Apr 29, 2017
Adopted by Mohammadi Family – June 25, 2014 – Goteborg, Sweden
Our girl, Shalizar, has now been with us for about eight months here in Sweden. It’s not an easy task to describe the love you have for your first pet but we’ll try. The story began in September 2013 when my parents visited Vafa. The gates opened and a dog ran towards them faster than a lightning bolt. Shalizar is honestly one of the fastest running dogs that we have ever seen. It was love at first sight. Right there and then my mom and dad decided that they wanted to bring her back home to Sweden.
It was a long process with all the paper work that the Swedish government required for bringing in a pet from outside of the EU, but in June 2014 – she arrived!
Miss Shalizar also known as; Shali, dokhtaram (my girl) and khoshgel khanom (pretty lady), has now after eight months gotten her own routines and habits which is such a joy to watch and she even knows our different routines.
She loves going for walks. When we are about 20 meters from our house we take off her leash and she runs to the house as fast as she can and plays in the yard. She loves to play around in the snow.
She loves her marrow bones, her toys, her little squeaky pig and she goes absolutely nuts for the chicken that we make for her as a treat.
The entire neighborhood knows her and every single person that has seen her and heard her story is astonished by her beauty and behavior.
When another dog barks at her she just looks at them with a look that says: “I’m from Hashtgerd- I’ve lived amongst hundreds of dogs and your barking doesn’t even bother me”.
She is the kindest, the smartest, most well-behaved, most wonderful dog ever and words cannot describe how much we love her. It warms our hearts to see how happy she gets when we come home from school or work. She jumps on us and licks our faces and hands. It’s nothing but pure love.
The Vafa Animal Shelter is a little bit of paradise. The sense of compassion that the volunteers have is amazing and we couldn’t have managed bringing Shalizar here without their help.
Thank you to the entire Vafa team for helping us and showing so much support!
We also want to thank Farah Ravon for always being there for us, answering our questions, helping us and even paying us a lovely visit when she was in Sweden.
A special shout-out to Ms. Azari for all the time and effort she put in to Shalizar’s paper work and veterinary visits. We truly thank you from the bottom from our hearts!
Much love,
Hamid, Zahra, Shirin, Niyousha and of course Miss.Shalizar
Apr 29, 2017
PatooAdopted Feb 2012 – Ravon Family – San Jose, CA
Hi! My name is Patoo, and I am a very special dog! I am not only beautiful, but smart enough to make the best of the opportunities that life put on my path. I had it all planned out. After getting lucky to leave my birth land, and the safety of Vafa Shelter for an even better future in US, I picked the best home that a dog could ever ask for. One look at now my guardian, Farah Ravon, and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
I worked very hard to gain this great life that I live now. I picked a foster home that had a handsome blonde Golden Retriver named Orso, I knew at first sight he was going to be my “boyfriend” and so I played the innocent, fragile , shy girl from Iran and it worked out just great. He fell in love with me and in matter of weeks Orso and his humans ( Daniela and John) were wrapped around my paw. I ended up living with them from November 2011 to February 2012. During that time, Farah and my foster mom Daniela organized a fundraiser for me to raise money to get me the much needed TPLO surgery. Many people got together and chipped in money for me. I was so happy and grateful, they raised enough to cover my surgery and to help other dogs as well.
After that it was time for me to choose a fur-ever home, Because of my unusual beauty I had many suitors. But none of them could handle my insecurities and inability to trust people. Every time I was adopted or was sent to a foster home, I barked at them so much and avoided being the cuddly dog they wanted to have that they returned me to Farah. After a few unsuccessful attempts to find me a home she finally gave up and succumbed to keeping me. In time, once I found permanency at her house, I allowed myself to trust her more and more every day.
Now after over two years, we are so bonded. I am happy. I eat like a queen. We go on walks and hikes and long rides in the car to visit other dogs all the time. And I even let her pet me.
