October 30, 2015 by "Jaagruti"

Our Radio Interview with Journalism Students at University of Queensland, Australia

Ever wondered why we started JAAGRUTI, it was to help people care, co-exist or learn to care better for the animals that live on the streets, most commonly, the Indian Street Dog

Through our experiential learning and sharing, we have assisted, empowered and informed many a people who care for that ‘dog’ on their street, about their rights and those of these dogs as well.

These street/community dogs are much more than mere ‘dogs’..hear us speak more in the first-half of this Radio Interview I had with students from School of Journalism students at University of Queensland, Australia, who came to India on a Study Tour few weeks back.

The second half of this Radio Interview talks about the alarming issue of Pet abandonment!

November 16, 2012 by "Jaagruti"

Treating an old dog with Aural haematoma- Part 2

Dateline: October 2012

Two years back, we had penned a story on how we got an old black dog’s aural haematoma treated.

We had a smilar challenge to face with another old dog, a brown coloured male dog with a very peculiar personality disorder, which is that he wants you to love him, but he is cared of being touched. How does one take a dog with such a feeble heart in one’s car to the doctor’s clinic? We were in a dilemma, confused.

We tried to catch him many a times to take him to the vet’s place, just seeing us approaching him with a leash, he would start screaming on the top of his voice as if the leash was to strangle him.

We were sure we didn’t want him operated (i.e surgically treat him) for this aural haematoma, neither that dog or we had the hearts to brave it.

We discussed this with our trusted vet and requested him to send across his paravet with us to the street where this brown dog lives, the vet agreed and we decided that the best way forward was to aspirate the accumulated fluid out of the dog’s right swollen ear flap and insert antibiotics in the ear flap, that would help dry the fluid and heal the haematoma.

Moral of the story thus far: Have full faith in yourself and conviction in the choices you make. Then march ahead. More often than not, things will fall in place

This is what happened thereafter after the paravet arrived on the spot to execute the plan of medical-action.

Attempt 1: We tried to lure the dog to me with dog food, he came, ate and tried to run away and we couldn’t entice him to come near the paravet for he, i.e. the dog, smelt danger!

Attempt 2: We tried to lure the dog to me with dog food and distracted him, and the paravet from behind threw the leash around the dog’s neck and using all our force, we managed to hold that dog in that steady position.

The paravet took position and a syringe (plunger with needle) was inserted into the swollen portion of the ear flap by the paravet and the fluid that had accumulated in the dog’s ear flap was sucked out (aspirated) and thrown away. The process was repeated (while keeping the needle fixed on the flap and just removing the syringe’s plunger portion) till the fluid was sucked out (as much as it could be).

Then a mixture of antibiotic Gentamycin and injectable medicine Prednisone (an anti-inflammatory drug that also promotes healing) was injected into the ear flap through that same needle which was left on the ear flap.

Apparently, as explained to us by the paravet, Prednisone as a medicine helps dry the fluid and heal such wounds.

And it worked, it has been a month since this exercise was undertaken and the flap though is now bent, it doesn’t have any fluid accumulated inside it.

This is how it all looks.

The Old Brown Dog’s right ear: Post non-surgical aspiration of aural haematoma fluid [Image (c) Jaagruti]

In the end, something to share…We at ‘Jaagruti’ often get questioned on our helpline number by many a rowdy people as to what we actually do, we tell them to read it on these pages on this blog (About Jaagruti, Contact Us and Animal Helplines in Delhi and NCR), we have clearly written on these pages what we are and what we are not, we have nothing to hide.

We don’t run an ambulance or a veterinary hospital, we don’t run a shelter, Jaagruti is a little effort wherein we try to share information and empower you, we try to listen to you when you call, we may not always have an answer, we are young and still learning, but we will always try to guide you with the best possible solution based on our understanding of the subject or issue and help you do what we aim to do, inspiring you to do a good deed a day. For we believe that if everyone were to do that, it will be a good day for many in need.

“Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word.

If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought.”- Lawrence G. Lovasik

And remember to smile, despite all the hardships that exist and you face, you’re beautiful and so is this world.

November 14, 2012 by "Jaagruti"

Thought for the day

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, so long as their is somebody to love you”, said Roald Dahl.

Each rescued dog we revisit after rehabilitating them back to their home territories post treatment showers us with bountiful of love, we visited two of them the night before yesterday as we passed by their ‘areas’ (streets where they stay).

Image Courtesy: http://www.drawthedog.com

For most of us who do anything off the conventional track, like choosing not to burst crackers or spending our Diwali trying to get an injured dog treated, in all likelihood we may be mocked upon and today we just want to tell you, “do not care abut what the world says, its their job to say and we can choose ours, by not listening to their chatter and instead focussing on doing things we love”. For the unconditional love, we get in return from these supposedly ‘speechless beings’ is priceless, that lick on our hands, the tail wagging up and down or sideways, the elated jump…it is all these memorable little moments that make life so worth living.

We believe it when we read that you only get happiness when you give happiness to someone.

We get a lot of calls on the Jaagruti helpline by animal lovers sounding weak, lonely and dis-spirited in their battles fighting their RWAs, neighbours and the world who tries to abuse them, ridicule them, physically assault them, humiliate them, term it whatever..in short anything that breaks their spirits!

We request them all to dig deep through their reserves of courage and hope and amass all strength they can to stand up for, rescue or treat/get treated all those beings whom they love, respect and/or care for. There is no other way!

Because when that dog or any other animal rescued and treated with your efforts, expresses himself to let you know you are the best, you really don’t need to go around seeking a second opinion. Please remember that this world is a better and compassionate place all because of people like you.

On this day after Diwali, we wish all power to your elbow and all strength to the heart of all such people who carry on doing all that they love.

April 3, 2012 by "Jaagruti"

Delhi International Airport Limited’s (DIAL’s) Paper Recycling Initiative with ‘Jaagruti’ gets featured in the National Press

Delhi International Airport Limited’s Paper Recycling Initiative with ‘Jaagruti’ gets featured in the National Press on 2nd April, 2012

To read the Online version of this news story, please click here

Excerpt from this story is quoted below:

The Indira Gandhi International Airport here has initiated measures like using recycled papers at its premises in a bid to become a ‘green airport’. After putting in place some of the green initiatives like rainwater, use of natural lights and efforts to reduce emissions, the airport operator, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), has now decided to use recycled papers in its offices. For this, DIAL has entered into an agreement with an NGO ‘Jaagruti’, which will recycle the waste paper generated in its offices and get the notepads or A4 sheet made from the recycled paper.

“The collected waste paper would be systematically graded and transported to the recycling mill. There it would be processed to make different quality of recycled paper by using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching technology,” a DIAL spokesperson said.

This would save 17 trees, 26,281 litres of water, 264 kg of air pollution, 1,752 litres of oil, 4077 KW hours of energy, 82.62 cubic feet of landfill space, he claimed. As a part of the initiative, DIAL shared one tonne of paper waste for recycling to Jaagruti. “DIAL is committed to conducting its business in an environment-friendly and sustainable manner at IGI airport by minimising the impact of our activities on the environment and community. Environment Management is an integral part of our business strategy towards achieving credibility and business sustainability,” DIAL CEO I Prabhakar Rao said.

If you or the organisation you work with want to associate with ‘Jaagruti’ under our Paper Recycling Initiative to recycle your waste paper, please contact us by filling the form below or calling us on +91-9818 144 244 or writing to us on contact@jaagruti.org

March 2, 2012 by "Jaagruti"

Medicine list to cure a dog who has had a paralytic attack*

Before this information gets erased of our memories, we also wanted to share the list and dosage of medicines that our doctor advised us to give to Hasmukh, when we were hoping against hope that he is unable to walk because he has had a paralytic attack, and not because he had the fatal spinal cord fracture as we came to know much later when we took him to the doc.

Maybe the information shared below, on the medicines that have the potential to cure dogs who have suffered from a paralytic, will help some of you somewhere in curing a dog in need:

Homeopathic Medicines:

1. Arnica 1M-Morning-10 to 15 small ball tablets

2. Ruta 1M-Afternoon-10 to 15 small ball tablets

3. Rustox 1M-Evening-10-15 small ball tablets

Ayurvedic Medicines

Shilajeet Gel: 1 drop daily to be put on the tongue of the dog

Allopathic Medicine

Methycobal 500 mg- 1 Capsule in the morning and 1 Capsule in the evening

*Disclaimer: Our doc did tell us that all three medicines above could be given as a combination. However, if you were to ever use this info, please do consult your vet beforehand and show the dog to a veterinary medicine expert and take his opinion. Kindly note that he information above is solely being shared for informational purposes.

July 31, 2011 by "Jaagruti"

The story of ‘Magic’ and his rescue

‘Magic’ is another of our rescued dog stories, for the story of his rescue and recovery is nothing but ‘magical’.

