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Doggie’s Day Out: Indian Dog is First to Climb Mount Everest!
By Nishi Jain On 14 Nov, 2013 At 01:17 PM | Categorized As Buzz in Town, Far-Out, India | With 0 Comments
Rupee, a homeless canine, has become the first dog officially recorded at the Mount Everest base camp. The brave dog had been rescued by Joanne Lefson from a dump in Ladakh. And he thanked her by accompanying her to the top of the peak, 17000 feet above sea level months after the rescue.

The next time someone calls you a dog, you should consider it a compliment [not taking into account the speaker’s feelings towards you].

The Trek

That they climbed the peak is a feat. That they did it in just ten days is just incredible. Worried about Rupee’s health, Joanne hired a porter to carry him just in case the little doggie ran out of breath. Joanne recalls,

“There were many tourists climbing the mountain at the time and they couldn’t believe that a dog was heading to Base Camp. They were jealous they hadn’t brought their dogs with them for walkies too.”

 

Image source: Caters News Agency

On reaching the summit, woman and dog were obviously all smiles. Joanne says of Rupee’s reaction on encountering snow for the first time:  ’A memorable part of the trip was seeing Rupee touch and walk on snow for the first time, he loved it. He played in it at every opportunity, chased it and even tried to chew it at times.”

The Rescue

When Joanne found the poor dog in a dumpster in Ladakh, sick and starving, he was only eight months old and couldn’t have survived another hour. Recalling the sight she says, ‘The little fellow had heart, I could tell that but he was very weak from having no food and water for days, perhaps weeks.’  She gave him a high protein diet of boiled eggs and rice, after which he recovered fast.

The Lady

Joanne had been globetrotting with her dog Oscar creating awareness for homeless dogs. She and Oscartravelled to 36 countries, attracting media attention towards their cause. But it had ended abruptly with Oscar’s tragic death in a road accident in January. The Everest climb was supposed to be the last part of their journey, popularly called “The World Woof Tour”. Joanne says in her book, Ahound the World: My Travels with Oscar.

Don’t say: Every dog has its day.

Do say: If a dog could do it, so can you. Woof!

Would you take your dog with you on your travels?

Nishi Jain

About - Nishi Jain spent some precious years of her life studying English literature, editing novels, and writing newspaper articles. Then one day, as she was sitting under a tree with no branches, a rotten pancake fell on her head from the window above and she had her Newtonian moment. From then on, all she does is eat pancakes, write, and profess fake love to pastry chefs.

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