(Pictures coming soon)
When I first met Annika Ambrose, there didn’t seem to be anything peculiar about her: she was a normal teenage girl, and a quite beautiful one at that. She had come to the Takutu Hotel upon a request to model for the Rupununi Rodeo pageant. As she sat in the chair next me, she opened a conversation with me. She told me that she was really sleepy because her four little dogs had her up all night. And indeed, when I looked at her eyes, they were red and tired.
Related: The Importance of Maintaining Eye Contact.
Indeed, I have encountered many persons in the past who were animal lovers; but not like Annika: compared to everyone else I’ve met, Annika was a pet fanatic. She told me “it’s not just about dogs…animals…if I see someone hurt an animal, it’s like they’ve pelted a stone straight at my heart”.
I said “wow”.
Annika told me that she takes care of four beautiful dogs at the moment, and they are sort of the love of her life. Everything she does for them is a labor of love. She said she will have to go off to study pharmaceuticals at the University of Guyana, and this will force her to give up her animals. It will be devastating, but she accepts that she will have to do it for the sake of her education.
She told me that when she was a very young child, she used to communicate with animals: they would talk back to her and tell her how they’re feeling, and what they want. She said that she once had a bushmaster snake for a pet. A bushmaster snake is a venousmous snake, but of course, she was born with the gift of dealing with it.
Related: The Jungle Girl
Related: How to Train Your Dog