Last year when the Commonwealth Games 2010 ended, it was time to release the street dogs back into the games venue areas where they were picked up from and kept in at shelters for the period of the games.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s SSCBC (Society for Stray Canine Birth Control) decided then that to ensure transparency, the release of all dogs back into their respective areas will be photographed and video-graphed as evidence to comfort all that ‘no dog was dislocated from its original territories’ in conformation with the Animal Birth Control Rules 2001 (drafted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960).

On one such Dog-release exercises happening in South Delhi, I had volunteered to be part of the Release Team and photograph/videograph the release of the dogs as per the details we had of their respective areas at the time of picking them up.

As we were releasing some dogs in the area of R.K Puram, a middle-aged lady came up to me and pointed to a dog that had taken shelter in a shop of his rag-dealer husband. She told me ‘Take him, he has lost his eye’. I asked what happened and went close by, only to see something that I had not imagined. The left side of this male dog’s face was completely chewn apart by maggots and so was his left eye and we all could literally peep into his jaw, see his tongue and it was to say the least, a painful sight.

I requested the MCD Dog Catchers who were accompanying me in the Release vehicle to help catch that dog, but this was not a rescue for the faint-hearted and they couldn’t catch him and he ran far far away.

MCD’s dog catcher tries to catch the maggot infested dog ‘Magic’ but he resists the catching attempt and runs away -Image Copyright: Jaagruti

Next day morning, we at ‘Jaagruti’ decided to make another trip to that area as that lady had shared with me that the maggot-infested dog stays in and around their shop only.

After a few minutes of searching for him, we were able to locate this dog, but now came the big challenge of how to win this dog’s confidence and pick him up to keep him in our car…we had done this before, but this time around we needed some help and help did come to us in the form of the rag-dealer husband of that lady, who was friendly with that dog and helped pick him up and place him in our car. We had used the tried and tested trick of covering his eyes with a cloth and tying a leash around his neck…but then mayhem was to follow as this dog kept running up and down in our car and was scratching his face with the windowpanes, visibly in pain with the maggots tearing into his flesh, oozing blood all over.

We then called upon the ambulance from the Animal Hospital we at ‘Jaagruti’ support through monetary and in-kind contributions and requested them to help us with this rescue case. To our good fortune, their ambulance was nearby…and then we were successfully able to transfer this dog from our car into the ambulance and off he was sent to the hospital.

‘Magic’ after being put in the Animal Ambulance- Image Copyright: ‘Jaagruti’

In the case of any other animal hospital in any part of Delhi or the world, such a severe case of maggot infested dog would have perhaps been euthanized or as they say’ peacefully put to sleep’ and we at ‘Jaagruti’ were prepared to hear that from our trusted vet too, but that wasn’t to be as the docs decided to give it a shot and then began the ‘magical’ treatment of this dog, whom we chose to name ‘Magic’…perhaps because his recovery was magical news for us and also because the name of the dreaded maggots who made this dog’s life hell started that way as well!

As ‘Magic’ underwent treatment, on day 1 his maggots and wound were cleared, on day 2 he was put on drips because with all the maggot clearing medicines going into his mouth, he had stopped eating food through his mouth…the glucose drips continued till day 4 and then came the good news, that Magic had started taking his food himself..

‘Magic’ on the road to recovery at the Animal Hospital – Image Copyright: ‘Jaagruti’

Another month of treatment and recovery followed and on Day 40, he was released back into his area where he was welcomed back by the area residents, all astonished and pleased that he had recovered and so were we!

‘Magic’ in the ambulance post recovery and before being released back into his area -Day 40 (Image Copyright: ‘Jaagruti’)

July 31, 2011 by "Jaagruti"

‘Desty’ – Destiny’s child!

For all animal cases that we get to attend directly to at ‘Jaagruti’, we just prefer to give them a name rather than referring to them as an anonymous dog or any other creature. But that name is just for us so that on platforms like this blog, we can share that animal’s story with you. We make it a point not to call that animal being treated out with that name, lest the animal gets used to it and then has no one to call it out when he goes back to his/her life on the street after spending his days of recovery either with us or at a boarding or at an animal hospital shelter.

Now, to who is Desty?

Desty is the name we gave to a street dog who landed out of nowhere at our doorsteps a few months back, we were alerted to his presence by the barking and screaming of the other dogs that live on our street. Desty was a new dog, we hadn’t seen him anywhere near the stretch of our colony or the colonies adjacent to ours!

And visibly as we could make out, Desty was unwell. He resisted the barking of our area’s street dogs and made himself comfortable next to our doorstep, we thought he won’t make it and won’t eat, but then when we placed a bowl of milk next to him so that we could examine him, he gulped it in seconds as if he was thirsty for ages…we gave him another bowl and he gulped it again. He was clearly in no mood to go anywhere and he just stayed put over there for the next two days and we kept feeding him. He had no visible signs of injury, but then we noticed something, he was showing signs of twitching and was coughing, symptoms characteristic of early stages of Canine Distemper.

'Desty' as we saw him on Day 1- Image Copyright: 'Jaagruti '

Since we were feeding him, he trusted us enough to lift him and put him in the car to take him to our vet for examination or perhaps when we now look back, we think this was what Desty had come to our doorsteps for!

As the vet examined him, our fears were proved true, Desty was indeed showing signs of Canine Distemper, but the good news was that this was perhaps the initial stage and as per our trusted vet’s advice, we shifted him to the isolation ward of the animal hospital we support and there, under the supervision of our trusted vet, began Desty’s ‘homeopathic’ treatment, a specially designed course designed by human homeopathic doctor by the name of Dr. Shukla who works out of Noida, comprising of homeopathic medicines like Distemperium and Agaricus mixed in strict-secret proportions by him and given every few hours.

Within a span of 10 days, Desty was fit and fine again and we decided to leave him on the street at the very car parking spot where we had first noticed him prior to him coming on his own to our house doorsteps!

We had opted to release him back on the street in the early hours of the morning, so that he could safely chart his way back to whichever area he belonged to and sure enough he did.

'Desty' before being released back on the street-Post-treatment (Day 12) - Image Copyright: 'Jaagruti '

We kept thinking about Desty as we couldn’t locate him again after that morning, perhaps this dog was just destined to come to our doorsteps on his own to get himself treated of Distemper, a life threatening disease with no cure if not detected and cured in the early stages of infection. And that is why we chose to name him ‘Desty’.

We were in for another surprise a month down the line, we noticed Desty next to our home yet again, this time hale and hearty and even showing his teeth to the dogs that inhabit our street. We came out, noticed him and remembered him and then he looked at us and sprinted away…we guess he had only come to tell us that he was fine and happy now and to put us at ease.

It is these little inexplicable and often ‘divine’ moments of satisfaction and joy of seeing an animal you helped treat back on its feet again that uplifts our sagging spirits to keep on in our efforts to help those who can’t help themselves.

July 31, 2011 by "Jaagruti"

A school presentation, a Teacher, Delhi Fire Service and a rescued Pigeon

Life is a puzzle which gets deciphered when we look back and connect the dots. When I was in school, I had yearned for people to come over and talk to us about animals and environment but no one did, I tried to do it myself-telling my fellow classmates about not using polybags to dump kitchen waste as it kills a cow and clogs our drains, but no one listened….probably I didn’t communicate the right way or perhaps that was because our teachers didn’t reinforce what I said or probably because no one had the time to think about ‘going green’ as that buzzword wasn’t around at that time, neither was ‘Environment’ a career option as my School counsellor was clueless when I went and asked her about it.

Nevertheless growing up, I had always harboured deep within me a dream and a desire to go back to my school and speak to students and teachers therein on subjects pertaining to animals and environment because this is all I had always wanted to do and this is one of the reasons ‘Jaagruti’ was born…

And who says, dreams don’t come true, they do take time but I believe they do come true…and sometime back I had the opportunity to go back to my school and address the students in there not once but twice on subjects close to my heart, once on ‘Waste Management’ and the second time around I had the opportunity to address an Eco-Club seminar which was attended to by eco-club teachers from about 15 more schools and a group of Eco-club students from Classes 9-12. The focus of this interaction with teachers and students was to apprise them of the little things they can share with their colleagues/students/classmates on what all we as ‘individuals’ can do in our daily lives to help street animals and care for the environment.

One of the many things I had touched upon in this interaction was how many birds-eagles/kites, crows, mynahs and pigeons often become victims of kite strings-the glass manjhas/threads used by people to fly their kites high into the sky.

Though the kite flying games end, these kite strings often end up tearing through many a birds wings, either while they navigate through the open skies or when later on when these birds perch on the tree branches-their tiny claws/legs and wings remain susceptible to be trapped in the strings left wound around tree branches forever…

Someone in the audience that day in my former school was listening carefully to what I was saying and that was Ms. Rajbir Kaur, a teacher from a neighbouring school who was faced with a similar situation a few weeks later and that is when she called us over on the ‘Jaagruti’ helpline.

