28 May 2014
We lost Sohrab, the ‘gentle’ giant, the elder of the shelter. Though he was up in age, he was still in good shape. He was the top dog that not only the other dogs respected but even people always noticed and asked about. Sohrab was used as a fighting dog. He had been wounded many times and may be had killed other dogs when his hideous owner was making bets. When he was too old to fight, he was brought to the shelter. He was sick and wounded and extremely frightened of people. He was beaten up so badly that could not be touched. He experienced a totally different life at the shelter.
For the longest time he cowered in one of the dens and would not come out. They managed to get him out after a while and then he settled on the porch. It took a long time for him to trust any one to pet him, for him to learn that if a hand reaches towards him is not to hurt him but to give him love. Or if he is cared for and is fed, no one expects him to go to battle. He lived a peaceful life with us for four and a half years, until last Friday. It was a Friday like all others with the staff and the visitors. As usual he had stretched out in the outer grounds of the shelter when as result of a taxi driver who had never been there before and wasn’t watching where he was going, the last chapter of his life began. One of the tires hit Sohrab’s back hard and if every one’s yelling had not got the attention of the driver he would have driven over Sohrab. It was beginning of the end. He never got up after that and we gave up hope that it may be just a hard blow. He was moved to Tehran for radiology on Wednesday, and we learned that his spine was broken and the spinal cord was badly damaged. Surgery was not an option in his case and his condition was on a decline. Therefore, we had to make the painful decision and on Thursday at around 3:30 p.m in midst of our tears he crossed over the rainbow bridge …
We took his body back to the shelter and buried him in a grave that had been prepared for him in the meanwhile. We will always remember him lovingly. I must add that this has been most painful for Ali Mohammadi who lost a good friend. May the memories of the peaceful years of Sohrab’s life ease our friend’s pain.
Farah Azari
