I journeyed to India alone in search for a cure for the stage four cancer I have. My search landed me in Hyderabad at the end of May 2011. I was physically ill and exhausted. My stay was to last for 50 days at an Ayurvedic clinic. I had never been to India before though I have traveled extensively. I had spoken at length with a woman who travels to this clinic, on an annual basis, so I was as well prepared as I could have been.
What I could have never prepared for was the 107-112 degree temperatures or the stray dog problem!
My first day at the clinic I noticed a very skinny, one eyed female dog laying in the dirt in front of the Mondir. She seemed lifeless which wasn't terribly concerning since it was so darn hot. Later that day I noticed she had moved to the tile just beyond the dirt and she was convulsing. It was apparent she had had many litters of pups. I watched her for several days and became worried that she was dying. NO ONE else seemed to notice much less care. When I asked one of the clinic owners about the dog I got my first of many lessons in the cultural beliefs about the stray dogs. I was told to pay no attention they are strays and have rabies. If I left them alone I would be fine. I started asking the other patients, many of which were also Americans, about the dogs since many of them had been to the clinic multiple times. They started to educate me on the millions of strays in India, the treatment of them, how the culture as a whole approaches the problem and their beliefs about how this could have happened. The more I learned the more horrified I became. When I would ask a staff member about the dogs they would say they were dangerous, change the subject or tell me to ignore the dogs.
I could not ignore a dying dog. My family has two dogs and they are both two of the most delightful creatures on our planet. They are a HUGE part of our family. One of my fellow American patients (Kate) and I started feeding this one eyed dog that we started referring to as Baby, for the lack of a better name. We tried initially to do this so the family who owned the clinic wouldn't see that she was being fed as we were very clear they did not like the street dogs. Within a few weeks when we returned from our treatments she started to greet us as we got out of the car. This was the time we normally gave her food, when none of the family was around. I started talking to her and soon attempted to pet her. The first time I put my hand in front of her nose so she could smell me she bent her head down and I knew we were going to be friends. She started to greet the car wagging her tail. Kate and I were delighted to see her come back to life before our eyes. Kate managed to get one of the staff to cook rice and eggs for Baby without the family finding out. We were pleased to have the help as our leftovers weren't enough and often she wouldn't eat them.
As Baby was coming to life I witnessed the plight of the street dogs first hand. I experienced my first nightmare! I watched packs of men brandishing sticks walk through this "gated" community in search of stray dogs to beat to death. I listened from my treatment bed to dogs crying in agony as they were being beaten and were unable to escape. NOTHING in my life could have prepared me for this atrocity. In my country such a thing would create public outcry, prompt police involvement, jail, fines, media attention and an outpouring of families to adopt the innocent abused dogs. I went to the family after my first experience of hearing a dog being beaten and told them they needed to do something about the dogs being beaten, that this is awful and should not be allowed. They were the ones that informed me that it was illegal to beat the dogs and it was ignorant people that were doing it. I informed them that I didn't care who was doing it that it needed to stop. I let them know I couldn't get well listening to animals being tortured. They said nothing. When I approached my fellow patients about the beatings they agreed that it was awful but had seen it so much they to had gotten used to it. A few of them tried to suggest it was none of my business as I was a visitor in their country.... the old adage "When in Rome" someone suggested to me.
What became very clear to me within a short time was there was no way I could socialize Baby and then leave her in the streets of India. I started researching what I needed to do to get her home with me when I left. At this point my second nightmare began. I didn't have an Indian phone. My only access was in the clinic where the family worked so I was limited to trying to find a vet between 2-4pm. It became apparent quickly I wasn't going to accomplish anything this way. I had been telling friends at home about Baby and posting her picture on FaceBook and one of my friends said "I have an employee from India would you like me to see if he could help?" My friend and her employee were life savers! The employee, miraculously, once lived in Hyderabad and has a cousin still there. He (bless him) located a vet for me and after several attempts and phone calls managed to get the Vet to come to the clinic. Much to my surprise the Vet seemed afraid of Baby. He questioned me for about 20 minutes about Baby. "Did I know she was a street dog? How long has she been here? Why did I want to take a street dog home? Have you touched her? Why did I want to take a street dog home? Many have rabies. Do you have dogs at home? Why did I want to take a street dog home?" On and On it went.... Clearly, even he thought I was nuts! Finally he said he would vaccinate her if she was leashed and muzzled with the leash wrapped through an iron gate and held by a man. Baby was a VERY good girl. She sat very still as I held her head in my hands telling her she was going to be okay. She gave a small cry when the first needle went in and then sat quietly till he was done. The Vet then requested we not let her loose until he could move away so she wouldn't bite him when she was freed. I was absolutely ASTONISHED at his request. He had been trained to work with dogs but the cultural hysteria had affected even him. When Baby was set loose she shook and walked over to her hole in the dirt and lay down! I made an attempt to educate the Vet about what rabid dogs look and act like. It most assuredly wasn't what Baby was acting like. Baby got sick from the shots and wouldn't eat for several days. I grew concerned and noticed she had an open wound that looked infected. I had to call the Vet. He came back to the clinic and gave her a shot of antibiotics. This time he didn't require us to muzzle her but she was leashed and tied to the iron gate with the same man holding the leash. I did see it as progress! These shots were more painful for Baby as she openly cried and ran off when we let her loose. She never attempted to bite anyone and within a few hours came looking for me to get some petting.
