Indian Pie dogs have their day

[Guest guest]

So proud of you Chinny and all at Blue Cross - one day, with your

foresight and determination this will be the norm. Jillx

 

debasischak wrote:

<http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090831/jsp/frontpage/story_11430397.jsp>

 

Desi dog has his day, with an 'Om'

- Pat for the unusual pet G.C.

 

 

SHEKHAR Chennai, Aug. 30: There were only two conditions to participate in this

dog show: your pet should be non-pedigreed and on a leash.

 

The unwritten rules were many, though. You should love them, and not care if

they were undisciplined or stopped by to pee on a potted plant before walking up

to the judges.

 

In its 25th year, Chennai's very own and probably India's only dog show for

mongrels and cross-breeds on Sunday proved a barking hit.

 

The prizes were not for behaviour or breeding but for other loveable attributes,

like having the curliest tail or wagging the tail the most, or the great

survivor, or the lickiest tongue.

 

Lineage, grooming and kennel registration did not count. It's perfectly okay

and even welcome if like Dusty, your dog too had been rescued from a shoebox

left on the road.

 

Take the arthritic Whoopie, for example. She could still walk with a proud

strut and when the owner asked her to say “Omâ€, she yawned producing exactly

that sound.

 

The loudest cheers were reserved for Dusty, a seven-year-old brown mongrel, for

being the hardiest survivor.

 

“We rescued him from the street as a pup after he had lost his right eye in a

road accident. Because of the handicap, he met with one more accident and

barely survived, disfiguring his jaw. And yet he has proved a hardy guy and

survives mostly on love and fresh air,†declared Dusty's owner Anjali Bhatia.

 

Even Chennai's Airport Authority of India sent its candidate, the sprightly and

well-trained Asha, discovered by the railway tracks but adopted by AAI officials

and trained to be a sniffer dog.

 

“It's a misconception that non-pedigree dogs cannot be trained or imparted

special skills,†said R. Sivashankar, a vet. “This is probably the only

dog show where the owners will ask each other from which street they had picked

up their dog,†said Chinni Krishna, chairman of animal welfare charity Blue

Cross, which conducts the show.

 

“Although we have nothing against the foreign breeds, the sense of pride in

owning and loving Indian dogs is what gets recognised in our Well Dog Show.

That this is our 25th edition is proof that our people are proud to own the

mongrels and display them.†Admitting that the judges' verdicts were purely

subjective, Krishna explained that the idea was not to win but to participate

and probably inspire others to adopt a stray mongrel. This edition of the dog

show was unique since 30 of the 80 entries were done through Twitter and

Facebook.

 

“Now that our dog show is known in the cyber world, we expect the next edition

to be even more crowded,†hoped Narayan Hariharan, a marketing consultant in

the blogging sector who has among the highest Twitter followings in India.

 

By the time the prizes were announced, the 20-odd cute mongrel pups kept in

baskets by Blue Cross had been adopted by kids who pleaded, cajoled or threw

tantrums to get their reluctant parents to take them home. So they will be back

next year as participants.

________

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090830/jsp/calcutta/story_11423830.jsp

 

Man's best friend A little hope for stray dogs. The Foundation for Animal

Welfare and Environmental Studies inaugurated an animal shelter and clinic at

Hariharpur, Khas Mallik (South 24- Parganas) on August 12. “Currently we are

taking care of six dogs and we plan to start mobile camps soon in nearby

areas,†says Bonani Ghosh, the commissioner of income tax and a trustee

member. Outdoor facilities are already available at the clinic.

 

Two days later, a discussion was held at the Indian Council for Cultural

Research. Green activist Subhash Dutta stressed how everyone has to make daily

life more environment-friendly. Filmmaker Sekhar Das spoke of the stray dog

Kalu in his locality who with his friends keeps the area clean by eating

roadside leftovers and guards the area. Saugata Roy, the minister of state for

urban development, said strays that bite humans and cause rabies should alert us

to the poverty of the people who cannot afford anti-rabies injections. Hence

while animals are important so are human lives. This was met with some

resistance from dog lovers who claimed many rodents cause more dangerous

diseases. A short film, Life on the Street, was screened. There are plans to

open a crematorium in the city if land is available.

