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The 'Mongrels Of India' Page On Facebook Is Everything A Dog Lover Needs

Because strays deserve your love too.
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Mongrels of India

Tamara Lopez found her first pet at her college in Navi Mumbai, where she saw a small puppy who had been infected with fleas, ticks and ants. She brought her home, gave her a medicinal bath and pretty soon, the pup was up and running amok the house. Named Pepper after the colour of her ears, the dog has now been a part of Lopez's family for 11 years.

Since then, the Mumbai resident has adopted two more stray dogs. Her second pet, Lizzy was an abused stray pup who was thrown on the streets because she was a mixed rather than a pure Labrador. The third, Doofus had followed her parents home and sat outside the building until she was adopted.

Our first, Pepper, is from my university campus in Navi Mumbai. She was the runt of the litter, about a month old, covered in fleas,ticks, ants and lice, lying in a marsh, hardly moving. From the day we got her into our home things turned around for her and she is now a beautiful 11 year old. No one will look at her and say she's 11 going on 12. She looks so young and for her age very sprightly! Next was Lizzy. An abused stray pup (thrown on the street because she was a mixed Labrador and not a pure Labrador ), she was all alone and scared and slept underneath a sugarcane cart. She lived on juice which the vendor would feed her out of pity. When we finally brought her home, she was thrilled to be here and till date she is reluctant to leave the house even for her walks. She loves chilling in her sofa! A couple of years later, one of the dogs my parents used to feed on their daily dog feeding rounds(they still do), followed them home. She wanted to be part of the family and didn't give up. She sat outside our building on the road come rain or shine, day and night, sometimes even when she was soaking wet in the rain. Our hearts melted and that's how she become our third baby, Doofus. They are all senior dogs now and I can vouch for the fact that stray/indian breed dogs have little to no health problems, do not require specialized training/trainers and are much lower maintenance than any purebred dog. They bring us nothing but love and joy. Story by : Tamara Lopez #mongrelsofindia #moi #dogsofindia #dogsofinsta #mongrels #flufferpower #withyoualways #adoptdontshop #encourageadoption #dogs

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Lopez's heartwarming story is a part of a new Facebook and Instagram project called "Mongrels of India". Amidst horrific stories of stray dogs being killed and attacked across India, the project hopes to change negative perceptions about mongrels. Inspired by Humans of New York, it was started by 25-year-old Arpita Rao in September with the aim of evoking compassion for the furry creatures.

"I hope it inspires other people to pick up one street dog and take them home or at least feed them," Rao says. "People think that dogs are aggressive, but that's just defending themselves. Not all of them mean to bite you."

Rao says she has been taking care of and feeding near her office in Hyderabad for a long time now. "Mongrels of India" started off as a Facebook page which showcased pictures of strays that Rao had taken during her many travels.

However, it now focusses on crowd-sourcing stories of Indians who had adopted stray dogs. Eventually, the Hyderabad resident hopes to create a database which will help animal lovers help and rescue strays. The page will also collaborate with rescue centres to help adoption efforts and find homes for stray dogs.

That's Argo. He's about 4 years old from what the vet told us. We found him in February. We have lived on that lane for over a decade and never have we come across unfamiliar dogs until Argo. He was smelly, matted and had his ear snipped which meant he was on the street for a while. After his grooming and vet check up, I left him along with my husband for 5 mins and that was that. In a flash, we were buying beds and bowls - all the frills and whistles. Argo just fit into our lives, he is docile, potty trained, so receptive and just what we needed for our first adoption. Our second monkey is Sofie. She's about 4.5 months now. my husband saw her wandering in the middle of traffic near our place, he thought it was a plastic bag until he spotted her eyes. She came to us at 0.95kgs and is now 10.4kgs. What looked like the runt of the litter is growing up to prove stereotypes very very wrong. Best decisions of our lives, love them always <3 Story by Aarathi Sivadas. #mongrelsofindia #moi #encourageadoption #adoptdontshop #dogs #withyoualways

A photo posted by Mongrels of India (@mongrelsofindia) on

Mylo was adopted by one of my neighbours, they wanted a dog and I helped them out. She selected Mylo and went to bring him in. On the same night she called up saying that her husband thinks stray dogs can be dangerous for their daughter. I was stunned. 12 o clock in the night I went to her house and she said her friend and the family vet had advised against Mylo and that they should keep a pure breed. I was amazed with all the comments. Took Mylo back home and I was thinking what to do next. We went to return him to the place we got him from. I found out that Mylo is being returned for the 10th time. That's it. I decided to keep him, even though it wasn't the right time to have a dog since my mother in law was very very ill. I convinced my husband that I would like to foster Mylo for few days, and he agreed. Within a few days I managed to convince my husband. Although it was very difficult, we made it happen. And so, we have Mylo today. Story by : Puneeta Singh #mongrelsofindia #moi #humansofindia #dogsofinstagram #dogsofindia #strays #mongrels #adoptdontshop #encourageadoption #dogs

A photo posted by Mongrels of India (@mongrelsofindia) on

Some of the stories featured on 'Mongrels of India' try to dispel bias against mongrels and the preference given to pedigreed dogs. Delhi-based Puneeta Singh writes about how she ended up with her pet Mylo unexpectedly. Mylo was originally been adopted by her friend but was rejected by her family and the vet for being 'unsafe'. When Singh took the dog back to a rescue centre, she discovered he had been returned after adoption ten times. It was then that she decided to keep him.

It is through stories like these that 'Mongrels of India' hopes to bring about change. "They are all old dogs now and I can vouch for the fact that Indian breed dogs have little to no health problems, do not require specialised training and are much lower maintenance than any pure-bred dog," Lopez says about her three pets on Facebook. "They bring us nothing but love and joy."

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.