As Ms. Kaur’s family was attending to guests, the little kids in the family spotted a pigeon hung upside down from the branch of a Eucalyptus tree, the kids tried and tried along with their father of ways to get the pigeon down, but the tree was so far away from any houses’ balcony and the branches were too high, that it was not within reachable distance from the common ladders and poles we all have in our homes and they were now feeling helpless.

Ms. Kaur called us over, and after listening to the story thus far, we just gave her one calm advice to follow-to call the Delhi Fire Service on 101 and request them to send over their Fire Brigade as their long ladder will help. The Delhi Fire Service staff has time and again helped people help birds stuck in such situations and needless to say when Ms. Singh called 101, they were prompt in sending their Fire Brigade over….just that there was one thing she missed telling them…which is what height the pigeon was stuck on and thus the Fire Brigade that came didn’t have a ladder that long to reach the pigeon. And it was then that we all had to sincerely request the Delhi Fire Service staff to call for the Fire Brigade with a longer ladder and they agreed after initial hesitation. Their hesitation was that since this was a festival day and there could be fire emergencies in the city, how could they be here saving a bird…we assured them that if there is any such emergency; we will let them go and may be God will be kind enough to spare Delhi of any fire disasters and then they agreed :)

The Delhi Fire Service then called upon their most prized possession ‘The Bronto Skylift’, a new entrant into their fleet of Fire Brigades and then began the story of a heroic rescue of nothing but a pigeon who was hanging upside down and still uptil then making everyone wonder whether it was even alive!

But then, as soon as the Bronto Skylift’s ladder reached near that branch, the Pigeon started fluttering its wings in hope and excitement as if to convey that it was well alive and kicking!

The Delhi Fire Service staff got a heroic applause as they brought the pigeon safely down and then taking it to Ms. Kaur’s residence even helped cut the kite string which was wound around its wing, in such a neat manner that there was no injury caused to the pigeon, now named ‘Hero’ by Ms. Kaur’s husband-Mr. Singh. Since it is not advisable to release birds like Pigeons at night time, Mr. Singh’s family gave ‘Hero’ a nice place to rest, grains and water to feed on and even put on their water cooler (while switching the fan off) so that ‘Hero’ has a restful sleep.

Next morning, we went and took the pigeon for further examination to Abhinav at Fauna Police and then the next day since the pigeon was all good and healthy, Mr. Singh got him back on his way back from work and released it onto his balcony.

And then, the anticlimax happened, ‘Hero’ actually ended up being a ‘Heroine’, which is that Pigeon wasn’t a male but rather a female pigeon who then chose to use an abandoned nest atop an almirah placed in Mr. Singh’s balcony to lay her eggs :)

The story of Heroine’s rescue and release has been delightfully documented in the video shared by Mr. Singh with us below. Have a look!

Mr. Singh had this to say, “By saving this bird’s life, the Delhi Fire Service has shown that they respect and value all life (humans and animals) and that is what all of us need to learn and imbibe”.

Then onwards Mr. Singh’s family has also taken the initiative of getting all of their colony’s street dogs vaccinated against Rabies, which were uptil then only being fed by the area residents, but they took on additional responsibility and expense to make sure that these dogs are now vaccinated as well.

It is said that doing one good deed prompts you to do the next one and thus, the spirit of compassion continues to flow!

June 11, 2011 by "Jaagruti"

Elbow rashes in street dogs- the ‘magic’ cure!

: Our patient: A dog with elbow rashes in his forelegs

See the photograph above, it is of our neighbourhood street dog who had been having these elbow rashes in both of his fore legs, as time passed by and rains intensified last year this infection spread on to the whole of his front forelegs. We took him to one doctor after the other and met with no success, he was repeatedly administered antibiotics and we were advised to orally administer him Avil (Anti-allergc drug), Ampoxin, Topclav and so many other medicines at various intervals by so many of the vets we consulted, but over a period of 3 months we met with no success at all!

But finally a vet asked us to follow the below mentioned external treatment protocol for this infection every alternate day and we are happy to share that after a month and a half of diligently following this medical treatment protocol, this dog was cured of its elbow rashes and thats the reason we wish to share it with you all:

1. Wear gloves

2. Mix a few crystals of Potassium Permanganate (KMNO4) in filtered water. (You can get these crystals from your local chemist shop). KMNO4 is a disinfectant.

3. We then cleansed the whole infected portion on this dog’s forelegs with cotton swab dipped in the Potassium Permanganate solution.

4. We then took an empty syringe and filled it with H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide)- you can get a suspension for this at your local chemist shop.

5. Then it was time to gently release the H2O2 droplets from the syringe onto the infected portion cleansed with KMNO4 solution, we saw bubbles but that wasn’t a reason to worry, as its just a chemical reaction happening between H2O2 which is a mild acid with KMNO4…but we identified that perhaps it is this ‘magic’ step which actually helped kill the infection causing microbes on this dog’s legs.

6. After having repeated step 5 for all infected portions on this dog’s legs, we were advised to rub oodles and oodles of Himax ointment (An Ayurvedic veterinary ointment) mixed with equal portions of Spectrazole ointment onto the whole of the infected portion. We made sure we were wearing sturdy gloves during this process.

7. We repeated steps 1-6 every alternate day for this dog and the result is there to see in the photograph below.

The elbow portion of the dog-post treatment

June 11, 2011 by "Jaagruti"

Ear infections in Street Dogs-our experience at treating them

Come rains, comes humidity and mositure in the air, the ideal weather for microrganisms like bacteria, yeast and fungi to proliferate. How often have you seen a dog walking with his/her head titled to one side or continuously shaking its ear? If you do see any dogs exhibiting the above symptoms or scratching its ear with a wall or body of a car, our advice is do not ignore that sight, if you do care for the well being of that street dog…for this could well be an indicator that the dog is battling with a microbial infection in its ear.

We at Jaagruti had two such doggy patients to attend to in the past month and in this post we share what we did to get their infection treated.

Case 1: We saw a dog walking with its head tilted to its left, he was badly shaking his head and was in visible pain. On closer examination we found that his external ear had pus accumulated in it. Though the dog was friendly, we took no chances and tied his mouth with a cloth string and then using cotton dipped in Betadiene solution went about clearing his ear as much as possible of the accumulated pus, which if not removed would have served as an ideal breeding ground for more insects and flies and could have also resulted in maggot infestation in the dog.

We kept on changing the cotton swab till we were able to clear most of the pus and then we tried to trace the location from where the pus was oozing out from and noticed that it was coming out from a spot in the ear lobe. The first aid treatment in the form of clearing of this pus from the dog’s ear visibly relieved the dog and he was now much ata ease and trusted us to put him in our car and take him to our consultant vet. At the vet’s clinic, after an examination it was found out that this dog was suffering from Yeast infection in its ear and that was what had caused the Pus. At the vet’s clinic, a thorough cleansing of both the ears of that dog was done (yes, we got both ears cleansed, even though the pus infection was just in one year), two injections followed, one an antibiotic and the other being Belamyl (a Multi-Vitamin injection) and then the doctor advised us to administer ear drops into the Dog’s ear for a course of 3 days.

We were advised by our vet to administer Cipla’s Otibact Ear Drops into that dog’s ears-these ear drops contain Enrofloxacin and Silver Sulfadiazine, costs Rs. 80 for a 15 ml bottle. These ear drops are used in case of canine external ear infections complicated by yeast/fungi/bacteria. The ear drops look more like a white emulsion and contains drugs that inhibit the multiplication of the microbe by acting on the enzymes involved in that microbe’s DNA Replication process). The dose prescribed by our vet was 4-5 drops of Otibact once daily targeted into the ear lobe and then we were advised to rub the ear so that the drops get rubbed into the ear skin properly.

We religiously administered these ear drops, and the dog’s ears were fit and fine again and had even regained their original shape and were back to being standing ears again from the floppy ones! :)

We also learnt that ear infections are more common in dogs with floppy/bent ears than those with standing ones as shade and mositure are easily available in a floppy ear which are ideal conditions for microbial infection, whereas in dogs with standing ears, there is more access to air and light.

Case 2: Involved a middle aged female dog who was continuously scractching her ears and shaking her head vigorously. On closer examination of her ears, we found a coat of dry powdery looking ear skin in both her external ears. To fix this problem we followed a simple course of administering her a set of ointments for a period of 3 days before she was fit again.

