Bob is a little old man, who’s affectionate and grumbles a lot. Koko is an avid TV-watcher, who has a mind of her own and prefers not to be given instructions. And Charlie loves turning her owner into a human teddy bear when it’s bedtime. The three dogs might be completely different as far as personalities go, but what they have in common is that they were all adopted from Bangalore-based NGO Let’s Live Together by Fay Barretto and Madhumita Nandi.
“If I had a chance, I’d adopt every dog,” says Fay. “I’ve had dogs all my life. When I moved from Bombay to Bangalore, the plan was to adopt just Charlie at first.” However, Fay decided to bring home Charlie’s brother Bob as well, upon finding that he too needed a home. “The latter is a bit funny,” she says jokingly, referring to his unique facial expressions. She found that adopting the pair was the ideal decision, as the siblings kept each other company while she was away at work all day and always fell asleep in each other’s arms. “Two is better than one”, says Fay who found that the only thing even better was three.
She brought home Koko to care for her temporarily while she waited for an adoptive home, but it turned out Koko was already home. The adorable snub-nosed puppy grew into a majestic beauty in her care.
Fay reveals that one of their canine games involves taking positions at different corners of the room and pouncing on each other in play, and adds that they’ve grown past their little jealousies and turned into great pals who are protective of each other.
Fay, who has also been involved in rescue of pedigree dogs abandoned on the streets by breeders after they passed their reproductive age, says, “We should stop buying dogs. So many dogs need homes”.
Asked what she loves most about the species, she says, “The high point of being with a dog is that they’re always around no matter what you’re going through.” She believes that pampering her dogs is a privilege and doesn’t see it as a chore and refers to the furry ones as stress-busters. Charlie and Bob are now three years old, and Koko is almost two. “All their birthdays are in April – we’re having a party for them,” says Fay, who posts updates of her three tykes along with Madhumita on >facebook.com/itsalwaysapartywithkokomrbobandcharlie.com
She calls it her blog “about the great travels and adventurers undertaken by Koko, Mr. Bob and Charlie” – a journey that began with them finding a place called home.
