Brownies Journey

On Tuesday the 16th of June 2020 we were contacted by Narendh to please assist in taking in a mama dog & her 8 one week old puppies. He was desperate for help & had limited time before she was euthanized along with her almost newly born puppies as he had been given an ultimatum to move the puppies or the SPCA would be called in to put them down. We knew we had to make a plan, we changed around our rescues and managed to free up one room. Narendh knows Brownie for about 3 or 4 years, she was a common stray in the Umkomaas area. Ever since he met her he has been feeding her along with other kind neighbors who daily put food down for her to eat.

Unfortunately due to Brownie's previous encounters with humans, it caused her to fear them. Even though these kind angels had been feeding her for years, they were unable to actually gain her trust and get close to her or even touch her. One day, years ago Narendh saw Brownie had given birth to 2 or 3 puppies. He immediately contacted the SPCA to fetch her and her puppies so that they are safe. Unfortunately the SPCA removed her puppies but were unable to catch her. They told Narendh that if he manages to catch Brownie, he must inform them and they will remove her. After Narendh become more informed about the SPCA and how they operate, he decided that he will not contact them for help in the future. Since Narendh has known Brownie she has had 4 litters that he has known of. The first one was removed by the SPCA, the second litter was also removed by the spca, who were called in without his knowledge by the same person who now issued the ultimatum. He watched in horror, unable to do anything as they gathered the pups and stuffed them into cold cages, but breathed relief as they failed to catch Brownie and left. 

The 3rd litter he found homes for. However when she gave birth in his neighbors property again with her 4th known litter, Narendh pleaded for help as his neighbor wanted them all gone by the next morning. He had just not had time to have gotten her caught and spayed before the 4th litter due to the Corona virus lockdown. Narendh contacted so many rescues for help but to no avail, most were full, others only wanted Brownie's puppies to rehome and he did not want to separate them. He also knew Brownie would be put down because no one was willing to work with an aggressive stray dog who had bitten other people before (due to no fault of her own, humans are to blame). When he found out about us, he contacted us immediately as he had put in a lot of effort over the years to gain a bit of trust from her. After hearing what Brownie went through we knew we had to do everything we could to help this special angel who deserved nothing but the best.

We were told that she can be aggressive, which is totally understandable given that she just had a litter and her previous experience with humans was horrifying. And we understood and were willing to take the risks involved if it meant Brownie could have a new, peaceful, heavenly life. We told Narendh that he would have to bring her to us. Narendh told us that won't be a problem and he will bring her the very next day, even though he had no idea how he was going to be able to catch her. On Wednesday (17th June 2020), Narendh prepped his van from 7:30am waiting for Brownie to jump in. She allowed him to move her puppies into his van, but she refused to budge. Narendh was extremely patient and gave Brownie her space and time and tried coaxing her in every so often. Around 1pm, Brownie jumped into the van all on her own, settled down and started nursing her pups, and Narendh waited a while for her to adjust to environment before leaving on his way to us! We all thought the most difficult part was over... Narendh arrived at our sanctuary around 3pm, he first asked to check the room she would be staying in and after viewing it, he was happy and content. He then drove his van to the back of our property and reversed it so that it opens directly into the room we had for her. 

Narendh gently removed Brownie's puppies from the van into the new room, with the hope that she would follow. Unfortunately she refused to move, regardless of the coaxing, or the home-cooked meat food he brought for her, the Montego Karoo cooked meals or the tasty treats! (Probably because he fed her too much in the morning before they left 🤣). Around 5:30pm Brownie finally jumped out of the van and ran into the room to be next to her puppies on the clean comfortable dog bed we had lovingly set up in a corner. Narendh wanted to ensure that she knew she was safe and okay. He wanted her to know we mean no harm to her or her puppies, so he sat with us and her in the room and we spoke and watched her from a distance as she nursed her puppies and amazingly fell off to sleep and started snoring.. Narendh left at 9:30pm after making sure Brownie was comfortable and content. He is the only person who is brave enough and who Brownie trusts to a certain extent, that she allows to come close enough to her and move her puppies around.

Whilst chatting to Narendh, we realized that he shared such a strong connection with Brownie and that he wanted only the best for her and nothing else. He wasn't able to take her in as he had two of his own dogs and so many rescue cats, it was unaffordable and impossible. We are still in complete awe of Narendh & what he has done for Brownie. Even people who have dogs since they were puppies don't value their lives as much as Narendh values and loves Brownie. Their bond is unexplainable. Narendh sent us pictures of Brownie with one of her previous pups... Unfortunately the person he homed her to was the same neighbor who wanted Brownie and her latest litter gone. That same person was an ignorant, careless pet owner who didn't even deworm and vaccinate Brownie's puppy and she sadly passed away after 2 months.

The great news is that Brownie knows she and her pups are safe and cared for, the heartbreaking part is that we aren't able to show her any physical affection as yet, all we can do is talk to her and explain how much we care. We haven't been able to get close to her or her puppies yet, we've just been monitoring them and ensuring she gets the proper nutrition and enough clean water. But she has responded well, and has given us a few tail wags, so we know she will soon be comfortable enough to acknowledge us as her new carers and forever home. We've been feeding her Royal Canin Maxi Starter Mother and Baby Dog as well as chicken soup. 

We noticed that she is so relieved and relaxed, for once she could spend precious time with her pups in a safe environment and she didn't have to leave them unattended in the open with stress from cars and people, as well as being chased by heartless people.

We are giving her the space she requires to feel safe so that eventually we will be able to gain her trust.

It is a very remarkable moment in our lives as rescuers to witness something of this calibre. She is a fantastic mom, intuitive and streetsmart, and we are so grateful to share this amazing story.

Charushka, our in house physic shared a very special vision with us as we were waiting for Brownie to disembark from the van, she said for the first time she had seen the room light up with Golden angels.

We are very blessed to have Brownie and her pups with us. And have her safe from atrocities of this cruel world. 

We wish that we could do this for all the other homeless and stray mamas and pups out in this cold and harsh conditions.

At our sanctuary we do not separate pups from their mums, we believe it is sacrilege to not see and feel the amazing bond that they share. However that being said, not all organizations are able to keep mum dogs and their pups together for good, they eventually find them homes and adopt them out. But removing puppies from their mothers before 8 weeks old, is just cruel and disadvantaging both mama and baby. Mama dogs are still full of milk, if it remains in her it will become toxic and kill her. Her puppies need the colostrum from her milk & it is crucial that they learn important behaviour traits from their mum and siblings. 

In the case of Brownie, the heartless neighbour wanted her pups gone at a time when they were barely over a week old and their eyes hadn’t even opened. 

How would you feel if your baby was taken away from you and your breasts were full of milk? 

Does anyone even know about the pain that you go through because your breasts become rock hard and so heavy, your entire body aches with an increasing fever while you are emotionally tortured with the loss of your babies? 

But who really cares, because you are just another dog. 

By Ishani Singh, Narendh Somaru & Vyaksha Singh