We are the puppies of Jor Bagh Lane. We are two pairs of siblings. And we are four out of five sole survivors of two litters of puppies who together totaled 19 at birth. This gives you a rough idea of the odds of survival here in our corner of New Delhi: other dogs, disease, cars, the stifling climate, and a lack of food, water, and basic shelter claim close to 100% of our ranks. Lady Luck smiled upon us the day we were discovered by Parshu, a committed dog lover, who also happens to be the driver for our link to these pups, the compassionate and kind-hearted Yo’Av Karny. More photos and a detailed timeline and history of our lives can be found on the Facebook page that Yo’Av created called Save the Puppies of Jor Bagh Lane to solicit help and support for us. Yo’Av describes their story in detail below.
For more information about adopting one or more of the puppies of Jor Bagh Lane, please contact Dawn Trimmel at (414) 426-4148. Thank you!
They came to the world during the monsoon season, probably in late June. They are natives of a neighborhood called BK Dutt Colony in South Delhi, a very unhappy place for all animals. Survival rate of puppy litters there is close to zero. The locals are too poor and distracted to be of much help. All four pups hail from this neighborhood.
Muskan (female, left) and Khushi (female, right) – Muskan means smile and Khushi means happiness – became known to us very early on thanks to the heroic feat of our driver Parshu who rescued them from the surging monsoon rainwater which nearly drowned them. That was on July 2, 2014. From that moment on, when the pups were about ten days old, we fed their mother regularly and quite well. That gave them a chance of survival which otherwise wouldn’t have been there. As you can see by their timeline below, two pups were taken to the veterinarian at one point for gaping puncture wounds. One healed, but alas – was later killed by a passing car right in front of me. The other was Muskan. Eventually, only three out of the original dozen in the litter survived. Two are to be flown to Chicago soon, incredibly – the third, whom we call Jute (for his strong preference of jute bags) is with us. Muskan and Khushi’s mother is alive and well. She was spayed two weeks ago and released back to her native habitat, which is customary here. I hope she will forgive my crude intervention with her reproductivity. We all thought that 23 puppies in the past year (though only 3 survived in all) has been enough of a contribution on her part!
The circumstances of the little family’s life inside that inner court was indescribably wretched.
Aarti tells me she will miss Gulabo most. She may not be the most attractive, but she is utterly sweet, harmlessly naughty, and extremely friendly with dogs and humans. She and her brother Sheru insist on sharing Aarti’s double bed, pushing their hostess off to a sofa. Aarti accepts her fate with typical grace. Muskan and Khushi visit her home also, and are also skilled at taking up prime sofa space (Muskan earns bonus points for her good behavior around Aarti’s cats)!
So here they are, four puppies – alive, and slowly recovering. What we do not know is their destiny and destination. Let me confess that which is self-evident: no digital queue will form here to adopt these dogs. Far from me to reproach Indians, but just by stating a fact – one you all know very well, I trust – Indian dog lovers by and large still prefer ‘purebred’ dogs imported from Europe. The tend to associate their own street dogs with an outdoor environment that is decidedly not to their liking (many exceptions, of course). The cruel choice is largely between attempting their reintegration into their native habitat, or continuing to hold them at Happy Paws, pending salvation. They have lost most of their streetwise skills, and in any event I’d hate to see them back where they nearly died. As of now, somewhat incredibly, their only hope lies in overseas adoption. I am working with International Street Dog Foundation in Chicago currently, a rescue that has helped stray dogs from Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and India, and they are our great hope. That Muskan, Khushi, Gulabo and Sheru would all end up on the shores of Lake Michigan is so counterintuitive as to be funny. But I am hopeful that this is indeed their trajectory. I hope all four pups will be on their way to Chicago very soon!
Jor Bagh Lane Puppy Timeline
July 2
It all began on the first day of the Monsoon, which hit Delhi on July 2, 2014. A good man, Parshu, whose driving skills we use frequently to navigate around the city, fortunately happened that day to call on his favorite fast food stall on Jor Bagh Lane, better known as B.K. Dutt Colony.
and one that residents are familiar with.
You will notice the area where the puppies were born is strewn with garbage. In this neighborhood, the merchants use the nearby field as an impromptu landfill.
Parshu noticed a dog carrying a tiny puppy out of an underground cave by the roadside.
An avid dog lover, he quickly came to their rescue, half-crawling into the niche and carrying the trapped puppies out one by one to safety. Here he demonstrated for me how he managed to retrieve them all safely in the nick of time, before an oncoming raging monsoon rain drowned them all.
