Flea's Great Adventure

You may or may not have seen in a previous post a picture of a little puppy named Flea, but this is his story.....

Once upon a time in the far off land of India in the far off state of Goa on a far off beach town (I don't know the name because I wasn't there) a tiny little puppy was born. He was quite smaller than his brothers and sisters and life was hard right away for this lovely little puppy. Perhaps his mom abandoned him because he was so small, or maybe it was the fleas that had started to cover his entire body. But then a magical prince and princess from New Zealand named Jaycee and Sunny stumbled upon this little puppy. At first they passed by him as just another stray dog on the beach. He look destined to succumb to the fleas that swarmed him and was on the verge of death. But something about this tiny little puppy touched their hearts. The next day as they walked by the lonely puppy again they decided they would nurse him back to health and find a good home for him.

They bought flea powder and worm pills to rid him of the pests. The fleas had become so bad that many had started to burrow under his skin to lay their eggs. As the thousands of fleas started to fall off from the powder they noticed he had scabs running down the length of his spine. They started feeding him daily and taking care of his wounds as he joined them on their travels. As the fleas disappeared and his wounds slowly started scabbing over the puppy seemed to regain strength and his will to play.

A short time later, Jaycee and Sunny brought the puppy down to Gokarna, a beach in the state south of Goa. Here the Stephanie's and I were introduced to the puppy. By this point they had decided to call him Flea and he regained enough strength that he was more playful. But the wounds on his back still were filled with puss and looked infected.

Little Flea in Gokarna

The five of us and the puppy became a family over the next week as we took turns cleaning his wounds, bathing him, and looking after him as we explored the beaches around Gokarna.

On the garden paths

Eventually Jaycee and Sunny were scheduled to head home to New Zealand and we volunteered to care for Flea until we could find a good home for him. We had been staying at a small cafe in Kudle beach where another puppy lived and we hoped they could adopt Flea when we left. But it turns out most of the employees go back to their homes in the March or April for the off season and the beach dogs have to fend for themselves.

Oh boy, new friends!

Waiting patiently on the booth in a restaurant

Flea and been such a good puppy, following us down the beach on walks, sitting quietly in restaurants while we ate, and being so incredibly cute. We decided he would continue on our adventure and we would try and find a better home for him.

Waiting for the train to Mumbai

Nap time in Mumbai guest house

He was so easy to travel with and slept quietly on the train. Once in the big city though we were finding we had to sneak him around a lot more. Restaurants turned us away and we had to sneak him into our guest house. We looked forward to leaving the city in a few days to the countryside where he would have more room to roam around.

Playing with local kids in a Mumbai "park"

Because he was so cute and black (I guess black is a good luck color for dogs in India) we got countless offers from people in Mumbai to adopt him. Men would come up to us on the street and carefully count the number of claws he had.

"One, two, three....Nineteen!!!" "Oh my this is a very good dog. Very lucky. Black and 19 claws!"

But we didn't feel comfortable giving him to random people on the street who lived in the big city, so we decided to wait.

Puppy takes a trip to the mall

One day we headed to a mall where we were supposed to meet a couchsurfer who had offered to show us around the city. We had two days before our next train arrived so we took him up on it. When we arrived at the meeting place there were security guards patting us down and checking bags in order to enter. We figured we would put Flea in his little carrying bag that he sat in when we walked around, and sneak him right past the guards. When it was Steph's turn to go through the line with Flea, a woman searched her bag and screamed when she opened it and Flea was inside. Whoops, guess we will have to wait outside.

Nitin, our couchsurfing friend showing us around Bandara

A little ice cream treat for Flea

Tired out after a long day exploring Mumbai

When we met Nitin and he found out we had a puppy, he was instantly intrigued. It turns out he has two dogs of his own and also cares for a number of strays in his neighborhood. When we told him we were looking for a home for Flea, he told us to get back to him the next day and he would look into it for us.

Later that night he told us he knew a English lady, Sheila, who worked as a Vet in a small community in the mountains outside of Mumbai. She cares for horses at a stable in a ritzy gated neighborhood but has also turned the stable into a huge care center for all types of stray animals. Nitin offered to drive us up there with Flea to find him a new home.

Upon arriving we were greeted by about 15-20 dogs running up to our car. It turns out she has over 40 dogs, many horses, cats, camels, goats, a pig, ducks and other animals living on the "farm". Her and the helpers care for many stray dogs until they can find a good home. They interview candidates and go to their homes to check them out before finding the right home for a dog. After the dog has found a home they make multiple visits to make sure the animal is being cared for. Also, Sheila often falls in love with the dogs and many of them end up living on the farm with her. By now, Flea's back was mostly healed but he was bald where the scabs had been. Sheila knew he had "flea dermititis" and said he was doing very well by now, and said he would get his vaccinations right away.

Meeting new friends

Is this place for real??

We couldn't believe how syncronistic it was to meet Nitin the day before we left Mumbai and that he happened to know a Vet who ran an animal shelter. In all of India and all of the couchsurfers in Mumbai, he is the one we met with. It worked out perfectly and we were promised a good home for Flea would be found or he would live on the farm. He was already excited and exploring with his new friends when we started to say our goodbyes. He was a great puppy and travel companion. We were sad to say goodbye but also very happy that he would have a permanent home. No more hiding out on trains and in restaurants. Plus Sheila told us we can always e-mail her to check up on how he is doing.

Miss you Flea!

Saying our goodbyes

Already found a new best friend