Meet Monster

     This adorable dog liked us on our first day, but the next day was glued from the moment we walked through the gates. He bounded after us as we did our rounds in the cat wards and tried to poke open the wooden doors when we were inside, setting the cats on a round of hissing. Whenever we went to get anything from our bags in the office where Tarzan (a cat) lived, he followed after us, but enjoyed harassing Tarzan. Sometimes he would follow us out when we left, but other times, a bit more needed to be done for him to leave the poor cat alone and he got sent to a kennel to keep him out of trouble for a bit (he certainly wasn't happy with that!). 

As we walked around the shelter grounds, he was very often running ahead of us, looking back to make sure we were following. When we passed other dogs, he sometimes growled at them, needing to be certain that they would leave us alone. There were certain dogs who were allowed to join his herd and come along with us, but he definitely made sure that the path ahead was clear and intervened when he thought there was a problem. When we went to work with the calves, we closed the gates, but he found another way around and soon happily bounded up to us. I was afraid at one point he was going to get kicked as he stood right behind an unhappy cow whose feet were being manipulated, but he did just fine. 

     One of the most entertaining things to watch was his game with Chitti the monkey (more about her later). Chitti was probably the one animal who outsmarted our little Monster. Monster ran after her barking and trying to catch her as she jumped from tree to tree, dangling her tail, getting close to him but not quite close enough to be caught. He's a little guy and as much as he tried, could only stand up so tall. He thought that he could win this game like all his others, but Chitti was having the time of her life taunting him and Monster had no such luck.

     At the end of the day, we gathered our things and walked out, shutting the gate behind us. Most of the dogs run free and there are a lot of ways out besides the gate, so the moment that I opened the car door, Monster was beside me and jumped right on in, surprising the driver a great deal, but it was no great surprise to us that our little shadow had found a way to try to come home with us. I picked him up and put him outside of the car, but the driver's door was open so half a second later, he was back in the back seat. We booted him back out and tried to drive away, but he ran with the car, eventually running a ways ahead of us so that he could keep up. We had to get out and walk with him back to the shelter and get someone to keep hold of him so that he didn't follow us all the way home. 

The next morning, Monster came bounding up to us the moment that we walked through the gates. We were really happy to see him as well - it was amazing how bonded we had become to this dog in just a day. He followed us through the beginning of our morning routine and stood waiting for us outside of the first cat ward, but after that he disappeared. As the day went on, we still didn't see him and had no idea where he had gone. We soon found out that he had only been staying at the shelter temporarily - he had been brought in for the animal birth control (ABC) program.  It turns out that Monster was from the steel plant on the other end of Vizag and the trip was only made out there occasionally. He has a family who takes care of him there and is well known in the community, so I was very sad to see him ago but very glad that this personable little guy has a good life out there. 

     Monster was just one of the countless dogs who pass through the shelter as part of the ABC program. The on-staff veterinarian spays and neuters 10-20 dogs a day. They each receive antibiotics, pain medication, a rabies vaccination, and several days of food before being returned to the area that they were taken from. Some of the dogs that come through the shelter are covered in ticks or have minor wounds and we do what treatment we can while they are anesthetized. Most of the dogs are actually in fairly good condition and clearly adept at surviving on the streets. There is the occasional dog who for whatever reason is unable to survive on his own and is therefore kept for life at the shelter rather than being released. Such was the case with an extremely friendly blind dog who caught our attention with a wagging tail and kisses when we walked down the ward one morning, as well as many of the other dogs who are now have care for life at the VSPCA.  It’s clear as I walk around Vizag that this program is having an impact in the city, as most of the dogs that I come across have ear notches, which serve as indications that they have been vaccinated and sterilized. The dogs and the city itself are both very lucky to have such a program that effectively targets a large number of dogs.