Families expecting a baby often start having second thoughts about keeping their dogs. The sad part is, this doubt does not come from within themselves but from those claiming to be well-wishers. That is what Sanjana Madappa faced during her pregnancy.
Sanjana and her husband, Aditya Raheja, had been married for two years when she got pregnant with her first child. According to BuzzFeed News, Madappa has adopted a number of dogs from CUPA, the animal welfare organization she works at in Bengaluru, India. People started having problems with her pets after she got pregnant.
Sanjana Madappa made her views known about why she would never get rid of her dogs when her baby arrives. She took to Facebook to slam the baseless opinions urging her to do the opposite.
For everyone who wants to give up on their dogs because of your pregnancy, allergy or just any other lame reason. Here…
Posted by Shravan Krishnan on Thursday, January 26, 2017
She begins with her personal experience,
“Being in animal welfare, one of the most common reasons I hear for giving up a pet is ‘I’m pregnant.’ When I have tried to counsel these families, I get it thrown back in my face that since I don’t have children and haven’t experienced pregnancy, I don’t get to have an opinion.”
Now that she has gotten pregnant, has her mind changed? No.
Madappa experienced many difficulties during her pregnancy. She was throwing up blood and got hospitalized. Her morning sickness just got worse. Her case was even risky for pre-term delivery. But she suffered through it. How? With her puppers by her side. She explains in her post:
“My dogs are the reason i got through my pregnancy with my sanity intact. The days i spent crying, I had the comforting weight of Diego’s head on my lap reassuring me things would be OK. the nights i spent on the bathroom floor, Leo kept me company, gently pawing me now and then to see if i was okay. I lost a very special little girl along the way, Leela, who kept me smiling with her silly antics till the end. When i could finally fall asleep, I had Cujo resting at my feet. I couldn’t afford to stay in bed feeling sorry for myself when i had these kids depending on me.”
Eight months later her son, Ayan, was born. She firmly believes that her dogs prepared her for motherhood.
“I couldn’t ever in good conscience give away an animal that loves me and trusts me with the same innocence and purity that my baby does. I couldn’t abandon a family member to bring in another. I will not betray a life that depends on me as much as my son does. To all those people I will always say, NOT WITHOUT MY DOGS.”
Sanjana and Aditya further established their trust on their furry family members. They included them in their maternity photo-shoot, and the pictures are absolutely beautiful!
The proud parents have no regrets whatsoever, and their child is lucky to be surrounded by the world’s most loving brothers and sisters.
