These dogs do have their day

DOG LOVERS in the city, are on the rise. And more and more dogs in Chennai, are getting their rightful places, inside the homes. And minus the chains.

For long, dogs have always been considered outsiders, quite literally, tied up outside the home. But for many today, dogs are family members.

Ms. Salima Penker, for instance, spends most of her day with her eight dogs. The family consists of a Terrier, a Russian Terrier, a Dachschund, a Labrador, a Great Dane, a Boxer, a Spitz and a Lhasa Apso!

Ms. Penker's day starts at 7.30 a.m. when she feeds the dogs with milk and bread.

``I give them egg with medicines, they snack a bit, then we have lunch together, they snack whenever I'm eating in the evening and then at seven, they have dinner,'' she says.

Interestingly, Ms. Salima Penker fell in love with Mr. Udo Penker two and half years ago, ``because he was gentle with children and dogs''. Now, they are happily married, with one big family.

Like Ms. Penker, Mr. Padmachandran too, was a dog lover since his childhood.

``My mother cried more when my dog died than when my father died. My father was suffering from an ailment, and she thought death would ease his pain, but when the dog died, it really affected her more,'' Mr. Padmachandran recalls.Mr. Padmachandran has two basset hounds and four dachschunds.

``Every morning when I take them out, I can see people smile. When I see ten people smiling it makes my day. I grew up with dogs, it is very difficult to be without them.

``They don't expect anything in return. They come, look at you and wag their tail. Undiluted love,'' Mr. Padmachandran says.

``Many people don't realise that having a dog is a commitment for the next 12 years. The trauma of changing a house is the worst thing you can do to a dog. They need people to take care of them. When a child grows up, he can go up to a fridge and take what he wants. But a dog, he just looks at you if he is hungry. He doesn't say a thing. Yet his eyes say a thousand words,'' he observes.

And there's Mr. Murugesan who sleeps with the dogs on his bed. ``They don't let my wife enter the room,'' he laughs.

``Even my daughter says that the dogs play a greater role in my life. The devotion the dogs show is unbelievable. They really know it even when you are at the gate. They don't go to people who don't like them. They tell what they want in their own way,'' he says fondly about his Lhasa Apso and Lhasa Terrier.

And there are neighbours who adopted the mongrel that was tortured by people.

Ms. Lalitha Swarup and Ms. Richa Ahuja, gave Brownie a home. ``She sits with us, eats with us and I will bring her up like my child,'' Ms. Swarup says. Ms. Swarup incidentally, also has a Labrador called Marcus, who is gentle and friendly with Brownie. ``He is nice to her. They don't fight. They are my best friends and my children.''

By Sudhish Kamath

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