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Author Musician Coach
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by Annika Reuter
My heart opener
YALA OR HOW TO SAVE YOUR LIFE
There are moments that change the course of your life. At the end of December 2018, I found an important piece of the puzzle that allowed me to slowly but surely follow the call of my soul. Therefore, I will tell you the story of how a tiny puppy managed to deeply touch me, open my heart wide, and show me what I truly longed for deep inside.
AN UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS GIFT
At Christmas 2018, I visited my then-best friend in Sri Lanka during her round-the-world trip. Crazy side note: I had already been there the previous summer for an Ayurvedic treatment that had completely shaken me to the core. And before I even knew we were going to meet in Sri Lanka, my doctor had already told me with a foreshadowing tone: "You have to go back to Sri Lanka—something's waiting for you there!"
My friend and I spent an exciting Christmas Eve on the beach with rainbows, baby turtles, and a local man with motorcycle helmet masturbating behind a hut.
On December 27th, we were near Yala National Park for a safari. The next morning, we were eagerly scanning the park entrance from the jeep at six o'clock, looking for exotic animals. When many jeeps ahead of us swerved, we started to hope for our first leopard, but instead spotted a tiny puppy wobbling down the long road. However, in countries like Sri Lanka, you inevitably get used to seeing unwanted animals. My "helper radar" was mostly switched off by that point, so I wouldn't go crazy. But that puppy deeply touched me. I reassured myself that it would surely run back to its mother or that someone would pick it up. Nevertheless, it stayed on my mind for the entire six-hour safari.
I already share my rice with the dogs in the parking lot.
On the way back, we passed the same spot and I looked out for the puppy – hoping it was gone because its owner had found it. But instead I spotted the tiny, exhausted dog in the grass and realized: No one was going to stop here! If I didn't, that animal was lost.
I shouted, "STOP, WE NEED TO SAVE THE PUPPY!", jumped out, and when I ran towards it, it let out a desperate yelp with her last bit of strength. I scooped the little thing into my blanket and held her close for the rest of the bumpy, windy jeep ride, worried she might stop breathing. When we finally arrived at our guesthouse, the full extent of her misery became clear: The little one was covered in lice, fleas, and ticks, had open wounds from the parasites all over her, and even another hole on her bottom with a fat maggot in it.
The locals looked at us as if we were crazy for caring so anxiously about a lice-ridden puppy. Despite their initial shock, the guesthouse owner gave us cooked rice to feed her and a cardboard box for transport.
A NEW TRAVEL ROUTE
I treated 'Yala' with coconut oil to rid her of all parasites and dabbed any sore spots with iodine ointment from my first-aid kit. Yala patiently endured everything and later fell asleep, exhausted, wrapped in my blanket in her cardboard box. With the enthusiastic help of our Singhalese safari guide, we found a woman claiming to be a veterinarian who—for whatever reason—showed me a roadkill wildcat in her garden and then, with a dismissive look, commented on my foundling: "She is too weak!" Despite her great surprise at my concern, she prescribed a vitamin paste. Later, at the pharmacy where I showed up with the puppy, I encountered another great deal of surprise coupled with a willingness to help, despite the language barrier.
There was a dog shelter in Kandy , roughly on our travel route, and we were planning our trip. I didn't hesitate when the shelter informed me they would only take the puppy if we brought her to Germany and covered the costs. I transferred €500 online right there in the taxi. This was about so much more than that.
In the podcast, I tell Eva why Yala was a turning point:
PRETTY LOUD!
With Yala in a cardboard box, we traveled first by tuk-tuk, then by taxi for over six hours to Ella, our first stop. I was already familiar with breakneck bus and taxi rides from other trips; otherwise, combined with my worry, my heart would have stopped! We were consistently lucky to find drivers who would take the dog, and—after another guesthouse turned us away— we found accommodation with animal-loving locals. There, we washed the dead parasites out of Yala's fur in a small tub, and she screamed as if we were trying to kill her! What life was in that little thing! For dinner in town, I hid her under my hoodie, where she slept peacefully .
Yala is sleeping in the jacket
PRETTY CHEEKY!
The next day, we found a driver who took us, including the dog in the cardboard box, for an eight-hour drive to Kandy. Yala slept the entire journey, while I was nearly dying of worry! The Tikiri Trust Dog Shelter housed over 250 dogs and quite a few cats. Padma, the manager, was convinced that Yala would have been eaten by monitor lizards, leopards, crocodiles, birds of prey, or dogs if I hadn't rescued her. The shelter had no way to house such a small puppy separately, but the following day, Bianca would arrive with three rescued puppies and move into the house next door until she could return to Switzerland with them. She would take care of Yala. My friend had already left for the guesthouse we had booked, but I stayed overnight in a corrugated iron shack to look after 'my baby' until I could hand her over to her foster mother on New Year's Eve. Before going to sleep, Yala had been given a deworming treatment and passed several huge worms during the night. Outside my cabin, there were dogs everywhere, sniffing me, barking, and pinching. Meanwhile, Yala sat enthroned in a cloth against my stomach, completely unfazed, peering out cheekily.
PRETTY STRONG!
My active part in the story ended exactly on December 31, 2018–with a tuk-tuk ride to my friend at the guesthouse to celebrate New Year's Eve together, and to fly back to Germany two days later. From then on, I followed Yala's progress from Germany, anxiously watching her through Bianca's reports, photos, and videos on WhatsApp. Life in the shelter was merciless: at one point, there was an epidemic that killed many dogs. Two of the three female dogs that Bianca had rescued and already rehomed in Switzerland also died from insidious blood parasites. I suffered and cried constantly, always fearing for my Yala .
Yala with her dog sisters
I was going through a strange phase in my life. My teaching job hadn't brought me joy for ages, I hadn't found a partner to start a family with, my life felt somehow wrong, and I'd been stuck for a while. But then, quite suddenly, out of the blue, in February after I met Yala, I had a sudden inner clarity: I'M QUITTING SCHOOL!
YALA. A moving story
Due to my living situation, I didn't see myself taking Yala in myself and searched for her forever home. Transporting animals from a so-called third country to Germany requires certain vaccinations and a rabies antibody test, which takes several months. In July, Yala was supposed to fly to Germany with Bianca and Nulu, her last little dog, whom she had planned to adopt herself. I regularly lit candles for the little dogs' souls and sent prayers to the heavens. Yala contracted distemper, which she miraculously survived. Just a few weeks before the planned trip, Nulu also died–and only Bianca and Yala returned. Now all that was left was to keep my fingers crossed for the journey in the cargo hold, including the layover. When I received the first video of Yala happily frolicking in the German grass, my heart finally opened again .
FINALLY HERE
Preparing for the trip
THE REUNION
From the moment I picked up Yala until I finally saw her again, my whole world was in turmoil. She had turned everything upside down. I hadn't realized before that you could be so suddenly and wholeheartedly willing, without question, to do anything for a little small.
Yala is now a cheeky, spoiled—but toothless—Swiss girl, as distemper prevented her permanent teeth from growing. She lives with Bianca and her family, and I'm her proud godmother. This story will always connect us.
Reunion with Bianca and Yala in Switzerland
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