The hand of fate
by Nina Natelson of CHAI and Hakol Chai
Founding Director, CHAI: Concern for Helping Animals in Israel
President, Board of Hakol Chai (CHAI's Israeli partner)
edited by Pamela Benbow, Best Friends Network[Editor's note: This is the first of several stories about animals rescued in Israel during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. Hakol Chai rescued many animals in northern Israel, and in November, CHAI airlifted some of its rescuees to the US. We are very grateful to Nina Natelson for the story that follows, her first-hand account featuring two of those furry Israeli refugees.]
Liora and Sabra--Home at LastIn July and August of 2006, during the Hezbollah rocket attacks, many people were forced to leave their homes in northern Israel, and they left their animals behind.
CHAI's sister charity in Israel, Hakol Chai, worked under highly dangerous conditions, night after night, to rescue these abandoned animals, giving them food, water, medical help, shelter, and love.
Of the many animals CHAI/Hakol Chai rescued and rehomed, sixty were puppies, picked up off the streets as the missiles fell. We reunited many puppies with their original families, and we placed more with new families in Israel as a result of numerous, well-publicized adoption days.
But adoptions go slowly in Israel, and we were concerned that the puppies would be adults, and therefore more difficult to place, before they were all adopted. So on November 3, 2006, thirty-nine of those puppies were airlifted to the US to find new homes in the Washington, DC, area.
The night the pups arrived had its share of drama. The dogs were to be divided among several shelters--in Washington, Virginia, and Maryland. These groups had agreed to house and help find homes for the refugees. But thanks to a cargo strike at Ben Gurion airport in Israel, delays at JFK unloading the dogs from the El Al jet, and heavy traffic between New York City and Washington, DC, it was quite late when the weary puppies finally arrived. Representatives from the different shelters had been waiting for a very long time!
Rather than keep people and puppies (who had been through quite an ordeal) waiting even longer while we checked their "passports," representatives of each shelter quickly took a group of dogs, keeping together those they thought looked like siblings. The Alexandria, VA, shelter took two large white puppies who, at the time, they believed were related.
So when Karis Graham came into the Alexandria shelter looking for a small beagle, the adoption counselor replied,
"Forget the beagle. I have the dog for you!"
The counselor introduced Karis to the two white dogs from Israel. Immediately, she felt a bond with one of the puppies. Karis adopted the dog on the spot and named her Liora, which means "my light," or "God's gift of light to me," in Hebrew.
Karis Graham is a former Air Force chaplain. She served in Desert Storm and other combat zones, counseling servicemen suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. When she retired from the military, Karis earned a PhD in psychology and accepted a job at a Washington, DC, mental health facility. From her experience in war zones and as a psychologist, Karis understood completely what Liora had been through and how she must be suffering.
Every night, Liora had terrible nightmares. Karis held and rocked her, reassuring her that the war was over and she was now safe. Never again would she be in harm's way. As the weeks passed, Liora's nightmares seemed to lessen a bit, but Karis thought it would be a long time before she would be free of them altogether.
Like most shelters, the Alexandria shelter where Liora was adopted has a policy of maintaining the privacy of adopters until the adopters give permission to release their contact details. So I did not yet know of Karis' and Liora's experience.
In the meantime, I had placed yet another large, white puppy refugee with a woman who, like Karis, lives in Washington, DC. This woman, called Nina, had learned of the Israeli pups after reading a Washington Post article about the rescue. Nina named her new white puppy Sabra, which in Hebrew means "native-born Israeli." A Sabra is a cactus that grows in Israel, known for being tough on the outside, soft on the inside.
What I didn't know at the time was that this puppy was in fact Liora's brother! Once I learned from their passports that Liora and Sabra were siblings, I suggested that the mothers, Karis and Nina, arrange a reunion.
And what a reunion it was! The mothers reported that the siblings raced for one another, leapt joyfully, and could not stop holding, touching and playing with each other. The puppies lay on their sides, facing one another, a ball between their mouths, so visibly bonded that they seemed like one being. From that day forward, Liora never had another nightmare.
At a second reunion, to which I had the great fortune of being invited, I was deeply moved by the strong connection and love between the two dogs. They are inseparable and clearly take joy from looking at, touching, and interacting with each other. These days, the two stay at the same doggy day care facility, visit one another often, and have an occasional sleepover at Karis' house.
Of the thirty-nine puppies brought to the US, thirty-seven were placed in homes throughout the Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia area. Two puppies found homes with long-time CHAI members who live as far away as New York. Surely the hand of fate played a role in seeing that Liora and Sabra, who so needed one another, ended up in homes just ten minutes apart!
Photo: Karis Graham: Liora and Sabra with Nina Natelson at the second reunion
Check out CHAI's work and visit their rich and informative website here:
http://www.chai-online.org/ NOTE: We hope that you will stay tuned to International Friends for more stories of these sweet, furry Israeli refugees!
Remember: Kindness to animals in the Middle East will help to create a better world for us all!