In search of a home, as foster family is leaving UAE
Abandoned as a pup and having lived at foster homes, this dog now needs a forever home
Ihad never understood my husband’s desire to own a pet. To me, animals belong in the wild; not in homes, and certainly not in mine! My husband proceeded to speak to my “socially conscious” side and said that many abandoned dogs were in desperate need of a home and that we could at least foster one.
So, that’s how I ended up sifting through catalogues of dogs rescued by Middle East Animal Foundation (MEAF). My husband wanted a medium-sized breed whilst I just wanted something low maintenance.
There was a dog walking around watching us with untrusting, but curious eyes. She seemed unhappy with our intrusion into “her territory”. She was a medium-sized, plain-looking dog, except for those strangely intelligent eyes.
I learnt that this particular dog was called Aya and was found in a dumpster as a three-month-old puppy. She was adopted by someone who then turned out not wanting her anymore.
We were warned that she didn’t trust people easily. To me, that only reflected her intelligence further. She must have thought of every place she was taken to as her permanent home and felt secure with her now family or “pack”, only to discover later that she was forsaken yet again.
It turned out that bringing home a proud, intelligent dog wasn’t that easy. We had to first earn her trust, but I thought she was worthy of that effort. One day, she did the dog equivalent of welcoming us graciously — she jumped up and licked our faces!
She kept lifting her front paws and resting herself on my body like a child yearning to be picked up. It was such a beautiful, radical transformation from that fearful, untrusting dog who liked her space! It was time to take her home.
We played tug-of-war, fetch and chased each other around the house. Having her was the equivalent of having a young toddler. Her intelligence never ceases to amaze me. She deviates from the staircase when we’re on the right floor, leads us to the right door and then steps back because she knows I must enter first.
She’s very quick to learn new commands and also what she is and isn’t allowed to do. I could go on and on about the bundle of love, joy and fun that she is. And it breaks our hearts that we’re not in a position to adopt her ourselves.
We have to leave the UAE soon and we are desperately looking for a permanent home for our Aya, who is now a little over a year old. She is vaccinated, microchipped and spayed, is good with other dogs, but not very good with cats. If you would like to adopt Aya, contact us at shizza.khan@outlook.com.,
Gulf News is not liable for any of the reader-delivered content on this page. It is a reflection of their individual opinion and not that of the newspaper. This page will always follow the principle of civil discourse.