If you wondering where I am at the moment, I’m in my 19th country! I’m sniffing in at 3,300 meters in little village called Leh in the Northern Himalayas and breathing in some of the cleanest air in the whole woofing world! My best friend set up a sanctuary for old and sick donkeys here a year ago (www.donkeysanctuary.in) so I’m up here protecting the herd with fresh hay and high altitude carrots. This is my 3-week break- this is my time to prepare for the hustle and muscle of Asia; Its my time to reflect on paw prints passed and to ruff up my resources for the next leg. I’m also waiting for my next cameraman to arrive; shooting a documentary takes pooch planning and while the one yelps home to recover, I look forward to welcoming another yuppy puppy to cover my tail as it proceeds through India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, China and hopefully Japan – if they waiver the quarantine. (I’mprobably the healthiest dog on the Pooch Planet but they still believe that I could be threat! Aaaaarg, swine flue move over, Oscar’s arriving! Let’s hold paws as I have an eventful schedule lined up on the top of Mount Fuji! So just hold paws; the write up for my lg in India will continue in a few weeks; I’ll be handing out ROGZ collars along the Ganges River soon, and if I’m really brave, take a dip in it too!

I have to bark that a trip like this has many highs and lows along the way. I am constantly seeing sorrow hidden away in thousands of kennels across the planet; the continuous barking haunts your soul, shakes your existence and shifts the marrow of every bone in your body. You face it because you know you’re trying to do something about it; I can look each one of those dogs in the eyes and try and tell them in a language a dog can understand that I know what its like to be on that side of the ‘fence’ and to please hold on and that wait, there REALLYare people that care and are working very hard to get you to believe that there’s a reason to live again! These experiences can bring you down, but ironically, they can also inspire you in the smallest and simplest of ways. – Right from the beginning of this Tour I made a bark about this Tour being a POSITIVE ‘Mighty Mutt Mission’; Sure, I could dwell on the fact state of destitute dogs is a very sad and desperate one all over the world, but how doing a World Tour that would serve as another platform (Along with all the amazing individuals and organizations that I have met thus far that work their woof off for dogs all over the world) to raise awareness about shelter dogs and to show everyone what amazing dogs are dying for that second chance all over the world. That’s what this is really all about…

You see, in a perfect world there would be no suffering. There would be no shelters - every dog would be sterilized and every single one would work to make this world a better a place for everyone, for something, for anything. You bet, I believe that I can change the world, and in my case, this is measured by one mighty rescued mutt at a time. I believe that through this journey and the documentary andbook to follow after this World Tour is complete, everyone who wants a dog will go to a shelter and adopt one!
No matter what, I have always barked that even if one dog was adopted as a result of my Tour, then it was all worth it – for I was just one of these dogs 5 years ago, and look at me now! It therefore gives me enormous joy up here in the Himalayas to tell you that I am about to get a brother! While visiting the Nature Heritage for the Future in Romania a few weeks ago I met a very special dog called Zara. Of course I had already met thousands of specialdestitute dogs, but for some reason, Zaracaught my nose. Maybe it was the white fluff on his forehead that made me think that there was indeed a dog cuter than me, maybe it was the fact that he had already been there for 3 solid years and was looking like he couldn’t imagine another double sentence in such a solid cage. Maybe it was because at 10 years of age, he wouldn’t have a choice. Despite being better trained and less demanding in nature, older dogs have a very slim chance at adoption and in an overcrowded shelter that already boasts a large percentage of puppies, his chances were less than zip. Simply non existent to bark it simple! But the odds are something I’ve never cared too much. I chose Zara as my Oscar for Romania and yapped that if someone sponsored his flight back to South Africa, I would be proud to adopt him as my ‘Big Brother’. I had to laugh at the scenario, here I am, unable to secure a sponsor for this Tour – how the heck could I possibly think that anyone would pop up andsponsor his flight from Bucharest all the way to Cape Town? But I’m a believer, and sometimes that’s all you need to make things happen! So guess what, ZARA IS COMING TO CAPE TOWN! Thanks to Nancy Janes and her team at Romania Animal Rescue (www.romaniaanimalrescue.com), I have just received confirmation that they will cover the costs for Zara to fly from the outskirts of Bucharest to the grand peninsula of Cape Town where he will live out the remaining years of his life under the bright African sun. Here, Zara will join me for the rest of his life in an environment of peace, love and Yappiness. I will show him how to swim in the Atlantic Ocean, chew seaweed on the beach, watch cricket in summer and rugby in winter, dig for dung beetles, chase Springbok and best of all, rest those big white paws right next to me on my bed when it all just seems too good to bark true!