___________

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=Specials%20-%20Mirr\

or%20Squad§id=37 & contentid=20090820200908201803305464adb1e34

 

A dogged pursuit Neeta Bavdekar cares for 60 abandoned dogs in her small flat

Niharika Mandhana Posted On Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 06:03:30 PM “It's a

doggone life, but a blessed one!†exclaims Neeta Bavdekar with a chortle and a

twinkle in her eyes. Given that the backdrop of our conversation is her house

in Jalahalli West, which doubles as a shelter for nearly 60 abandoned and

battered dogs. Manoeuvring through the shelter can be an overwhelming

experience - the entrance is flanked by numerous cage-like kennels; the alley

leading to the staircase is pinched to a narrow walkway by kennels that occupy

an entire wall; the washing area is crowded with tiny baskets wobbling with the

restless energy of the puppies inside; the stairway is lined all the way to the

top by dogs leashed to the railings; all other spaces look as though tiled with

dogs.

 

THE STARK REALITY “If I had my way, there wouldn't be so many of them here,â€

confesses Neeta, as she extricates an adorable brown ball of fur from a basket

to replace the soiled newspaper bed. But when she walks out of her house to

stumble on a puppy wrapped in a gunny bag, she can't get herself to leave it to

its own devices on the streets where she knows its chances of survival are poor.

In fact, owing to the stories of her shelter being well known in the

neighbourhood, most of its inmates are dogs that were surreptitiously abandoned

at her doorstep - dogs whose owners preferred to dump them rather than cure

their minor ailments, who were seen as a nuisance once they grew out of the

puppy phase, who were seen strolling dangerously on the road and brought in by

well-meaning boys, who were rescued from cruel owners or from accident spots.

 

“People see dogs as a dispensable commodity. At first, they find them

lovable. After a while, they consider them a headache and dump them in a

dustbin or gutter. Many leave them outside my house because they know I will

take care of them,†says Neeta, being privy to stories of dog abuse like few

others.

 

Petting Ramu, she narrates the incident of the lady who came to her pleading to

take in Ramu who was regularly beaten up by her sons. “While I was trying to

convince her that I was strapped for resources, Ramu got on his hind legs and

put his arms around my neck. He made the decision!†she says.

 

THE DEVOTION Neeta's passion for dog-care began eight years ago when she took

into her home a litter of puppies lying forlorn in the gutter outside her house,

the rain beating down on them. Little did she know that years later, her B Sc.

degree and MA in literature would, as she says in jest, have gone to the dogs!

Her days go by in a swirl of cooking for her dogs, feeding them and tending to

their medical needs, rushing them to hospitals when they fall ill and cleaning

their mess. Her nights, till 5 am, are devoted to walking them and allowing

them to play in the open before people start coming out of their houses.

 

THE STRUGGLE Neeta contributes the little money she makes on the stock market

for the upkeep of her dogs and has a small support system of donors who

contribute in cash and kind, benevolent veterinarians who assist her free of

cost and sometimes compassionate street vendors who provide her with eggs,

coconuts and fruits at subsidised rates. Here is a lady who, despite a severe

financial crunch, cares for dogs who have been discarded by society. She is

doing everything in her power, at the cost of her own meals sometimes, to take

care of them, say donors Jyothirmayee, Roland Gokuldas and Abhishek Nayak.

 

Pointing to the pictures of her dogs taken during their fit and healthy days,

Neeta recollects how, about a year ago, she could give them three full meals a

day and tend to all their medical needs. However, all her resources as they are

stacked up today are just about enough to provide for only one solid meal per

dog per day, she laments, explaining their emaciated structures, failing health

and desperate cries when she brings out a packet of buns.

 

She has found herself running to veterinary hospitals all the way in Vijaynagar,

RT Nagar and Hebbal, sometimes spending upto Rs 7,000 a month on rickshaw fares,

to attend to life threatening emergencies and requirements for drips,

vaccinations, sterilisations and medicines.

 

THE EARNEST APPEAL “If 365 people from among the teeming millions donate 500

rupees a month, I will be able to provide enough for these dogs,†says Neeta.

She wants to treat Savali and Sunny's scabies, provide her dogs with at least

one more meal a day so that they are not dangerously malnourished, build more

kennels on the terrace so that the dogs can move around and get sunlight, hire

help to clean the house she describes as a kabadkhana.

 

Neeta is in dire need of donors who can contribute in cash or kind. Kindly

contact her on 28379156 to offer support.

 

Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards, Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust <http://www.animalcrusaders.org>