Love, a four-legged word

As an animal lover, I spent my childhood feeding street dogs and caring for injured animals. I was deterred from owning a pet myself as it was a huge responsibility. However, my desire to have a pet of my own grew stronger after watching the movie ‘A Dog’s Purpose’. One night, while scrolling through Facebook, I found Scotty, a Scottish terrier, put up for adoption and once I got my mother’s approval, brought him home.

Having spent nearly two years at the trauma care centre, Scotty had finally found a home. However, not everything was rosy initially. Since I am a vegetarian, it was difficult to get accustomed to handling non-vegetarian food for him. Also, Scotty had acquired a bad temperament due to his traumatic early days and bit me often. I was exhausted with my trips to the hospital but we were determined to make him the good boy of the house.

As days passed, Scotty started placing his trust in us. He soon became this gentle creature who waited for us to get back home patiently every evening, to greet us with hugs and licks. He is also quite possessive of my mother, in an affectionate way, which stems from his belief that he should be loved as if he is her only child.

Recently, Scotty turned 8. Two years with him have flown past and from being a pet and owner, we are now friends for life. He loves biting my mother playfully, occasionally sitting with her during the prayer, making new friends, especially with kids, and howling when a particular vegetable vendor turns up on the street.

Scotty’s daily routine includes barking at the newspaper delivery boy, waiting for the neighbour’s pets to come out so that he can bark at them, chasing cats and birds every morning and sleeping on the bed for hours. Sometimes, making space for me on the bed is quite a task!

It is a cute sight when he picks the newspaper from the gate and runs to keep it on a table, to get a biscuit. He loves it when we say “who’s a good boy?” and “Scotty is a good boy”.

The number of handshakes that we get at this time is numerous. He has a special way of apologising too. When he realizes that he has done something wrong; he gently walks up to us and shakes his head to say that he is sorry.

If there is something that can reduce his energy levels, it is either me or my sister packing our bags to leave home; both of us travel quite a bit. Sad and bored, he lies on the bed in my room, which is now officially called ‘Scotty’s room’.

My four-legged companion has taught me that the greatest joys in life are in little things such as having one’s favourite food or taking a walk in the park.

Bringing home a pet has changed my life tremendously — when I needed a hand, I found a paw. Many who treat pets as just another living being are definitely misguided. Pets are emotional beings that need the same love and care as a baby.

I have to place on record my appreciation to CUPA for placing their trust in both Scotty and us — they believed that even with his initial aggressive nature he will be a good pet and that we would be the right family for him.