Oreo was a young puppy when Cristina caved in and allowed the kids to get him from a small pet shop in Michigan. Childhood was happy there, no big surprises, chasing away squirrels or the neighbor's cat, being spoiled by all the kids on the street...
And then one day, without being consulted, he became a foreign service dog or a diplo-dog. The owners decided they would move to Bangladesh for at least two years.
For most families working in American embassies and consulates, having a pet is just out of the question because of the hassle of travel, but that was not the case with Oreo's family. He was too loved to be left behind and therefore started traveling himself, first Washington, then Seoul, Bangkok, then Dhaka. Travel was not easy. Not eating, drinking or going to the bathroom for more then 14 hours on the Washington-Seoul flight was a great challenge, but he did it. A number of flight attendants almost had heart attacks when they saw him in Cristina's lap and one of them almost spilled her coffee tray in my lap.
In Bangladesh dogs are not happily accepted. After all, it’s a Muslim country, where dogs (as well as pigs) are considered unclean animals. There are, however, a lot dogs around, most of them strays, living on the streets!
Their condition? Let's just say that every single time coming home after seeing the stray first thing we do is hug Oreo. Only if he would realize how lucky he is!
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