After spending time in Palolem South Goa, India and returning for the second time the hardest thing to deal with was not leaving the idyllic, beautiful palm tree lined paradise but leaving all the beach dogs behind knowing that they may not make it through the monsoon season. Many of these dogs are cared for by the thoughtful and kind people who run the restaurants and tourists who flock there during the busy season are always feeding and giving water to them. But as the season comes to an end many of those dogs wander around in desperate need of food, water and shelter. And as a human being it is really hard to deal with.

My first time in Palolem (March 2007). I befriended a beautiful, but a little on the skinny side dog, who we named ‘Preeti’ because of her beautiful green eyes. She wasn’t as confident and tough as the other dogs on the beach and was quite shy in begging for scraps. Every morning I would feed her scrambled eggs for breakfast and chicken biriani for lunch and always made sure her hollowed out coconut shell was full of fresh water. I toyed with bringing her back to the UK with me but thought it unfair as I live in a flat. When I returned to Palolem in Dec 2007 the first thing I did was go to the restaurant where I knew she would be…I was told by a friend that nobody had seen her for a few days. I met an English family who had been coming to Goa for 5 years and had looked after ‘Preeti’ when they had been there and the little boy told me she had died 2 days before I arrived, they had called a vet but he didn’t arrive. I was gutted and so sad as I really thought I could have saved her at the cost of probably only a few pounds. My only consolation was that I didn’t see her when she was so sick and I remember her as her beautiful pretty self. It was heartbreaking.

I decided that I would set up a non profitable charity in honour of ‘Preeti’ for all the animals that will be in despair in the monsoon season or need the help even within the season.

India’s medical supplies are very inexpensive and a few pounds can go a very long way in rupees. My intention is to raise as much as I can and return to South Goa in November 09 and set up a small clinic where I can employ a vet to come and check over any animals in need of medical attention and treat them (approx £20,000 per annum) somewhere they can come for food, clean water and shelter and recruit volunteers who want to help. If I can raise enough initially, I plan to purchase a building or some land to build a permanent clinic and set up an adoption centre. (Approx £50,000).