Ferrera
Let me tell you a story. It is a story about a little puppy born on the streets of New Delhi. A wonderful street desi mum looked after her litter of 6 until one day the inevitable happened. The puppies were run over by a car. A few came away unscathed, one with a broken hip and the puppy this story is about ‘Ferrera’ had broken both back legs, one in two places. 
We found the group of puppies suffering and worked with Friendicoes to save the litter and later organised for spaying of the mother who we named Mama-Sita. We never wanted to see this happen again. The poor mum worked so hard to keep her litter safe in an impossible situation and we wanted to solve the route of the problem.
We fostered Ferrera apprehensively at first as our landlord was not keen on pets and we had never looked after a dog together before. 
We also had two desi cats at home. However, we realized leaving Ferrera at the shelter was not an option. So we took her home with her double leg cast and over the next 6 weeks slowly nursed her to be able to walk again and go on to make a complete recovery. The cats coped with the tiny puppy just fine and she developed into the most loving, gentle and beautiful dog you can imagine. She finally found a home on a farm in Delhi alongside a number of other dogs for company. Our landlord never found out as she was too small to walk anywhere other than our terrace.
Our experience with Ferrera led us to take foster and adopt another beautiful desi street dog. Both dogs have made a huge impact on our lives and hearts for the better. They have taught us patience, love, persistence, discipline, loyalty and have brought a beautiful energy into our lives and home.
If you are not ready for a puppy/dog full time or want to see how your family/help manage with a furry addition fostering can be an excellent way to test the waters. This works especially when the dog is not injured in any way. Friendicoes is always looking for foster families for healthy dogs and being able to keep them out of the shelter in the few weeks it can take to find a forever home means the dog will survive. The shelter is no place for any dog but puppies and those abandoned by their owners absolutely do not have the strength to survive and having to keep them there is sadly almost always a death sentence due to diseases like distemper.
written by
Jennifer Duthie