Animals' People
Seeking Kindness for animals and the people who love them
There is a small but passionate minority, who continue to remind us during the pandemic, of the urgent need to recalibrate our relationship with the animal world. With their whole lives revolving around their loyal companions, they often tread alone and quietly to give a life of love, compassion and dignity to voiceless creatures.
Lifelong Friendships
“When I look into the eyes of an animal, I do not see an animal. I see a living being. I see a friend. I feel a soul.” A.D. Williams
Sarvesh Bisen, a geologist, had never had a pet till the age of 27. Everything changed when he adopted an injured cat called ‘Softie’, who was badly mauled by dogs with a big chunk of her flesh eaten up. He bandaged her every day against her wish and she still loved him and had faith in him. “She made me feel that I haven’t adopted her rather she has adopted me. The way she could express love to me was amazing. That was the time I realized how pure and unconditional the love of animals is.”
Ankit Puri, a 21 year old animal rights activist and founder of Voiceless India was 9 years old when he started ‘The Animal Arrangement Squad’ with his neighbourhood friends to help stray animals in the locality and credits his love for animals to his dogs- Jerry and Buddy. Richa Malik, founder of The Happy Turtle, a company that provides sustainable products and alternatives for reducing plastic, and loving pet parent of Millie-her rescue, was so mesmerized by her experience as a diver that she couldn’t bear the sight of these beautiful sea creatures feeding on plastic or a table of fresh fish at a night market on the island. She says, ”I haven’t eaten seafood since then and started learning more about the impact of unsustainable fishing practices. From then on, the pain of animals has been more pronounced for me”. Sandhya Gupta Kaul, an education consultant, from Community Cats United, became fascinated with everything “cat” - their behaviour, anatomy, habits, diet, moods, and medical needs, once she adopted a small kitten living in a flowerpot.
For these people and countless others, all it took was one experience for animals to become family members and lifelong companions. From thereon, every aspect of their life became inextricably linked to animals. For some it’s a ‘calling’ who have given up their high-profile jobs to dedicate their lives to animals. Some are in their jobs only to be able to continue funding their passion of keeping animals safe and healthy. Some have re-strategized their businesses to make animal welfare an integral part of it while some have created alternate business models and spaces for animals to give them a life of dignity. Some have changed their eating habits while some have overhauled their lifestyles. Some are kids who are just starting out, while some have grown old caring for their furry companions.
The Kids Are Not Alright - Plight Of Animals During The Pandemic
Stray animals had a tough time scavenging for food during the lockdown.
Nobody was prepared for the lockdown, which was practically announced overnight. Suddenly there was a complete shutdown of markets, street vendors, dhabas, restaurants – which were the only source of survival and food for most stray animals living on the streets of India. While aversion, fear and rumors of ‘catching covid from animals’ dominated the sentiment of the general population; hunger, safe shelter and medical treatment continued to be issues that needed to be met with urgency. Animals and pets were being abandoned on the streets, pet shops were shut down for weeks with live animals, birds, cats, dogs inside and no one to care for them. Countless strays were at the receiving end of accidents caused by rash driving in spite of less traffic on the roads. While the government, authorities, civil society groups and individuals scrambled around, barely being able to ensure survival of human beings, our streets were flooded with hungry, frightened stray animals who suddenly had no access to the ‘familiar’ humans who used to care for them. Food sources were negligible and because sterilization couldn’t be carried out as before- there was a population explosion. People scrambled to get ‘feeder passes’ to procure supplies for their animal kids, pleading with cops, calling up animal welfare organizations and rescuing the abandoned and the injured. Many animals lost their lives.
A Network Of Frontline Animal Welfare Warriors
Many animal lovers risked their lives to feed and rescue the strays.
Taking care of animals during the pandemic was no easy feat. This diverse community was made of networks of pet owners, feeders, shelters, NGOs, vets, animal clinics, caretakers, watchmen, domestic workers, small vendors, sanitation workers, local butcher shops and many first-time caregivers who were compelled to step into the field of animal welfare during the pandemic.
