It's not a dream...

I can only imagine what she must be feeling.

On one hand I can see how she must miss the other dogs..
there were SO many around and all she heard was barking and yelping or the crying out.

But the Peacefulness for her now must feel like nothing she has ever known.
She has Never had this much in her 6 weeks of life.
Nor has she had so much Love!!! Or a comfortable bed, blanket and roof over her head...

Sometimes she just stares up at me and looks deep into my eyes almost as if she wants to tell me how much she loves me for taking her away and giving her all of this.

This morning I was lying in bed and I have her doggie bed right next to me so I can reach down in the night if she starts to cough and I can rub her tummy and tell her it's OK.
But this morning I was lying there and looking down at her while she slept and all of a sudden, she popped her head up and turned around to face me and looked right at me..I wondered if somehow she sensed how I was feeling about how Blessed I am to have gotten her.

Timing is Everything they say.
I Believe that to be True.
Especially now.

One of my lifelong dreams was to adopt a street dog in India and bring it to the US and give it the Best life it could ever imagine.

Well, there's another one to check off my bucket list!

Peda has healed me from the pain I felt of having to have left my darling Bindi behind. Of course I knew I would go back to get her, we could never live without her...
but it was a 7 long months of missing that wonderful feeling of having your loving little "person that wears a fur coat" by your side all the time.

Now I have Peda and now Bindi has a new little sister to look after when we get back.

It's funny how people keep saying how much Peda looks like a Chihuahua...
It's funny how life will bring you just the right little surprise just when you least expect it as well...
Can you see the vertical line on her forehead there (the white one) It looks like a Bindi! Yes, she is Truly an Indian dog!!

Ray wanted to be sure that while were here staying  here in Meenas home, since we have the top level with a balcony..that Peda would be very safe and secure. You see she is so small that she fits in your two cupped hands. We decided to put up some mesh screen to be sure she would be extra safe. She Loves lying on the bricks that are on the rooftop terrace as they hold in the warm heat. She is a Happy girl and she wags her tail a lot now! She almost knows her name, loves to be talked to, loves when it's time to eat and is Very happy to have a Mommy and a Daddy who love her to the Moon and Back!

“Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.”

Moving forward with our plans...on Indian time..

Today was the day we met with Savitha, the Chairman for PFA.

Her driver picked us up in front of Vishnu Bhavan at 3:30 and drove us out to her home.

I had no idea how sick she really was until I laid eyes on her actually.
She is bed-ridden and her eyes seemed so sad. My heart went out to her when I saw her.

We were greeted by a large, older dog and came to find out he was a street dog himself and now is her constant companion watching over her and lying under her bed as she rests.

He wasn't too pleased Peda came along, so he was reassigned to the adjoining bathroom to wait until our visit ended.
We talked a lot about PFA and about how she used to go almost everyday until she was diagnosed with Diabetic Neuropathy and now she is unable to go hardly ever.
She said that she has lost the feeling in her legs and feet and got burnt because of it.

There is so much to do and she feels quite helpless and my heart honestly went out to her so much that it hurt. Because this is her Passion. Her Baby and what she lives for and not being able to go is so hard for her.

She never had children. She is my age and the animals are her Everything.

She told us about the new enclosures for the dogs and how they will be divided into different sections to protect the ones who are sick, injured, disabled and the puppies.
It is being constructed Now as I write this and will be delivered to PFA once it is finished.
(I have no date on that).
We talked about the feeding trough that we want to have built to protect the dogs as they eat, so that there is no more fighting.

Savitha really liked the idea and we were just getting down to talking about getting an estimate and her husband came into the room and the conversation shifted to a whole new discussion...
We had a 6 pm appointment and the driver had to leave as well so we didn't get to finish up.
Savitha was lying down in the bed and seemed so drained too...

So we took our leave and told her we would come back very soon and see her again so we could finish up on the nuts and bolts to getting this built ASAP!

 

Welcome to your Beautful Life Peda!

