I know I’ve mentioned Wolfie numerous times, as I’m definitely a proud mama! But I don’t think I’ve ever told the story of how I met her.

For those of you who don’t know me personally, I come to Thailand on a tourist visa so have to renew it every month. As my heart is also involved with Burmese refugees, I opt to go into Burma every month to do this. Well, one day, on one such trip, as I was walking through one of the villages on the border of Burma, I came to a checkpoint. The military avidly controls forest areas and forbids the passage of any unauthorized persons. I talked briefly with the guards before turning around. In the meantime, a lot of the villagers had come out of the homes, interested in this exchange, and as I was walking back, a father, speaking very little English, asked me to join him and his family for some conversation. Delighted, I sat down on bamboo mats and proceeded to ask this gentleman a lot about his family’s circumstances- if his kids had enough food, were going to school, how he was surviving, how he felt the government was working, etc. As our conversation progressed, I noticed a pup laying on a table, looking lifeless. I asked if I could hold the puppy. It was so sickly and lethargic. I asked how old it was, and was told it was about 5 weeks old. Knowing that puppies that young should still be with their moms, I asked where the mom was. The family man told me they’d eaten her. I asked if they were planning on eating the puppy. And he said that they would, soon, along with some rice. I asked if they would let me pay for her so that I could take her back to Thailand. They asked for 500bahts ($15), money I did not have on me. As I knew Burma did not have a bank nearby for me to withdraw money, I tried to negotiate the price down, but they wouldn’t let me. I even offered to give up my sweater or my backpack, but to no avail. I had to walk back to the border of Thailand, pick up my passport which was being held in customs, go to my Thai bank, go back through customs (and pay their fee for the second time!), and go find this secluded home once again. I carried the puppy back with me in my backpack, through customs (the Thai custom workers didn’t even ask me any questions!), put her on my lap under blankets on the bus (a 7 hour ride- she was so lifeless she didn’t move or whine) so as not to get kicked off, and took her to my home in Chiang Mai with the hopes of adopting her out. She had such personality and an extreme resilience about her that, even though I had 4 other puppies at home I was caring for, I immediately felt differently towards her. She was physically stronger, always more vocal about me leaving, and very loyal towards those who nurtured her. She cried like a wolf whenever I would leave for the day, so I named her: “wolfie”.

Almost on cue, as I sit and type this, she comes and whines, egging me to give her a bone. As I watch how happy she is and how utterly joyful she can be at the sight of loved ones, I can’t help but shutter when I think of what her destiny could have been.

It is in these times, especially, that Care for Dogs’ motto rings so true.

“Saving one dog won’t change the world, but surely, the world will change for that one dog.”

I’ve got a wagging tail that concurs!!!