Subrat Agrawal

It was around 10 pm, I was on a phone call walking in front of my house. I heard the screaming voice of a dog, I walked towards & found the dog was forcing himself on another bitch (female dog). I beat back that dog and picked her. I saw she had many bruises on her body. I brought her to my house, gave her a bath and food to eat. I named her Bholi (translated as Innocent girl) and since then Bholi is part of our family. Now she feels so home, she sleeps her belly up (In dog behavior, if one sleeps her belly up, it means she is feeling safe & carefree). She was not my first adopted pet. Let me tell you when & where it all got started.

I was living in Ghaziabad preparing for SSC Exams, in my neighborhood, there was a vacant plot. I was going to market and saw one dog was inside that plot. He was struggling to get outside; in an attempt, his face got stuck between the gate & threshold. I jumped inside & got him out. The moment I helped him to get out, he hugged me tightly. As I was myself living in a rented house, I couldn’t provide shelter in my home. From that day, I started giving him food. I was the youngest kid in the family; hence I was irresponsible. But I started caring for him; this was a developing responsibility factor in me. Soon after SSC declared the results of CGLE & I was selected as Inspector in Central GST Department. In due course, I got posted in Kerala. I then planned that I would take him & my maa (Only maa because I lost my father at the age of 17 due to cardiac arrest) to Kerala once I would get settled there. I told my friend to give him some food till I come back.

I joined here in Kerala, did some training & got my permanent posting in Cherthala. It took 2 months. It took another 2 months in settling down there. When I went to Ghaziabad to bring maa & him with me, I noticed he was friendly to me but in love with my friend. I think here also long-distance stuff didn’t work. After a few days, while I was scrolling down my Facebook timeline, one post got my attention about a lady, Suchitra who lives in Kochi and has around 20 disabled dogs in her home with some disabled kittens. It makes her one of the top dog lovers. Since I was already in Kerala I visited her place, requested to adopt one dog. She allowed me and I brought home one dog from her. And a few days later I found Bholi. Bholi delivered 3 babies unfortunately 2 couldn’t survive due to the Parvovirus. The remaining one is completing the family.

After being financially independent I have adopted 11 stray dogs, I have taken them to the hospital for surgery, played with them & if they fight with each other, I also slap them sometimes. Even they sleep on my bed. The worst phase I have been when I buried those two puppies. I feel like I have seen almost all the phases of stray dog life. At present, I have a family of 3 dogs and 2 puppies. Someday I want to build a house where they all can accommodate.

Total Work Experience : 2 Years (Central Excise , Central Tax)