Protecting and Caring for Stray Animals - Journey of a small NGO in Bhopal

 

“The way you treat the animals around you will be the nature of the animal within you”

     - P.S. Jagdeesh Kumar

Animals are a gift of nature and proof of co-existence that live and grow around us. Ever since mankind has been living on this beautiful planet, it has witnessed the presence of various other creatures around it which may be in the form of animals or birds. Every species has a role to play and are often seen living in harmony with each other and human beings can be no exception to this who already possess a mind to analyse and a heart to empathise. There have also been instances when human beings turned out to be the biggest enemies of these animals, perhaps a cruel treatment towards animals could have been one of the reasons.

This week we had a chance to interact with a human NGO, who along with his team is working hard to protect and care for stray domestic animals . Living in the beautiful city of Bhopal, this small group has been very active in ensuring that the domestic yet stray animals living in the city are being taken care of in terms of food, shelter and cleanliness.

Akash and his small group of friends are feeding around 500 strays animals daily and have been successful in rescuing and treating various injured animals from the street. This small group is concentrating their efforts on improving the hygiene conditions of these animals and ensuring they get the right treatment in time of need for which they are interacting with veterinary doctors regularly. They also wish to build a foster care for injured animals in near future.

Akash shared his experiences from childhood with us-

"I can’t see anyone suffering, since my childhood I used to bring puppies to my house and treat them, it is not only about dogs, I love every animal, I personally have saved cats, pigeon, donkey, cows."

Their motto is to encourage and motivate people to help nearby animals in whatever way they can. When we asked them how society has helped their initiative, we were given to understand that some people love animals while some do not carry any empathy towards animals. The team is using their hard-earned savings to keep their motto alive and is often supported by people who care for animals. The biggest challenge they face currently is lack of dedicated manpower to support their cause and this is the reason Akash and his team encourage and motivate people to help nearby animals in whatever way they can. They have taken various seminars in schools and colleges to aware people about sterilisation, ways to  help an injured animal, to adopt them and not to mistreat them. Theyhave also conducted various sterilisation drives and vaccinations drives. 

In near future, the team wants to build a foster care for injured animals as it is really difficult to treat animals on the street, especially when the case is critical and are currently on the route to arrange required funds. The team has been reaching out to likeminded supporters via social media campaigns but at the end of the day the expenditure is always more than what is collected but the team continuously moves ahead with a good thought of serving animals.

Despite having a busy working schedule being a Chartered Accountant Akash and his team (most of them studying for CA exams) leave with a message for all of us to help these beautiful souls that live around us, as they need us, and are often mistreated on street. They want people to adopt animals rather than buying and care for them.

We wish them all the best and a happy volunteering!!