After the loss of my dogs in Saudi I took some time to come
to terms with the reality that I would not be able to return to search for
them. Visas are not issued to casual visitors and without a relative, company
sponsor or suitable conference in the area that I might attend it was simply
not possible. Even companies attempting to promote group tours under
supervision found it difficult to obtain visas for potential tourists and
halted efforts to promote tours.
I became interested in a welfare dog shelter in Dubai that I
had chanced upon while looking for somewhere to house my Saudi dogs during the
process of getting them to Australia. Australia did not accept dogs directly
from Saudi Arabia due to poor rabies control in Saudi so they would have needed
to stay in an acceptable place like Dubai for 6 months. It seemed to me from
the photographs of dogs available for adoption that some of them were probably
also Canaan dogs, picked up off the streets.
I noted a number of them as such and had some contact with the kennel,
K9 Friends, Dubai. I transited through Dubai a couple of times on trips between
Australia and South Africa but only allowed a few days hoping to be able to
visit the shelter with a view to adopting a dog. Unfortunately I discovered
that without a pre-arranged appointment I was unable to visit. One of the dogs
I noticed among those advertised as available for adoption and that looked like
a Canaan was this one – Roxx.
Meanwhile I was considering a possibility of working in
Nigeria with a South African pathology company or Ghana with a South African
accredited one. The Company in Nigeria sent me all the papers we thought were
needed for me to get a visa to visit them including a letter signed by the
Nigerian director inviting me to visit and guaranteeing my financial situation
and accommodation for the time I would be there, and a copy of the company
registration in Nigeria. I duly submitted my visa application and passport to
the Nigerian officials in Canberra. There was a charge for the visa, a charge
for processing it and an additional charge for rapid processing. They insisted
on using a postal order as the method of payment so I obtained one to cover the
3 costs and included this in my application. I also included, as required, a
copy of my return ticket the company had sent me from Nigeria.
After a couple of days I attempted to phone Canberra to
check all was in order but found it impossible to get connected. On the website
was a message saying that they were experiencing problems with phones
(something rare in Australia unless bills have not been paid) and an “alternative”
number was given. When I checked this “alternative” was actually the same as
the initial one listed. When I finally managed to get a call to them I was
asked which of a list of departments they mentioned I wanted. Before I could
answer the lady then said that anyway it did not matter as they all go to her
anyway! When I asked about the progress with my visa application I was told it
could not be processed because they needed 2 separate letters, one inviting me
and a second separate one guaranteeing my financial status by the company for
my time there. Then I was told that they also could not process my application
because it was not a Nigerian company. It was and a copy of the company registration
was included in my application. The company letter head said that they were
associated with the South African pathologists at the head office in Cape Town.
Also they said they could not process it because they needed 3 separate money
orders for the 3 payments. I had no option but to call the lab in Nigeria and
inform them I would not be able to travel on the booked flight unless they
could do something to sort it out. The Ghana Company, after saying they would
send an air ticket as soon as I had a visa and health certificate failed to do
so
Meanwhile I had been planning to break my trip in Dubai to
visit the kennel with a view to adopting one of their Canaan like dogs and they
had invited me to give a talk on Canaan, which I had agreed to do. With my
determination to get another of these dogs coupled with the thought of having
to cancel an already advertised talk I decided a break in Dubai was something I
could handle so made my own arrangements to go ahead with that. The talk went well and helped raise funds for
the shelter. My intention then was to adopt Prince, a dog that had been used to
publicise my talk or failing that Tiger who had been brought in to the
auditorium at the end of my talk to show the type of dog. Yet again
difficulties in getting things done by remote control while back in Australia
resulted in someone else wanting both dogs as individuals wanting dogs had
developed attachments to them.
Work in Australia continued in a position that took me to a
number of outback towns in the Northern territory but the need I felt to have
another desert dog in my life remained and I was determined to get one. People
still working in Saudi were still unable to spot my dogs although of course
even if they had found their way back they would certainly not have approached
anyone.
Prince in the flyer
Prince in the flyer
A section of the auditorium at K9 friends
Jesse one of the many K9 friends dogs
Tiger
Some of the other dogs at K9 friends
