How did we fall in love by adopting street dogs from India?

 …We followed our hearts.

There are many things in the world which bring joy. For us, animals are one of those things. What does our dog pack mean to us? Our dog pack is home & happiness. It’s full of companionship, adventure, discovery, communication, love & loyalty. When we lost two of our elderly dog pack members last year, we wanted to continue the tradition of adopting dogs into our pack that were most in need. We met Barbara Gard, of Desi Dogs British Columbia, who helped connect us to adopt our first Indian pup, Dhali. Dhali was already in the United States being fostered, but had been rescued as an orphaned puppy by Dharamsala Animal Rescue. We fell in love with Dhali’s personality & intelligence and felt she wanted a playmate. Reaching out again to DAR (whose staff have been assisting & healing injured and homeless street dogs in Northern India since 2008), we met Maggi, a dog who had been hit in the head by a car as a mere pup. She now suffered from head trauma and DAR was looking for a forever home for her off the street. While communicating with DAR, we discovered that Dhali & Maggi (in photo above) had been at DAR during the same time! They actually knew each other & had shared a kennel at one point! Watching Dhali & Maggi reunite halfway across the world here in Washington State last October was a joyful sight. They’ve shared many adventures this past year. Each day they continue to grow in courage & confidence, gaining new strengths, and experiences. They’re both napping happily at my feet right now as I write this. Since adopting Dhali and Maggi, we follow DAR on Facebook and support their work. We are always seeing the gorgeous dogs they rescue and rehabilitate We have been dreaming about adopting two males to go with our two females. Then…we saw the pictures of Shamboo & heard his story of head trauma. We felt we could lend a helping hand to this boy and offer him the same recuperative care that has benefitted Maggi. After that, we saw sweet-eyed Abbu, the trusting boy who suffered a compound fracture being run over by a car but still has love in his heart for humans. We wanted to also offer him a forever home. So, here we are, once again. Hearts opened to two more dogs who we want to offer a home to. We have love & time to share; we have warm blankets, plenty of space, dry shelter & good food, doggy health care, toys, hiking trails, big trees, fields to run in, a stream to swim in, and treats to find. Dhali & Maggi are eager to share their peaceful adventure with two more friends from DAR, and we’re happy to open our doors and welcome Shamboo & Abbu to join us here in a new journey of discovery. Learning about the lives of Indian street dogs, and seeing the work being done daily to help injured community animals in Dharamsala by the staff of DAR has been a blessing. DAR means hope for the people & the animals of Dharamsala… it means a chance for change. It means working towards a better way. It means seeing the benefits daily from all the constant hard work. DAR means feeling love for fellow animals & humans. We support DAR, and by supporting their work, we support their daily lives. By continuing to support the health of street dogs, we support the health of the village overall. Our hope/wish is to continue offering help to animals with special needs and give peace & security. But our immediate goal is to help Shamboo & Abbu come to their forever home. Will you help us? We’re humbly asking for financial assistance, dollar by dollar, to secure air flights for Shamboo & Abbu from Delhi to Seattle. Let’s work toward happiness, together! All of the donations, if in the USA, will be tax exempt. Thank you in advance for helping us provide for these amazing creatures. ~John and Amy Hanawait “each step is a journey – each journey is a joy”

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