Living happily ever after,
Patoo
Apr 29, 2017
Adopted by Danielle Loustalot and Daniel Beagley, adopted October 9th, 2014 in Bakersfield, California
On the day of our meet & greet with Lady (then “Tootak”), we brought my dog Blaze so they could become acquainted with one another. He doesn’t connect with all dogs, and I wanted to be sure as I was basically adopting a second to be his sister. They hit it off on our walk together, as well as later at my home – running around the backyard, playing, the usual.
She was very calm, which surprised me for a puppy but was just what I was looking for. I decided that day to adopt her, signed the papers, and waited two days until I could pick her up and take her home.
Turns out… the day we met her, she had been given medicine to help her ride in the car without being queasy, and it had not yet worn off – hence the calmness. We soon found out that she was ALL PUPPY. The chewing, the playing, the digging, everything!! It was very hard at times, as I have a new home and a beautiful backyard my parents and I landscaped and she just dug everything up, ate my plants and then tracked the dirt into my home. I had my doubts, but she was so darn sweet and Blaze loved her so much, I couldn’t even bring myself to think about returning her.
We have spent a lot of time working with Lady on training and behavior, and I’m proud to say she has improved significantly.
Training her was so enjoyable, as I was so surprised to find how intelligent she is.
She is much more enjoyable as a pet and only digs and chews when left unsupervised and ignored for long periods of time. And with time, she has become much sweeter – if it was even possible! Lady loves to cuddle on the bed, lay right at your feet and even give foot massages with her tongue.
She loves playing and wrestling with Blaze, chasing the soccer ball, all of her toys and especially… dinner time! Most of all, Lady is happiest at the dog park where she chases and plays with any dog – large or small – she loves every single one and they love her.
Our “Lady-bug” brings so much joy to our lives, and we are SO happy to have her in our home.
Apr 29, 2017
Adopted by Dan & Margarida – July 15, 2014 – San Jose, CA
Hello, I’m Dan. My partner Margarida and I have had a rescue dog, Dragon, for three years. Recently we adopted s beautiful blind husky through VAFA. Dragon decided that he wanted to tell the story about our new dog, Haleh:
My name is Dragon. I am an AmStaff/Bulldog mix who was rescued by my family three years ago from the killing shelter in Fresno. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting comfortable in my surroundings, taking walks in the hills above San Jose, going to the beach, and generally taking over control of the household. l especially enjoyed cleaning the dishes after a meal. Then, in an instant it all changed!
About three months ago, my family brought a big, shy, skinny, weird-acting, snow white dog into the house. They said she was a husky but she looked more like a small polar bear. I threw my weight around for a couple of days but she wouldn’t play and in fact, bit me. I was shocked but I figured she wouldn’t be here for long so I tolerated her. After a few days, I realized that she was blind so I picked on her even stronger and she retaliated even more. But I succeeded in bringing her out of her shell.
I came to find out that she was flown here from the killing streets of Iran, by VAFA, to see an eye specialist and my family was simply fostering her while she saw the specialist.
It turned out that the eye doctor wasn’t able to do anything for her and my family decided to keep her. They named her Haleh (halo). I don’t have much privacy any more since she can hear my every move and smell me wherever I try to hide but we have gotten to be best friends and she plays with me all the time now. Over time, I have been teaching her the rules of the house even though I have to share the dishes with her.
The only thing is I’m not allowed to beg for food but she is always lying underfoot in hopes of catching falling scraps. That used to be my privilege so now sometimes I get a little peeved and desperate not to lose out on goodies. Also, I had to teach her to respect my food bowl and only eat out of her own.
She has put on nearly ten pounds and looks absolutely beautiful. It is amazing to watch her negotiate the curves around furniture. My family purchased a new sofa and she bumped her head a couple of times before memorizing a map of the house. She is very happy and we even snuggle together although she takes up a lot of space. We go for many walks together and I am proud to be her seeing-eye pit bull and I’m proud to be seen in public with her.
I’m really happy to have my new companion and I thank VAFA and my other new buddy, Farah Ravon, for bringing her here. I hope that they are able to continue the good work and bring other deserving dogs to new homes.