During the lockdown, Vasundhara and Kunaal, a young couple who run KVAAB, a creative consultancy and an animal welfare foundation, woke up every day before dawn to load their car with 125 kg of chicken, 5 kg of chicken broth as well as 22 kg of kibble to drive 50 kms ( 3.5 on a good day otherwise 4 to 4.5 hours ) to feed 350 stray dogs and address their medical needs during the lockdown. A couple who used their wedding last year as an opportunity to raise funds for a mass sterilization drive and have fostered more than 100 dogs, didn't have the heart to abandon their strays just to keep themselves safe at home.
Asher Jesudoss, a guest faculty at IIT Delhi, always had dogs at home while growing up and missed having a pet around because of his traveling job. The pandemic gave him time at hand to look after over 200 dogs in Jawaharlal Nehru University campus and about 10 dogs outside Chattarpur, Delhi. The first month was fraught with hurdles like lack of utensils and funds, to simply not knowing what to feed the dogs. After managing all by himself for the first 3 months, he devised a sustainable plan with a domestic worker, Jayanti didi, who cooked about 50 kg of food every day. Like most feeders his role goes beyond feeding. Vaccination and sterilisation drives, injuries and diseases makes him a frequent visitor at the vet’s. He’s currently fostering 5 dogs, one with a spinal injury at home. Today he feeds 150 dogs, has got full time help at home to cook for the dogs and has managed to inspire professors in JNU who take care of small pockets of dogs near their homes. He spends around 40,000 per month and while he receives generous donations from family and friends, he has also spent a substantial part of his own savings to run the show.
The We Exist foundation (WEF) ,is a registered NGO, which aims to improve the living conditions of the street and abandoned dog community in India. It is a 100 volunteer run organisation founded by Tejshree Savara in 2018. Within hours of the national lockdown, they launched and rallied support through their ‘Full Belly Fundraiser Campaign’. Through this, they allocated funds to struggling local feeders, allowing them to be financially equipped to buy emergency food supplies and continue feeding the street animals. “We ended up feeding 8000+ animals across India during the lockdown. We didn't restrict our support to tier 1 cities but reached out to feeders in Tier 2 and 3 cities as well. We supported over 50+ onground volunteers with the funds they required.” Tarunima Bajpai, a 25 year old lawyer, lost her job because of the pandemic but continued feeding her colony dogs. She even rescued a dog, badly infected by maggots in the middle of the night, kept her home for 2 week to nurse her back to health. And Utkarsh Kashyap, a youth from Jharkhand helped his father at their NGO- JAWS (Jharkhand Animal Welfare Society), by working round the clock for 70 days, 7 days a week without rest, to feed the animals in the city.
With scant food resources, markets and businesses closed, administrative hurdles, community hostility and the sheer increase in the number of animals that needed looking after – this community employed diverse strategies to ensure that animals didn’t suffer.
Ranjini Dasgupta, from Furrfolks Kolkata, an animal rights organization, adapting swiftly to the new social distancing norms, activated whatsapp group meetings and divided roles so that everyone whether at home or on the streets could play an effective role through foster care of disabled animals, vaccination and sterilization drives, and hospital visits. They used social media to build awareness through videos and encouraged ‘ feeding behaviour’ in localities from first time feeders, to ensure that the animals get at least one meal a day even in extreme conditions.
Ankit created community feeding spots and reflective collars for stray dogs so that they could be spotted even in the dead of the night; saving them from being run over. Shirshendu Das from Guwahati, Assam, combined his love for waste management and sustainability with animal welfare by raising money for animals through a Brahmaputra cleaning drive. Others like Sandhya had to employ quick thinking, to deal with the immense hostility faced by their RWA’s and societies who now confined to their homes, suddenly started noticing and complaining about resident stray cats. They started feeding the cats in their areas at odd hours of the night to avoid this ire from their neighbourhood.
Cat Cafe Studio conducted private appointments for cat adoption during the lockdown.
