I Am a Pune Street Dog: A Story From Baner

Part of DWB’s “I am a…” series. Snippets and stories of cats, dogs and other friends, told from where they actually live.

I am dog in Pune.

Outside the passport office in Baner, where everyone in line is chasing a stamp to somewhere far. I will never need one. No visa, no flight, no photo of a foreign country to show anyone later. These eyes have seen things on this pavement you wouldn’t believe, but dogs tell no tales. We just carry it and keep resting.

The railing is cold today. My brother is asleep on my back, warm enough for both of us. Some mornings that is the whole world, and most mornings, that is plenty.

If you stop and look down, you will see it too. I am still here. Still waiting. Still okay.

We are Indian street dogs first, before we are anyone’s pet, and most of us will never make it past this railing into a home. If you’re in Pune and have room for one more, the Pune adoption page has dogs waiting closer than a passport queue. Ours is a five minute walk from here.

Read another Pune street dog’s story: from Viman Nagar.