LEAH

GREAT NEWS……Leah is HOME. Leah was rescued from the streets of New Delhi, India. This week she joined Valori and Noah Weinstein and their two adorable children of Chicago, IL.

Leah approached the family tentatively but it wasn’t long before she jumped up on the couch and nuzzled between the kids. Leah choose the Weinstein’s and the feeling was mutual. Leah found her people – her forever family.

Thank you to Pragya Mishra for rescuing Leah and providing her such loving care in New Delhi, India.
Thank you to Premlata Choudhary for providing vet care and handling the flight logistics. Most importantly thank you to the Weinstein’s for opening their hearts and home to this sweet girl.

You too can save a life.

#ISDF #ISavedaLife #Petfly #DesiDogsRock

Leah’s Rescue Story

My full name should be Lucky Loved Leah!  At only three days-old, I received a very special gift from fate.  This gift was in the form of an amazing human named Pragya.  Now one year after that fateful day, my brother and I have been raised by this devoted woman.  Mothers like Pragya know when their children are ready to spread their wings, and we are ready!  In fact, we have been ready for quite some time.  Soon, we will leave New Delhi, India to join the ISDF family and to find our Forever Homes!

On the morning of November 30, 2016, Pragya received a call informing her that some drunk villagers were roaming around with three newborn puppies.  The men were using the pups as a prop for begging.  Pragya quickly arrived at the location and found two puppies; one pup was me, and the other was my brother, Lucas.  Pragya begged them to share the whereabouts of our sibling and our mother, but the villagers refused to tell her.  She asked them to give her custody of us, but they started harassing her.  After an intense hour, thankfully, the police had helped, the men had run away, and we had been rescued.  Our sibling and mother were never found.

At the vet, Pragya learned that we might not survive due to our age and lack of proper care without our mother.  “I decided to foster them myself and give all my might to try to save them,” she said.  We looked like baby mice, but we were so beautiful and amazing.  I had a tan coat, and my brother had a black and brown coat.  Every 1.5 hours, Pragya provided formula, stimulation, and burping.  She kept us warm with hot water bottles, and she placed a clock under our bedding to substitute for our canine mother’s heartbeat.  Pragya lives alone, and she didn’t sleep at all during these early months.  We made innumerable visits to the vet because we were so fragile.  I couldn’t be bottle-fed until I was three weeks-old and also had some seizures.  The seizures stopped when I was a few months-old; I had tests, but all were normal.  It appears the seizures were due to all the worms in my body.

As you will read at the end of my story, the culture of adopting native Indian street dogs is ever-so-slowly changing among local families.  It remains a real struggle, though, to find adopters in New Delhi.  Pragya tried every avenue of social media, distributed posters, and put an ad in the national newspaper, but she did not receive serious adoption interest.  It’s a true shame because we are amazing dogs!

We are delightful, happy, healthy, obedient, and loving pups!  We are super intelligent and friendly and have good house manners.  Playing is our favorite pastime!  I am a medium-energy dog and love belly rubs!  With my easy-going demeanor, I love everyone and want to be friends.  Pragya says that I am an affectionate cuddle-muffin! Outside the home, we’ve been learning new things like on-leash skills and how to greet other dogs.  I know I will learn more of these skills with the guidance of my Forever Family.

My story is filled with many details, too many to share here!  I can’t wait to meet you and tell you more… in-person!  Until then, you can look at my own Facebook page to learn more about my history. https://www.facebook.com/LeahAndLucas/

Desi (day-see) —or Indian— Dogs live on the city and village streets of India.  There are an estimated 260,000 street dogs just in the capital, New Delhi.  Also called Indian Native Dogs or Pariah Dogs, these incredible animals are intelligent, good-looking, athletic, and full of character!  In India, the dogs face extreme temperatures (damp, chilly winters and 115-degree summers), cars and other fast vehicles, disease, monsoons, and violence from people, as well as other street dogs.  Some “community dogs” are sterilized, vaccinated, and fed by wonderful volunteers, while most street dogs experience indifferent cultural attitudes and survive on their own efforts and luck.  Litters of pups are often drowned, buried alive, stoned, or removed from their mothers.  Most citizens do not know about dog sterilization and vaccination, and if they do, many cite religious beliefs against spaying/neutering.  In the cities, there is major cultural interest in the “superiority” of “purebreeds.”  Unfortunately, even the labs, pugs, Dobermans, St. Bernards, boxers, and German Shepherds are frequently abandoned as many families do not have the funds, space, and knowledge about responsible long-term dog ownership.  In recent years, compassion and interest towards the native street dogs is slowly, slowly developing, but there are not nearly enough potential adopters to welcome the huge number of rescued street dogs.

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Rescue Partners: Pragya Mishra and Isobel Grant

Arrival: January 29, 2018

Age and Weight: One year and 50 pounds