the hearts of everyone she meets
Amira’s story serves as a reminder of the importance of resilience and seizing each moment to its fullest no matter the past
