Rescue & Coordination on Milaap
 
"We cannot start an animal NGO, but we can create a 1,000 strong force of active volunteers and fosters well trained in first aid and animal care."

Hi, my name is Kartik. I am working in IT Park and residing in Mani Majra, Chandigarh. Until 2015, I was quite neutral about animals and even scared of dogs. But, I was destined to do something for animals. I saw a sweeper, who used to feed dogs daily with so little earnings, and this inspired me to help her; hence, I came closer to animals.

For the last 5+ years, I have been involved in providing food and taking care of the medical needs of stray animals in my locality and office area. I am also a member of a Whatsapp group named “Rescue & Coordination” that consists of around 250 volunteers across the city. This is only a Whatsapp group and not an NGO. Here, we try to help each other and people outside the group in the following ways:

Rescuing Animals
 
Rescuing involves giving a treatment on the spot or taking the animal to a vet. In critical cases, we even have to take the injured animal to GADVASU Veterinary Hospital in Ludhiana. Sometimes, vets also get ready to visit an injured or unwell animal on the spot, but such services charge more than taking the doctor to a vet. Rescuing also includes short and long term medications, along with a good diet.

Transporting Animals
 
As the majority of us are working, most of the time, it gets challenging to rescue an animal and take him to a vet. Moreover, due to permit issues, it’s difficult for public transport such as SPCA and Municipality to rescue animals across the Tricity (Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula). Hence, we take the help of paid drivers who are efficient in handling/catching animals and have basic knowledge of medication. We are also planning to buy second-hand cars as it would be a one-time investment and would cost less than paying paid drivers every time.
 
Paid-fostering
 
In some instances, we cannot leave stray animals on the road, such as when an animal underwent surgery and needs post-care, when newborn puppy/puppies are motherless and needs care, and when an animal gets abandoned. Moreover, paid fosterers are capable enough to give medications, and even take an animal to a doctor, in case of an emergency.

Vaccinations
 
Veterinary hospitals and dispensaries only provide free of cost anti-rabies vaccination. However, 6-in-1 vaccines are not available in such places. These vaccines are crucial as they can protect a dog from deadly diseases like Parvo, Distemper, and Kennel Cough. Moreover, if a puppy gets 3 vaccines of 6-in-1 in a gap of 21 days each, it acts as a booster, an immunity booster indeed to fight against such deadly diseases. We try to vaccinate as many stray dogs as we can.

Feeding
 
Feeding is a must for any living being. Although we try our best to feed dogs around our locality and office, however, we cannot cover every animal around due to financial constraints as we also have to take care of other aspects of volunteering. Specific volunteers are good at feeding but lack money to feed so many animals consistently. So, we try to provide feed to need volunteers so that not a single animal in sight sleeps hungry. COVID-19 proved to be a real testing time for us, but we tried our best to provide food to as many stray animals as we can.

Adoption
 
Adoption is another thing that needs a lot of effort. Adoption is required in specific scenarios, such as when a dog gets abandoned, when puppies are living dangerously on roads, especially motherless, and when a dog is alone and needs special care. Here, we have to take care of the vaccination of dogs and transporting the dog to the adopters after filling the form and doing house checks.
 
Sterilization
 
We understand that every mother has a right to give birth and play with their kids, but in this cruel world full of careless driving and animal haters, it’s difficult for all them to lead a good life. Sterilization or neutering or spaying an animal is the right solution. But, catching and sterilizing each animal is not feasible for the public bodies. We try to sterilize animals around us, which is a good and healthy way of controlling their population. However, it’s an expensive process to catch and sterilize a dog.

We firmly believe that an animal must never suffer due to 3 reasons:

·         Lack of Funds
·         Untimely Treatment
·         Ignorance

As the majority of the volunteers are working, we are not able to provide the best care and treatment to stray animals consistently. We even tried to collect funds from Whatsapp groups, but we always lag behind our expectations. Hence, we are putting our salaries on stakes month after month for years. As of now, our monthly expenses are around ₹20,000-30,000, mainly utilized for rescues and paid-fostering. We want to spend some funds on vaccinations, sterilizations, medicines for on spot treatments, animal food, water bowls, winter clothes, reflective collars, etc. However, lack of funds and the economic impact of COVID-19 is not allowing us to expand our volunteering activities. Now, we have decided to reach Milaap, with a hope of getting love and support from animal lovers across the globe.

Below is a list with pictures of the different ways in which we are helping animals live a better life. We need donations monthly, which allows us to analyze the funds in an organized way. Please help us as the only thing that stops us from helping animals is a severe lack of funds.  You can email us at kartikkaushal117@gmail.com to know more.