With a beatific smile and a family of four that lavishes love on him, Simha is the very picture of blessedness. But just under a decade ago, he was a homeless pet at a Texas shelter, with no idea what was in store for him.
Fortunately for him, 11-year-old Vaibhav had finally talked his parents into getting him a dog, and they decided that shelter adoption was the way to go. Chennai-born Texas residents Usha Rani and Raghunath Sapuram reveal that while they said yes primarily to make their son happy, bringing home Simha was the best decision they’d made in their lives.
They visited the shelter where each dog was in a temporary holding pen awaiting adoption, and felt an instant connection with Simha. “There was something very serene about him”, says Raghunath, observing that they did not know what breed he was, and that his eyes were interestingly in two different colours. “At first, we thought he couldn’t speak”, recalls Usha. It was only a matter of time before Simha found his voice, when he barked at the chirping birds in the Sapurams’ backyard, and settled down with the family like he’d known them all his life.
Today, he spends most of his waking hours rolling around with Vaibhav or lying faithfully at Usha’s feet, and the couple believes that their elder son Vishaal misses Simha the most when he’s away in India.
“He taught us how as human beings, we take so much for granted and expect so many things from people. We learnt so much about unconditional love”, says Raghunath who debunks the theory that adult dogs find it hard to adapt to new homes. “Our experience is that he warmed to us very quickly”. Adds Usha – “They are full of love... and just want someone to love them”. They happily report that many of their friends adopted pets from animal shelters after witnessing their experience with Simha.
Though several long years have passed since his visit to the shelter, Raghunath still remembers how all the dogs in the pens got excited as people approached them, each one hoping that it was their turn to leave the enclosure and go home with their new family. He encourages people to say ‘yes’ to bringing home a shelter dog, for he knows from personal experience that every single one of them is a Simha-in-waiting.
