(IN) Visakha SPCA Special Report

[Guest guest]

Please go online to read the new Visakha SPCA report to see the below with

photos. www.visakhaspca.org http://www.visakhaspca.org/updates/2007-07-11/

 

Dear Friends,

 

 

At Visakha SPCA we just passed our 11th anniversary! It is our privilege to

be helping more and more animals each year with your generous support.

 

Here are two of our major current projects:

1. The ABCs of Success

With over 27,000 dogs spayed, neutered and vaccinated since 1999, our Animal

Birth Control (ABC) program is going full force. Yes, we help cats too. But,

unfortunately, dogs continue to be the main problem in India.

Thanks to our work, the brutal dog killings that plague other parts of India

have not infected Visakhapatnam. But we are still in a mad race to humanely

keep the street dog population down as India modernizes and people decide they

no longer want community dogs. Thankfully, our protocols and veterinary

expertise is the best in our part of the world, and the authorities know it . On

a recent tour, the Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India

http://www.awbi.org called our shelter a model for others in India. Animal

welfare groups in other parts of the world must constantly struggle to promote

stray animal sterilization against public demand to eliminate them altogether.

Fortunately, we are blessed to have the approval of the mayor of Visakhapatnam

and more and more community support. All of us at VSPCA are pulling hard to

keep the public's trust and prevent puppies from overflowing the streets and

rabies from threatening our citizens. Our mobile camps are starting soon and

reports will follow.

Here are doggies we could help at our shelter. Note the notch on the left

street dog's right ear. It means the dog has been fixed and vaccinated.

2. Staying Dry

We are working hard to keep the shelter dry following heavy rains early this

year. Unfortunately, recently we sustained heavy storm and water damage (see

below). Still we are trying to stay ready, willing and able to help in the

surrounding areas where there is no one else to rescue animals. We cannot turn a

blind eye. Please consider donating to help us equip our three rescue teams.

Read recent report. http://www.visakhaspca.org/updates/2007-07-03/

June 28, 2007 Photo: Flooded ABC (animal birth control) area with all

workers pitching in nonstop to prevent further damages. The water was up to two

feet! All 200 dogs needed to be temporarily relocated.

We also need funds to rebuild the flooded Interpretation and Education R oom

and fix our generator. The Goshala (cow sanctuary) had one foot of water. The

roof of one of our vermicompost huts collapsed. ( Note: Vermicomposting is the

process of having redworms and other decomposer organisms process our organic

waste and turn it into a great natural fertilizer. ) We thought we had it

all taken care of, but the extreme rains showed us weaknesses – such as the

drainage system from the main gate – which we aim to improve with new funds.

 

 

Other news:

May 17, 2007

In nearby Gajuwaka, we raided, along with the Forestry Department, an

illegal animal entertainment operation . We rescued a total of: one

alligator, one hyena, two civets, three rabbits, one domestic cat, two ducks,

four long -tailed Langoor monkeys, two porcupines, two guinea pigs and a

python!

It was a big catch, and the operator has been arrested. The guinea pigs,

pigeons and cat have been handed over to us, while the zoo is looking after the

wild animals.

May 26, 2007

Residents of Visakhapatnam look to us to monitor and enforce the laws

against animal cruelty. This May, we conducted a raid of an illegal pet shop

with the help of the III Town Police Station. One of many raids we have

done, this time we seized five puppies, three rabbits, three parrots and two

pigeons. Pigeons are used in competitions, for " health " reasons (rubbing pigeon

blood on paralyzed limbs) and for their meat. The rabbits were terribly

dehydrated and the puppies emaciated. Aside from one rabbit that was dead on

arrival at the shelter, the others are doing fine now after treatment and good

care from our vets at the shelter. The puppies are from pure breed parents and

are therefore adoptable (it is a sad fact that people do not adopt the mongrel

street dogs), so we are finding them suitable homes once they are rehabilitated.

We are also checking on how well the horses in our Kailasgiri hills are

being cared for. Horses were recently introduced to our area for the tourists

and they are often ill treated. We have begun to treat the horses and holding

education camps with the horse keepers.

This June we completed work on the ABC camp at Sullurpeta, the Indian Space

Station north of Chennai. The Station contracted our services once again for a

spay/neuter/vaccination camp for the community dogs.

We have trained the vets sent to us from Orissa (the state just above

Andhra Pradesh) groups. Next we will train the Srikakulam vets and dog

catchers. Skrikakulam is north of Vizag where the migratory bird monitoring is

done. We are also filing a case to stop the dog killings at Srikakulam. We are

waiting for the right time. Mobile camps at the nearby steel plant have also

been completed.

Our shelter is now becoming more colorful with more animals, but we need a

new house for the recently rescued rabbits. We hope to build a circular like

pond for our rescued ducks with pleasant rabbit quarters nearby.

We are so grateful to the following kind groups and individuals who have

helped us since we wrote to you this spring:

 

We are very excited to announce that the World Society for the Protection of

Animals (WSPA) has given us a humane awareness project grant. This will begin

in August and will target schools and colleges; villages near unprotected

wildlife; livestock and pet owners throughout our region. Our educational reach

will be with posters, ads in media, programs, etc.

 

We were honored to be included in the Best Friends Society India campaign

and very thankful for their kind fund raising effort. We are eagerly awaiting

the arrival of our consultant veterinarian, Dr. Bosmat Gal, who is being

sponsored by " our sister shelter " the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

 

Special mention to Ms. Olive Walker and Ms. Margaret Gebhard who are our

great patron friends and inspire us to continue to make a difference. Thank you

to Animal People News http://www.animalpeoplenews.org and the Association of

Veterinarians for Animal Rights http://www.avar.org for facilitating their

donations.

 

We were honored to be included in the Best Friends Society India campaign

and very thankful for their kind fund raising effort. We are eagerly awaiting

the arrival of our consultant veterinarian, Dr. Bosmat Gal, who is being

sponsored by " our sister shelter " the Animal Rescue League of Boston. We are

grateful to Earth Watch for their contribution.

Special mention to Ms. Olive Walker and Ms. Margaret Gebhard who are our

great friends and inspiration. Thank you to Animal People News and the

Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights for facilitating their donations.

We also received donations from the following people who make up a worldwide

circle that somehow miraculously helps keep VSPCA afloat: Robert and Sherri

Andrews, Shelby Davis, Judith Embry, Ramsay Everitt, Michael Grievson, Renee

Kehr, Glynis Jennings, Ganesh Meruva, Susan McClung, Monique Moerenhout, Eric

Rice, Barbara Vickers, Sandi Vivion, John Wolf. Monthly donors: Syd Baumel,

Jean Bird, Melanie Freeberg, Esther Geisser, Judy Hungerford, Ellen Leach, Brian

Mann, Bosky Ravindranath, Gina Sopwith and Andrew Wells. Sponsorships: Paulomi

Joshi for Tiffin and Gomantha; Rossnina Ruggieri for Milky; Susanq Mcclung for

Chiranjavee.

Won't you consider joining these kindhearted souls? The truth is that we

are once again now in debt and worldwide friends can help us a great deal

http://www.visakhaspca.com/donate.php .

 

 

Thank you on behalf of the animals from all of us at Visakha SPCA

www.visakhaspca.org

For further info please contact:

Pradeep Kumar Nath at Visakha SPCA in India: vspcadeep

Weintraub in the USA: vspcaindia

Read the story on the Best Friends network about VSPCA's sea turtle project:

The transformation of poachers into sea turtle protectors

http://network.bestfriends.org/india/news/16379.html.

In memory of Klintu