Mr T was hesitant to come and see the afflicted puppy. He argued that it was pointless — after all — knowing that we won’t be able to help him as he was difficult to catch.
However, having an outstanding level of nagging skills due to a lifetime spent around grumpy old people — a secret weapon I proudly reserve for special occasions — Mr T finally gave in and came to visit.
It was in the afternoon when he arrived and we walked to the wadi to be welcomed by two dogs sitting side by side, like a mirror image. One of them was the blue-eyed puppy and the other was a copy of him but with brown eyes. I instantly declared that it must be the mother to be corrected that both were the same age, probably siblings. Mr T and I squatted opposite of the puppies who approached us but kept their distance.
Mr T announced that both were females and that the blue-eyed one was blind, probably from birth due to a genetic defect. This meant that what I saw were different puppies a day apart and not the same one turning blind the following day!
Both puppies were flea-ridden and I almost swooned noticing the huge ticks infesting all over their ear and dangling from the tips like chandeliers. It felt like a scene from Alien movie and childhood memories came rushing back in the form of mom’s voice warning us from ticks that could burrow under our skin to only be removed with a red-hot pin.
Mr T was now mentioning some chewable pills that he’ll be giving me to add to the puppies’ food to rid them of the ticks (problem solved!). While still giving his expert opinion, our English neighbour passed by and I introduced him to Mr T.
The English neighbour seemed concerned as he had adopted the blind puppy’s two siblings, what was the chance of them becoming blind too? Mr T assured him that it was slim as the defect would’ve shown at birth.
The English neighbour sighed in relief and left in peace. Mr T declared that the only way to deal with the blind puppy was either by putting her down or finding her an adoptive family. I agreed with the second suggestion but who would adopt a blind dog? He recommended taking a picture of her and posting it on local pet rescue pages, maybe volunteers would show up and help in capturing her before finding someone to foster or adopt her.
The very next day, another one blue-eyed puppy turned up — must’ve been the blind’s sibling — and I decided to follow Mr T’s advice. I placed a picture of the blind puppy and mentioned her one-eyed sibling in two pet rescue pages on Facebook.
I got an answer from only one group who apologised for being stretched too thin in funds and volunteers due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, the visually impaired siblings caught the interest of a lady in Switzerland called Mary who was keen on helping them. She got in touch with her acquaintances from other rescue groups here. Sadly, they gave her the same answer: they couldn’t afford rescuing the blind puppy. I decided to keep feeding the whole lot.
The puppies always took turn in showing up individually as if they were on a roster, which was really amusing. I also kept updating Mary with their news. Sadly, the two visually impaired puppies disappeared within a week and I was left with the healthy one who later introduced me to her own interesting pack (to be continued….)
(The writer is a certified skills trainer and author)
