Snowy

WSD’s beloved Snowy passed away last week. Snowy’s haemoglobin was very low & he went through a blood transfusion which temporarily improved his condition. But later it was found that he had a bone marrow depression, an abnormal condition characterized by the bone marrow's inability to produce normal amounts of white blood cells,red blood cells and platelets. His good friend Rani had also passed away two weeks ago.

Snowy was found abandoned by a volunteer near Mithibai college at Vile Parle in 2001 and brought in. Snowy was the most sought after dog because of his good looks (he looked like a great Pyrenees) but as he was very possessive, he was never put up for adoption.

Snowy was a ‘king’ at the WSD kennels. Being an alpha male, he never got along with Tommy, another alpha male. Tommy and he had once fought so severely that they ended up breaking our washbasin. After that they were ‘allocated’ separate territories. Snowy used to hang around near our physician’s table and Tommy was relegated to the back. He was really fond of eating & would be first in line if anyone were distributing biscuits or food. Sometimes, he had to be tied when food distribution was on, as after finishing his big bowl he would want to eat the other dogs’ food. Many first timers to the kennels had thought that he was ‘pregnant’ looking at his gait.

Mid-Day wrote this about Snowy after he passed away in their March 14, 2006 edition, “ Top dog Snowy died last week. Resembling a polar bear in size and colour, Snowy was found abandoned on a Mumbai road many years ago and picked up by Welfare Of Stray Dogs’ volunteers. Featured often in MID DAY and other media, Snowy died of an almost unheard condition called bone marrow depression. However, WSD’s volunteers know that Snowy really died after his best friend Rani, another dog also died some weeks ago”.

His presence will truly be missed.