Treatment course followed is mentioned below:

Wear gloves, muzzle the dog and then squeeze ample amount of Spectrazole (anti-fungal, anti-microbial) ointment , mixed with some bit of Betadiene ointment onto the gloves and rub it onto the inner part of the dog’s ear flaps, then gently rub the dogs ears from outside in such a way that the ointment spreads itself all over the infected portion. Just make sure that you do this with gentle hands, because even street dogs like us, don’t like their ears pulled for no reason :)

Please remember that since we are dealing with street dogs in both the above cases and if you happen to be doing something similar, it is important that our first effort is to restrain these dogs using a muzzle or a cloth string, if need be even gently cover their eyes with dark wet cloth, this will help calm the animal down while you put drops or rub ointment into their ears.

March 20, 2011 by "Jaagruti"

PAWS for a cause…

By Vasudha Mehta ‘Jaagruti’, A visit to PAWS (Plant and Animals Welfare Society), Thane

This is a month overdue report of my February 2011 visit to PAWS in Thane, an animal rescue and welfare organisation located in the Dombivli East, a suburb about 70 kms from Mumbai.

PAWS (Plant and Animals Welfare Society), was founded in 2001 by the young and dynamic Nilesh Bhanage and his college friends. However the journey began three years earlier in 1998, when Nilesh first saw an injured pigeon on his rooftop, his eye was hurt and crows were attacking that helpless pigeon. Nilesh and his friends intervened and rescued that pigeon, but even then they were clueless on how to treat that bird or the nearest place where they could take it to where it could be treated. It was then that Nilesh’s eldest cousin brother who runs a Photo Studio shared with him the details of a young lady named Anamika who used to come to this photo studio to get her photographs featuring animals developed from here. Following this, Nilesh decided to take that pigeon to Anamika’s place and that was the beginning of a new chapter in Nilesh’s life and in the life of many an animals in need in and around Dombivili.

Nilesh shared that, “Anamika was the one who taught me first aid for animals. The other lady that I am inspired by is Goodicia Vaidya who is now the Vice President of In Defence of Animals-Mumbai and who in 1998-99 used to drive an Animal Ambulance from Dombivli to Mahalaxmi, distance of 90 kms one way and back every day tirelessly helping rescue animals in need”.

PAWS was formally registered in 2001 and it got a lease of life when Ahmednagar SPCA donated its ambulance to PAWS in the first formal year of its operations.

The journey thus far

In the world of animal welfare that I had closely observed as a volunteer and a working professional with this sector (which I pursued for about 3 years-2006 to 2008 after I finished studies), the thing that struck me most hard was that sadly, most Animal Welfare Groups don’t work together, there is too much infighting and back-biting that it can easily make a genuine animal lover feel disillusioned and heartbroken. But Nilesh and his team at PAWS were for me a ‘blessed’ exception to what I had seen and experienced thus far.

I first met Nilesh at the Asia for Animals Conference held in Chennai in 2007 and what struck me were his unassuming nature and modesty and his ever-so-willing intent of helping and guiding other groups and people like me who are keen to do more for animals. Also, what impressed me were Nilesh’s extremely professional and transparent ways of operating PAWS, his effective media outreach and awareness initiatives, the timeliness of PAWS newsletters and stories of the month, the transparency and accuracy with which he shared the figures of animals rescued, treated, released, vaccinated and even those that have died.

The fact that PAWS doesn’t have an animal hospital of its own has not been a deterrent in their efforts to help animals as Nilesh works with a tight knit staff and team of volunteers at PAWS and believes in administering on the spot first aid treatment for animals, wherever possible and for those who are severely injured, the PAWS ambulance takes on the onus of dropping the animal, domestic or wild at the designated shelters nearby. And once an animal is dropped for treatment at a veterinary hospital or shelter, Nilesh at PAWS ensures that he keeps following up on the animal’s health status and have it released when the animal has recovered and is in good health. By tying up with veterinary units doing Animal Birth Control programmes I nearby major districts, PAWS has also ensured that they get as many dogs in their area of operations sterilized over the years and all these first aid, and treatment based pick and drop services are catered to by the PAWS team of two ambulances and trained drivers cum paravets. PAWS runs two ambulances, Nilesh oversees the operations of the ambulance operating in Dombivili, Kalyan and Ulhasnagar and Anuradha Ramaswamy, a founder trustee of PAWS since its inception oversees the working of the PAWS ambulance in Thane, Kalwa and Mumbhra regions.

When Nilesh officially registered PAWS as a charitable society and trust in 2001, till uptil July 2010 (i.e. last year), Nilesh was doing a regular job in Mumbai as well besides managing PAWS and it is this that was most inspiring to us. For he wasn’t drawing any income from PAWS and its operations rather spending whatever he had personally, be it time, effort or money to still run an effective animal rescue organisation that was volunteer-driven.

And the above is what we at Jaagruti are also successfully aiming to do, thus despite me and my brother having regular full time jobs to cater to, we started ‘Jaagruti’ formally in end of 2009 and do try our best to spread awareness on these issues, treat and rescue as many animals in our area as possible while facilitating those we can’t besides hosting a 24 hour helpline of ours to attend to any and every animal and environment based query that could help guide a person to care for animals and help the environment in their own little ways.

Now, Nilesh works as the Manager of the India National Rabies Network with the Worldwide Veterinary Services and this job is helping him drive his income from also doing what he likes doing, which is helping animals besides devoting all of his attention and time to managing and expanding the operations of PAWS.

Staff and Volunteers at PAWS

PAWS has a network of 300 registered members connected via a google group and off these about fifty are dedicated volunteers who take turns to contribute their skills, be it rescuing all kinds of birds and animals, administering them first aid, designing brochures and other awareness literature and hosting fundraisers and awareness events etc.

PAWS looks after its volunteers by administering them preventive anti-rabies and tetanus vaccinations as part of its ‘Protect the Protectors’ vaccination drive, the volunteers are reimbursed their vehicle expenses post submission of the animal rescue form and the receipt from the animal hospital where the injured animal was dropped post rescue, the top 20 volunteers who help in rescuing animals are also aided by PAWS with a Medical/Health insurance policy and besides this PAWS has distributed First Aid kits to 5 volunteers in Dombivili who help out with Animal First Aid regularly and their medicine stocks are also replenished as and when they run out of it.

How we at Jaagruti wish that there were dedicated volunteers like this around in Delhi too! But I guess a big city like Delhi has its own problems where volunteering is a matter of convenience and not commitment, but we do hope things will change and one day, all other cities would also have dedicated volunteers like the ones PAWS can proudly boast off.

I also had the opportunity to participate at a Vaccination Drive organised at Kharegaon, Kalwa (Supervised by PAWS trustee Anuradha) in which with the help of 8 volunteers, lead by the just graduated Veterinary Doctor Anahita, 55 street dogs were administered Anti-Rabies vaccines, many animals were administered first aid, and many little pups dewormed. PAWS organises such Anti-Rabies vaccination camps every weekend in various areas of Thane District along with community support and help spread awareness amongst community residents as well on how best to live in harmony with street animals and look after them.

PAWS Volunteers at Anti-Rabies Vaccination Camp_20 Feb 2011 at Kharegaon (Courtesy: http://www.kharegaon.com)

Dr. Anahita, a just graduated veterinary student and PAWS volunteer helps vaccinate a street dog during the vaccination drive at Kharegaon on 20 February 2011 (Photo Credit: Vasudha Mehta/ 'Jaagruti')

Other than the volunteers, the full-time staff employed by PAWS includes two part time office assistants, two ambulance staff who act as both drivers and paravets and two rescue staff, both of who are young boys from orphanages housing kids orphaned in the Latur earthquake of 1993.

PAWS has a philanthropic side to its activities in the domain of ‘human welfare’ as well as we learnt that PAWS donated its first ambulance received in 2001 from SPCA Ahmednagar, which happened to be a matador to St. Josephs’s School which happens to be a schools nearby PAWS office where children with special needs are taught alongwith ‘normal ‘kids uptil Class 4. Besides this, PAWS regularly ties up with societies working with blind and under-priveleged children to organised joint fundraising activities through merchandize made by these societies.

Often, people like Nilesh and us at ‘Jaagruti’ and many who work for animal welfare are asked this question of why we care for animals when there are so many humans suffering? And to this my answer is that caring for voiceless animals doesn’t mean that we care less for humans, infact the activities done by PAWS for children with special needs and other societies working with orphaned, disabled and underprivileged children only goes to prove that people who think and care for animals and their suffering have a very high empathetic quotient, they are sensitive people who care equally deeply about humans and their suffering, it is just that they prefer volunteering their hands-on efforts to animals, because there are in any case man few people fighting for animals and their rights to live lives of respect and dignity.