A local fast food seller, Sumit, collected the puppies in a box. To their amazement they counted a dozen puppies, as tiny as their palms. They were approximately ten days old. How easy it is to ignore threatened life in this hopelessly congested metropolis, where so many mammals hang on by a thread. All the more reason why Parshu’s civic heroism earned our admiration and gratitude. We undertook to keep Mama and her litter alive. You would notice Jor Bagh Lane is not the prettiest in the city. Sorry for that – but life thrives even in squalor.
July 2 – 26
The petty merchants of Jor Bagh Lane initially showed only a distant curiosity but soon joined in the endeavor to keep Mama and her babies alive. Amit, the owner of a rental car service, saw to it that the puppies would not get trapped underground again since their mother, in search of safety, kept transporting them back to one sinkhole or another. For a time, the little family called the dusty space under an old car home.
One day, alas, we arrived to find five puppies absent. Were they claimed by nature? Did they fall prey to a human or another creature? Were they taken away for unknown purposes? Sadly, Mama could not tell us. With her litter sadly reduced, Mama continued to pay full attention to the survivors. However, the merchants told us to beware, and that their life expectancy was likely to be short. Last year, Mama gave birth to eleven puppies. Tragically, ALL were killed by passing vehicles once they began to crawl out of Mama’s grasp.
July 27
July 29
But I don’t mean to pontificate. It is what it is. How much I wish the puppies grew up elsewhere. Curiously, all seven of the remaining puppies have started paying attention – undue attention, I thought – to the canned meat I offer their mama.
In fact, they pushed her away from the bowl and split the meat among themselves today, almost comically so. Lots of fun to watch, but possibly not the best idea. They should still be receiving mother’s milk, as we think they are only about 6 weeks old. However, Mama appeared happy to withdraw to quiet refuge, underneath her familiar parked car. She wouldn’t let me place a flea collar around her neck, however. I guess I should never have approached her from the front. My repeated attempts to place the collar on her made her suspicious, and she walked away from me, her benefactor-in-chief. Well…she is forgiven. Hopefully later today, we will restore the bond. Will someone kindly try to help me spread the word about these babies in need? I know I am in tough competition with the good people of Friendicoes and Red Paws advertising their own home-yearning puppies. But perhaps the compelling survival story of these little Jor Bagh Lane ones would speak to the heart of Delhiites. They are toughies, and so far they have had good experiences with humans, which is promising. Come and have them. PLEASE.
August 31
Only five are left, alas. Number six was hit by a car on Sunday night. Number seven was apparently taken by a passerby, hopefully one with good intentions. At two months old, they are ready for medical care. The five survivors visited the Frendicoes Hospital for deworming.
Symbolically, they were feasting on Mama’s milk when I went to pick them up for their veterinary visit.
(Me again, Muskan! Venturing closer to speeding cars, out of youthful curiosity. This is not a good thing…)
The battle to save the puppies of Jor Bagh Lane is almost lost.
September 7
Of the original eleven, only three have survived – and their future is bleak. This past Monday alone, within a period of ten hours, two sweet, active, lively pups were crushed to death under the tires of passing cars. One of the two perished just a few steps away from me. A deafening yelp was followed by a final body twitch and a spurt of blood from the nose. In a bout of helpless and futile rage, I chased the killing car, punching its windows in tears. But in all candor, I find it hard to blame the driver. These little creatures are barely visible, their movements are erratic, and even the best-intentioned animal lover could fail to notice them. We carried her warm body to Friendicoes Hospital, hoping against hope that not all life had vanished. But it had. Especially heart-breaking was the timing: only five minutes earlier, I had brought her and her siblings back from Friendicoes where they had been given their first round of vaccinations. I remember commanding the pups to live long, now that the first antibodies were preparing to defend their little bodies.
The mother, her teats still hanging heavy, seemed confused. I hesitate to use the word bereaved – but perhaps that as well.
October 14
Sheru and Gulabo from a different, nearby litter are discovered by chance. They are approximately ten weeks old. Over the course of a few days, both were removed from the utterly-abysmal living conditions where they – the two sole survivors of a litter of seven – and their mother were eking out a piteous existence.
October
All four pups – Muskan, Khushi, Sheru, and Gulabo – stood nearly no chance of survival if returned to the neighborhood from which they all came. Happily, they were instead relocated to board with Aarti at Happy Paws, where they are receiving ongoing TLC, socialization, and medical care.
November
The Desi Dogs of Delhi
Here is a link to their Facebook page called Desi Furries Worldwide that provides a wealth of information and many lovely updates about adopted Indian street dogs helped by the Drs. Choudhary. Additionally, here is a link to an informative article written last year and entitled A Better Life for Desi Dogs. It explains the plight of India’s street dogs and showcases the important role that this husband-and-wife veterinary team have played in improving the lives of so many needy dogs.