Starving waifs become handsome princes...Ugly ducklings become swans...Unlikely heroes overcome adversity and emerge victorious, beautiful and loved by all. Because some of us recognize that they are heroes inside and give them a helping hand.
We change their lives and they change ours.
So, once upon a time there was this very thin and sickly dog on the mean streets of Pune. He had mange and worms and other diseases. He was weak and nobody cared whether he lived or died.
Then one day a couple noticed him.
The bond between Man and Dog is a mystery, and nobody really knows how it works, not even Science. But sometimes when a dog tries to say something, humans understand. That's what happened on this day.
He was rescued.
36 hours after his first treatment - hope, and a sparkle in his eyes.
A month later...
And two months later...
Another month passes, and Sammy is transformed!
Confident, growing strong, happy.
Below: Four months after the first treatment - Samson is a pet dog and now lives in Minneapolis with the couple that rescued him.
Below: Eight months after treatment...Samson the handsome!
The moral of this story does not need to be spelled out, but here it is anyway.
Let's not, ever, give up on any street dogs we see, however miserable and weak and sick they may look. That INDog blood flows in them all, in some measure, whatever other breeds may have entered their family tree. They are all descended from thousands of generations of survivors.
Give them a chance, make one a member of your family...and it's your life that will be immeasurably more interesting, fun and beautiful.
Photos: Lee Sverkerson
Minneapolis
USA