Gang of CATS

Proud to say that all Animal groups, NGOs & individual volunteers have helped get a huge task look simple. Never before have I seen such coordination amongst diverse groups & people .

This is the Spirit of Mumbai - that motivates you & says - Humanity & Love for Animals thrives & grows !!.

Issue : Cats at Charkop numbering approx 70 are being fostered by an old couple in a makeshift house. They have been facing problems like sickness, starvation, excess births & population explosion

Krupali, Gargi, Brinda, Charu , Shirley & Ganesh have been talking individually about getting Cat sterilizations started. We saw this as an ideal opportunity to bring in the strength of collaboration

We approached all like minded people regarding getting the cats a good quality of life as the old couple needs a helping hand. The response is tremendous & makes me feel that sharing it will increase more such activities in the city

Sterilizations : IDA, WSD & Ahimsa have pitched in to help carry out sterilizations. Two people have also promised financial support for sterilization activity if needed. We have already carried out 3 rounds of sterilizations (wekly)- 12 cats already done. We plan to finish 35 cat sterilizations soon.

Post Operative : SOS has provided for 5 splendid folding cages to transport the cats & to keep them for post operative care. Ahimsa is planning to keep female cats for observation

Transport : SOS & ASHA vans have helped transport cats to the sterilization centre. Their people wait till the operations are carried out .

Vaccinations : AMTMs team under Ganesh's supervision has carried out vaccination ( Anti Rabies) of the kittens.

Food : Sona, Ruksana, Nadia, Zara, Sonia have been sending food, utensils to the couple to help feed the cats.

Emergency Cases : Gargi being the closest shoulders the responsibility of looking after emergency cases thru her vet contacts. PFA's team is planning to send vets on a regular visit to check on the kittens

Sakshi, Rahul, Shashikant, Gracy have been the pillars of support taking care of any unforseen circumstances.

The difficult task of getting adoptions started is now to be taken up. A lot of cajoling is needed to get the activity started.

We hope to use this model to sterilize & vaccinate cats in various fish markets & areas where our volunteers are present. Once the Charkop cats are under control, we plan to unleash this power to other areas & get islands of sterilized cats across the city.

Regards

Sourabh

They Start Young!

Its been a proud moment to work with Maulik. His dedication has humbled me & have resolved to help him in whatever way possible.

Maulik is a boy in the 8th standard & goes to school like a regular brat.

But there is a heart of gold that ticks below all pranks & games. This kid from Rokadia Lane, Borivali (W ) spends a few mins a day looking after the strays in Rokadia lane. He has been tending to the wounds of puppies in the area. He single handedly pesters Karuna, Ahimsa, Asha to help in looking after accident cases , maggot wounds & starving pups. The boy is known to pick up fights with unreasonable elders who harm puppies.

Maulik showed me 3 female dogs & 2 lactating mothers with 6 puppies that he has been looking after. He needs help in sterilisation which he is well aware of. But is not getting enough support from the BMC yet.

The poor kid was pained when we reached a starving dog & found it dead yesterday. But with renewed vigour tended to the pups which had a come under the wheel of a car.

Such dedication at a young age of 10 years is rare & needs to be cultivated. I see real good future for the strays under his care. Lets hope that we can keep the spark burning & keep him away from all frustrations & troubles that we have gone thru.

Sourabh

Heroes of the Day : Dr Parab , Ravi from IDA & Maria, Pradeep of Asha

One of the bad accident cases that I have seen. Saw a dog in Aarey Colony road with a bad fore leg wound. 5 inch bone was jutting out & was dry. The wound was approx 7 days old. Asha's van responded swiftly & was very effective in catching the dog. Coincidently, the IDA van was on the highway. Quick phone calls to IDA helped coordinate transfer the dog to the IDA van. The doctors there will be able to do an amputation. Hope to see the dog hopping on 3 legs soon.

Thanks to the quick coordination between Asha & IDA, we could manage a difficult task with such ease. NGOs working togather along with volunteers on street are a deadly combination to counter any situation.

