France weather doesn’t suit Mithai, the stray dog from Rajasthan; it comes back
Mithai, a stray dog, adopted by a French research scholar at Amity University in Jaipur last year and taken to France in May, has come back and will now live at the Jalandhar farmhouse of the scholar’s friend
Mithai, a stray dog, adopted by a French research scholar at Amity University in Jaipur last year and taken to France in May, has come back and will now live at the Jalandhar farmhouse of the scholar’s friend.
The canine could not adapt to the climatic conditions in France, says Myriam Baibout, who had adopted the stray.
It was a cold intervening night of January 3 and 4, 2016, when Baibout (28), a PhD student of biosciences, saw the puppy crying outside her studio apartment at the university campus.
“The puppy was trying to go closer to the bonfire lit by the security guard. It did not have its mother or its siblings around,” says Baibout, who had taken the dog up to her room.
Under warmth and care, the female puppy grew into a healthy and strong dog. Baibout named the puppy Mithai.
“In France there is a tradition of naming dogs born in the same year with the same letter. For 2016, the letter was M. My friend suggested that I should name it Mithai as it means sweet,” she says.
In May this year, when Baibout had to go to France for an extended duration, she decided to take the dog to keep it at her house in Bordeaux, France.
She arranged for the documents for the dog to travel to France. A blood sample was sent to France for test against rabies, she says.
But the dog could not adapt to the climatic conditions in France and her health started deteriorating. A number of attempts by vets to help the dog acclimatize also failed. So, Baibout finally decided to bring her back. She reached India on October 13 but for four days, the dog remained stuck in the procedures at the airport.
“The officer insisted that the health certificate of the dog was not from a government vet. In France,
a certificate issued by a private vet was as valid as one from a government vet. After several calls to officials and ministries, the dog was released,” she says.
Ruchi Singh, a friend of Baibout and her neighbour at the university campus, has agreed to keep her.
The dog will stay in Ruchi’s in-laws have a farmhouse in Jalandhar and Ruchi herself will be moving to to the city after her husband, also in Jaipur, completes his studies.
Baibout says she’s in India for a month. She has a year and a half of her doctorate studies left and will keep coming back to complete her thesis. “It’s painful for me to part with her but that’s the best for her. I’ll keep coming back from time to time to see her,” she says.