There have been many great moments to this Tour thus far. Namibia’s Oscar as well as Botswana’s Oscar’s ‘Oscar’ have been adopted, but Zara’s story will certainly be one of the highlights! On behalf of Zara who doesn’t yet know how lucky he is, thank you to RAR. This mighty magnificent news once again proves that we can all the difference in someone’s life. I encourage everyone reading this to get out there and make some sort of positive difference in something’s life. You can do it – even if you don’t dig dogs! No matter what or who you are, become a Top Dog for something- for anything! Sponsor a dog, adopt a positive project - volunteer at a children’s home, run a miracle mile for an orphanage, read a story in an old age home, give a dime of your time to charity – be someone for something and I promise you that even if you don’t think it can change the world, it will change yours!
 
DELHI EXPERIENCE: 
Meet Mrs. Sengupta at her house in New Delhi, and her 50 resident dogs will follow here every lead. The 69 year old lady, (and winner of the Venu Mermon Award for all her dedicated work with stray dogs) has been working with the street woofs for the last 20 years and is still inspired to work just a shard for the next 20! Sitting next to her most faithful paraplegic pooch ‘M’, ‘Mrs. Sen’ will graciously admit that to be human means to care for those who have not a voice. “I believe that all human beings should work towards a social cause. If not, they are not human’ Ok, goose bumps rattled all the fleas on my body. Her voice echoed through the house and into the universal song that should dance within every human being that has been graced with the gift of existence. I’m sure I saw the photograph of Mother Teresa behind the iconic “Mrs. Sen’ nod as she whispered her words of wisdom to the camera. Do something for something. Echoed through the room- Mmmmmm, I couldn’t help but add, “and let’s all start with adopting a dog! The Sonadi Charitable Trust shelter is on the outskirts of Delhi. A three-story building houses over 750 dogs; 300 are street dogs and up for adoption; the rest are just popping in for the snip and later released. The shelter is in its 7th year and was established by Mrs. Sen and Dr Viziy and while every dog is looked after as best as possible with the limited funds and mighty miniature staff, I have to say that I am glad its not my second home. I often wonder if I’d rather be stuck in a shelter or taking my chances on the streets. I’m doing a lot of thinking, but I’ll leave my reflective woofs for you to read in my book next year.

I left the dogs of Delhi for Curry and Mice at the Taj Mahowl. From there, it was a digestible 14-hour train ride to Varanasi. There, I swam under the solar eclipse, picked up some ticks in the Holy Ganges and after a nip in the bum from a cunning street dog, decided to get my woof hind to Limbini before I saw anymore dead dogs and cows floating down the river. Buddha’s birthplace inspired me – he understood the plight of suffering and the karmic importance of working towards a world that barks from compassion and kindness towards all creatures. Wow, that was a full month in India; it was time to board an elephant in Nepal…

DELHI: A special bark of thanks to Mrs. Sen, and Ankur of the Sonadi Charitable trust for all your support and assistance with our visit with you! To Mrs. Sen daughter, Atashi, for organizing the street party to create awareness around dog adoption, thank you so much and to all the individuals I met who look after dozens of dogs in their communities like Chadra Godwani and Irani Gupta- on behalf of those brothers of mine, thank you from the depths of what were very hungry tummies before you came along. Woof…Lastly, to Mr. Kapoor and your entire team at the greatest hotel in the whole woofing world, The Imperial in New Delhi - thank you for 
allowing me to scratch all over your finest property, to woof and dine in the most luxurious of venues and to get a seat in the fanciest Jaguar in town. If every shelter could provide the type of services that you provided me, the world for woofs would be a kennel of heaven. PS: Thank you too for being the only fabulous ‘friends’ to remember my birthday. The chocolate dog was delicious although I have to admit that I did share it with my not so spoilt companions at the Sonadi Shelter – but I know you won’t mind!


 

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