Kade - the Kannada Villain

Oct 14 2014 : Mirror (Bangalore)


I recently had a gentleman called Sanjay contact me and thank me for bringing Kade into his life. I asked him I who Kade was and he said that Kade was his recently adopted Labrador. I was intrigued and wanted to know his story. Obviously, I started out by asking if he had always loved animals. He revealed that while he loved pets, his partner hated them. This story had just gotten interesting.How does one go from hating animals to adopting one?
And what is that journey like?
I was convinced there was a heart warming story here.So I asked him to go right to the start and tell us how the conversation of “Let's get a dog“ came up in his home.

“I and my partner have been living together from almost two years now. We wanted to complete our family and enjoy parenting. Being a gay couple, it was difficult for us to think of adopting a child. I always loved pets but was scared of having one; my partner Sudhir hated animals.“

It was touching. Most of us pet parents can relate to that parental love we have for our dogs. But going from hating animals to adopting is indeed a long leap. So I needed to understand how that leap happened.

“The dining table conversation of “Let's have a dog at home“ initiated by me resulted in lots of argumentsproblems. But one day, he read an article about adopting a dog which ended with a sentence “I hope anyone reading this post will consider adopting an abandoned and suffering animal“.Sudhir was convinced about adopting a pet. I thought we should purchase a puppy and a fancy breed. Always thought that only puppies will adjust to a new house and new people etc. But this thought changed when I met this stranger who told me about animal shelters and CUPA. Then, a 30-minute conversation in the traffic signal with CUPA changed my mind. This girl from CUPA told me only one thing, visit the shelter, there are lots of dogs of all age groups getting thrown out on the road every day from houses and they are waiting for a home in the shelter.“

So that is how I knew this gentleman. That stranger that told them about CUPA was moi. I never miss out opportunities to talk about adoptions and Indian dogs. You never know on whose ears it may fall on and whose life could change. All we can do is carry our message out. This made me joyous.

Since Sanjay mentioned he wanted to buy a pup, I discussed with him the thought process that made him decide to go for adoption. “Initially, we were thinking of purchasing a Beagle. But we visited CUPA's animal shelter in Silk Board with a very open mind. I still remember the first day was more about climbing up on the chairs in CUPA and screaming at the sight of dogs in the rooms. But in all the confusion, we still got shocked to see plenty of dogs of different breeds. Most of them were thrown out of houses for silly reasons and from puppy-making factories after being used. Our heart melted hearing these stories and we made a decision. We may or may not adopt a dog. But we are not buying one for sure!“ So what happened between standing-on-chairs-screaming and now that allowed Kade to join the family. “In CUPA's visiting room, there was this Kade, he was the only dog which I touched there during my visit. Kade was found abandoned somewhere near Electronic City. He is a charmer. He gave us that look of `Can I come home with you guys?' And yes, he entered our heart instantly. We visited CUPA several time together and spent time with Kade.Finally, we became very friendly and picked a date to welcome him home.“

It was evident that Sanjay and Sudhir were first-time pet parents and had a lot to cope with. Words of wisdom from them to other pet parents: “If you are scared of dogs, like us, first visit an animal shelter and spend time with dogs.You will be all fine, trust me. Never purchase a dog, opt for adoption. Get an adult dog instead of a puppy. They are toilet trained, well behaved, they won't destroy your laptop charger or furniture.“

He clearly seemed happy with his decision. So I ask this standard question to most people if he had any regrets and he did not even bother replying to it. He spoke volumes with that silence.