Lucky pups find a loving home together

Dear all,

First I want to wish you all a very happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the festive season. I hear from our volunteers that you have got lots of snow in Europe... brrrrrr... I'm happy to be here in the warm sunshine.

I'd like to tell you a little story about two lucky little souls who were brought to our centre recently. As you probably know International Animal Rescue runs an adoption programme in Goa for orphan pups and kittens. Over the years more and more people have come to recognise the benefits of owning a local breed dog, hence more and more puppies find a home.

Spot and Sparky are two such puppies. They were found wandering along the N17, the busiest highway in Goa, without a mother and obviously frightened and distraught. Whether they are brothers remains uncertain but they were spotted by our drivers and picked up to save them from being run over or getting into trouble with other dogs. Being young makes them unable to fend for themselves and their chances of survival would have been slim.

Sadly for a pup of only five or six weeks old Animal Tracks doesn't offer an entirely safe haven. Owing to the volume of pups and kittens being admitted - some of which may be carrying infections - it is impossible to prevent germs from spreading completely and some animals fall sick and never make it out of the centre again. The staff and volunteers do their very best to minimise the risk and ensure that the animals are well cared for during the time they spend here with us and it's a cruel and sad aspect of life out here to witness some of these poor babies succumbing to illness.

Luckily this was not the case for Spot and Sparky. They both found a home within 24 hours of being admitted and put up for adoption! And do you know what the best thing is? They both went together to their new home. A local family from the town of Mapusa had come to adopt just one puppy but could not decide which one was the cutest so they took both. I wish them a long and happy life with their new family and I look forward to meeting them again when they come back for vaccinations and sterilisation.

Love from Olive