The situation was very grim for the crew at the Feline Foundation, an animal rights NGO in Mumbai that focuses on rehabilitation of stray cats by undertaking their rescue, vaccination and sterilisation. Cat Café Studio, an inclusive, warm cafe setup by the the same foundation, doubles up as an adoption centre where rescues, senior and special needs cats hang out with humans in the hope of finding their forever homes. Charu Khosla, one of the founders of the cafe and Lamya Kapadiya, manager shared that due to Covid they were faced with the harsh reality of an empty café and lack of manpower. Their previous model of people coming into the café, spending time with the cats and adopting them – which depended on intimate interactions, had to be reimagined. Their dedication and commitment to the cats in their care, made them shift the focus to visibilising the plight of cats and facilitate adoptions through social media. They used their rainy day savings to keep providing for the cats in their care and set up carefully conducted private appointments for adoption.
In Solidarity With Strays
The Furrfolks team was flooded with volunteers, local caregivers and strong collaborations with local rotary clubs, government hospitals who all played a significant role in making sure no stray animal was left behind in Kolkata. This solidarity involved a constant sharing of information within the community about vets and animal hospitals, government guidelines and feeders passes, as well as supporting low-income feeders and caretakers with food and donations.
Many compassionate vets deferred payments and guided animal lovers with treatments through video calls.
The KVAAB couple realized that inorder to help as many animals as they can, there was a need to empower more people who cared for animals and address the fear that exists for strays in the local community. They worked with local colony guards and sanitation workers to feed and care for the strays, by providing them with rations and first aid kits. Where there were residential welfare associations and cops unleashing hell on local feeders and mercilessly beating them up; there were also good samaritans - who were notifying them of abandoned pets , hungry and injured strays, there were cops helping them clean feeding bowls, vets who deferred payments and guided them with treatments through video calls.
And then there were some lesser known heroes of this movement.
“Pandeyji, who lives in the dumpsters, has been incredible. Usually we have to replace our feeding bowls in a month as they get stolen or broken. But we haven’t had to replace bowls in Pandeyji’s area so far . He not only keeps these bowls clean but also knows which kid has what issue. The Lexus showroom’s entire staff takes care of 15 dogs that stay inside the showroom.The guard helped us with feeding them and even the manager would send boiled rice and boiled eggs during the lockdown” - Kunaal, of KVAAB
Govind, a sanitation worker cooked for many strays during the lockdown.
For Govind, a 27 year old sanitation worker from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, threats from his colleague and the administration of being fired for ‘creating a nuisance with dog feeding’ didn’t deter him from cooking under the open stars and feeding them. He used his own small savings to create a ‘water hole’ for the dogs. He asserts that if he gets fired from here, he will one day work in the forest department to save wildlife animals.
Others like the taxi drivers near Richa’s house who let the dogs near the hospital rest inside their stand during heavy rains, and her local pharmacist who gives her free medicines for the dogs - proves that kindness exists in places you don’t often look in.
The Many Languages Of Compassion
This compassion towards animals, surpassed feeding and medical needs, to include building awareness, fighting to change law and policy and making different sectors accountable for the plight of animals.
Priya Chetty Rajagopal filed countless petitions advocating for animal rights during the lockdown.
Priya Chetty Rajagopal, from CJ Memorial Trust in Bengaluru , was involved in relentless civic action during the pandemic - from working with the police, bureaucrats and the government to asking the authorities to issue circulars busting rumours about animals spreading covid, issuing warnings to people who were abandoning their pets and getting stricter punishments in place. She filed countless petitions advocating for animal rights, worked closely with the BBMP, Karnataka Animal Welfare Board, Bengaluru Police Commissioner, conducted zoom meetings and helped also to enable ‘feeding zones’ all over the city.It’s because of her and her team's efforts that veterinary services were marked essential in her city during the lockdown. As Priya asserts, “ it takes hearts and intelligence to get systems to change and work”.
Voiceless India worked swiftly to create a list of helplines for various cities where animals in distress could potentially be helped; and used their Whatsapp groups for volunteers to remain connected, so that feeders stranded in quarantine zones could reach out to one another.
These acts remind us that our efforts towards animal welfare must include collaborations, advocacy and working closely with stakeholders who can play decisive roles for the future of animal rights, at a national level.
The judgement given by the Kerala HC, Justice Shaji P. Chaly for cat parent Narayan Prakash to be allowed to travel and buy biscuits for his ‘special needs’ cat, during the lockdown – showed that even those in the judiciary, had the ability to be compassionate towards animals in need.
