Adopting dogs changed my life in my ways. I started observing street dogs and a deeply compassionate side of me that I had not encountered before emerged. This is the rescue story of Eva, the puppy who made me go to impossible lengths and do things I have never done in my life before!

The scary first cry!

It was a fine and bright morning and I was happily engrossed in gaming. Even with my headphones on, I could hear a sudden loud cry. Initially, I thought this was coming from the game, but then Cookie bolted to the balcony and started barking and howling relentlessly. I heard the loud painful shriek again. Only this time, the piercing cry went straight to my heart! I ran to the balcony to see if I could find the source. I knew something was terribly wrong the moment I saw this man with a huge stick frantically searching for something in the bushes. That was when I first saw Eva!

An inhuman human

From above, I saw a wee little puppy moving in the bushes trying to hide. I realized what was going on. My heart started beating extraordinarily fast and I shivered in anger. I screamed at the top of my voice but the man seemed least bothered.

I ran down four flights of stairs, stopped that idiot with the stick, and picked up Eva. The man gave an absolutely absurd reason for his behavior – the mother dog had died in the parking lot of the building and the puppy wasn’t ready to leave! So he decided to beat the crap out of a one-month-old puppy!

The rescue

Anyhow, I took Eva home, gave her some food, and let her relax. The poor baby was shivering in shock.  Thankfully, the vet confirmed that nothing serious had happened and she only had a few minor injuries. T and I decided to foster her till she gets better and in the meantime try and get her adopted.

Foster life

In a span of about a week, Cookie got seriously attached to Eva. He would sit around her protectively and at times he would even growl if we tried to pick her up. Every adoption call for Eva got rejected after they knew it was a female indie dog. After about a month, one of our friends, Sujana, managed to get our adoption ad in the Times of India. We then got a call from Karimnagar, about 200 km away from my place. The potential adopter sounded genuine and we decided to give it a shot as my work involved traveling to Karimnagar a few times every month.

Eva’s new home

My friend Mayukh drove Eva and me all the way to Karimnagar and Eva was adopted! The adopter was a tutor, who stayed alone in an independent house. I told him all about the dos and don’ts. It was very hard for me to leave her and I couldn’t stop my tears when we left.

Not all surprises are pleasant

My next visit to Karimnagar was work-related but I was super excited because I get to meet Eva. My work got over early around 3 pm and I was kinda racing to Eva’s place on my motorbike. Just before I reached the place, I got a call from the adopter that said Eva was missing!

I was filled with rage yet felt helpless – so many people’s efforts gone to waste due to the adopter’s carelessness! I had to find her somehow because Eva is my little girl!

I’ll be back with the rest of Eva’s adventurous story next week. In the meantime, if you wish to know more about Cookie and fam, please visit The Great Indian Dog. Pictures of this week’s photo shoot with the amazing Zeppy is out now at snoot_shoot. Don’t forget to check them out 😉

Mahalo!

P.S. – While posting a comment if you receive an ‘Access Blocked’ message with an ‘Allow Request’ form, please fill in your email id and click submit so that I can approve it. Apologies for the inconvenience!