Family

For anyone working for the cause of animals or for that matter, any alienated social cause, the support extended by ones’ immediate and extended family is of extreme significance. For working selflessly and tirelessly for a social cause takes away more than your time, it draws on your personal space and even your mental and emotional energies extensively. I say this for me and my brother-Vivek too for we couldn’t have continued with our and Jaagruti’s efforts had it not been for the immense moral and priceless support we had received from our mother. A strong and supportive family surely helps retain our state of mental and emotional well-being, staying grounded, practical and should I say ‘sane’!

And this is what prompted me to understand how Nilesh’s family thinks about the work he and PAWS does? Nilesh is the youngest of 7 cousin brothers (and a sister) in his big Maharshtrian family. His parents work in the Railways and are now very supportive of the work he and PAWS does.

Though initially Nilesh’s parents found the animal rescue work he did a bit strange! When I asked him how their perception about his and PAWS work changed, Nilesh shared, that, “One day my mother went to the vegetable seller in the nearby market to buy vegetables and it was then that, the vegetable seller and his wife spoke highly of the work PAWS does as we had once helped get their pet female dog sterilized and treated for which they week extremely grateful to my mother. That bitch of the vegetable sellers is now over 10 years old, hale and hearty. That incident changed my mother’s perception. Many such incidents followed wherever she went in our area and soon she and my father started feeling proud of what I did through PAWS.”

Nilesh’s family is extremely supportive of his efforts; his parents live in the floor beneath his in the building named ‘Savitri Sadan’ after his paternal grandmother. ‘Savitri Sadan’ was once a the big family home of Bhanage family but about a decade back, the family decided to convert it into a building and the different brothers moved into different apartments and floors in the same building. But in this age of nuclear families and rifts in relationships, the Bhanages are indeed a family that stays and prays together as they keep teeming up and meeting for each of the festivities and little joys the family celebrates. The whole family also extends its support to PAWS by housing injured animals received from volunteers in their premises when Nilesh is not around.

*Manasi and Dishita:

In the world of animal welfare that I had seen thus far, many people are not married and even if they are, their marital lives are far from being ‘ideal’, but by God’s blessings, Nilesh and his wife Manasi are a ‘super couple’, devoted to the cause of animals and their welfare.

Manasi and Nilesh Bhanage

Before meeting Manasi, I had always imagined that Nilesh would have met Manasi while rescuing an animal somewhere or the other, but to my surprise that was not the case. Nilesh shared that his meeting Manasi was purely ‘divine intervention’ as they met in a Tourist Bus in 2006 when Nilesh was travelling with his friends on a short pilgrimage trip to Sai Baba of Shirdi. Manasi was in the same bus taking her grandmother to the holy place. Manasi was not an animal lover or animal welfare person to begin with, she was an HR Management Professional working in a Mumbai based company; but as Manasi shared, “I always knew rescuing animals was a way of life for Nilesh. Even in our courtship period, I was truly amazed by all that he had accomplished and aimed to do at such a young age for animals and PAWS uptil then”.

But Manasi’s life was to change as well, when she started accompanying the PAWS ambulance on its daily rescue calls following the birth of their daughter Dishita which had prompted Manasi to leave her regular job as well. As Manasi saw the suffering of animals on the street and the tender affection and commitment with which Nilesh and the PAWS team nursed them back to fitness, Manasi was gradually inspired to do her bit, she and she surely has done more than her bit and her efforts are only growing by the day in aiding Nilesh in all his efforts with PAWS.

Manasi and Nilesh complement each other’s skills tremendously in life and also while working for PAWS. While on one hand, Manasi’s strong interpersonal skills help her organise and arrange for funding to sustain PAWS activities, her HR skills also help calm down (and retain) the staff and volunteers who may sometimes feel overwhelmed by Nilesh’ strong and tireless work ethics and his methodical attention to details, on the other hand, Nilesh’s vast experience in animal welfare and his global network coupled with his diligence, determination and professionalism have helped ensure that PAWS has continued to remain the lifeline for the animals living in the suburbs of Mumbai.

And expectedly so Nilesh and Manasi’s two year old daughter is following in her parents footsteps, she is not afraid of animals and keenly observes her father rescuing and treating all animals, be it birds, dogs, cats or even snakes! Manasi’s companion these days are their pet cats Bitty and Kitty. Kitty who happens to be adopted and blind is about an year old and Nilesh adopted her the moment he first received an SOS adoption message about her many months back, Kitty has learnt to find her way in the house, the PAWS office and the accompanyiong staircase. She is extremely lovable, gorges on her favourite catfood ‘Drools’, is potty-trained and now also sterilized and Kitty with Dishita are surely, by the way it seemed, are both adorable darling apples of Manasi’s eyes too!

Dishita Bhanage: 'Start them young'

Nilesh's pet cats, Kitty (Blind and back & white) and Bitty (the white one)

Nilesh’s 16 year old pet dog Raju, who passed away in December 2010, was Dishita’s first introduction to animals, she used to even sit on his back and take rides on him and Raju patiently let her do all of it as Manasi watched in awe! Raju was a special dog in Nilesh’s life too; his photo now adorns a prime place in the walls of the living room of Nilesh’s house. “Raju has seen both me and PAWS grow, he was 3 years old when I started working for animals in 1998 and had been with me and PAWS for 13 years thereafter. He has been with me and my family through everything and we all miss him and his presence in our lives and the void will remain so always.”…Nilesh also shared that in his younger days, Raju used to walk till the local railway station to drop off his parents as they left for their work in Mumbai early morning and then used to return back home on his own without getting into a fight with any of the dogs along the way!

The journey ahead….

PAWS formally got access to a Rescue Centre of its own last year thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Maneka Gandhi of People for Animals which operated this premises in 1994-95 and the place was lying unused ever since. This rescue centre is located at Murbad, about 50 kms away from Dombivili .

With this PAWS Rescue Centre at Murbad nearing completion and renovation, Nilesh aims to generate more funding resources to make the Rescue Centre sustainable. Like us at Jaagruti, Nilesh agrees that Rescue centres should only be aimed at treating animals to fitness and then releasing them back in their natural surroundings or where they were picked up from. “Only those animals who are so badly handicapped that they can’t fend for themselves should be housed at a shelter for life”. Says Nilesh and we at Jaagruti second that, for if animal shelters keep on housing and feeding healthy animals then according to us at Jaagruti also this habit of ‘hoarding and collecting healthy animals at shelters’ robs an injured animal in need of much needed space and the resources spent on feeding and fattening healthy animals at shelters can be best spent on treating many an injured animal.

“My aim now is to start an Animal Birth Control Unit and a full-fledged veterinary hospital at the PAWS Centre in Murbad. It will be a long drawn process but I am sure we will be able to do so”, shares Nilesh. Nilesh’s immediate goal is to recruit honest staff to support housekeeping and medical needs of animals at Murbad and generating resources for the same is something Manasi plans to take on with gutso as she plans a non-profit event management company of her own, that could help PAWS to generate funds for its operations through event-based awareness and fund-raising activities.

We at Jaagruti wish them and the team at PAWS the very best in all their efforts and promise hereby to continue to support them in whatever way we possibly can.

We also express our deep gratitude to Nilesh and Manasi for making these three days of mine spent with them one of the most enriching learning experiences of my life, which will for sure continue to inspire us all at Jaagruti in our efforts as we aim to expand our reach and efforts from a modest beginning thus far. A big thank you!

If you want to learn more about the work PAWS does and help support Nilesh and his team in their efforts, please click on www.pawsasia.org.

If any one of you reading this can draw any lessons and inspiration from this article penned by us, this whole effort of ours at Jaagruti will further strengthen our objective of informing, sharing and inspiring as many people as we can about animals, the people who work for them and make this place a kinder and a better place to live in!

– Vasudha Mehta (vasudha@jaagruti.org)

December 29, 2010 by "Jaagruti"

Home remedy to cure dry, flaking skin and lice infestation in dogs

With the onset of such chilly winters in the city, here is a simple home remedy we at ‘Jaagruti’ have used to treat dogs suffering from dry, flaky skin which can if ignored really leave the dog irriated and sleepless at nights:

1. Warm good quality coconut oil (like Marico’s Parachute) and massage it on to the dog’s scalp. You will realise as you do this that dogs love to have their hair massaged this way and some may even try to lick and taste the coconut oil, which does no harm anyways to them.

2. As you massage the dog’s hair with coconut oil, you will see a lot of the dogs hair shedding so make sure that you make your dog lie down on a mattress/bed sheet that you could conveniently wash later, without getting your fancy bedcover or upholstery spoilt.

3. Use a fine flea comb to comb through your dog’s hair and all the bad hair will shed alongwith the dandruff and the scaly scalp leaving your dog’s coat and hair neat and shining!

You may have to repeat this process for a few days till all the flaky skin and bad hair are removed from his scalp and don’t worry if this oil massaging leaves behind a few bald patches on your dog’s scalp as those hair will regrow if you continually massage your dog’s calp with coconut oil a few times a week through the winters.

