Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit : Man proposes, but God disposes

Homeless and scared

Never has this phrase held such truth in my life.

I was browsing the "Dog Lovers of Bangalore" community on Orkut when I came across an urgent plea. I clicked on the link more out of curiosity than anything else.... and lo and behold, I saw her... the pictures of this dog were taken by a girl called Shilpa, who is studying to be a doctor in Russia. She was here for her vacations and saw this dog on her street -either abandoned or lost, alone and clearly very very scared. She asked around if anyone had a dog missing but no one seemed to. She was going back to study in a couple of weeks and her family wanted her to place this dog as soon as possible as they already had a pet dog at home who wasn’t happy with this new addition.

Something in this dog’s eyes just spoke to me. I knew the moment I saw her that I had to make sure she would be ok… I called Shilpa, got directions and my father, who was visiting, and I were at her place in a heartbeat.
Since Shilpa’s house dog wouldn’t let this dog enter the house, they had put her just outside their door, on a mat, trying to keep her as warm as possible.
We went armed with some treats, knowing that the best way to gain trust was to feed an animal. We found out, we could have done without.
We weren't prepared for the outburst of love and excitement this dog showered on us. From the moment she saw us, she wagged her tail like there was a turbo engine attached to it and looked at uswith limp yet adoring eyes. We were sold.

I realized that time was of the essence. The dog catchers in Bangalore were closing in so I decided to bring her to my home till we found a permanent home for her.I would be damned if I let another helpless dog die without getting a fair chance.

The hunt was on! First, I had to decide on a name… I don’t know why but the first thing that popped in my mind when I saw her was “Snowflake” She was as pure and silent as that.
I posted on our blog: http://www.adoptstrays.com/ and then the waiting game began… A day later, I realized that our blog was sadly not one of the better read… so I decided to post it on a more visible site….. that’s when petnopolis came into the picture.
Burges, one of the founding members of Petnopolis took a personal interest and together, over two days and nights, we went through each of the 50 odd responses with a fine toothed comb.
I commend this guy for his dedication and persistence. He shared my belief that Snowflake needed a home that would not only provide shelter and food but oodles of love and cuddles.
We called the people we had short listed but nothing seemed to fit… either they were not true dog lovers or their plan was to convert a pure breed female Labrador like Snowflake into a puppy machine or their living conditions didn’t match what Snowflake was used to. She was a year old so she had some habits which would be hard to break…like eating non veg for example.

Three days of hunting went by and I was beginning to lose hope when suddenly, I got call from this girl who sounded like she was as crazy about dogs as I was. I liked her instantly.
She lives in Chennai and was travelling so she requested me to keep Snowflake for a week after which she would drive down and get her. She explained that she lived in a large house with a lot of space and Snowflake would have a five year old Cocker Spaniel for company. She fed her dog non-veg food and the house also had access to the beach! It sounded like a match made in heaven!
Both Burges and I heaved a sigh of relief and decided that this was ideal for Snowflake.

Snowflake is with me this week while she waits for her new mom to come get her. She has taken over every nook and cranny of the house and is almost unrecognizable! From the gaunt, scared dog to the tigress of Cunningham Road – this snowflake has indeed settled.

Here are updated pictures of her new, albeit temporary, life:

It's a dog's life - but someone's gotta live it.

Sleeping on the job