My progress to learning the necessary details of getting her home were painfully slow. I would get different answers depending on who I talked to. Many times I was told to call back in 10 min only to call back to a non working number. How does that happen? Remember I was in a country where I didn't speak the language or understand the culture. I had a great deal of difficulty understanding people on the phone as I am sure they had the same trouble with me. I tried to find information on the internet, which ultimately was my primary source, but the internet connection was sporadic at best and terribly unreliable. It was a frustratingly slow process and I had NO help beyond finding the Vet. I was grateful my stay was so long as it gave me a lot of time to do the research. Mind you I was also in treatment for 5 hours a day on average.
Baby's health improved after her antibiotics kicked in and she put on some weight. She, much to my amazement, went into heat. It told me she was no longer dying and going to be okay. I was thrilled.....for a short time. My third nightmare started. All of the male strays in the neighborhood started hanging around the clinic trying to mate with Baby and the dog fights began. I was beside myself. The family had three small children and were clearly afraid of the dogs and I would say with good reason. Fighting dogs are scary and should always be treated with great caution. When I would try and run them off Baby would come out of her hole and attack them. I quickly realized that she was trying to protect me, as I was her!!! It was an awful time. As I was returning from treatment one day Kate came running up to me and said the family had called the dog catcher. CRAP CRAP CRAP. Not that I could blame them but I DID NOT WANT BABY TAKEN BY THE DOG CATCHER! I went back to the clinic and begged them not to let Baby get taken by the dog catcher. I begged all of the staff and anyone else who would listen to me. I assured them that Baby was coming home with me and was no longer a stray nor was she dangerous and she didn't have rabies. One of the family told me not to worry. He said it was the strangest thing but every time the dog catcher was called it seemed the dogs "knew" and they disappeared for a few days until the dog catcher had come and gone. I thought to myself "ya right, your going to let them take Baby". I had put a collar on Baby so that people would know she belonged to someone but I had no illusions that it really would stop her from being taken as she so obviously looked like the other millions of strays. I went to bed sick with worry knowing there was nothing I could do. I tried to get Baby to come into my room with me but she had never been indoors before and would only come up 3 or 4 stairs and then run back down them. She was no where to be found the next morning, afternoon or evening. In fact ALL the dogs were gone. All of them! Not one was anywhere to be found in the community. I was certain that the dog catcher had gotten them. It was terribly sad but I was holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, they were smart enough to leave and come back when the coast was clear. Unbelievably, that is just what happened. After 2 days of no dogs they slowly started to return and Baby was among them!
I continued my attempts to do all that was necessary to take Baby home with me. It was no small task. At every turn I seemed to hit road blocks. I even travelled out to the airport one day in hopes of getting some straight answers only to find they were closed. Come back tomorrow. Well, I couldn't return the following day as I was having tests done that took all day. My time was running out and I didn't have everything I needed. I really wasn't sure at this point all of what I needed. I made it back out to the airport 3 days before my departure. I left the clinic at 9am and didn't get back until 5pm. I was in 3 buildings talked to 9 people and had the car searched once. I finally found a pet handler, who I waited for for an hour. He said "no problem, let me get price for you". I was beyond ecstatic! Maybe this was going to work. He gave me the details of what was required and the price. It looked like I had everything I needed. We made plans for me to bring Baby to his office the morning I was to leave and he was going to take care of the rest. She was to fly on British Airways and come straight into Seattle(my home). All I needed was to find a crate to ship her in the next 48hrs. I returned to the clinic that night over joyed and exhausted. That evening my husband arrived to travel home with me and he met our newest family member, Baby. We set about the next day looking for a crate. To my utter astonishment we were once again....AGAIN having trouble. The listed pet stores on the internet weren't pet stores, weren't open or weren't answering their phones. We tried to get help to be told "to far away" "over 2 hours to get there". I went to the neighbors that had dogs and asked if they knew where we could get a crate. They didn't know what I was talking about and sent me to the local business building where they got their dog food. It wasn't open nor do I ever recall seeing it open in the two months I was there. I was angry and crushed at this point. In a city of over 7 million people I couldn't find a dog crate and no one that could help me would. It meant Baby wasn't coming home with me.
It remains deeply sad to me to recall leaving Baby in India. I had let her down and was sick with worry that she wouldn't survive now that she had been socialized. On top of all of it I was concerned that she was pregnant. The family didn't like one stray dog around. I couldn't imagine what they would do if a bunch of puppies showed up one day. Puppies are adorable by most peoples standards but once they start walking, exploring and chewing things up they aren't quite as cute any more.
