Her name in Farsi means honey. She has been helped by many beautiful animal lovers to come all the way from a forest in North of Iran to Windsor Ontario Canada. We thank all people who helped her in this journey, her foster parent in Iran Shamim Khamooshi, Majid Hooshmand and Farah Azari Vafa’s Adoption Coordinator in Iran, Sohaila Yaghoubi Vafa’s Adoption Coordinator in Canada, Bahareh Karimi, Amir Shemiran Farah Taheri, Maryam Ahmadi, Farnoush Aini fard and her husband Amir, Touraj Aghaie, and the last but not least Charmaine De Dobbeleer her beautiful foster parent in Canada. This journey was not also possible without your donations to Vafa. We thank you all. Please stay tuned for the second part of this story in a couple of days.
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When they first brought Asal to me, she was a little timid puppy found in the woods of north of Iran. I do not know what had happened to her, but she was very scared. She slowly got to know how much she is loved and cared for and started to become more playful. She is very loving to everyone and just wants to play. Gradually, she turned into a smart, beautiful girl with eyes full of kindness and emotion. She was also very polite when she was taken for a walk in the evenings, especially with children; everyone easily fell in love with her. Asal’s most prominent characteristic was that she was very smart and could grasp and learn everything right away, in this regard she looked like no one in the whole world and she could fill the atmosphere with her pure emotion. I remember that when I was sick she did not leave my bedside. She loves pasta, homemade foods, bones and of course treats. She also likes to play with toys! Playful during the day, and at nights, she slept right next to me like a little princess. In my opinion, Asal has a golden heart… Asal gets car sick and does not like car rides, however she endured the ride to the airport very patiently. I believe she will adjust to the new environment and show people around her the same love. Although our house looks very empty without her and she is already missed by everyone, I hope she will find a good family who give her the love and care she deserves.
Shamim- Asal’s foster mom in Iran
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Asal was a small, helpless and lonely puppy. A family fed her in the woods of Northern Iran. She jumped in their car, and they didn’t have the heart to leave her behind so she was brought to Tehran. With the help of Vafa Animal Shelter, she was placed under the care of a kind foster Mom, until she would find a permanent home. During this time Asal got used to living with her temporary caretaker, playing with her toys during the day and waiting for foster Mom to get home, and take her out to the park. Unfortunately she could not continue with this lifestyle for too long since the circumstances in Iran just don’t allow keeping a large dog in a small apartment. Therefore Asal was sent to Canada with the help of a group of friends. However sending her to Canada is not enough and she still needs a family. Thanks to a new group of Canadian animal activists, Asal is going to be taken care of until she finds a new home and a loving family. We would like to thank all those who put all the efforts in this matter.
Farah Azari – Vafa’s adoption Coordinaton in Iran
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I want to tell you a story about a loving animal that I had a golden opportunity to accompany from Tehran to Toronto.
7 or 8 years ago I went to an animal shelter that helped homeless animals. Years past by till I returned to that shelter again.
Together with friends I decided to visit Vafa shelter again. Wow! The shelter had expanded, far more animals are residing at the shelter, and the interesting part was seeing so many young volunteers enthusiastically working there.
After that visit, I got an offer to bring one of the dogs with me to Canada.
We – me and Asal – didn’t see each other until the flight date. When we got to the airport, Vafa’s volunteers were already there with Asal, since 3 AM.
After getting boarding pass, we said goodbye to Vafa’s friend and happily started our journey to Canada.
While we were in line for checking passport, one of the volunteers came to us and said unfortunately we cannot get on board because the fan in animal section is broken and we have to catch the next flight.
I was confused at that time, because I had another problem. My best friend in Canada asked me to accompany her mother during the journey, so I was responsible for two. I couldn’t think and make the right decision. I was thinking about Vafa’s team who were at the airport for long hours and they counted on me, on the other hand, I couldn’t let my friend’s mom go alone. The airport officials agreed to send me and Asal with the next flight, but for my friend’s mom they asked for penalty. After 4 hours discussion with them, finally one of Vafa’s friend got permission for all of us without penalty.
Finally we got the next flight and started our long journey.
At the Toronto airport, I was thinking Asal must be hungry and thirsty after a long flight, but when I saw Vafa’s Friend welcoming team at the airport who were waiting for us, I was relieved.
Leila Hooshmandan- Asal’s travel companion
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Asal was the first independent project of team Canada and the team in Iran and because of that, we all have a different feeling towards her. Of course her kind eyes, goofy character and sweet little shyness created a special place for her in our hearts.
I love all dogs, albeit the extremely spoiled ones , those waiting in shelters to see what their faith would be, the strays looking desperately for something to eat or the ones trying to survive the abuse of humans..
I always think what if things were more fair in the world, both for animals and people and now that life isn’t fair, if privileged with extra food and money, we should care for those in need around us.
Dogs are the kindest creatures on earth, so let’s stand for them against animal abuse in lieu of just liking videos and pictures of them on Facebook.
Let’s hope for the day that all dogs in Iran find homes not in this side of the world but in our beautiful country itself.
Soheila Yaghoubi- Vafa’s Adoption Coordinator in Canada
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Honey arrived a week ago a very timid dog, knowing only Persian and only known the joys of Iranian home cooking. We thought she would do well as there were other dogs for her to play with, all ages and sizes, a 1/4 fenced yard to play in and a foster Mom home full time. She took very quickly to her extra large crate. She loves to play outside for hours in the time, even though at times it is quite cold. She loved playing in the little bit if snow we received this week. She now eats top of the line dry dog food and canned food mixed with baked squash or sweet potatoes from our garden. Cottage cheese is a nice treat for her once in awhile. When she is done playing she goes up on the couch to nap. She is only crated at night and at meal time. She came to us fully housebroken! We are convinced she is now bilingual and understands what certain phrases mean. We look forward to her learning from the other dogs to trust humans. She is a continuous joy to watch blossom on a daily basis.
Charmaine – Honey foster mom in Canada
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Hello Charmaine and Dennis, Everything is going extremely well. We are changing her name to Tilley. Tilley the Traveler from Tehran! But the boys and Bruce are nick-naming her Silly Tilley. Two of our three sons have met her and think she is lovely. Tilley has tried to chew some of our oak baseboards and cherry wood trim around a 3-sided fireplace. I have been watching her like a hawk and as soon as she did that, re-directed her to a toy. Apart from that, and frequent whining, she is a good girl.The whining could be because she misses you two people, or misses the other 9 dogs, or is just plain overwhelmed with all the new situation. I feel for her, and we are loving her all the more.
I will keep her busy, and give her lots of attention. She just met my next door neighbour’s Springer Spaniel and they hit it off very nicely for a first meet and greet. We will try them soon off leash in our secure backyard. I am determined that it will be her forever home. She is waking us up early, so I am heading out now with her for a good walk to be sure she is good and tired and will perhaps sleep a little longer. I may be the one changing MY schedule!! Ha ha.