Sourabh

Quite a month for the volunteers at Kvli/ Bvli

The last few days have been full of events.
The Kandivali / Borivali team has been able to bat well & carry on the innings.
1. Open stitches at Samarpan - Jyoti found a female dog operated but the wound had opened up on the highway opp Samarpan. We could fix the same with Ivermectin, Pentid & Acrylin. She is hale & hearty & the wound has now healed. A complaint, with pics was sent to IDA, Ahimsa & PAWs. We hope to see less of such 'accidental operations'.
2. Wounded dog at Permanent Magnet - Mr. Pangam found a young dog with a wound on his cheek 10 days back. It seemed to be a bite which was getting infected. We managed to give a regular spray of topicure, antibiotics. The wound has dried up & the dog is ok.
3. Severe maggot cases - TataPower House & Gundecha school. Christina & Mr. Raichura found a dog with a severe injury on the right shoulder. He comes out only at night. Rahul & I paired up with Christina to catch it. We have give it enough ivermectin in food & on the wound. IDA tied darting him but he gave us a slip at night in the Dream Park. He still roams around nr Gundecha school.
Tata Power house had a huge maggot infested case. Luckily IDA got him at 2.30 am ( night) but I do not expect it to survive. The sad part is that this seems to be an abandoned pet.

4. Fracture case at 90 ft Road - Rupa found a friendly female dog apparently run over by a car. The front leg dangled for 5 days. Dr. Premal has helped by plastering the fracture. The dog is at Rupa's house temporarily.
5. 15 day old Kitten at 90 ft Road - rupa got a small kitten 2 days back. It was in shock & not moving much. Unfortunately, we could not reach it to Ahimsa on time.
6. Large head wound at Dream Park - Christina has been tending to a wound case near Dream Park. She has given an Ivermectin injection & antibiotics - Hope she recovers fast.
7. Repeat wound at Yoko's - Black dog at Yolo's has reopened an old wound on the hip. Rahul, Ambar & I attended the dog as he is quite friendly.
8. Maggot case at Andheri - I got a call from PAWs regarding a maggot case at Auto Hanger. Gave ivermectin & Pentid. The wound has healed & the dog was being fed Pedigree by the security guard.
9. Severe head wounds at Mc Donald's - Found 2 dogs who are visible only after the Dandiya ( after 11 pm) . Both had severe head wounds. I could only pour Ivermectin on the ounds as they kept running around. Havent located them in the last 4 days. Hope they survive.

The IDA night service is a blessing & will be able to get all emergency & sick cases. Hope the volunteers burn some midnight oil to help out.
Atul's car & funds are a great help to transport the animals

Diwali is round the corner & expect burn wounds too.

Regards

SE

Our little Actions Do lead to some change

A security gaurd at Axis Bank, Thakur Village hit a dog with a stick. It appears that the dog was seriously injured & could not walk for some time. Later, it recovered & ran in fright inside the Garden. Komal had a serous argument with the security gaurds & threatened with a police complaint. The gaurds apologised & regretted their action. The dog was not located as it was very dark at that time

Sourabh Edwankar

Mixed Efforts & Our Volunteers in action

Jyoti saw a large male dog near Samarpan with a broken leg. As per the guard, it was hit by a vehicle - 2 days back. She asked on who can help out. Since the dog was not known, it would have been difficult to get him in our car. Most volunteers were at work. Jyoti contacted Karuna ( Bahena) & IDA. Karuna gave the dog an injection & promised to check on later. IDA examined the dog & implied that it would be a fracture. On Jyoti's insistance, the dog was taken by the IDA van for treatment at the centre. It was good to see both NGOs help within 24 hours & get a solution fast. Hope to see the dog - healed & well soon.

Sourabh Edwankar

Another Dreadful Case...Pictures not meant for sensitive people

This is a case from lane behind Gokul Garden in Thakur Complex. Two male dogs (Totally White) were badly wounded due to human actions that mere sight of them would make you ask how cruel can humans be? These were twins. One of the dog had his one eye broken, a very bad cut on his neck and also his tail cut with knife. Another was slightly better with major neck wound and fews minor wounds all over his body. After confirming with doctor at Ahimsa Hospital, it was clear that this was due to Human Cruelty. Rupa Shah, a very active volunteer of the area got to know about this from a Security Guard of a nearby building on 22nd Aug and on next day she decided to ferry them to Hospital.

The other day on 23rd Aug, Rupa along with her friend and another volunteer Sharmee Bhatt were in that area since afternoon keeping a strict vigilance on those dogs as they had called Pradeep ( A professional Darter) to help us catch the dog. I was called by Rupa to drive the ambulance. Sincere thanks to Pradeep as he came all the way from Mulund leaving Ganesh celebrations and was at the place by 4.00 pm. The dogs were caught in mere fifteen minutes and were taken to Ahimsa by me and Rupa.

The latest update that we got is that Dog with one eye has passed away and the other dog is recovering but will take months to be normal. Lets be more vigilant prevent such cases in future.