Diwali is known as the festival of lights. Over the years, it has degenerated into a Festival of Noise. Cacophony that awakens a sleeping infant, startles a sick patient in a hospital, agitates the elderly and affects the health and sanity of all animals. We, the people behind the campaign firmly believe that change can begin with a single person. Can we count on you to support our campaign for a happy and peaceful Diwali? Please take a moment and visit the webpage and make a pledge not to burst noisy and air polluting fire crackers! Please re-post this and share to all so we can change things for the better!

VISIT: http://www.woofmag.in/diwali/ TO PLEDGE

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But don't forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that have passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

They have a life!!!

I just got a black Labrador Retriver adopted! He is in a good home now, with people who love him. I am not saying his previous owners didn't look after him, they did! He was a very well kept dog with no signs of abuse whatsoever.
So, you may ask why this sweet and cared for dog was given up. Were the owners moving out of station or out of the country? Or could they just not manage looking after this noble animal who loved them and missed them when he stayed for extended periods at our pet sitting facility?

Here is Maxs' story.

Max came to us for boarding about 8 months back. When his owner got him here so my husband and I could see if he was friendly or not, she burst out into tears. I was taken aback with her behaviour and asked her why she was crying since we don't really get bawling owners. After a long pause, she told us that her house had been robbed by her house maid. Max was looked after by this maid while she attended to her kitty parties and outings. Now, since the maid was all poor Max had to call his own, he was sulking by not eating. I comforted her and told her not to worry and since Max would be boarding with us for a few days, he would be well looked after. I genuinely thought she was crazy about her dog. "I was so wrong!"

He stayed with us and went back home. The owner was happy he was eating again. Well, Max was being bought up in a Gujrati household and the only form of his natural food (meat) came from sachets of packaged dog food and he was more than happy to eat chicken at our place, which ofcourse the owner said he could have. He gobbled down all that was served to him and then wanted some more.

Two days after his return back home, I got a call from his owner. Max was up fror adoption!! I tried to convince her that she was making a very wrong decision and that she should reconsider. I also asked her what made her change her mind after 2 and a half years of having such beautiful and well behaved dog. She then explained that since she was without a maid, Max was tearing up the house when left alone. Every evening when she got back, she would find pillows torn apart with cotton all over the room, furniture chewed up among the many other things. What did she expect, did she think that she would walk into a perfect house; just like she had left it? Max was used to having someone with him all the time... he had company and someone who would talk to him. Now, he was left all alone and he was obviously bored and had resorted to entertaining himself as well as getting some kind of attention from his owner. He was craving to be loved, to be spoken to, to be pet and pampered. "Was that so wrong?"

After a lot of convincing, Maxs' owner said she would try for a few more days and keep him till then. I did not get a call from her for over 5 months and I was happy that she realized she loved him and could not part with him. "I was so wrong!"

The phone rang on March 30th. The owner was getting her house renovated and needed Max to board with us from 16th April onwards. I booked him in and he came to us on the 16th. A week later she called and dropped by to meet him and settle the dues but did not take him home as the work was still in progress. That same night, 10.45pm, the phone rang again. She was now certain she didn't want him. This time I did not try to reason with her. That evening when she had visited, her husband had seen a pug we were boarding and commented that their next dog would be a pug! I am almost certain that is the reason she called and said she didn't want Max anymore.

We had a friend who was waiting since months to adopt a lab. I called him at 11pm that same night and he was overjoyed to hear the news. Max was picked up from our place. The owner did not bother to meet Maxs' new parents. She did not even bother to bid her farewell to her dog of 2 and a half years.

This is not only Maxs' story. This is the story of all those dogs who are bought as a commodity, who are bought because Mr. XYZ has one and they want one too. I hope and pray that people realize that dogs are not toys, "THEY HAVE A LIFE."

Rising to be Reincarnated

"Zombies" we ascend from our graveyard
As our pale bodies try to walk away
From the tormented creed

Treading, full of hopes...
As we depart from the old cemetery,
Where all the illusions are now buried

With ripped chests,
Taken the organ that supplies tainted life
Ready to end the core of all these sufferings

And with sewed ears,
Deafened ourselves from the tempting sound of siren,
No more lullabies that would deceive and hypnotize "us"

We are now ready to raze their crypt,
free ourselves from the devil's den
And dwell in a genuine land that we always yearned...