Peda, Pheda or Pera (Kannada: ಪೇಡ, Urdu: پیڑا, Hindi: पेड़ा, pronounced [ˈpeːɽaː], Marathi: पेढा) is a sweet from the Indian subcontinent, usually prepared in thick, semi-soft pieces. The main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavorings, including cardamom seeds, pistachio nuts and saffron. The color varies from a creamy white to a caramel colour.
As with laddoos, pedas are sometimes used as prasad in religious services

On my last visit to India I fell in Love with Mysore Pak an Indian sweet with a slightly caramel flavor. I LOVED them!!
This time around I have fallen in Love with Pedas.
Below is a photo of what they look like and they are not as sweet as Mysore Pak, smaller in size and one is Perfect in the evening with a cup of Chai for dessert!

Then I met her....
 

She is a teeny, tiny little sprite of a baby that was wandering around the grounds of PFA.
I noticed her on my first visit, but as there are so many dogs running around the grounds I didn't focus entirely on her at first glance. But then I saw her again later on that same visit and I asked about her.

It seems as though she was born approximately around the time we left the US to fly to India..her mommy pushed her out of her womb and then she died.
She was born into this world without anyone really.

There was another mommy that had one puppy left and was nursing him and she took this little orphan on and nursed her as well...

but as you can see her little one is much larger and thus the little orphan girl got what she could.
My heart literally broke when I heard the story and I Knew in my Heart I had to take her and give her a new life.
A better life.
A chance at surviving really. Because, you see, I cannot even believe that she was still alive as it was, given her circumstances and the fact that there are so many large and some not so very nice dogs down there running around and she was a free shot really...

 

And so my husband and I left that day and just couldn't get her off our minds...

We came to the conclusion that we Had to take her away from PFA and bring her

back to the US and give her a good life.

 

                                                                                                                                                                 

We first had to OK it with the wonderful family that we are staying with of course.
Meena of "The Silver Nest" here in Gokulam. Well known by all of the Yogis and locals as she sells the BEST Silver Jewelry in all of Mysore and her prices can't be beat.

Meena told us that she would have to speak with her husband Mahesh that evening when he returned home and she would call up to us when they were finished talking.

I waited and paced and chanted and prayed...
and then I heard Meenas soft voice call from the foot of the marble stairway.."Tracy" and I knew it was time~~
Ray and I walked down the length of the stairway and into the the living room area and Mahesh greeted us and asked us to please sit.

He told us in no uncertain terms that it was Absolutely OK to bring her here and that it would be no problem at all!!! I actually Jumped for Joy! I did, you can ask Meena if you come by to do some silver shopping!!

I was just so happy, not only for us, but mostly for her..Peda.
That is the name Ray picked for her and I thought it was absolutely Perfect in every way~

The next day we went to get her and it was just such a wonderful thing in so many ways.
Something pretty auspicious happened actually on the way back to Meenas with the three of us, well 4 with Peda, well 5 as Kumar was driving the ricky.
But Jonathan said all of a sudden as the sky opened up and the rain came Pouring down as we drove away from the grounds of People for Animals...

He said just this "Tracy, this is sort of like a Baptism..a shedding of the past and the bringing in of a new life for her"
My eyes got teary, because it was.
It really, really was.

Peda got home and we washed her up as she was quite the mess.
She was so awfully dirty all over her little body, as all she has ever known is dirt and the outside.
No love really..nobody held her and talked to her. She was just another one of the animals at PFA that roamed around the grounds.

Her tiny little ears were Filled with Ticks, Fleas and Larvae. It was pretty frightening actually. But I got them all out of her ears...it was a challenge.
Then I noticed that she had a terrible cough...and she was so awfully thin that her ribs were protruding out.
Her eyes were extremely sad as well...

I called Boushan, the most Wonderful man who is a Vet here in Gokulam and where we bought all the pet food for the animals at PFA. I told him how worried I was for her and what I was seeing and he told me to bring her to his home at 6pm and he would help her.

We were there at 6pm sharp...not 6pm Indian time...
He was right there at the door waiting for us and he went to work.
He gave her an injection for the Ticks and Fleas and also for her cough.

