Adoption of Stray Dogs for a human cause.

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. 

― Albert Einstein

The Beginning of a Divine Obsession
This whole exercise of taking care of stray dogs started over 18 months ago after the unfortunate demise of my pet Snowy,  a indie stray dog who I had picked up from the road about 4 years earlier. 

As dog lovers would understand, his passing away was traumatic and emotionally devastating but never did it strike me that it would be a 'life changing' event.

There was a desperate need to recharge my mind, body and soul, so I started the regular practice going for a quiet walk to the Pune Race Course. It was during these walks that I met wonderful stray indies who frequented that area. Soon I became one of those walkers who would regularly carry something for them to eat. 

One activity led to another and I evolved from just being a feeder to a home grown care taker. I would visit the location regularly looking into matters of their nutrition, their health status, organizing a vet to check them, their medication, tending to their injuries, their hospitalizations, protecting their pups, building temporary shelters, vaccinations, and sterilizations.

The battle for their betterment of well being was exhausting, overwhelming and emotionally draining but the more I spent time with these divine beings, the more I was clear I had to do more for them. 

I also slowly began to understand the endless battle of survival these stray indie dogs had to fight on their own every single day. 

But a Battle with No End in Sight..

It is a vicious circle we are stuck in, a battle we always seem to be loosing. Whatever we do for these stray dogs, they will always end up living in the insecure,unhealthy and unsafe environment of the streets. We will intervene to the best of our abilities when they fall ill or get injured, we may succeed in the process of healing them but in the end they will be back in the unfriendly environment of the street.

Getting them off the streets totally seems to be the only solution. 

More adoptions perhaps ? 

BUT people just prefer a Pedigree over an Indie.

I love all dogs across all breeds but have a special corner in my heart for Indies. Unfortunately for Indies who can be as loving and wonderful as a pet as well is not the preference for most families. There is an inherent inclination towards adopting dogs with a brand Pedigree versus those from the streets.

Some caring souls are doing the best they can to get these Indies adopted. I would call it a heroic effort. Use of social media, word of mouth and having regular adoption camps are common ways being used currently to facilitate their adoption. Unfortunately reality is that very few Indies really end up getting adopted as compared to the Pedigree ones.

Indies are just not getting ADOPTED in majority of cases !


Would a Skilled Indie serving a purpose change the perception ?

Stray Indie Dogs are extremely intelligent, strong, have low maintenance, loyal and protective of their benefactors. It is also my belief that it is possible for these Indies to undergo formal training.

With basic training, we could give these Indies a skill, purpose and focus thus giving them a value addition which would assist and accelerate its adoption into the human fold.

► Watch Dogs

Indie Stray dogs could be trained to have the skill of basic watch dogs. A watch dog is needed by societies, shop keepers, mall and hotel owners and so on. 

Once trained, these indies could help in securing their families, goods and property, fulfilling a purpose for human society. This skill would indirectly create a demand for them and in turn accelerate their adoption.  



► Emotional Support Therapy Dogs for Special Needs Children and the elderly.

Indies are very loving, kind and gentle and their intelligence is unsurpassed by few. Indies could be given formal training to have the basic skills to provide the services of being therapy dogs. 

We could then offer the services of these trained therapy indies to schools, counselors and therapists to assist in their work with special needs children or emotional support dogs for elders.  

Here again we have given them a skill and a possibility to get them adopted for a purpose..



So we come back to 'A stray dog, a skill & an idea.' 💭 

My short experience as a care taker of these divine beings living a life on the street has been the closest I have got to experiencing 'GOD' but it has been gut wrenching as well. 

Hunger , thirst , injuries, illnesses and human cruelty is a part of their daily lives and yet they will WAG their tails when they  see you. I have buried too many pups because we could not give them adequate care in time. All of them deserved BETTER.

Lets train stray dogs to satisfy a human cause and more will get adopted.