FW: (IN): Despite lack of funds,elderly couple keep animalshelter going

[Guest guest]

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padma [padmaeva]

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 6:31 AM

'azam24x7'

RE: (IN): Despite lack of funds,elderly couple keep animal

shelter going

 

 

 

On one hand I am happy every time I hear about people helping animals

(hoping that they will inspire others and eventually there will be more help

and less suffering and cruelty), on the other hand the story seems to be the

same everywhere: lack of funds. and eventually, as in Kerala now, we need

people to take over because none of us will live forever.

 

 

 

What struck me most in this posting however was the mention of private

illegal killing of dogs. I am afraid it is happening here also (we notice

disappearances of dogs, but could not track down what has happened to them),

that it happens even in Chennai where a lot of successful ABC is being

carried out by several groups, is very distressing. And when Padmavathi

tells us, that dogs are becoming aggressive when they are hungry and

thirsty, I remember that I wrote an e-mail to Dr.Chinny Krishna some years

back, which he did not reply (now I know why), regarding the issue of

garbage-disposal. I wrote to him, that I very much like the clean streets,

which I see in Germany, when I go there once in a few years, and which I saw

in Signapore, but as long as we have street-dogs, I hope the issue of

garbage disposal will not be resolved in countries like India and Sri Lanka,

because there will be more starvation and dogs dying of starvation and of

wounds due to fighting (and of course more dog-bites inflicted on humans

too!). Until we have enough shelters or at least regular feeders for strays,

I don't think animal-welfare-association should promote better garbage

disposal-systems. Many of the strays, which I could not return to their

places recently after surgery, even though they are healthy, are from the

Kandy city and the Kandy market because recently the KMC has given up its

efforts to clean the streets and given it over to private companies and they

of course do a more efficient job and now I can see many dogs losing weight

rapidly. We may be unable to stop it, but surely we should not promote it.

 

 

 

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aapn [aapn ] On Behalf Of

azam24x7

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 3:20 PM

AAPN List

(IN): Despite lack of funds,elderly couple keep animal

shelter going

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.deccanhe

<http://www.deccanherald.com/content/19011/masks-run-stock.html>

rald.com/content/19011/masks-run-stock.html

Despite lack of funds, elderly couple keep animal shelter going

Priya M Menon, TNN 8 August 2009, 03:32am IST

 

<http://www.deccanhe

<http://www.deccanherald.com/content/19011/masks-run-stock.html>

rald.com/content/19011/masks-run-stock.html>CHENNAI: The

merciless killing of stray dogs in the city spurred this couple to give a

structure to their animal welfare activities and establish the Animal

Welfare Protection Trust in 1998. More than a decade later, C Padmavathi and

her husband Narasimhamoorthy are still fighting for the cause, refusing to

let either age or lack of funds slow them down.

 

" Our aim is to help any animal in distress, " says 71-year-old

Narasimhamoorthy who, along with his wife, has come to the aid of countless

animals. And that's evident when you pay a visit to their home in

Santhoshapuram. A couple of dogs are stretched out on the walkway. Close by

a monkey, its eyes badly infected, fiddles with the bars of his cage.

Indoors, cats and kittens are everywhere on the sofa, perched atop

cupboards.

 

" We had been working with animals for more than 20 years, but registered the

trust only in 1998 to receive recognition from the Animal Welfare Board of

India and the TN government, " says Padmavathi. " It helped us implement the

Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme in 14 panchayats. "

 

Today, the programme is suffering from a lack of funds. " The funds come

late, are not regular and cover only a fraction of our cost, " says

Narasimhamoorthy, a retired bank official. " We have covered only eight

panchayats and done 3,575 surgeries this year, our target was 9,000, " says

Padmavathi.

 

This has not deterred the couple from coming to the aid of helpless animals.

Their home shelters about 45 cats and kittens, while the AWPT shelter in

Medambakkam houses at least 120 dogs. " Many people abandon pedigreed dogs

when they become old. Once children leave home, elderly parents who cannot

cope abandon the dogs, " says Padmavathi. Rescued animals are given for

adoption.

 

The monkey in their front yard was found about five months ago in an

apartment complex in Velachery. " He couldn't see but with treatment the

vision in one eye has improved. Right now he cannot survive in natural

surroundings but we hope to give him to Vandalur zoo eventually, " says

Padmavathi, as her husband feeds it peanuts.

 

Whether it is to tend to deer mauled by stray dogs or rescue monkeys that

enter apartment complexes, the couple never turn down a call for help. " One

of us goes with the rescue van, " says Padmavathi, who is just recovering

from typhoid and hobbles around with a crutch.

 

But what continues to concern them is the plight of street dogs. " Many

residents' associations pay narikoravas to kill stray dogs and cats, " says

Padmavathi. " There have been instances of kittens' legs being broken and the

mothers maimed and gathered in sacks, " says Padmavathi, whose trust

advocates CNVR, Catch Neuter Vaccinate and Release.

 

There is a lot people can do to fight the stray dog problem, she says, like

sponsoring ABC surgery for a dog, which costs just Rs 350. " Stray dogs are

aggressive because they are hungry and thirsty, " she says. Children should

also be taught not to approach a strange dog, adds Padmavathi.

 

The couple dreams of setting up a veterinary hospital. " We want to be able

to reach out and care for all the helpless animals. There is no greater joy

in life, " says Padmavathi.

 

Contact AWPT at 22781381 or mail awptrust (AT) (DOT)

<awptrust%40> com

 

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