Then he said something that I will never forget.
He said "You have done a very good thing here. If you would not have taken her, in three days she would have expired" (that means died in Indian terms)

She went back again this evening for her second round of shots and her de-worming medication and tomorrow she will return one last time for her third shot.
And we are invited to stay for tea..(that means Chai in Indian terms and I LOVE CHAI!)

Peda is doing so much better already and she is such a smart little girl. She reminds me so much of my beautiful Bindi!! I know they are going to Love each other so much!
Peda lets us know when she has to go potty and she goes to the door to go out!
Not one slip up Yet!

She is eating Science Diet kibble mixed with wet and a little water...
She eats about every four hours and drinks water from her dish.

This is her at night and I do believe she has never felt such Peace and Love in her 6 short weeks she has been alive...

And this is only just the beginning.
Welcome to your Beautiful Life Peda!!!

 

On Losing when you don't play by the rules....

We have an idea and were going to present it to Savitha, the Chairperson and the woman in charge next week.

She is very ill right now and is unable to come out to PFA on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, because of that, things are not running as she had asked them to be run.

It was also unfortunate that the man listed on the paper named Narendra was extremely intoxicated while at work the day we arrived..at 2:30 in the afternoon.
I was told it happens quite often. He was also extremely rude and well, I'll just say it..
he treated me like a lot of Indian men treat women (Not ALL Indian Men, I know a whole bunch of them who are Gentlemen and treat their wives like queens) but, he talked "down" to me and at one point Stopped talking to me altogether. I guess he realized I wasn't too happy that he was so "out of it" and rude.

I felt it was my Duty to the animals and the other workers there (who were equally upset about his behavior towards them that day) to report what I witnessed to Savitha when I called her to give her the update of our visit.
As she asked me to do.

When I reported what I saw around the complex first and at the end told her about Narendra, she seemed upset, but not surprised. She told me that she was going to have to let him go. Plain and Simple. Just like that.

Today on our visit, I was asked to call her once again and report my findings around the complex. I did and gave her the full run down and when I was finished she told me that she fired him.
Well, you know, there is no excuse for that behavior. There is a time and a place for that and it certainly is Not at work. Especially at this place. We need to Focus on the work that needs to be done for the animals!! Not Drink!

That being said, I feel better about going down there now and the workers seemed happier than the day before!

There are some plans in the works for setting up some separate areas for the Healthy Dogs.
The Sick/Diseased Dogs, and the dogs who are handicapped, also for the Dogs who have given birth to keep their babies safe.
Here are the papers with the plans drawn up that Roshen the manager showed us..

I think it's a fantastic plan and I Know the dogs will all be much safer in this type of encloser.
I hope they can get it built and FAST!!

The other idea that my husband came up with after witnessing the horrifying feeding frenzy also referred to as "Meal Time". Whereas the animals just went Crazy on each other is this.

He has come up with the idea of building a Trough similar to the one below but more fine tuned

we will discuss this with Savitha next week and I shall get back to you with the verdict!

I have another post coming tomorrow..and it's about this little piece of work that I fell in love with the first day I went down there.

See you back here?
I hope so....!!!!


 

The Horses, Owls, Pigs, Cat's and Kittens at PFA

Along with the menagerie at PFA I must include them all!!

Here are a few more wonderful creatures that Grace People for Animals~~~

 The larger beautiful horse nicknamed "Jimmy" has been with PFA for over 3 years now. You see his hoof and how he rests it up on the ledge?
He is crippled, but he does quite well walking and getting around and he's figured out how to take the pressure off of it by resting it from time to time on that ledge. Animals are SO Intelligent you know!

The cats and kittens have a wonderful sanctuary of their own away from the dogs...unless of course the dogs come up to the wire enclose and sniff and take a look which I'm sure they do from time to time. It's quite large and they feel safe and secure inside safely locked in!

There are two owls. The larger one has a broken wing and the tiny one is a little baby owl. It is so Cute!!

and two Pigs!!