I left India with a broken, heavy heart. My hope was that the patients at the clinic had seen that Baby was indeed a friendly dog and would continue to feed her and care for her (they did just that). It was my plan at the time to return to the clinic in 6 months. If Baby was still there I wouldn't leave without her a second time.
When I returned home I couldn't get Baby off my mind. I dreamt about her at night. Sometimes they were nightmares. It was torturous. I told people about Baby and many had ideas that I pursued. They all seemed to come to a dead end. A good friend of mine, whom also loves animals and has 5 dogs, told me about an organization called Help Animals India, which is located right here in Seattle. I looked them up online and sent an email. I never got a response. Like many other roads it appeared to be a dead end. I was haunted by Baby.
One day, out of the blue, I got an email from one of the staff at the clinic saying "your dog has had 5 beautiful puppies". I was so excited to hear that Baby was alive, that she had given birth to 5 pups and that a staff member was calling them beautiful! I made a plea to the family. I told them I would take the dog and her puppies off their hands. I asked them if they would send me the dogs if I sent a crate and all the information and money necessary. I got NO response. NONE! Needless to say I was beyond furious.. I knew those pups would start to crawl around, chew things, leave droppings and become a nuisance very quickly. I wasn't sure what the family would do. It only made me more anxious about Baby's safety and now her pups as well.
It seemed my hands were once again tied. My nightmares became worse and I became convinced the only way I was going to get Baby and her pups was to go get them myself. In late October my husband and I decided that was what I would do. As you can tell my husband is an amazing man! I told my good friend again that I was going to go get the dogs and she said "did you try Help Animals India". I told her I would try again. The next morning I sent another email and within 2 hours had about 12 emails from Help Animals India, VSPCA and HSPCA. I must tell you at this point that I am not very computer literate so the first message to Help Animals India where I didn't get a response, could have easily been due to my error. The wonderful people at HSPCA told me "not to worry" that they would go get Baby and her remaining pup. I cried off and on with relief for 2 days following my initial conversations with HSPCA, VSPCA and Help Animals India and I am not a crier! ONE more time I was going to let my hopes get up "that maybe this time I will get her". When finally found HSPCA 3 pups had been killed and 1 had been adopted (amazingly by a staff member at the clinic). But they had Baby and her pup. THEY HAD HER!!!! They were healthy and coming to America(home).
It took another 6 weeks to get the dogs here but arrive they did!!! It was tense up until the final hours of their arrival. We didn't know until the day before what airport they were actually arriving at. First it was Houston. Then it was San Fransico. Then it was Houston again. We tried to get them into the West Coast of the United States as that is closest to us and I didn't want to put them back on another flight. I knew Baby would have trouble being confined as she had been a free creature all of her life. They arrived on Dec 31st, 2011 at Los Angeles International Airport. My husband and I were there to meet them. When I first saw Baby I called her name. She got up looked at me and gave out a deep resounding "Aaauuu" howl. She remembered me! We flew to Los Angeles the morning they arrived, rented a car and drove them 17 hours home to Seattle. Baby hardly left my side....still hardly leaves my side. She slept on my lap the majority of the way home and would growl at her pup if she got to close to me sometimes. I am her human!!! They traveled wonderfully in the car on the way home. I suspect they were worn out from their long, long journey.
The kind, loving, dedicated folks at HSPCA ran into MANY of the same problems that I did when trying to arrange to get the dogs here. It did make me feel a bit better as they spoke the language and yet they had trouble to. It wasn't just me! They were/are also very busy going from one crisis situation to the next. They fed, watched, played with and loved Baby and her pup until they could get them here. For that I am eternally grateful. The "few" horrors I witnessed while in India they see on a daily basis. You have to have a very strong constitution to witness all the abuse day in and day out. They are a tough lot!
We named the puppy Indy. She is a beautiful creature that has no concept of people not liking her or of life being dangerous. She is NOT a street dog. She loves everyone and everyone loves her. We found her a wonderful home in Billings Montana with family friends that have 3 boys that are "over the moon" in love with her.
Baby's adjustment to everything new is wondrous to watch. I have no doubt that it hasn't been easy for her but she is a courageous, scrappy street dog that adapts out of survival. She now lives with 2 male dogs and a 8 year old boy. She clearly prefers the 8 year old boy as he is no threat to her food supply and he seems to know how to play with her. She has an attitude as big as our home and believes that she SHOULD be in charge. The male dogs are going along with that one! She is also a TOUGH lot. My son is still saying "mom, can you believe that Baby made it?" I can believe it! There are just some things in life that are supposed to happen. This was one of them. I thank Baby every night before I go to bed for being strong & brave enough to make the journey and for waiting for me to get to her!
As for me.... I still have cancer but I am taking a lesson from Baby and staying strong and brave.
THANK YOU HSPCA FOR YOUR DEVOTION........
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