Sincerely,
Dragon
Apr 29, 2017
Adopted by Marsha & Stan Laugher – April 9, 2014 – Oldsmar, FL
My husband and I lived in Maryland in the DC suburbs, with our two dogs and two cats and were getting ready to move to Florida. I had become familiar with VAFA through facebook and had sponsored two dogs at the shelter in remembrance of my mother who was Iranian.
I came to know Farah Ravon and the VAFA team better through their heroic efforts to save the dogs from my home country and I had made a vow that our next dog would be from VAFA.
Early in 2014 Farah reached out and asked for some help in fostering a puppy who had been found in the streets of Tehran, I saw Poolak’s pretty face and saw her video, and offered to help in anyway. I agreed to foster Poolak till we moved to Florida – and then got my wonderful husband to say yes.
We were not in the country when Poolak arrived – but Farah kept us updated with all of her trip and we even received a text (in Mexico) when Poolak and her travellers arrived at Dulles.
We picked her up from Sara’s house the day we got back from our vacation – Poolak was even cuter in person that in pictures, she did not like the car and looked so pitiful in her trip from DC to MD.
She arrived and met our pack – Clemson our beagle immediately took to her and showed her the ropes around our small town home. Poolak took very well to the cats, intrigued at first, then playful and then chasing – but in fun, no meanness to her at all.
She took walks in the neighborhood and became a local celebrity amongst our dog friends….everyone wanted to meet the dog from the streets of Iran, and she was friendly with everyone, a little timid at first but she adapted very well and quickly.
Then through the course of fostering another VAFA dog, our beloved Parichehr, my husband and I decided that we had fallen in love with our Tall Leggy Blond – our Persian Princess Poolak, and joined the Foster Failure Club. We adopted our Princess less than two months after we met her…..as my husband says, we have two Iranian natives living at the house – Poolak and me.
Now she lives in Florida, with her 2 dog and 2 cat brothers and sisters. She loves to chase geckos and tries to jump up at all the birds on our walks. She completed a 6 week obedience course and we may even enroll her in agility training – she is a happy puppy and we are a happy family.
Wish we could save all the pups on the streets of Iran…..
Marsha Laughter
Apr 29, 2017
Adopted by Yvonne Formel – Oct 6, 2013 – Glen Ellyn, IL
One year ago I stood in the cargo building parking lot at O’Hare International Airport while my new “jube” dog from Iran relieved himself on a 1 foot by 1 foot patch of grass. The cold autumn wind ripped past us and I wondered how he would adjust to his new home in the suburbs of Chicago. I felt the need to apologize for the lack of mountains and for the frigid long winters that would be coming. Once home, Choupan was greeted by my children and Rosie, my senior beagle.
He quickly went from room to room and while going up the stairs was easy, he was unsure how to come down them. It was late and I thought a walk before bed would be wise. Choupan was new at walking on a leash and would often go in the opposite direction. He never pulled and could be easily redirected. I knew then he would never have trouble walking with me, (I didn’t think about all the squirrels that would be frolicking on the lawn the next morning!) As we walked that night he was curious about the pumpkins neighbors displayed in their yards.
I recalled as children we didn’t have pumpkins in Iran and the annual school pumpkin carving contest consisted of decorated butternut squashes instead.
Unlike other dogs that I had adopted or they adopted me as strays, Choupan had not spent his young life in a house, with a family, with a TV and a vacuum cleaner and a door bell. So his first few days and weeks were filled with so many new experiences. It was surreal for me to think he had come from a country that I had loved with all my heart and was not allowed to return.
I still look at him today, a year later and think, he has seen what I have seen, and we are so blessed to be together.
One year later he is predictable as I am sure we are for him. We run for half an hour each morning. He knows the routes, he knows when we turn, he knows when a car comes we get back on the sidewalk.
He knows my son’s cars by the sound of their engines and joyfully runs to the garage door to greet them. He knows through trial and error that he’s not to go into my daughter’s room and bother the many stuffed animals on her bed. Most importantly, he knows he is loved even if he does have to wear socks outside in the cold winter!
