My name is: Olive Chen
I came from: Harbin, China
Now I live in: Bolton
My favourite things are: My mum and dad and their bed, treats, walks and barking at next doors cats, cuddles and my Romanian sister Roux
Follow me on Instagram: @olive_the_meat_trade_survivor

Olive’s story

Ever fallen in love on the internet? Having already adopted a street dog from Romania, we had an idea about the adoption process from abroad but we weren't really looking at that point to rescue another dog. Then in July 2020 I was watching a live stream from Slaughterhouse Survivors in China where they were trying to rescue some dogs and saw Olive completely shut down and broken. She had a horrific injury to her left eye, her fur was matted and she had just given up.

They managed to get her to the vets to remove her eye and over the following weeks I couldn’t get her off my mind, something about her body language and the frozen look on her little face wouldn’t leave my mind so I messaged the girls for information and just kept a look out every day for updates on her. At that point I didn’t even know which country she was destined for but couldn’t give up hope. My husband knew nothing about her at this point as I didn’t want to cause a divorce over a dog I wasn’t sure we could even adopt yet.

A month later, little snippets of information and a few photos came on Instagram and I knew she was the girl for us so broached the subject with my hubby who was none too enthusiastic to say the least but I knew he’d come round once he saw her. She came out of the vets and to the safehouse in China where she was thoroughly assessed by the team and months later I was told to contact Eve at Underdog about adopting her. Olive wasn’t at that point on the list for a flight to the UK so I expressed my interest and just sat back to wait. It was torture seeing her and not even knowing if she was ours yet but eventually in January 2021 I got an email saying we were to be assessed by the lovely Sam for adopting her and we were successful!!!!!!

COVID had hit and so the process was even slower and more complicated. We waited for news and a week before we were going on holiday in May 2021 to Pembrokeshire we got a call on the Wednesday saying Olive would be with us by Sunday!

To say I was worried was an understatement. Waiting for news and pictures of her journey kept me sane but the thought of what she was going through on that journey nearly broke my heart. I just wanted her in my arms and home. Sunday evening 2nd May we met Sam (who picked her up from the airport) and finally got to hold her. It had been ten long, heart wrenching months after I first fell in love with her. My husband was besotted and we said our goodbye to Sam and started our journey home.

Olive was quiet, a little hand shy and a little smelly but other than that seemed ok. We came home and let our other dogs see her outside in the garden….. it wasn’t the full on love fest I had hoped for but knew Roux would come round eventually. We let her decompress on her own and she ate the slept all night in our spare room. She greeted me with a waggy tail and over the next few days seemed to come out of her shell. She never once toileted in the house in fact she can hold her wee all day which is a habit I think she got from before she was rescued as I think she was crated for breeding before she ended up on a meat truck. She just didn’t know how to be a dog.

Our house backs onto fields and I don’t think she had ever seen or run in grass and watching her roll around and run through it was just utter joy for her and us. She made my heart flip and if ever I saw a dog smile the biggest smile it was definitely Olive. She learned quickly from the other dogs and soon after adopting her we went to Pembrokeshire for a family holiday….. Eight people and four dogs in one cottage. She loved every second, I took hundreds of pictures of her and she just got on with being part of our family. She really is the sweetest girl ever. She ran on beaches, walked the coastal path and just loved being with everyone.

Home and back to reality, Olive was I’d say an easy rescue temperament wise, she spent so long shut down in China that I think she uses this technique in situations she’s not sure about, she just settles down next to us or goes to bed out of the way. She follows the doggy habits of the others like barking at next doors cats but we can cope with this. The whole process of the adoption was easy to be honest, we were kept updated throughout and I felt she was assessed properly for her temperament as she was exactly as they said she was at the safehouse in China. We weren’t just left once she was home either Underdog spoke with us daily for a while and left vet numbers, behavioural advice etc. They couldn’t have been more supportive.

Nearly one year in and we are all completely in love with every bit of our China girl. She is the most adorable little lady and we tell her story wherever we go when people ask about her. She has been on numerous holidays, camped, walked hundreds of miles and just been the best companion we could have wished for. Olive and Roux are now inseparable and love each other to bits. It has honestly been a fairytale ending for all of us. People say she’s lucky but it’s us who fell lucky that day in July when I first saw her broken and given up at the rescue.

There are thousands of dogs all sizes and breeds with stories like Olive’s who just need a chance. Yes, it cost money but still less than a dog bought from a breeder making money out of selling puppies. Yes, we took a chance but she was assessed properly for our family and situation. There is a shelter dog for everyone if you just look around.

I can not recommend Eve and the team at Underdog enough and will be forever grateful to them for bringing her to us and allowing us to be her mum and dad. As I type this she’s on my bed sleeping soundly, she is safe and loved, she is a million miles away from the hell hole where she started. She’s just looked up at me with her one eye and I can’t help but smile at her adorable face. If I could adopt them all I would and I will always adopt in the future. Go on, fall in love on the internet….. who knows it could be the love of a lifetime.

- Murdina