On the morning of my son’s tenth birthday, we rose early to catch the first train to Paris, just over a two-hour ride, where we were to collect and bring home the birthday present of a lifetime!
As we pulled in slowly along the platform of Gare Montparnasse, we saw her — the splendid, fawn-colored Chienne Creole — or Caribbean street dog (also referred to throughout the English-speaking islands as a Potcake). She had recently arrived from Guadeloupe into Paris‘ Orly Airport on a cargo pallet with a dozen other cages, where a volunteer (called a Marraine, or “godmother”) would have picked her up and taken her home. This was the slender woman clutching a leash, whom we now were there to meet. We sat on a bench in the station to fill out the adoption paperwork for Perle, the name we had chosen.
The island of Guadeloupe, one of five Départements d’outre-mer (“Overseas Departments”), is actually part of France, although it is an ocean away. With an area of more than 995 square miles (1,600 km), Guadeloupe witnesses an estimated 500 stray dog and untold cat births each day. This organization, called Les Loulous de Gwada (lesloulousdegwada.com), consists of thirty-odd volunteers plus a network of familles d’acceuil (“foster families”) who work on both sides of the Atlantic to rescue stray and abandoned dogs on the island, nurture them back to health in a loving home environment, then send them off — one shipment per month — to France, where another arm of the volunteer network awaits.
Since its founding in 2018, the association has rescued and found “forever families” for more than 2,000 dogs and a handful of cats.
Although a seasoned volunteer, the godmother’s dark eyes became misty as we finished up the paperwork and she faced the reality of saying goodbye to this dainty beauty who, she said, was probably la plus douce (“the sweetest”) dog she had ever known.
1. Cargo
The Chiens Créoles (Creole Dogs) arrive into Orly Airport cargo area, their cages placed in the sun following an eight-hour flight from Guadeloupe. Volunteers and foster families wait behind a barrier for the moment when they will meet their Louous (Doggies).
2. New mum. Paris 03_15
Prior to adoption, I had traveled to Paris to meet the dog who was to be our Perle. I loved her from the moment I saw her and felt her long claws brush over my face.
3. Perle in the autumn leaves, Tuileries
Perle in the autumn leaves at the Tuileries, Paris. She seemed at home in every setting. At heart, she had a special fondness for city life, especially Paris.
4. Horner Wood Will & Perle
Horner Wood, Somerset, England. My son at ten years old and his dog, together in a Neverland-like paradise of unending childhood.
5. UAE Norwich
Perle at the Festival of Literature for Youth (FLY) at the University of East Anglia, Norfolk, England. She became something of a mascot, and the organizers requested her return the following year.
6. Somerset walks
Selworthy, Somerset, England. A boy and his dog rambling among the traditional thatched cottages of the West Country.
7. Dog discrimination in NYC
7. Dog discrimination in New York City. A brave globetrotter, who on this occasion had her nose put out of joint by being refused entry to a cheap takeout, especially when she’s used to dignified fine dining in French restaurants.
8. F.I. Gal
Soaking up the rays on Fire Island.
9. Fire Island favorite thing
A magnet for children, Perle’s tummy was dubbed a waistcoat with its buttons by my father-in-law. She always had this badge of honor from being a mum.
10. Tuffy
This is looking like Wallace and Gromit territory. New Créole pup, Libby, arrives on the scene. Perle takes on maternal duties for this little girl who had been abandoned in Guadeloupe.
11. Old Ladies
Perle's Paris vet diagnoses serious cancers. Treatments give us a two-year reprieve.
12. Potcake Trio
Perle in the last month of her life. She leaves Libby, now five, in charge of eleven-month-old Toby, the newest member of the family.