 

The Dogs at PFA here in Mysore, India...Part Three

Down at PFA they have a HUGE Variety of Dogs...
I suppose it is like any other shelter in the US. But what makes it stand out "dog wise" to me is the fact that they have some breeds that cannot be acquired here in India.

Like for instance there is a Daschund.
You Rarely see that breed here and when you do they are considered "fancy dogs".
I can only imagine why that little man ended up there. But, that being said, he does seem happy.

There was one another that looked to be a crossbreed of an Australian Cattle Dog and a Basset Hound...go figure!

Oh and another that looks to be a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Saint Charles Cavalier.
That sweet doll is chained up in a special room with a few others and it could be just being boarded there while it's owner is away because in that same room there is a German Shepard and another mama in a cage that they said Is being boarded and she had 3 puppies while her owner is away....SUPRISE!!!!! Or...maybe not....

Here are some of the furry dolls below and you can also see how they feed them...
which I am going to Try VERY hard to change as it is a violent time for them, especially the weaker ones who are thin. The stronger, bigger dogs dominate at feeding time and blood was drawn a few times while we watched the feeding...we have an idea and I will be presenting it to Savita when we meet with her hopefully within the next day or two. As we want to get started on our idea....(stay tuned for that!!)

The photo above is Ragu and I personally love the fact that he comes and volunteers his time every 15 days. He rides his motorbike from Bangalore, a three hour journey and he stays 3 days and you can See the love he has for these dogs. He makes sure that the crippled ones who can't make it to the bowls get fed. He holds the bowl up for them to make sure they eat. That was the ONE TIME I thought I might cry...it was touching to say the least.


Here are some of the darlings that are in cages. There is a reason for each one being in them..
and it's for their best interest.

This is a nice shaded area
that they created for the dogs
when it is hot here in India.

 

This is Ragu holding the bowl for the crippled dog in the photo above. That dog is so loving and just looks deep into your eyes and Loves to just sit and have you pet her.
Most of them do actually. There are some that you just leave be..because they want it that way, and there are a few with such horrible skin conditions, unlike any I have ever seen in my life. You just feel for them...

But, they do seem to be happy in their own little ways. There are a few that seem extremely down. One of which is this darling and I paid Extra attention to her as she was trying to "talk" cry.
 I understood that she just wanted to be near someone and so I kept going to her as she is unable to get out of where they have her kept. It is again, hard to see and understand, but it's for her best interest at this time.
She is extremely crippled and has a prosthetic pulley type thing with wheels for her back legs to go in so she can get around. But it's been broken. I am going to see about getting that repaired or get her another one made.
Today I am going to have her lifted out and put on the grassy area for a bit while were there. It would do her a world of good!

Today is another new day to bring as much Joy to these precious animals and I intend on doing just that! More to come..... 

People for Animals~ Mysore,India "The Staff and the Animals"

So as I said, we arrived to some Very Excited Dogs at the front gate and they were all ready for some Love and some DOG FOOD!!!!!

The van was unloaded and moved into the kitchen where their meals are prepared.

By this Extremely Hard worker named Nazma~ She is Literally Filled with Light.

These are the big cooking pots that they make the food in. The food consists of Rice and Milk. The other big containers are filled with the rice and the grains they use.
 They also have a fridge that holds the fruits and veggies and the fish for the Pelican and the Eagles..

I have so much to say and so many photos to post...
I feel that they are doing the Best Job possible down there. With what they have been taught and as many animals as they have to care for.
The women fed the Monkeys, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Parrots and Eagles.

can you see what the monkey is doing??
Once Nazma entered the cage with them, one of the monkeys that clearly Loves her, began going through her hair (as monkeys do with their young and their mates) looking to clean her. It was the Cutest thing!! She laughed as well!

The rabbits (all white I might add) are right next door to the monkeys...
and next to the rabbits are the Parrots...
 

this little guy TALKS!!!

I could have sworn he said "Niko"...but maybe it was something in Kannada or Hindi!!

Tomorrow Part Three...the Dogs, Cats, Pigs and Horses!!! Not to be missed!!