Kaanaapeh (meaning Couch) Kaanaapeh was very small and young when he came to the shelter, where he stayed all his life.  The shelter was full of big dogs, and Kaanaapeh was petrified of them.  That is why he would always find a kennel which he could crawl to the very...

Poulaad (Meaning Steel) Poulaad was a guard dog at a stable for horses. He loved his job and was happy with his life.  Although no one ever pets him or cared for his health, his friendship with horses filled the lack of human compassion in his life. Poulaad was a...

Rosa lived on the side of a road with her sweet chubby puppies.  Maybe she was hoping a passing car might throw a piece of food to them.  Maybe she thought her and her puppies were safe there from human abuse.  Her assumptions ended up being all wrong.  She was always...

Sushi was found with a broken jaw on the side of the road leading to the shelter.  She was so small, everyone thought she was probably taken away from her mother while she was still nursing. Was it possible that someone had stolen her from her mother?  Maybe she...

It was around 7 AM when the voice of my caregiver, Fatemeh, woke me up. I looked up; she was waiting for a response from me. It had been a difficult night. Pain followed me like a shadow. I had tossed and turned all night long and could not find a comfortable...

My name is Seda. In Persian, it means “voice”.  Sharareh, who is one of the members of the Center for Animal Lovers, found me almost dead and chose this name for me… because I was barking so much. When I was a young dog, I was a shepherd dog and my owner loved me very...

My name is Shoja. It means “brave” in Farsi.  I am 11 months old. My mother and all my siblings were killed by City Hall officials, but I survived.  I was so sad and frightened. I tried to hide in abandoned places, but I was hungry and I had to look for food. One...

My name is Tala, which means “Gold” in Persian. Because I was purebred and pretty, my greedy and cruel owner treated me like a puppy making machine...to the point that I became very very weak... So last time when I gave birth to 9 puppies, I was so sick that I...

Another blog by Sheyda who spent a few weeks in Iran and volunteered at Vafa several times during her short time back home: The Sad Life of a Stray Puppy How do the stray puppies end up at VAFA Animal Shelter? Each puppy has a unique story, most of them very cruel....

Everyone who’s a regular at the shelter knows Dingo well. He’s a fluffy, naughty, happy boy but what people may not know is that he came to us as a skinny puppy with mange. He was found on the rough streets of Tehran last Summer. He was about two and a half months...