Monica Bheemaiah’s wish to adopt a puppy started two years ago. Monica, her fiance Shrijan Muthanna and her sister Likitha fell in love with a brown indie pup named Chulbul. The owner of the pup cancelled on them at the last minute and Monica was devastated. But she stayed patient and finally found Winter.
Monica says, “We were given an option to choose between 10 to 15 puppies. A bunch of my friends were at home and we decided to vote on which one would come home. The small white and brown pup was who everyone fell in love with.” But Monica believes “it was really Winter who chose” them. “Known as Sundari then, Winter came and sat next to us the first time we met. I felt like she chose us.”
She was run over by a vehicle at a very young age and had to get surgery done. Even today, she has a rod on her leg that helps her walk. They named her Winter as she came home at the beginning of the season, in October 2018.
Winter grew up in Vasanthnagar and also has a brother named Sundar. They used to visit Cubbon Park every Sunday.
A couple of months ago, Monica and her family shifted to RT Nagar. “Both the dogs weren’t too familiar with the new area since we hadn’t explored much because of the lockdown. Two weeks ago, we visited Cubbon Park and met our friends,” recalls Monica.
On their way back in an auto, Winter lost control and fell off the vehicle. She was startled by a bus behind her, which made her run in the opposite direction.
“This was close to the Imperial Hotel, close to where we used to live earlier. Winter eventually ran back to our old house but our neighbours didn’t recognise her without her collar and tag,” says Monica.
The struggle to find Winter started from there. Monica and her family searched everywhere they thought Winter could have gone. They took to social media and put up missing flyers across the area.
Volunteers from Cubbon Park Canine group helped out and around late-night two weeks ago, they received information that Winter was around the Chief Minister’s guest house. The guards and residents confirmed to have seen her in the compound.
“We brought some of our clothes from home and left it for her to catch the scent. Since it was really late at night, we decided to go back home and look for her in the morning,” says Monica.
She received a call on Tuesday morning that Winter has been found. Winter incurred a small injury on her nose and feet but has recovered well since then. Sundar is also thrilled to have his sister back home.
“Winter is doing well now and we look forward to going to Cubbon Park on Sunday. It was definitely scary but we couldn’t have done any of this without the help of the animal lovers in the city,” she says.
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