Do not try bathing your pets too hard in winters as that will only make their skin more dry and itchy..

In case your dog has lice or lice eggs ( a common problem with puppies), you can preceed the above mentioned treatment with the following:

Give the puppy/dog a bath with Mediker anti-lice treatment shampoo, taking care that the shampoo doesn’t go into the dogs eyes and use luke warm water to rinse it off, then blow dry the dog’s hair if its a young pup and after the hair have dried, repeat the above treatment with coconut oil as that helps trap teh lice and then they can be easily removed once you pass the flea comb (with fine bristles) gently through the dog’s hair coat.

We at ‘Jaagruti’ have seen the above mentioned treatments working very well with dogs/street dogs, however if the situation of your dog is serious as per your judgement, please take your dog to a registered veterinarian in your city.

Thanks.

If you have further queries or nice home remedies to suggest for animals, please mail us at contact@jaagruti.org

September 14, 2010 by "Jaagruti"

Treating a dog for a wasp/bee sting

This post comes out of sharing one of our experiences on dealing with insect bites on dogs and since insect bites are often misunderstood though it can be such a common reason behind sudden ailments in dogs/pets- what with most canines having a habit of sniffing around and poking their faces in the most wierd and strangest of places all the time for their pleasure. We are not offering any common solution to these cases but rather just wish to narrate our ignorance when suddenly faced with a situation like this in which we were left wondering what is wrong with the dog right till the time we reached the vet.

Wasp/bee stings on your dogs/pets could be dangerous and very painful to deal with: Contact a vet asap.

On 25th July, 2010 we were faced with a very confusing case of an approximately 7 month old young dog who suddenly started to yelp after splashing in the water placed in the water bath placed outside.

He started to run around with his tail pointed downwards and was pacing up and down in a frenzied manner.

Within about 10 minutes, he started vomiting and the vomiting continued at an interval of one each every 10 minutes for the next one hour and after that he vomited twice with portions of blood and phlegm in the vomit. All this while we were trying to flush his mouth with cold water and even trying to force feed him water in the hope that if he has ingested something wrong, the same will get drained out one way or the other but nothing helped improvise his condition.

We were deeply worried and called the vet, in any case it was a Sunday so the first vet we called refused to tell us anything on the phone!

We kept trying and then got through two of our trusted veterinarians- and then narrated the chain of events to them. They said the symptoms we were sharing point to case of the dog ingesting something ‘poisonous’. Both of the vets asked us to give him some vanilla ice cream but the dog won’t have or even lick any of it and the vomiting wasn’t stopping either.

We called the vet again.

They asked us to give a few drops of Perinorm syrup to the dog (Perinorm is supposedly a medicine that helps stop vomiting).

Perinorm did help stop the dog’s vomiting and he slept for the next hour or so and then we had another shock in store when the dog woke up and started licking himself, we suddenly noticed that his genital organs swelled and so did his lips and eyes which were getting drastically swollen by the minute. Effectively, all the mucous membranes were showing swelling.

We were then asked to give the dog a 50mg Avil tablet.

By then it was two and a half hours since our agony had started with the suffering dog the vet- nearest to us reached his clinic on a torrid Sunday afternoon (much ahead of his schedule) and we rushed the young dog to the clinic.

While we were taking the dog to the vet’s clinic in the car, he began panting and we noticed that there was a blood-red long sting bite mark on the left side of his tongue.

We reached the vet and finally we realised that the young dog had become a victim of a possible wasp/bee sting while he was splashing around in the water bath while drinking water from the same. Te doctor promptly gave the young dog a set of anti-histamine injections and within fifteen minutes, the swelling on his lips, eyes and genital organs subsided and the dog was visibly relieved and looking far more comfortable, though he was still a bit subdued and sluggish in his movements.

Then the vet suggested that we feed the dog a powdered ‘charcoal’ tablet soon after as charcoal tablets help cleanse the body of all toxins sticking on the surface of the internal organs, we promptly did so and the dog eliminated all the toxins (supposedly) in his next faeces (which obviously was dark and partly black in colour).

Dime-sized charcoal tablets have long been used to treat stomach ailments. These tablets contain no chemicals and deliver about 250 milligrams of charcoal in each tablet. NetDoctor, a website that commissions material from United Kingdom health professionals, says charcoal tablets can relieve flatulence, gassy bloating, heartburn and upset stomach by attracting excess gas in the stomach and intestines. The gas binds to the surface of the charcoal and the tablet is digested. According to NetDoctor, charcoal tablets can be used to treat drug overdoses and poisonings. The charcoal absorbs chemicals and toxins the same way it does excess gas.

The young dog was back to his usual self in a day or two soon after all the toxins were flushed and elimnated out of his body.

And so this basically sums up our first experience of dealing with a dog stung by a wasp/bee.

We would like to summarise and share the main learnings we had from this experience below:

1. Dogs are playful animals and are often found sniffing and exploring unusual places. They tend to sniff under the bins, below the ledges, dark and mysterious corners and love digging up the soil. These places are homes to a number of insects and these insects bite the unsuspecting, curious dogs.

2. Wasps and bees generally tend to bite/stung the animal at places where they have less hair, like the nose, mouth, lips and the chest area.

3. Symptoms to look out for: The animal becomes restless, starts vomiting/shows symptoms of diarrhoea, inflammation or swelling of eye lids, nose, lips, muzzle area. The other symptoms of insect bites on dogs like wheezing, weakness, unconsciousness, weak and thready pulse, increased heart rate and fever may cause the animal to go into shock. Other symptoms of insect bites on dogs might lead to cold extremities, trembling, wheezing and collapse.

4. Do not ignore an insect bite, it could be serious and cause a series of allergic reactions in the dog which may even be fatal!

5. Take the dog to the vet immediately while administering first aid on the way to the clinic.

One useful backgrounder article on the subject of ‘Insect Bites on Dogs’ may be accessed here .

For any further queries, mail us at contact@jaagruti.org

September 11, 2010 by "Jaagruti"

Pigeon with kite string injury: Rescued, treated and set free!

On the evening of 16th August 2010, we at ‘Jaagruti’ got a rescue call divert from Manta at Angel Eyes Animal Welfare Foundation, she wanted to check whether we would be able to rescue a pigeon which had become a victim to the glass-coated kite string (commonly termed as ‘glass maanja‘) at CU Block in Pitampura area of Delhi.

We were located in the other part of the city when the call came but promised to pick up the pigeon at night and leave it for treatment with the team at Wildlife Rescue who are now self-trained experts at suturing kite string induced injuries in birds.

We were informed that the pigeon is not in anybody’s house but rather in a market and we spoke to Swati, the young girl who had made the rescue call to the helpline. Swati is not a person who likes animals still carries within her a soul that was compassionate to the pigeon’s suffering and she hid the injured pigeon on the staircase in this marketplace to avoid it being consumed as a meal by any other animal.

When we reached the marketplace, to our troubles, the grill gate safeguarding the staircase was locked but on asking a helpful neighbourhood stall owner the trick to get it opened, we were promptly directed to the security guard of this market and he willingly opened the grill gate and we could access the staircase…as we stepped up a few stairs, we saw a young pigeon injured on its left wing sitting quietly tucked underneath the handrail of the stairs on the other side. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t bleeding any more.

In the carton: Pigeon with kite string injuried rescued from CU block at Pitampura

At 10.45 pm that night, the pigeon was safely delivered to Saud of Wildlife Rescue and he helped remove the kite string that had entangled in the pigeon’s wings and caused it to slit and bleed. the suturing of the wound was done that very night.

Soon after, the pigeon was sent to recuperate to the aviary at Fauna Police under Abhinav’s care.

Thanks to all the care provided at the aviary, the pigeon’s injured wing healed within a couple of weeks and the pigeon was set free much to all of ours delight.

It wasn’t by any means a great rescue act but this was surely a small united effort on part of many helped this pigeon take to the skies again.and as is said, “There are no great things, only small things with great love”.

[For related queries, please mail us at contact@jaagruti.org]

September 11, 2010 by "Jaagruti"

Buzo-an 11 year old Alsatian’s-tumour removed

[For queries: write to contact@jaagruti.org]

Some animal rescues are just destined to happen we guess and in the process, such instances also end up teaching a lot about the various reasons due to which pets in old age are more likely to be abandoned by their owners, the extent of irresponsible and casual pet ownership that exists in our country and also the psychology of a pet owner. Couple all of this with the paucity of good and accessible veterinary services available in a city as big as Delhi for the average lower middle class pet owner and we are faced with case like that of Buzo.

Scroll down to read the story of Buzo- an 11 year old Alsatian whose chest tumour surgery was successfully aided by Jaagruti on the 12^th August 2010.

