Pet Passports And Happy Endings

Lucky at the dog pound in Italy

By Risidra Mendis

People abandoning their pets due to various reasons are a common occurrence these days. But when the former Sri Lankan ambassador to Italy abandons his pet dog one has to wonder what his reasons were.

Lucky (six years) was the pet dog of former Ambassador to Italy Rodney Perera. When Perera took over as ambassador to Italy he got himself a pet dog from Italy. However when Perera’s term as ambassador was over he had no problem about abandoning Lucky at his official residence in Italy and returning to Sri Lanka in June 2007. Lucky was chained and kept without food and water at Perera’s official residence when he left Italy.

Lucky was temporarily taken in by a Sri Lankan family. However Lucky was later sent to a dog pound in Italy as they couldn’t find him a good home.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader Animal Rights Activist Iranganie De Silva said embassy officials informed me of Lucky’s plight. “I immediately contacted animal rights activist in UK, Kim Cooling and asked her to find Lucky a good home in Italy. But having failed to find Lucky a good home in Italy Cooling personally funded his airfare and sent him to UK where he was rehomed with Alan and Margaret. Having traveled all the way from Italy to the UK on a pet passport Lucky has now settled down to a happy life with his new owners,” De Silva said.

According to reliable sources, Sri Lanka’s embassy officials in Italy received many angry calls from the Italians who thought that embassy officials had abandoned Lucky.
“After a great deal of hard work and with the help of friends in Rome, Lucky is now living a wonderful life in UK. There was no chance of finding him a home in Italy so Lucky was taken to UK via the pet passport scheme in October 2009,” Cooling said.
“Lucky is very well and has settled down in such a short time. He is so playful with us and also his new doggy family. He has easily slipped into our routine, breakfast with us at 8.30am, then off for our morning walk in the country for about an hour, no lead necessary as he walks well and responds to his name and comes back when called. In the afternoon he usually follows Alan all over the house until about 3.00pm and then it is the afternoon walk for about 45 minutes,” Margaret says.

Margaret added that Lucky is sociable with other dogs and people when off the lead. “Lucky has befriended our Ford Van, which we use to transport the dogs for their walks and has no problem getting out and can’t wait to get back in after his walk. We have noticed that Lucky gets ‘spooked’ and very jumpy when feeding. He is suspicious of adult males, particularly when they are without a dog. He sometimes jumps up at them but does not attempt to growl or bite,” Margaret explains.

Perera is presently the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Norway. The Sunday Leader could not reach Perera to check if he has got himself a new pet dog in Norway.