Street dog Jaya gets passport, heads to Netherlands with new owner

Taking on the guardianship of Jaya, Amsterdam native Meral Bontenbel expressed her long-standing desire to adopt a pet, recounting how she couldn't resist falling in love with the Varanasi street dog during her visit to the temple town

Varanasi: Jaya, a female street dog from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, is set to fly out of the country for uncharted shores with a proper passport and visa, along with her new owner from the Netherlands.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Meral Bontenbel, a native of Amsterdam who has assumed the custodianship of Jaya, said she had always wanted to bring home a pet and fell helplessly in love with the street dog from Varanasi during a visit to the temple town.

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“I travelled to Varanasi as I wanted to explore the city. As I was walking around idly one day (along with her co-travellers), Jaya walked up to us. She was very sweet and I fell for her. I cuddled her and she tagged along with us thereafter. She started following us around. Then, one day, she was attacked by another dog on the street,” Bontenbel recalled.

She added that a security guard stepped forward to rescue Jaya from the clutches of the other mongrel.
“A guard came forward and saved her. I hadn’t initially planned to adopt her. I simply wanted to get her off the streets,” Bontelbel told ANI.

She added that she had to extend her stay in India for six months to arrange a passport and visa for her beloved Jaya.

“I’m really happy to finally be able to take her along with me. It was a long-drawn process. I had to wait six months to get her to this point. I have always wanted to have a dog and I fell in love with her the first time she walked up to me,” she added.