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At a time when atrocities against stray dogs are rampant and people are abandoning their own pet dogs due to illness, old age or for green pastures in another country, this true story serves as an inspiration of how when one really wants to, one will figure out how to be with one's dog come hell or high water.
This story of Nacho, his adopted dog Lakota, and their time together in India as well as their dramatic last few days before their departure back to Spain could be a script straight from a book or movie. Except it unravelled in front of my own eyes and I had a tiny role to play in how it all panned out.
As I arrived at the New Delhi International Airport for my two-week trip to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia a couple of weeks ago, I bumped into Nacho, a traveler from Spain, who was all set to leave -- bags, yoga mat and a dog! Intrigued and impressed, I learned that he had adopted the said dog in India and was finally leaving the country and had decided to take the dog along.
As Nacho and I chatted (and the dog was amply petted), I was all in awe of this sweet soul who'd not only done one of the noblest deeds of giving a neglected stray dog a home and family, but also had jumped through hoops to take him back home to Spain with him instead of abandoning him back on the streets as many have and do.
The traveler from Spain adopts an Indian stray dog in India and they're inseparable
Nacho is a 30-something Spaniard who came to India as they say to explore himself and figure out the next steps in his life. Landing up in Rishikesh as a digital nomad, he got involved in multiple spiritual pursuits like yoga, bodywork, healing, not to mention also landed a Netflix series as an extra!
Along the way, Nacho met a semi-stray mountain dog who seemed to be neglected by his own original 'owners' and drawn to Nachos and kept following him around. So there he had it. A 25-pound dog that was now basically his travel buddy and family in India. He named it 'Lakota' - meaning 'friend' in Spanish not knowing how it'd all work out as his time in India was limited, but for now a man and a dog were going to bond and have fun. The duo traveled all over India including all the way up in the hills to Dharamshala.
When it was time to leave India due to his visa nearing expiry for the first time, Nacho also took Lakota along with him to Nepal, which wasn't as easy as traveling with a dog in the train in India but still involves a lot of hassle with a dog. However, his determination and dedication towards Lakota got them across the border. While in Nepal, he almost lost Lakota amidst the snowy high mountains, but was reunited with him soon enough, proving that they were just meant to be together.
Flying internationally with a dog and the nightmarish formalities
After nearly 6 months in India, it was time for Nacho to leave India and go back home and navigate though the arduous and financially and logistically stressful process of figuring out how to fly with a dog from India to another continent.
Nacho moved to New Delhi a couple of weeks prior to get all the formalities of flying with a dog in order. To begin with, he worked on getting a passport made for Lakota which took a while. Then began a series of vaccinations and medical tests to acquire a 'Fit to fly' certificate from the vet. Tickets for himself and Lakota, an IATA-approved dog crate, all the paper work and finally Qatar's approval for the dog was secured.
All set to fly, the unthinkable happens
And just as Nacho and Lakota were all set to fly out and embark on a new chapter in Spain, a destiny that millions of Indian humans would dream of, the unthinkable happened.
Just a couple of hours before boarding time, Nacho and Lakota were denied boarding.
The reason Qatar dredged up for the rejection was that the crate Lakota was to be put in was a couple of inches smaller than Qatar's rules - a detail that was only vaguely communicated on the airlines' animal carriage rules and unfortunately missed by Nacho. And those two missing inches in the $500 dog crate cost Nacho around $1500 in flight tickets and other logistical costs that had come to naught.
Stranded at Delhi Airport overnight with a dog, his Indian tourist visa expiring in 3 days, having less than $500 in his account and nowhere to go, as the Qatar flight to Malaga flew overhead, without him and Lakota in the hold, Nacho felt the earth had crashed around himself.
But giving up was not an option. Nacho and Lakota were inseparable by this point, and contrary to what many well-wishers suggested him, leaving the dog back in India was unthinkable. Despite the incredible setback that had just befallen him, he decided to pull himself up and do the whole process again, whatever it took.
Help comes from multiple directions to send Nacho and Lakota
A friend and I - both in different countries at this point - helped set up a crowdfunding campaign to help Nacho offset some of the additional costs of the new flights and the new crate that he was now forced to buy, while he scrambled to find a hotel close to the Delhi airport to stay with the dog until he could fly again.
While the GofundMe campaign managed to cover about 10% of the damages, additional support came from his parents and friends back home. Tail Club, a Delhi-based dog boarding and cafe generously offered to donate a crate which further helped.
And after three days of running around like a headless chicken and as many sleepless and tense nights, Nacho and Lakota again arrived at the New Delhi airport, with all the paperwork, a new flight, the right crate and all the hopes to make it back to Spain.
Twist in the tale, Lakota's "rightful" owner shows up
And as though the whole turn of events wasn't dire enough, another event turned the entire incident into a thrilling drama-tragedy. Lakota's previous "owner", seeing the Gofundme campaign going around on various travel communities claimed ownership of the dog. Incommunicado for all the months Lakota was happily living and traveling with Nacho, he now decided that he wanted the dog back and wouldn't let him fly out of India. A barrage of accusations and insults flew thick and fast on the Whatsapp group where Nacho was even accused of having 'stolen' the dog and threatened with police action.
Ignoring the noise that soon died down, Nacho only had to focus on how to come out of this anti-climatic end to his beautiful six months in India and to get back home with his beloved dog asap.
Qatar denies boarding yet again!
But as a cruel twist in fate would have it, once again, Qatar - at this point turning full on evil - denied Nacho and Lakota boarding yet again.
Apparently the bigger crate now exceeded the weight (No shit!) that was permitted to land at the arriving airport - a factoid that Nacho's parents back in Spain had to drive over two hours personally to the airport to be rubbished.
And once again at 3 am, with thousands of dollars already down the drain and the Indian visa expiring in a day, in a foreign country with unhelpful Qatar airline staff, Nacho was blank, hopeless and desolate. Nothing made sense anymore. This was all his worst nightmare unraveling.
But a man with a dog is a bond that can move mountains. This time Nacho got a lawyer and multiple authorities from Qatar Airways involved. And while Qatar refused to compensate for the two lost flights and the thousands of rupees in the additional costs, not in the least the mental and physical harassment, he was finally assured a flight on the consecutive day.
As they say, third time's the charm. Despite a humongous financial setback and an emotionally and physically harrowing previous three days, Nacho and Lakota were finally on their way out.
After the most stressful last few days in India and a never-ending 18-hour journey back home, Nacho and Lakota are finally back in Spain. Lakota is slowly finding his feet in a new country with a new family and enjoying his walks in the nature, safe in Nacho's company, wherever in the world. While Nacho hopes to recover from the financial ruin of this ordeal soon, while Qatar remains unpunished for their diabolic conduct, he's still grateful for all that India gave him, including a soul dog that he almost lost too many times. Almost.
While pet transportation and flying with a dog is possible today, unfortunately it's still fraught with hassle, stress and incredible financial damages. One hopes that at least the carriers like Qatar could extend some of their purported hospitality and service mindset to our furry friends.
Wonder how many dogs like Lakota never got as lucky as him because unlike Nacho, their owner didn't have the courage, the resources or the right character to say "Not without my dog"
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