Reform begins at one of India's oldest humane societies

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2008:

 

 

Reform begins at one of India's oldest humane societies

 

 

KAKINADA--The 102-year-old Kakinada SPCA, among the oldest

western-style humane societies in India, has " had its working

committee abolished by district collector and ex-officio president

Gopalakrishna Dwivedi, owing to detection of irregularities in its

functioning, " The Hindu reported on December 3, 2008.

Founded with a gift of 98 acres by the Maharajah of

Pithapuram, the Kakinada SPCA was expected to support itself by

making use of the land, but only two acres remain.

Part of the role of a " district collector " in India is

ensuring that nonprofit organizations fulfill their public trust.

Any humane society calling itself a Society for the Protection of

Animals is now required to include the local district collector as

ex-officio president. The dissolution of the Kakinada SPCA working

committee is among the first reported consequences of the newly

mandated board structure.

District collector Dwivedi acted upon allegations forwarded

by the Animal Welfare Board of India. " The charges framed against

SPCA secretary S.S.R. Guru Prasad, treasurer K.G. Lunani, and other

members of the core committee included negligence in taking care of

animals, misusing funds, and using almost half " of the present

Kakinada SPCA campus " for purposes other than animal welfare, " The

Hindu elaborated. " Guru Prasad had his own house constructed in a

corner of the premises where animals were supposed to be sheltered,

and embarked on building a commercial complex " on the site, The

Hindu said.

In addition, The Hindu reported, " a python and a peacock

were illegally kept in cages on the SPCA premises and were

subsequently left out in the jungle days before the inquiry was

instituted, instead of handing them over to wildlife officials.

Criminal cases were booked against the accused persons. "

Confirmed Blue Cross of India chief executive Chinny Krishna,

" Sadly, the report seems to be correct. Guru Prasad is a former

member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, and he and his son

have been accused of misusing the funds of the SPCA. The person who

has really been responsible for bringing all this to light is Lisa

Warden. "

Wrote Warden to the Animal Welfare Board on October 30,

2008, " I arrived in Kakinada on October 2, 2008 to join my husband,

who is in India on a three-year contract. As an animal lover, I was

happy to see the SPCA sign on the main road. I looked forward to

visiting the place and was hoping to register to help as a volunteer. "

During the next month Warden documented severe neglect of

animals on the premises, numerous animal deaths, a federally funded

Animal Birth Control program that was not actually sterilizing dogs,

and a water fountain for animals touted in Kakinada SPCA brochures

that has no water in it.

Warden and her husband fed the animals and tried to encourage

improvements in the operation. But push came to shove after Guru

Prasad balked for three days before finally euthanizing a cow who was

in severe pain from a broken ankle.

Detailing her findings about the Kakinada SPCA to the Animal

Welfare Board on October 28, 2008, Warden noted that " The plaque

commemorating the construction of the commercial center " built on

about half of the remaining SPCA property " bears the names of the

president of the SPCA, who is Kakinada's district collector, and

the SPCA vice-president, who is the Revenue department divisional

officer. "

That brought swift attention to Warden's complaints.

" Unfortunately, " Warden told ANIMAL PEOPLE on December 3, "

the drama is far from resolved and many animals continue to suffer at

the Kakinada SPCA, even though the Collector has finally kicked out

the bad guys. Guru Prasand and Gopal Surabathula, the father/son duo

who were running the place, are very well connected. They are doing

everything in their power to sabotage the attempt to clean up the

SPCA by, for example, having the police confiscate hundreds of

cattle and dump them on the site. In the past week, " Warden said,

" 376 confiscated cattle and buffalo have been dumped at the the site

by the police. Five of them have died and more are almost dead from

starvation, as the goondas left the coffers dry, and there were no

resources with which to care for them. The Kakinada SPCA has never

received animals in these numbers, " Warden charged. " It is clearly

an orchestrated attempt to make the clean-up efforts turn into a

disaster. "

But People for Animals founder and former federal minister

for animal welfare Maneka Gandhi was skeptical of the claimed plot. "

350 animals coming into the shelter at one time is certainly not

new, " Mrs. Gandhi told ANIMAL PEOPLE. " Kakinada is on the main

smuggling area to Kerala and to Al Kabeer near Hyderabad. The police

catch trucks regularly and send the animals to the SPCA. The only

difference is that Guruprasad used to sell the animals immediately to

butchers. "

Current Revenue department divisional officer G.C. Kishore

Kumar and Agriculture & Animal Husbandry Department staff formed a

committee to build a proper shelter for the animals on the premises,

mostly cattle. " Meanwhile, " The Hindu reported, " the ground is

being prepared to initiate criminal proceedings against all those

responsible for the pitiable plight of the cattle, most of whom were

being smuggled to abattoirs. "

" Local people have been submitting complaints about the

Kakinada SPCA to the authorities for quite a few years, " Warden told

ANIMAL PEOPLE. Unfortunately, the authorities, for whatever reason,

chose to do nothing. "

Among the complainants was Visakha SPCA founder Pradeep Kumar

Nath, who received 11 dogs and a kitten from the Kakinada SPCA via

Warden while her letter was en route to the Animal Welfare Board,

and is now " trying to coordinate with the Animal Welfare Board " to

reconstitute the Kakinada SPCA, Nath said.

" Ironically, the VSPCA owes its present status to

information from Guru Prasad that an animal welfare conference would

be held at Delhi in January 1997, " Nath recalled. " It does sadden

me greatly that Guru Prasad joined with his son Gopal in indulging

alleged criminal activities in the name of animals. It is very

disheartening to read the many types of ways that they were making

money in the name of animals. "

Nath developed suspicion about the integrity of the Kakinada

SPCA after observing that a " structure of just a roof, sponsored by

the Royal SPCA " appeared to cost much less than the value of the

grant that paid for it. "

Nath also heard rumors that the Kakinada SPCA was selling

" rescued " cattle to slaughter, and that burglaries of the premises

were inside jobs. But Nath was particularly perturbed when he

learned that Guru Prasad had won a nationally recognized humane award

for achievements purportedly including founding the Visakha SPCA.

" I believe that the situation was my fault for not having had

my antenna up, " said Mrs. Gandhi. " Guru Prasad's Gopal Surabathula

went around as the People for Animals head there. Just one day

before Lisa Warden sent me her letter and photos, he wrote to me

saying that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with the

local administration to do the Animal Birth Control program, and

that I should ask them to release the money to him immediately--which

I would have done if Lisa had not happened along.

" The odd part, " Mrs. Gandhi added, " is that now that I look

at Guru Prasad's accounts, they were always rubbish. To a trained

eye like mine, they should have stood out. But I simply did not see

them for so many years, nor did anyone else. He didn't get caught

fudging accounts. He got caught by the physical and photographic

evidence provided by Lisa and the snake and peacock--for which I had

him raided by the wildlife department. "

Speaking at the Kakinada SPCA centenary celebration in

January 2005, member of Parliament Mutha Gopalakrishna announced

that the city would soon have a six-acre " street dog park. " Perhaps

he meant that street dogs would roam the business park now occupying

much of the Maharajah of Pithapuram's legacy.

--Merritt Clifton

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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