Hey all I just had to blog this down.

My husband, 2 dogs (Magic& Laika) went to this awesome place in Talegaon on the Mumbai Pune Highway. Talegoan is just about 3 hour drive from Mumbai and with the Expressway its a pleasant drive (after Chembur).

Ok.. so getting to the place. It's called Japalouppe and is an Equestrian Center run by Rohan More. Rohan is a very fun and talkative personality and an animal lover... You will notice that as soon as you reach his farm as you will be greeted by atleast 4 of his 8 dogs!! Yup you heard that right, eight!! Being an equestrian center, Rohan also has about 27 horses... all wonderfully kept and well looked after. All the dogs there are friendly and eager to meet anyone who visits...

The cottage where we stayed at the farm was very sweet and cozy.. nothing fancy and posh.. but that's just how we like it... basic is the best... Being in a wheelchair, I was a bit disappointed when we got there because the entrance to the cottage had 2 steps.. which would have been difficult to go up with my heavy power chair... But that was magically taken care of too... Just minutes after our arrival, Rohan got his workers to start building a permanent cemented ramp. Before we got up from our evening siesta.. the ramp was ready!!! I wish more people in India would be like Rohan.. It doesn't take much of time, money or effort to make places more wheelchair accessible... Wish more people and our lethargic government realises that and does something about it..

We all had such a wonderful time.. Food was simple home-cooked meals.. vegetarian food in the afternoon and non-vegetarian at nights....Magic (our lab) just couldn't get enough of the farm. He wanted to play with the horses, chase the geese and of course harass the baby horses and run around with them... For four days he just wouldn't want to come back into the room...he wanted to play and we let him do just that!! He too got yummy meals of bowl fulls of beef and rice which he happily chomped down!!

Laika on the other hand has always been a daddy's' gurl... Although she did have her play with Magic; she just wanted to sit and enjoy the view most of the time. The weather was perfect, with the frequent rains and all the trees painted in hues of bright greens...it makes you just want to sit there and sip on some hot tea and eat hot and spicy freshly fried bhajiyas ;)

After 5 days at Japalouppe, I strongly recommend you all to visit... For all details regarding the stay visit their website http://www.japalouppe.com/

I am feeling a whole lot better,

Than I was the other day,

Thank you for your help,

That is what I want to say,

Brought me round to thinking,

That what I did was wrong,

Although we are not talking,

You still helped me get along,

I want you to know I am sorry,

I mean it from my heart,

For every stupid thing I did,

To make us drift apart,

I care about you very much,

You will always be a part of me,

I will make something of myself,

Now you just wait and see,

I will keep on dreaming,

That I meant something to you,

For this does give me comfort,

And it helps to get me through,

I am such a pain in the ****,

But I will try my very best,

To let you get on with your life,

And give you a bit of rest,

Remember all my good points,

If there are any that you know,

Please forget all the bad ones,

Before you turn away and go,

I know that you have left me,

I cannot promise not to cry,

But I do love you my friend,

I guess this is my last goodbye.

Don't take things for granted...

You know the saying “you don’t know what you have till it’s gone” well that is true.
We take things for granted every day.
We wake up and go about our day, like every other day, not realizing how easy we have it compared to others.
You never know when one day might be your last day. .
So if you take anything away from this let it be that you never go to bed angry with anyone, call a friend out of the blue just to say hi and never keep your feelings bottled up because who knows if you will ever get the chance again to say what you wanted to say.
I have a friend for a long time and I was just so over come with emotions that I couldn’t even talk the last few moments I got to spend with him.
Of course he already knows how I feel about him and I told him I was gonna miss him.
I guess there’s never really the perfecting thing to say, but as long as they know how you feel they will always have you in their heart.
I have never been close to any one so much, so I didn’t know the feeling.

I suggest if you can give your loved one a gift to remember you by before they leave, they will really appreciate it and always remember you when they see it.

Relationships in life should be valued...