It all started on December 17, 2016, when the kid’s father, Ankur Bhatnagar, stumbled upon the pup, just about 45 days old back then. Because a vehicle had run over the dog, she could barely walk and was crippled waist down. 

After he took the dog to a vet, it was suggested that a wheel cart be used to make her mobile as she’d never be able to walk on all fours. This was followed by rehabilitation with hydrotherapy and laser treatment to improve circulation in the affected limbs. 

Bhatnagar said: 

Since I stay alone and Moana needed attention throughout the day, I shared a post on my Facebook wall, asking if anyone was willing to foster her. Someone tagged Rekha and she came forward to adopt her.

Rekha Vijayakumar took Moana under her care and posted a few pictures on Facebook which caught the attention of her brother, Mahesh Nayak, and his young friend, Abhinav Rao, a Class VII student of Lourdes Central School in Mangaluru and Abhinav offered to help the canine.

Mahesh Nayak said:

For the last 10 years I had maintained a piggy bank in my office. Every evening, I would dump all the loose change in my pocket into it. This was a gimmick to amuse kids visiting me; they enjoyed dropping coins into the piggy. A regular customer for my piggy is my friend Rohit’s son, Abhinav Rao, fondly called Abhi. We called his piggy bank ‘Abhi’s Dabbi’. The dog’s plight proved to be the perfect cause to break Abhinav’s bank.

As wheel carts for canines cost around ₹10,000 to 15,000, Rekha decided to go for a second-hand one.

Adding to all the jubilation, Nayak and Abhinav soon received a table calendar from an animal charity. The best part? It had Moana on the cover!