“All you need is love”, sang the Beatles nearly half a century ago but the sentiment is evergreen believes Leslie Robinson of the Arunachala Animal Sanctuary and Rescue Shelter, Tiruvannamalai, who strives to elevate the quality of life of the stray animals in the area, “This is a no-kill shelter and we treat any animal in need by offering not just medical help and shelter but also demonstrative love. Our belief is that deep healing will only take place if an animal feels secure, cared for, and loved.”
Leslie, who describes himself as an ageing expatriate warrior, is a citizen of the United States of America. A graduate in business and actuarial mathematics from the University of Michigan, he worked in actuarial firms and his own consultancy for several years before embracing spirituality and inevitably drifting towards India. “I used to be really rich. But I’m poor now. The money would have really come in useful though,” he smiles, crinkles forming around his periwinkle blue eyes.
Despite the slightly run-down nature of the shelter and the all-pervasive smell of animal waste that drifts towards us, Leslie appears almost unfazed by the challenge he faces every day. “Yes, it is not easy but it has been an amazing journey so far and we have managed to transform the lives of the people and animals in this area. Since we started in 2007, we have rescued over 2000 animals, sterilised more than 5000 dogs and doled out close to 10,000 rabies injections. There are far fewer cases of rabies today and the dogs in the area are less aggressive,” he says, adding that there have also been a considerable number of other animals like monkeys, cats, livestock, birds and reptiles treated here. They also organise puppy adoptions in the town, he says. His initiation into the realm of animal welfare was rather serendipitous. Though Leslie admits to having always loved animals, his journey really began in 2006 when he came to the sleepy, little temple town for a two-week break, “Some days before I was to leave, word spread that the Municipality was going to start killing dogs street by street to cull the population. I started making phone calls to all the people I knew and we managed to stop it. But the area was overrun with dogs, so I knew that unless a clear population control policy was put in place, the killing would start again. So I decided to stay back and do it,” he says.
The shelter which houses anywhere between 125-175 animals and has a staff of around 18 offers the following services — an ABC sterilisation and anti-rabies programme, a clinic, hospital and hospice facilities, a sanctuary for homeless animals, an effective adoption program and a 24/7 animal rescue facility, says Leslie. Though it certainly is a remarkable achievement for someone who claims to have just been, “a person passing through,” far more needs to be done to sustain it.
Animal work may often be seen as a thankless, uphill task, but Leslie is convinced that it trickles down to making people better human beings. “People who learn how to love animals, change for the better. Love is such a fierce, powerful force and your heart cannot remain untouched by it. When your heart opens up, you become a nicer person. And nicer people become communities that are nicer to each other. As Mahatma Gandhi says, ‘The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it treats its animals.’ And I believe he is right.”