Shalini outdoors

Recent pictures of Shalini, out on a walk with owner Nicole. Can you spot her in the last picture?

Shalini is all grown up now and has retained her supermodel looks. Click here for her earlier photos.

Photos: Nicole Poyyayil
Ahmedabad

Shalini growing...

Cute little Shalini is shooting up, as puppies always do. See her baby pics here. She is now lean, leggy and stunningly elegant.

This lucky girl lives with owners Nicole and Vinod in a beautiful part of Ahmedabad, filled with open spaces and interesting wildlife. I am slightly envious of them actually! Lalee and I see rats on our walks; Nicole and Shalini see monitor lizards and langurs.

It's so great that this lovely dog's life changed so dramatically for the better, just like all the pets featured here. I wish for the millionth time that more people would rescue INDogs rather than buy Eurobreeds. All they do is encourage sloppy and unscrupulous breeding, and in the bargain give some poor dog a rather uncomfortable life (given that most of the common Eurobreeds here originated in much colder countries!)

Photos: Nicole Poyyayil
Ahmedabad

Shalini

Another lucky puppy saved from a grim fate. And another lucky person who got an INDog.

I have to admit, the best thing about this blog is that I get to interact with absolutely the nicest, kindest members of what I have come to believe is a degraded race. I mean us humans. (Go back to my post about the bloody-minded citizens of Meerut and you'll understand what I'm talking about).

The other wonderful thing about this blog is that I get emailed the cutest pictures. They keep me smiling. I don't have to put in the slightest effort to make the blog beautiful, with photos like this regularly coming in.

So, this little dog is Shalini and her rescuer is Nicole Poyyayil, who had earlier adopted Deepa. Deepa lives with Nicole's parents in Switzerland now.

Shalini was a healthy and playful pup when Nicole first saw her on a street in Navi Mumbai. Nicole started feeding her treats whenever they met.

But then she had to make a short trip out of town. When she returned and went to look for her, she found to her horror that the pup had become skeletal, so weak she could hardly stand, with lots of small wounds in her paws. The cause of her sudden illness remains a mystery.

Of course it was impossible to leave her on the street in that condition. From her vet Nicole heard about some people who looked after street dogs in their home, and she arranged to keep Shalini with them. But all the dogs there seemed to be chained all the time and Nicole wasn't very comfortable with the place.

She and her husband were about to shift to Ahmedabad, but they made a decision to adopt Shalini and take her with them.

With her life changed so dramatically for the better, Shalini started recovering.

They are all in Ahmedabad now, just settled into their new home.

One more great INDog story has just begun...


Photos: Nicole Poyyayil
Ahmedabad