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[This slideshow shows the process of treating Buzo- from removing his maggot infested tumour to the warts in his ear, treating the fingal infection on his chest to Buzo donning a t-shirt and coming for his change of wound dressing sessions)

In the first week of August, I was nominated to give a workshop at the Police Training Academy in Delhi and address over five hundred on duty sub-inspectors in the city on issues pertaining to animal welfare, cruelty and their legal powers to act against the same.

Towards the end of the workshop as we shared the various helpline numbers in the city with them including sharing the kind of experiences we at ‘Jaagruti’ have had, especially relating to attending a call from Karol Bagh of a street dog in there roaming around with a ‘3 kg bag’ of tumour on his left Front/fore leg…we saw one anxious sub-inspector B.P Singh raising his arm and wanting to seek our help on getting his pet dog- an 11 year old Alsatian named ‘Buzo’ cured of his tumour.

Describing the tumour, Mr. Singh said, “The tumour is sticking out from Buzo’s chest-right behind his left front leg. It has been there for the past year now and was tiny to begin with but has now grown big in the past few months”.

What is noticeable over here is the fact that in all these months that Buzo’s tumour grew big in size, Mr. Singh and his family could not find veterinary doctors/shelters willing to operate on their 11-year old pet dog, while Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre said that ‘Buzo is too old to operate, the compounder (of the government veterinary hospital near their residence) who did home visits to check Buzo was in any case not skilled enough for this ‘complicated ‘ surgery for a dog of his age.

Keeping in line with Jaagruti’s approach on helping animals in distress, we suggested Mr. Singh to take Buzo to the veterinary surgeon we trusted for the job.

Incidentally, this doc’s clinic was also near to Mr. Singh’s residence. On the 6^th August, 2010, Buzo was brought for examination and the doctor examined his tumour and then took his blood sample to get a diagnostic profiling done, which was done at a cost of Rs.1200/-.

[Please note that such a test was mandatory and important for the purpose of checking the condition of Buzo’s liver and kidney- which would help the doc reach a conclusion on whether Buzo was fit enough to take anaesthesia for the tumour removal operation.]

The test results came out fine but then came the shocker from Buzo’s family. As the date of the operation was being fixed Buzo’s owner B.P Singh said to us that “the treatment was ‘expensive’ and in any case Buzo is 11 years old and since dogs just live for about 12 years, there was no point spending so much on his treatment, especially when there is no guarantee either that the tumour wont resurface again”.

As if there is anything in life that comes with a guarantee, we wondered! However without getting into an argument on responsible pet ownership, we asked Mr. Singh very clearly about the amount that he would be interested in spending on his pet dog’s treatment. He said the he would be happy if the whole treatment expense (including tests, surgery, medicines and post-operative care) on Buzo was halved from what was being calculated currently i.e. he wanted it all to be done between Rs.3000-Rs.4000/-

But sensing a possible case of a pet being abandoned, we at ‘Jaagruti’ asked B.P Singh to bring their dog to the vet for surgery on the date given by the doctor while not worrying about the surgery costs of Rs.3000/-which we willingly aided from our end.

So, 12^th August, 2010, at 2pm in the afternoon, Buzo was brought to the clinic. Buzo was sedated to help the paravets shave of his tumour infected area and soon after that he was anaesthetised and the surgery began.

[Buzo’s tumour was an extension of a rudimentary teat on the chest]

As we stood outside the Operation Theatre while Buzo’s tumour removal surgery was taking place, we happened to chat with Neeraj, Mr. Singh’s eldest son who shared with us Buzo’s story as well as their worries since the day his tumour started to grow in size, “ Our mother is very fond of dogs. We kept one earlier to keeping Buzo as well but he ran away one day and my mother was upset ever since then she went to her home town of Bulandshahar and Buzo had just taken birth at a relative’s place then…she got him home to our Uttam Nagar residence in Delhi. His eyes had not even opened yet and he has been my mother’s little pampered boy ever since that day.”

When we asked Neeraj how was Buzo dealing with his tumour, he said though Buzo had learnt to lick it and live with it, their neighbours objected to him being walked in front of their houses without the leash as he stinked and many a times told his family to leave Buzo in the jungle or in the streets. In short the neighbours wisely advised the family to abandon Buzo-and till now it was only Neeraj’s mother perhaps who refused to part with Buzo.

Another thing that came to light was that Neeraj told us that Buzo had some problem in his ears as there were ‘white insects’ that used to come out of the ear, which to our shock and surprise the family killed by putting ‘Phenyl’- a floor disinfectant into his ears.

One a half hour later- Buzo’s surgery ended and the paravets called us inside the OT.

The surgery was done successfully

A tumour weighing 800 gms was removed off Buzo’s chest literally!

What was worse was that the tumour had just got infested with maggots in the past few days itself, as they were not there when Buzo was brought to the vet for his blood sampling on the 6^th August, 2010.

We stared at the tumour which was perhaps malignant in nature as we could feel the knots on Buzo’s body at many a places but for now, getting rid of this visible tumour was what we all could best help Buzo with.

Then, without any further delay, we at Jaagruti requested the vet to check Buzo’s ears.

Buzo’s right ear had a bunch of warts in his ear which were removed using a soldering iron and the wound was cauterized.

Both his ears had dead maggots which were cleansed out.

Antibiotics were prescribed to help Buzo’s stitches and wound (post tumour removal) to heal quickly.

Buzo’s fungal infection on the chest was cleansed and B.P Singh’s son Neeraj was instructed to do the following:

– Make Buzo wear a t-shirt properly knotted on the top to help the bandage stay put.

– Give him medicines on time (The medicines prescribed were Ceftum and Bidanzine Forte)

– Do not let him out on the leash alone.

– Do not let him roam around alone on the roof either where he could get exposed to water or monsoon showers as moisture could rotten it all.

– And bring Buzo to the vet for examination every alternate day till the stitches healed.

In 5 dressings and 10 days, Buzo was free of most of his visible ailments. The fungal infection on his chest was cured by topical application of Oxy Tetracycline spray and his stitches (of the tumour excision surgery) had healed smoothly as well.

Getting Buzo treated taught us about many a things- about morals and psychology of a pet owner to medical aspects of treating a tumour ridden old dog- all of which we deemed fit to share with you through this story.

Amidst all of this, we at Jaagruti are satisfied that this effort of ours prevented an old pet dog to be abandoned on the streets by his family and we thank the vet and his team for doing a stupendous job with getting Buzo back to good health.

[All photos (C) ‘Jaagruti’]

August 24, 2010 by "Jaagruti"

How to act when your society RWA puts a bar on letting your pet dog use the building lift?

Pet Dogs: Should they be allowed on lifts or not? (Photo credit: theotokos.co.za)

On the afternoon of 10th August 2010, the Jaagruti helpline received a call from Mrs. Usha Gulati in Faridabad who informed that the residents welfare association of the colony in which they stay had objected to them taking their Pet dog Pixie up and down the building lift from their 5th floor flat. Ms. Gulati and her family was willing to take Pixie down (for his walks) using the stairs but given his age (Pixie is 10+ years old) and the fact that they live on the 5th Floor, the Gulati family was not willing to cow down to the demands and orders of the RWA in any way and were even willing to take this matter to court should the RWA remain adamant in its stance on this subject.

Most of the times the arguments that RWA office bearers give to pet owners while objecting them to using the building lift with their pets- ‘the pets odour is harmful for human health’, ‘pets are dirty’, ‘pets make the lift dirty’, ‘pets can pounce or growl or attack other people in the lift’ and the list goes on as per the whims and fancies of the RWA representatives.

Ms. Gulati mentioned to us that she has a copy of a news clipping that came out in Times of India newspaper in December 2008 in which a Mumbai resident had approached a consumer court for his pet dog Shimu. Further to this Ms Gulati wanted to know from us if there was any previous judgment in this regard that they could use to help Pixie. Below is presented a step-by-step guide on how to tackle such a problem which, as we learnt is a common problem faced by many people living with their pets in buildings with lifts face across many cities in India. The key to coming out victors in such a situation is to have cent percent commitment towards your pet and to be willing to stand up for your pet’s rights, for pets are family!

Through the power of the internet, we enquired upon this ‘Pets being denied lift access’ subject from people across the animal welfare fraternity across India, the following facts came to light and we are sharing this information in our effort to inspire all those who face similar problems to act accordingly when faced with such situations. As for what transpired in the story of Pixie, read this till the end:

The only preceeding judgement in such a case was when Mr. Ajay Marathe, a resident of Mumbai’s Vashi Colony approached the Consumer Court (on 26th September, 2008) when his colony’s association passed a resolution disallowing them to use the building lift with their pet dog ‘Shimu’, who was then 11 years old who was suffering from osteo-arthritis (pain in the bones and joints)

The following trail of news stories on Shimu’s case illustrate the trail of events on this subject as well.

