ANIMAL BIRTH CONTROL AND
HEALTH CARE FOR THE STREET
ANIMALS
Dear Friends,
In India there is a huge shortage of animal shelters with inpatient care for small animals like dogs and cats. In the cities most animal shelters are involved in the Animal Birth Control program for street dogs. Pet owners go to a veterinary clinic with their dog or cat. But what about the thousands of stray animals who are also in need of medical care in case of accidents or sickness? Only a few of them will be picked up by a shelter or an animal lover. Most of them suffer!!!
At the Karuna Outpatient department about 20 patients arrive every day. Most of them are local dogs/cats owned by farmers and families. They are treated for accidents, distemper, tick fever, cancer and skin problems. Our surgeon will pin or amputate fractured legs, remove tumors, stitch up big wounds and advises on in-patient care. All treatment and inpatient care for local animals is free of charge.
In Puttaparthi and surrounding villages we also depend on animal lovers to bring in sick and injured animals, with or without their owner. The following is a report from a volunteer who describes the tireless activity of one animal lover who contributes in a big way to the well being of all animals in our area. Thank you Roshni!!
Care of Animals with Roshni D’Silva of Karuna Society by May Gilchrist
A few weeks ago on my day off I accompanied a young girl called Roshni (an employee at Karuna Society) who looks after the street dogs. Rising at 4am every morning she goes round all the villages treating sick and injured dogs and cats, and those that she can’t treat she takes back to Karuna for help. She also brings in all the female dogs and cats for sterilisation and returns them to their areas.
This tiny girl is like a pack mule, with an enormous back pack containing medical supplies and a shopping bag with two metal containers filled with food for the sick dogs. I helped carry the food containers and could not fathom out how she manages to do this on her own and on a bike!
All this she does out of her own very limited wage before she goes to her work and most nights goes back out to check on the animals she has missed in the morning. The villagers have come to know her too and will call her for help, the dogs absolutely adore her and are so pleased to see her, even trying to follow her home.
I accompanied her on bike too! We covered a huge area and I was exhausted by the time we were finished, I couldn’t believe she was then going back to work at Karuna Society. Such dedication and compassion.
We thank HELP ANIMALS INDIA and ANIMAL CARE AUSTRIA for for their ongoing support.