We left the ashram and the discussion of God, drove almost seven hours to Delhi and went straight to the dogs…

Traveling around India, it is readily apparent that life is not easy for most. Though there is a huge middle class, and some of the richest people in the world, there are still millions of people struggling on a subsistence level.

This rough world extends to all beings; the skinny horses pulling the old carts, the threadbare donkeys, the rough-looking cows and the scrawny dogs. But Darwin’s theory is especially hard at work when it comes to the dogs….survival of the fittest has cleared out any weak genetic failings. To survive on the streets of Delhi, these dogs need to be strong, robust and lean. The resulting Desi dog is a dog with resilient genes.

Before we left Canada, Karen had heard about these Indian dogs from a colleague. He told her that his adopted Desi dog was a gentle and brilliant companion and he’d recommend the breed to anyone.

And so…Karen has been on a hunt for a Desi dog. We decided it might be problematic to kidnap one off the streets, though there is certainly no shortage. We have been telling every Desi dog we meet that they’d soon have a cousin in Canada.

In the ashram, she discovered a website for an Indian dog rescue clinic, a few emails ensued with the rescue shelter woman who lives in Abbotsford (only 60 kilometers from Vancouver). She connected Karen to the veterinarian in Delhi who does the actual dog rescues and vaccinations…and so…when we arrived in Delhi yesterday afternoon we went straight to Dr. Choudhary’s pet clinic.

We sat with the four pups (the last remaining dogs from a litter of nine) that were rescued from a Delhi slum. They were kept with their mother until they were three-months old and then placed in a nearby foster home (an Indian woman who is currently caring for 14 of these dogs in her small Delhi apartment). The good doctor has ensured that all the dogs have been spayed/neutered and had all their shots.

Karen has named her new dog Shanti (the Sanskrit word for Peace).

So, while we tour Rajasthan, Dr. Choudhary will be organizing paperwork and shipping crates so Shanti can travel on Karen’s flight. Karen is allowed two dogs as excess baggage, which is much cheaper than the rescue center having to ship them separately. Viola is going to try and change her ticket to the same flight, and hopefully will claim two more dogs under her baggage allowance as well.

In less than two-weeks there will be four Indian doggie-siblings landing in Vancouver. They will probably be shocked by the lack of plastic garbage on the streets, then again, it might be the West Coast rain that they find most disconcerting.

Shanti will go home with Karen where she can curl by the fireplace each morning while Karen plays her some Indian music and maybe burns a stick or two of incense.

The other three will go to the shelter in Abbotsford to await new homes…unless…someone else wants to help some new Canadian dogs?