Shanti's last journey

In January 2011 I posted about Shanti, Scott Rothstein's beautiful INDog rescued from certain death on a Delhi street. Read about her in the post INDog in the East. 

Shanti passed away a few months ago.

"She had a pretty remarkable life," writes Scott. "Found almost dead on the streets of Delhi...brought back to life then ends up living the life of a diplomat. Three years on the US Embassy compound in Delhi, moves to a high-rise in Tokyo, then moves to a diplomat's apartment in Bangkok.

Everywhere she went, she was totally loved by everyone who met her.

My wife finished her post in Bangkok (in mid-2012). We moved from Thailand back to the US. We wanted to take Shanti back with us, but I was very concerned that the trip would be too much for her. She would be in a crate for as long as 30 hours. We don't really know how old she was...in that when we found her on the street, the vet thought she was between one and three years old. So at this time she could have been 11 or 13. But in fact she could have been older. She had been looking/acting pretty old.

This transition was on my mind for a long time. My Thai housekeeper knew my concerns and told me I should leave Shanti with her. We had talked about this three years ago. From that time on, she took the position that Shanti was staying with her. She totally LOVED Shanti. Her real job was not so much a housekeeper, but as the person to take care of Shanti when we travelled. My wife was travelling about 40% of the time for work.

So we decided it was best for Shanti to stay. My housekeeper was so happy. She was 70 and was retiring herself. Shanti would probably be the focus of her life at this point. 

She has a nice little house in Bangkok that she shares with her son and granddaughter. Shanti had already spent time there, was totally at home and everyone loved her. 

Needless to say, it was very hard for us to leave her. But it was what was best for her and we had to put her needs before ours. 

A year later Shanti became ill and it was determined that she had advanced cancer. We think she was about 14.

When all this was playing out, our Thai housekeeper informed us that Shanti needed a proper funeral. Like many Thais my housekeeper loved dogs and animals in general.

The day Shanti passed away, she was taken to the Wat (Thai temple) and given a formal Thai funeral. 

Somehow I think she must be the only pariah dog to leave the world in this way.

These pictures were taken at her funeral. It's pretty moving to see the respect given to her."

Story and photos: Scott Rothstein

Thailand

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