No entry for pets in lifts, Vashi housing society tells residents

Indian Express

N Ganesh Fri Sep 12 2008

Mumbai, September 11 : Says odour may be harmful to health; SPCA takes up issue

Life for 11-year-old Peter-Pan alias Shimu, a Labrador Retriever, has become tougher than ever. Shimu stays with his owners, Ajay and Nandini Marathe, on the fifth floor of New Sarvodaya Co-operative Housing Society, at Sector 4 in Vashi. Shimu has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, an ailment in which the patient suffers from severe joint pain. However, Shimu will now have to use the staircase instead of the lift, as a resolution passed by the general body of the society bars pets from using the building elevator.

On August 3, 2008, the general body resolved to prevent use of lifts by residents accompanied by their pets. According to a notice issued to Marathe and the general body resolution, the society fears that the odour of the pets which is left behind in the lifts, can be hazardous to the life and health of the building residents. In the month of May 2008, the society sought numerous documents certifying the fitness levels of the dog. Marathe, who has a licence for the dog, produced a certificate issued by the Bombay Veterinary College that dog is licenced, vaccinated, healthy and does not suffer from any infectious or contagious disease. The Bombay Veterinary College certificate also adds that since the dog is aged and suffering from osteoarthritis, it should be allowed to use the lift, as climbing the stairs would be a painful task.

Marathe tried to find a way out by using air fresheners after the use of lift by the pet dog. However, the society officer tersely told Marathe that use of air fresheners was not recommended.

After a complaint of Marathe, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has taken up the issue. S B Kadam, assistant secretary, SPCA said, “SPCA inspectors have paid a visit to the society and asked the office bearers to be practical and permit use of lift for the pet dog concerned. We will be hearing from them soon.”

Marathe said, “I paid the watchman from the neighouring building to carry the dog up and down the building thrice a day so that he could answer nature’s call. This arrangement worked fine for a few days, however he stopped coming after being warned by society office bearers.”

Meanwhile, Marathe has temporarily shifted Shimu to his in-laws place at Pen in Raigad district. Chairman of the housing society Arvind Palwankar said, “It is a very old sick dog with a bad odour. We only prevented Marathe from using the lift. Moreover, Marathe is a nuisance as he relentlessly complains against the society to the authorities about all things trivial.”

What the law says
Advocate Rahul Thakur who is associated with In Defense of Animals (IDA) said that the society resolution violates section 11 (3) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act 1960. It is also against article 51 A (g) of the Indian Constitution according to which it is the duty of every citizen to have compassion for animals, living creatures and improve the natural environment. Thakur said, “The society resolution is illegal as it is unconstitutional.”

Please note the underlined portion in the last paragraph of the above story.

Luckily for Shimu, who is now in good heavens, the Consumer Court upheld the society’s resolution and passed the judgement in his favour and also asked the Association to pay Mr. Ajay Marathe Rs.5000/- in lieu of the damages and the expenses incurred by him on this court case.

Please read through the following news stories:

Peter Pan can use apartment lift now

Indian Express

N Ganesh Dec 17, 2008

Mumbai This 11-year-old dog was barred from using lift by the housing society in Navi Mumbai

The consumer forum came to the rescue of a 11-year-old dog, Peter Pan alias Shimu, who was not allowed to use the apartment lift by the office bearers of a housing society in Navi Mumbai. Shimu, a pet belonging to Ajay and Nandini Marathe, residing on the fifth floor of New Sarvodaya co-operative housing society was barred from using the society lift. Shimu had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis — an ailment that causes acute pain in the joints.

In its order dated December 11, 2008 the Thane District Additional Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ruled that the housing society’s move to prevent pets from using the apartment lift without any valid reasons amounted to deficiency in service to the members as per section 2 (1) (g) of the Consumers Protection Act.

The Marathes were asked to produce documents certifying the illness of the dog. However, despite producing the required certificates and reports, the general body of the housing society in August 2008 resolved to ban pet animals from using apartment lifts.

The housing society contended before the forum that the dog was not a consumer of the housing society and hence the forum cannot hold the society liable. The consumer court however said in its order: “The issue of ‘dog’ being or not being the consumer of the society is not valid, instead the valid issue should be whether the complainant is consumer of the housing society or not.”

Since the membership of the Marathes to the housing society was not disputed, the consumer court said: “The dog has valid license and has been certified by a veterinary doctor of having no contagious and infectious disease. It has received all its vaccines. The doctor has also recommended the use of lifts owing to its condition.”

The housing society contended that the use of lifts by pets threatened the safety of the residents. However the Consumer court held that the housing society’s decision to ban pets from using lifts was without any valid reasons and hence amounted to deficiency in service. The court has ordered the housing society to pay Rs 3000 as damages and Rs 2000 as legal expenses to the Marathes.

Consumer court upholds dog’s right to use lift

18th December, 2008, Published in: The Times of India

Mumbai: An 11-year-old Labrador has emerged a champion of dog rights by not only winning for himself the right to travel in the elevator of his apartment complex in a Mumbai suburb but getting his master a Rs 5,000 compensation from the apartment’s anti-pet managing committee.

The Thane District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum passed an order, defending Shimu aka Peter Pan’s right to use the left and directed the society to compensate the owner for the harassment he faced. The dog’s owner, Ajay Marathe (52), a fifth floor resident of New Sarvoday Cooperative Society at Vashi, told TOI on Wednesday: This is a very good judgement given in our favour in real time. In fact, a lot of pet owners face the same problem in Mumbai; this order can be an important reference point to help them use their society lifts.

Marathe added that the 35-kg Shimu suffered from pain in the joints and couldn’t use the stairway. The society this May passed a resolution, saying pets like cats and dogs could not be allowed in the lift as their body odour could be injurious to health and life, which I found to be ridiculous, he said.

Marathe first went to the cops, but failing to get a sympathetic response from them, he lodged a case in the Thane consumer court. The consumer court has given this judgement in less than three months. The Rs 5,000 compensation for my pet is also welcome as I had to temporarily shift Shimu to my in laws house in Pen, which caused some discomfort to him, he said.

To read the full judgement given by the Consumer Court on this case in favour of Shimu the dog, please click here

Since Shimu passed away soon after this judgement was announced, Mr. Marathe donated the Rs.5000/- compensation he received to the animal welfare charity named PAWS which used this contribution to publish brochures on the ‘Tree Protection Act’, which carried Shimu’s name on it as a mark of honour to his spirit.

Now, coming back to Pixie’s case in Fraidabad, here is what happened-

Deriving inspiration from Mr. Marathe’s stance on getting justice for Shimu, Ms. Usha Gulati’s familytook the press clipping of Shimu’s news (which had come out in TOI in December 2008) and approached the Local Police with the copy of the same and lodged a complaint against the RWA…the cops then called and came over to meet the RWA representatives and following all of this, an amicable solution was reached upon in which it was agreed that the Gulati family would be allowed to bring their pet dog Pixie down the stairs for his walk and after he has relieved himself and there is apparently nothing in his stomach to ‘dirty’ the lift with, he can take the lift upstairs to his fifth floor house along with his owner.

So, next time you face such an issue, consider using all of this information above and stand up to seek justice for your animal friends. Trust us, its all worth the effort and a way to (try to) pay back for all the love that your pet animal has showered upon you unconditionally.

However, we would like to also suggest to you that as always prevention is better than cure so please be mindful of a few other things a ‘responsible’ pet owner can follow while using the lift with their pet, to avoid inconvenience to the fellow lift users:

1. Make sure that your pet dog/cat is vaccinated to avoid any health related arguments from fellow building residents.

2. Keep your pet animal on a leash.

3. If your pet is aggressive and has a tendency to bite strangers, then it would be better to put a muzzle around the pet’s mouth while you move your pet in the lift. You can remove the muzzle once your pet is out of the lift.

4. Try using the lift when no one is in there, alternatively avoid using the lift when someone (you know) having a canine/feline-phobia (i.e someone who is well-known to be scared of dogs/cats) is already travelling in the lift.

5. Make sure that your pet doesn’t pee or defecate in there, so avoid taking young untrained pups in the lift as else you would most likely end up creating a lot more disgruntled neighbours or should we say enemies!

6. Take care of the health and hygiene of your pet dog/animal, give it a nice bath regularly so that it doesn’t emanate any sort of stinking odour in a public place like a lift, which may else be a cause of inconvenience for the fellow residents of your building.

* Credits: We deeply thank AWBI’s lawyer Anjali Sharma, PAWS founder trustee Nilesh Bhanage and Vishruti Aggarwal for sharing their experiences, the video link and the consumer court judgement with us.

JAAGRUTI® –

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How to act when your society RWA puts a bar on letting your pet dog use the building lift?

No entry for pets in lifts, Vashi housing society tells residents

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No entry for pets in lifts, Vashi housing society tells residents

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