The innocent furry friend and her unknown tale
A dog is said to be man’s best friend yet they are many a times when he is abandoned, neglected and surrendered at the local animal shelter. The sad reality is when a dog realises that he/she no longer belongs there and is forced to leave home because of her gunky looks and half-shredded body with less fur shedding his back. He/she knows deep down that he/she is never coming back to his/her same old spot nor his owner is going to come and take him home, but cry in silence ,and in the hope of embracing a new family.
Last September,2017,an owner walked into the shelter with a beautiful female Labrador retriever but the dog’s coat looked almost bare with rough bald patches on its coat due to dermatitis. We at once thought the dog was brought for treatment against dermatitis, but we were wrong. The owner said that he would like to surrender his pet at the shelter and get her adopted by some human friends in due course of time. Mr. Sharma, the dog’s owner is a caterer and a priest by profession living alone far from his children. His youngest son had gifted him a Labrador puppy four years ago thinking that the pup would make a lovely family. He and his pet grew fond of each other in time and their bond was like that of a father and son. But for Mr. Sharma, things were never the same when he had to cope up with his daily chores and duty; he had no time to take care of the dog. Sometimes, he took the dog with him, but that was not the solution to it all. He wanted to give the dog away to somebody else long ago but due to fear of losing her he couldn’t do that so he waited and heard of Kalimpong Animal Shelter, and years later brought the dog to the shelter and surrendered it in good faith.
The dog waited to bid him goodbye but his owner didn’t turn back. For a moment the dog felt like he lost the whole world in the blink of an eye. His owner gave a good explanation on not keeping the dog anymore and convinced all, but there was something to it. If he really loved her, he wouldn’t have left the dog at the shelter, he wanted to get rid of her due to her hair fall and half shut eyes. Poor dog had to face the unknown. The owner with a feeling of remorse left the dog there but if he really loved her unconditionally he wouldn’t have left her at all which means that the dog altogether was not very important to him unlike the dog.
Sad for the dog who didn’t want to depart from her owner, but it was all meant to happen. The dog missed him more than ever and it was hard for her to adapt to the shelter family for days. She was such a quiet girl, and stayed isolated but the shelter family helped her overcome the loss of losing a loving owner. She would wag her tail and go back to its own spot and lie down when people walked round the run to see dogs. Being a part of shelter now, it was everyone’s duty to find her a loving home
and yes! It was not easy to come across a good caretaker, it took time and finally after a span of three months, we came across the right person who could make the dog feel special so, after getting the dog spayed and treated against dermatitis, the dog was adopted by a young boy from Jhapa, Nepal and from that day onwards, she fell into the loving hands of a new foster parent that could offer her more love and care.
Today, the dog is living happily in her new home and enjoying every bit of stay and treat there. She is fortunate to find a loving home and family who at least would not leave her alone or surrender him in another shelter again.