Thane strays get one-way ticket to Canada, set out on a 16-hour flight

MUMBAI: It isn't always a dog's life, even for mutts. Two female stray dogs from Thane, after experiencing the rough end of life, are off to Canada for a better deal at a farmhouse.
Firangi, an eight-month-old partially blind puppy, and Angel, a 4-year-old with injured front limbs, are boarding an Air Canada flight from the city airport on Saturday night in specially kitted-out pet crates. After 16 hours, as India wakes on Monday, the two would have landed in Toronto.

From the sweltering 37 degrees Celsius to 11 degrees, from Marathi-speaking staff at the Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) to English-speaking children and adults, the two have a lot to adjust to. Firangi and Angel will live in a farmhouse owned by a joint family of foreigners settled in Canada.

President of Thane SPCA Shakuntala Majumdar said that the two Indian pariahs will take about a week to be part of the new family. They will be flown to Canada by a father-daughter duo from Canada who runs an NGO there. They mediated between the NGO in Thane and the adoptive family in Canada whose members have so far only watched videos of the two dogs.

The two canines are fighters who have come back from the brink of death. Firangi had come to SPCA as a month-old baby with a head injury that turned out to be a brain infection. While she is now as fit as a fiddle, she lost vision in the left eye. She got the name 'Firangi' (meaning foreigner) as the new parent decided to adopt her).

Angel was a victim of a train accident at Thane station two years ago. She injured her front limbs and had severe wounds on the body. While her legs were saved, she became permanently handicapped and crawls on her front limbs. Angel got the name for her demure nature.

Transferring a dog from one country to another can be a costly affair and time-consuming too. As the adoption procedure began around eight months ago, Thane SPCA undertook documentation work including a no-objection certificate from the quarantine office in Navi Mumbai, a health certificate, travel fitness certificate, microchip certificate and vaccination certificate. The major cost of the airfare was borne by the adopting family, said Majumdar.

Care has been taken to ensure that the canines are comfortable before and during the flight. The dogs, who have been counted as a piece of carry-on luggage to be stored under the seat in front, have been trained to use the crater in which they will be placed on board the aircraft. They have been trained to stand, lie down and turn around in the craters. The dogs, who were put off food from Saturday evening, are have a micro-chip which serves as an identification device, in case they get lost.

\While the adopting family did not wish to be identified, Majumdar said that the joint family comprising two sisters, a brother and their children own two farms and are all animal lovers. Two years ago, they had adopted another dog, Rani, from Thane SPCA.

Rani had been brutally attacked by some robbers who had broken into a house. They had chopped off her front leg and gouged an eye out, leaving three deep gashes on the back. It took three surgeries and close to eight months for Rani to get back on her three feet. Today Rani is a happy canine on the farm, said Majumdar who keeps getting updates about her.