Press / Alma
Alma: her rescue, surgery and new life in Luxembourg
By Viktor Larkhill · Updated 11 September 2026
When we rescued Alma, an enormous mass hung from one of her legs. She tried to get away from people despite its weight and the pain. She was terrified.
The first rescue video was published on 1 September 2022. Tests, surgery and months of care followed. This is her story through adoption and the visit to her family in Luxembourg that we published in October 2025.
The rescue and her first days in hospital
Alma needed hospital care. She arrived with anaemia and infection. The team began cleaning and dressing the mass every day while investigating how to operate. Her condition had to improve before surgery.
Our priority was to remove the mass and preserve her leg if we could. The investigations included a CT scan and tests to identify the growth. A liposarcoma was initially suspected, but we did not yet have a final diagnosis.
At the hospital, she began accepting some of our care and eating from our hands. That did not mean her fear had gone. We had to be patient whenever we approached her.
Watch Alma’s rescue on YouTubePublished 1 September 2022
The operation that saved her leg
Alma underwent surgery on 12 September 2022. In the days beforehand, we had waited for her anaemia to improve and completed her assessment for the operation.
The surgeons removed the mass while preserving her leg. When she woke up, she no longer had to lift that weight with every step. We published the surgery video the following day.
She remained in hospital and received a blood transfusion. The swelling in her leg began to subside. We still needed one answer that would determine her next treatment: the laboratory result.
Watch Alma’s operation on YouTubePublished 13 September 2022
The laboratory result changed the treatment plan
We sent the mass to the laboratory. On 26 September, we shared the result: it was a fibroadnexal hamartoma, a benign lesion.
That changed the plan we had discussed in the first videos. Removing the mass had been curative, and Alma did not need chemotherapy. The initial suspicion of a liposarcoma was ruled out.
The earlier videos still contain the concerns and treatment plans we had at the time. This update explains the diagnosis that ultimately determined her care.
Watch the laboratory update on YouTubePublished 26 September 2022
At Casa Grande, she began to trust
We published Alma’s discharge and arrival at Casa Grande on 27 September. Maribel and the team continued caring for her in a place where they could spend time with her outside the routines of a hospital stay.
Her recovery took months. She needed to feel safe when someone came near. The updates from that period record small, visible changes: she began wagging her tail, accepting touch and choosing to stay close to people.
On 26 October, we published a video of Alma learning to play. Seeing her like that showed us how far she had come since the rescue. By November, we were looking for a family ready to give her patience, time and a stable home.
Watch Alma learning to play on YouTubePublished 26 October 2022
A family was waiting in Luxembourg
Alma found that family with Alice in Luxembourg. They already had two dogs. At the end of January 2023, we made the journey to take her to them.
On 31 January, we shared the news that Alma was settling into her new home. Her adoption video was published on 1 February.
A chapter that had begun on the street was ending. We had removed the mass, preserved her leg and stayed with her until she was ready for family life. Her story would continue with them.
Watch Alma arrive at her new home on YouTubePublished 1 February 2023
We went back to see her
In 2025, we returned to Luxembourg. We published the visit on 3 October, more than two years after her adoption.
Alma came close and allowed herself to be stroked. The dog who had arrived so frightened was living with her family and her companions. Alice welcomed us into their home, and we could see that everyday life for ourselves.
This is the most recent video follow-up collected on this page. It records a visit in 2025. Thank you to everyone who made her rescue and the care that followed possible. And thank you, Alice, for giving her a family.
Watch the reunion with Alma on YouTubePublished 3 October 2025
The complete story
The long documentary brings together Alma’s journey. Published on 13 September 2023, it runs for 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Watch the complete documentary in English
For journalists
For questions about Alma, interviews or requests for photographs and original footage, contact Let’s Adopt International. Please include the material you need and your deadline.