The Pomeranian dog, infamously abandoned outside a supermarket in Thiruvananthapuram for “an illicit relationship” with the dog next door, has been adopted. The new owners are Saji, a supervisor at the city zoo, and his family.
The dog has been with Shameem, a People For Animals volunteer, who was alerted by a passerby on the same day it was left at the supermarket with a strange note. The previous owner, who seems to have taken good care of the dog, had listed all her food habits and other details, and in the end added the strange reason for abandoning her: she had illicit relationship with a dog in the neighbourhood.
“I met Shameem madam at the zoo last week. I had read about the dog in the papers and wanted to adopt it. She said the dog is still with her, no one has adopted her yet,” Saji says.
Saji had a Pomeranian dog which passed away some time ago. “I had also promised my daughter that if she scored well at school I would get her a dog.” So, Neha of class seven, who had scored well in school, got herself a new companion. They have named the dog Puppy.
“Many enquiries had come through a post another PFA member had put. And there were all the media reports too. But we weren’t sure how many of them were genuine. Some called with the intention of putting the dog in a kennel. We’d also need to worry if they want the dog only to breed and have new puppies that they could then sell for a good price. There were some who claimed it might be the dog they had lost, but I’d ask them some basic questions to verify, before having them visit. Also, some of the more genuine callers had not followed up after the first enquiry,” Shameem says.
Saji was different. He came home with his wife Bindu the same day he had enquired about the dog. “The dog had immediately become friendly with the couple and was on Bindu’s lap in no time. I found them very loving,” Shameem says.
Saji and Bindu took Puppy to their home in Thozhuvangad, near Vattiyoorkavu, on a scooter. Bindu held on tightly to Puppy and she seemed perfectly happy on the scooter. At the new home, she investigated every room before settling near the chair of Saji’s mother. Neha too easily connected with her new friend and Puppy slept in her bedroom the very first night.
“She would also scare away the visitors coming to the house. I haven’t put her on a leash. I have let her roam around the house freely,” says Saji. He fondly addresses Puppy as ‘aval’ – her – the way you do your daughter. “I don’t understand how the previous owner could abandon her. It is just so bad, the reason they did it for. If it was a human in the dog’s place, they may have killed it too!”