Care for Caregivers
There is always an uncertainty of not knowing whether you’d see the strays you’ve been caring for the next time you go to feed them. Life on the streets is tough and the probability of them getting killed in territorial fights or being run over by rash drivers is always high. These harsh realities often take a toll on the mental health of individuals and require an immense amount of courage and resilience to deal with.
Mental Health of animal rescuers, feeders and activists is often overlooked even though they see pain and suffering on a daily basis.
Richa, from Happy Turtle, had to bury a 2 month old puppy that died due to a ‘hit and run’.She lost faith in humanity and struggled to let go of it that easily. While her eyes swell up remembering the ones she has lost, she is learning slowly how to transform that emotion into trying even harder to protect the rest. It was only after retrieving one of her strays from a MCD centre that she experienced the trauma animals often go through. ” The dog I rescued was trembling with fear, and hugged me straight for 30-40 seconds post which he felt safe and fell asleep in the car.”
Sandhya says, “ an overwhelming amount of loss of life is human inflicted”. Cases of cruelty (beatings and poisonings), accidents (getting hit by cars or motorcycles) and lack of knowledge on the importance of spaying and neutering; shortens the life span of stray animals and makes them susceptible to many deadly diseases. “ People kept picking up newborn kittens, without being informed of basic facts about cats: that once a mother cat smells a human on her newborn, she will often abandon it.” From stereotypes like black cats are evil, she struggles on a daily basis to tackle the misinformation out there, reminding folks to look at the science and not just rely on what their ‘neighborhood aunties and uncles’ tell them. The resistance and lack of desire by people to cohabitate with community animals exhausts her.
Some spoke of the solidarity and patience needed with animal companions in times of grief. Ranjini adopted a cat with a hind leg paralysis during the pandemic. “Initially she had no control over her bowel movements. Then I got her nappies. Now she’s racing all around the house, curious as ever. It’s important to take care of special needs animals as they are just as deserving, if not more, of all the love and care we have to offer”, says Rajni.
For Shirshendu, the daily updates he received from the adoption lady who took in the stray he’d rescued earlier that month, brought him comfort during the dark gloomy days he spent in a quarantine centre recovering from Covid.
Charu, from the Cat Café, lamented how there is often no end to this grief. She explains, “being in this line of work, as a person who loves animals , there are many moments in your journey, when faced with loss and death; you wonder what you’re doing. You might think it’s not a big deal, but for that animal you're changing his or her life.”
The courage to persevere comes from knowing that there are many more animals that need love. Many go to therapy, and find strength in mourning the loss with others. While this tightly knit community looked out for one another in times of crisis, the lack of state support in resources, access, discriminatory attitudes in the community – all point to an urgent need to create a system of care for these caregivers.
It’s Their Planet Too!
The world has constantly been telling us to slow down, to stop. Stop harming lives around us, humans or otherwise. It’s urging us humans, to recognize the mutual interdependence of all things living. Coexisting is the only way forward. Surely, practising compassion towards other beings is the least we could do as co-inhabitants on this planet. But this seems easier said than done in a country like ours, where fine for animal cruelty is still a meagre sum of Rs 50, a law going back to the British Raj and the animal rights discourse is often hijacked by religious groups to demand mandatory nationwide vegetarianism without actually understanding what the actual welfare model should be for animals.
All Creatures Great and Small, an animal sanctuary by Anjali Gopalan is an alternate, joyous place for all animals.
The answer for what animal welfare truly means, lies in the story of All Creatures Great and Small, a non-profit animal sanctuary founded by Anjali Gopalan. Anjali is known for her groundbreaking work in the field of human rights, particularly through the NAZ Foundation, an HIV/AIDS service organisation established in 1994. “ The foundation of this dream stemmed from Anjali’s work at Naz’s care home for HIV infected orphaned children. She wanted to extend the quality care offered to humans, to animals as well”, says Purnima Bisht, a communications associate at ACGS. She believes that animals deserve equal love and support and cannot heal in a joyless place. ACGS was thus designed to be a sanctuary - a safe haven that animals could call home. ACGS is located on a 2.5 acre plot and is a refuge for sick and disabled animals that are not capable of surviving in the wild or on the street until they can either be rehabilitated or adopted. Home to over 700+ animals, AGCS has revolutionised work in the sector of animal welfare.
