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A couple of years ago, we had started with taking up the responsibility of a handful of dogs, who were in a very poor shape health-wise, including a couple of accident victims, who were severely injured, and left to die a painful death on the roadside.
A couple of good samaritans took up the cause, got them treated, one after the other, saving critical lives in the process.
More people joined the initiative and today there is a small albeit successful movement in Whitefield to take care of these voiceless beings.
Typical expenses for feeding 1 dog, just 1 meal a day are:
1. About 180 kgs a year = Rs. 5400/year on food alone.
2. Spaying costs = Rs. 5000, once in a lifetime.
3. Vaccination costs = Rs. 1500/year
4. Medical costs (1 in every 50 dogs) = Rs. 15000, which is about 300/dog/year.
About Rs. 7200/dog/year is needed to keep them alive and fed, and free from dangerous diseases, which can lead to a lot of painful deaths in a very short span of time. All these have been out-of-pocket expenses for a very small group of volunteers who have full-time salaried jobs.
There have been times when some very generous vets and veterinary hospitals (Cartman Animal Hospital) have come forward to subsidize or waive off significant treatment charges for emergency cases, and we will be eternally grateful for their selfless contributions.
Translating this initiative to 150 dogs, comes to about 10-11 lakhs a year, excluding exceptional cases where medical surgery/treatment expenses in emergency rooms alone cost 20-30k. Adding to that paid foster care for dogs suffering from broken limbs for several weeks at a time easily takes these costs up to 50-60k each.
-The outcome of being able to take care of these dogs (cats and even injured birds at times) these activities is:
1. Lesser aggression resulting from hunger - There has been a very significant drop in the number of Dog attacks after this initiative came into existence.
2. Population control - Each female dog can litter 6-7 pups a year. By spaying these dogs, we are able to control their population to a much more manageable level. Our volunteers identify unspayed dogs and post on our social groups, we arrange for spaying and vaccinations, our feeders and caretakers help with catching them to assist the vets who are working on these procedures. Once done, they are let back into their own habitat.
3. Lesser spread of communicable diseases to domestic pets - who tend to have much lower immunity than them, and get infected very easily even when in an area that has infected dogs.
Despite the above, we have accidents where careless motorists drive over sleeping dogs or attack them with stones and sticks. While we are trying to bring a balance and harmony between these two species, conflicts are inevitable, and such instances are unfortunately increasing.
We conduct awareness sessions with apartment complex societies and have been helped in several instances by the Animal husbandry department in Bangalore, along with a lot of encouragement and medication supply help whenever possible.
We have now expanded to become a network of feeders, caretakers, people arranging for foster care, people arranging for medical treatment, and vendors who provide food at subsidized prices.
Most of these people are not paid, and all expenses come out-of-pocket from the entire group, relying only on contributions when needed.
The model we are following is unfortunately not scalable to the extent we would like it to be. As such, we are on a fast track to creating a trust, a foundation if you will, to formalize this arrangement, that relies on contributions from people like you.
There is no lack in our willingness to continue doing what we are; it certainly strains our pockets too, but it breaks our hearts when we see a dog lying helplessly on the road, injured, waiting for its death. We rush such cases to emergency rooms, night or day, and get the treatment done, knowing fully well that extreme cases cost almost 5-6k a visit, which includes x-rays, emergency visit charges, antibiotics, plaster bandages, painkillers, and then near term foster care, at 9000/month.
Kelly, a 2-month-old abandoned puppy, was brutally attacked by a pack of dogs and had almost given up on life. Injured in multiple places, bitten by bigger dogs, exposed wounds on the neck and limbs, we found the puppy taking shelter at a petrol station.
The puppy was immediately picked up, given emergency care at a vet. X Rays indicated she had a fracture, for which she was provided a supporting steel plate, bandaged, and sent back with us. Cost Rs. 3000. She was left with one of our caretakers. The next day, she managed to escape out of a gated area and was physically abused by a human being during her recovery, who brutally twisted her already fractured limb. She survived, but needed a very complicated surgery. The hospital has been thoroughly generous to waive off surgery charges. She will never be able to walk on all 4's again, and will have a screw as well as a lateral plate inside one of her legs. Had the hospital not offered to waive off surgery charges, we were looking at about 25k for surgery expenses. The joyful puppy, given a second chance at life, is now recovering at the hospital, and until we find a loving foster home to take care of her, will be in a paid foster home at about Rs. 9000/month for about 3 months. But she lives on, with two scarring memories of her at just 2 months of age. For us, we know we made a difference and saved a life. To meet her, please visit the Cartmen hospital at Koramangala, Bangalore, and ask for Kelly the puppy. She is the most joyful and playful baby around there, even in that state.
Another story is of an accident survivor, Shelly - we call her. She was brutally run over by a speeding car driver, left to die in a pool of blood, her tail was torn off, her neck was badly injured, and she did not have a chance to survive if left alone. It took weeks of care and medical attention by one of our team members, to nurse her back to good health, and now she stands happy, greeting every person at the petrol bunk, wagging her tail, delighted to be able to live again. To meet her, visit the Shell Petrol bunk at the Graphite India road, and you will see a trio come to greet you, which includes Shelly, Belly and Jelly.
Belly too recently had an attack, where her flesh was bitten into, and on a 2 am rescue mission, about Rs. 6000 of medical expenses, and 2 weeks of bandages and medication, is now back to her healthy life on the streets of Whitefield, near the Shell petrol bunk.
We could go on and on, and the stories wouldn't end. It has been a tremendous journey, and our will to drive this selflessly will continue.
This appeal is on humanitarian grounds. While we won't ever stop feeding these dogs, or stop providing them medical care on basic compassion and empathy, your contributions will most certainly help us go a long way. We would wait until the trust is formed, but we need the funds now.
Our immediate goal is 12 lakhs for one year of care, as it stands today. Anything recvd. in excess of our target of 12 lakhs, will be deposited into the trust account directly as soon as the formation of the trust is complete.
For those interested in actually seeing what we do, we welcome you to join us on one of our feeding sessions, or even a visit with us to the hospitals where these dogs are being taken care of. Do reach out to us. If you would like to participate non-monetarily, help us find foster homes, or even register to foster one of ours for a week or two.
What will the money be used for?
- Daily food
- Annual Vaccinations
- Medical treatments
- Spaying
- Cost of transportation to medical centers
- Foster care when needed.
