A bit of mischief, a bit of love and a bit of growl…that exactly defines Jo Jo, a female St.Bernard, who was abandoned with Friendicoes because she was paralyzed. A huge head, a thick coat covered in ticks, bunches of them, and dragging herself along the floor to her water bowl JoJo might be forgiven for hating mankind.  But 3 months later Jo Jo has a different story to tell…

When Jo Jo was left with Friendicoes, paralyzed and malnourished, suffering from tick fever we did not know what to do with her.  A St. Bernard who cannot walk is as good as dead because she will never get adopted and with her heavy coat she needed an airconditioned apartment not our shelter, specially in the heart of summer.  But it didn’t look like Jo Jo wanted to give up living. With bright eyes she began observing what we were about to do; her coat was trimmed off, a bath was given and a grooming session which she thoroughly enjoyed. Several bloodtests later we learnt she was suffering from acute tick fever that was found to be the cause of her paralysis. A week of vigorous care and treatment passed and Jo Jo showed improvement and after about 12 days she even managed to stand up on her legs. She put on weight and shed her “starved mongrel-ly” look and started looking like what she was actually meant to be - a St. Bernard, however mixed the bloodline. A couple of months down the line her coat acquired a shine and muscles rippled when she went for a walk…she even started playing with some of the staff, carrying her leash in her mouth as she walked in a nearby park. Her improved looks now brought in adoption enquiries but Jo Jo was in no mood to go any where. She snapped at the first family who came to adopt her and was not friendly to the second family either. Although she played with some of the staff she did not like many others and she definitely did not like outsiders. Her future now started worrying us all…


Then Asha Adhlaka, a very old friend & volunteer of Friendicoes who knew Jo Jo from her regular visits to the shelter offered to give Jo Jo a home with her married daughter who already had a lot many other dogs. So Jo Jo went to her new home and her new family. She has accepted all the other dogs but only some members of the family…she still does not like the grandson of Asha and the family driver. But we hope that with time Jo Jo will get over her initial antagonism and come to love her whole family.

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