800 species of birds, dogs, cats, cattle, horses, monkeys, pigs and other animals, all rescued from accidents and torturous conditions live here amicably with each other. Purnima says, “I hardly see any animals fighting with each other here. Monkeys play with cats, cats roam around freely everywhere and a baby monkey and a puppy are best of friends! “
A team of 21 volunteers, a vet, and a clinic, look after the animals here. In trying to create an alternate space for animals, they’ve also been able to use sustainable models to address nutrition, environment and sustenance - cow dung and bio-waste is used to generate electricity for the entire farm and they grow their own organic fruits, vegetables, herbs and fodder for the herbivores. Purnima adds, “Through her work at NAZ, Anjali knows the importance of the role played by nutrition. A lot of our animals come in a really bad shape and they need nutritious food to heal. Our animals deserve the best and they shall have it.”
Team members at AGCS describe their time with animals as a non-transactional relationship, which has taught them resilience and healed them in unknown ways.
A Plea For Animals
So, what should the future look like for a world where social justice includes animal rights?
Can schools play a role in building compassion and empathy for animals in children?
To create a better world for animals, we need to start by building compassion and empathy in children, through experiences at school - more interactions with animals and exposure visits and volunteering programs at shelters and rescue centres. School curricula and storybooks on alternative stories of friendship with animals could create compassionate relationships and help dispel fears that parents and the community might pass on at large. Organised community events like adoption drives, fundraisers, ‘pet days’ and places like ‘feeding points’ can also help people interact more with animals and integrate them in their lives. RWA’s should pass resolutions towards animal welfare and vow to take strict action against those who disobey the rules. There needs to be a massive information and awareness campaign to spread correct information about animals’ behavior and feeding habits. Compassion classes for everyone, from young kids to adults to police officers and government officials could help people become more humane in their approach. Mandatory low cost sterilisation programmes and clinics, shutting down inhumane and illegal breeding facilities, banning sale and purchase of fancy breeds, stricter laws and punishments for violating animal rights , social protection and legal rights for animal welfare workers, and a more active role played by government bodies along with allocation of more funds, resources and infrastructure can be the right steps towards creating a more equal and just, post pandemic world for animals.
Any committed pet-parent can attest that a big part of what makes these bonds so intimate is the unconditional affection pets provide, coupled with their capacity to speak directly to the soul. True empathy lies in recognizing what animals teach us in everyday moments – unconditional love, loyalty, respect, patience, resilience, curiosity and a willingness to co-exist. It becomes essential then for us to move to a world, where selflessly loving another creature becomes our radical salvation, enabling us as humans to be able to love, in the first place.
We would like to thank the many wonderful people who shared their experiences with us, to build this story ! If you’d like to know more about them and support their work, you can click on the links below and get in touch with them.
Ankit Puri, Voiceless India , Bengaluru
Asher Jesudoss, Local feeder , JNU, New Delhi
Charu Khosla and Lamya Kapadiya, Cat Café Studio and the Feline Foundation, Mumbai
Govind, local feeder and sanitation worker, JNU, New Delhi
Purnima Bisht, All Creature Great and Small, Haryana
Tejshree Savara, The We Exist Foundation, New Delhi
Sandhya Gupta Kaul, Community Cats United , New Delhi
Sarvesh Bisen, Volunteer and feeder, NCR
Shirshendu Das, Animal welfare volunteer ,Guwahati
Srivats, animal volunteer, Chennai
Priya Chetty Rajagopal, CJ Memorial Trust , Bengaluru
Ranjini Dasgupta, Furrfolks, Kolkata
Richa Malik, The Happy Turtle
Tarunima Bajpai, local feeder, Greater Noida
Utkarsh Kashyap, Jharkhand Animal Welfare Society (JAWS)
Vasundhara and Kunaal, KVAAB
Written by Nida Ansari with inputs from Pooja Dhingra and Anjani Grover
Illustrated and Animated by Anushree Agarwal
Art Direction by Pooja Dhingra