"Isn't he a beauty?" the 53-year old Winkler said at the office of People for Animals, where she had come to pick him up before her flight. Winkler firmly held on the dog leash as if not wanting to let go after finally getting him.

It all started when Winkler was visiting India for the third time, in May. "I had come to India before but at that time, I was not so aware about animal issues, so I guess I did not look out for them that much," said Winkler. She said media's projection of such issues during the late '80s and '90s, got her involved with animals on a more active basis. She became a member of the local and national animal protection group,while doing her job as a secretary. "I have always been an animal lover, though," she said, adding, "I have three cats at home."

Even on holidays, Winkler could not stop taking her concerns with her. "Every time I went on holiday whether it was to South-East Asia or to Greece and Spain, I would carry with me packs of dog and cat food. These places have stray dogs, and I liked feeding them," she said.

On her trip to Agra, she was loading her camera near the Agra Fort one evening, when this scrawny, little puppy came up and rubbed himself against her.

"You know he just looked at me with those eyes, and he was a bag of bones," Winkler recalled adding, "Unfortunately, my heart broke as I realised that my pet food had finished." Winkler inquired from shops if they had any specialised food, and came back with sliced bread. Unable to find this particular one, she fed other dogs.

"I inquired about animal organisations and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had one in Agra." Informing them about hisemaciated condition, Winkler went back the next day with couple of vets and to her excitement found her pup. As she was flying back the same day, she made do with an assurance from the vets that they would keep him under observation and not let him die of hunger.

But she could not wash her hands of the thing so easily. "When I went back I could not forget him. Those eyes wanting to be taken care of, I just had to do something," says Winkler. And she did. She contacted the People for Animals telling them that she wanted `Indie', as she christened him, and she wanted him for good.

That was it. Her mind made up, and with the People for Animals helping out, she knew that the next time she came back to India, it was to get her precious Indie.

"What is amazing," says Ambika Shukla of People for Animals, "is that Indie is like any other street dog but he has just turned out so beautiful with this love and care." She does admit that this is an incident that is first of its kind.