Ramu the bull was rescued in 2003 from transport to the slaughterhouse in Chennai together with 305 others. Ten trucks full of cattle were confiscated and the animals were handed over to Karuna Society for custody. Some pairs of working bulls were adopted by farmers but many stayed at Karuna. Ramu, also a strong working
Karuna Society’s Board came together in person recently for the first time in 2.5 years! During the Covid lockdown and Clementien’s illness, all relevant meetings were held by speakerphone, video call and/or one-on-one personal visits. We missed interacting and seeing each other in person at the same time! It was good to pick up the
“THIS ISN’T MY DOG…” …..is what many local people say when they bring a sick Indian dog to our outpatient department. After many years of sterilisation of dogs in Puttaparthi there are no more “strays”. Dogs are still everywhere and they belong to a street, an area, to one or more houses. When a dog
At Karunapall where our wild herd of cattle lives, we have an old mango garden as well. For the last 15 years the trees have not been sprayed with pesticides but were fed with clean organic compost from our own cows. Generally, when mangoes are harvested for profit they are still green and the tree
WAKING UP FROM DOMESTICATION “Remembering Who They Are” There is a story by Louise Erdrich in which she writes about one of the last buffalo hunts in the US that left 1,200 animals dead. After that hunt: “The buffalo were taking leave of the earth and all they loved,” said the old chiefs and hunters
Clementien writes: “Last year I was in touch with Karin Davis, President of United Poultry Concerns, USA. I shared my thoughts about chickens and also my personal uptake on why traumatised animals are perceived as lesser beings, to be used as humans see fit. The insights in this article concern not only humans and welfare
Dear Donors and Friends of Karuna, As the President of Karuna I am sending you our Annual Treatment Report. Every day, 24/7 we are noting down all treatments, animals coming for help, rescues, and the number of animals that are living with us forever: dogs, cats, donkeys, horses, cows, bears, peacocks, monkeys and deer. We
The Peacock is the most beautiful National bird of India, Schedule 1. From the last two months, we received 4 Peacocks (1 male and 3 female): two from Narpala village, one from Kalyandurg range, and one from Bukkapatnam range, Puttaparthi. We received all the birds in a similar condition, partially paralyzed, could not fly and
Dear Friends and Donors of Karuna, The shock of the heavy rains and flooding in Puttaparthi is wearing off. After the water receded and the cleaning up completed, it was time to survey the damage done to houses, roads and bridges. For Karuna the main problem was the loss of the connecting bridge to
Several months ago an old female stray dog, who we named ‘Riya,’ was brought to our shelter. She was dehydrated, malnourished and screaming in pain. She was unable to walk and we had to touch her to pick her up for cleaning and treatment – when we did that, she screamed in agony and fear!