Sabrish Shetty gets his adrenaline rush from saving lives. The 21-year-old volunteers with The Pound, Chennai's newest dog welfare group formed by Samudra Gupta, Karishma Rajaratnam and Varuna Srinivasan. The 20-somethings (who use Facebook to promote their cause) are on a mission to rescue and find homes for homeless puppies and have so far rescued over 30 pups from the street. “You can never get that happiness anywhere else”, says Sabrish referring to the post-adoption visits he makes. “When you see that pup that was on the road, living a king's life now!”
Founding member Karishma believes that the best thing to do is to spay and neuter street dogs to prevent future homeless litters from being born. “Sterilization is crucial”, she says. “The mothers really suffer. It's better for her and there will be fewer dogs on the streets”. She is concerned about the prejudice against adoption of female pups and advocates birth control to solve this issue. “Once this is done, it doesn't matter if it's male or female”, she says. Karishma adopted her dog Dobby as no one wanted him because of his brindle coat. Dobby has grown into a handsome adolescent dog and now serves as a mascot for The Pound's philosophy. “A true animal lover will not insist on pedigree”, says Karishma. “There's no point in saying we are dog lovers if we're specific about looks or breed”.
“A dog is a dog”, agrees Varuna. “They're not show pieces. They're members of the family”. She observes the damage done to foreign dogs that are bred in India. “I saw a St. Bernard being taken for a walk at 2 p.m. It's really sad – they're supposed to be in Switzerland but are walking around in Chennai weather”. Together, the youngsters are rebelling against breed bias and are hoping to broaden their network. Varuna sums it up on behalf of her team - “Give country bred pups a home. Spread the message that they grow up to make beautiful pets”.
(The Pound's Facebook page is >www.facebook.com/groups/thepound )
HERO OF THE WEEK Raghavan nominates his daughter M.R.Sudha for rescuing five puppies that were abandoned in the rain when their mother ran away from Diwali crackers and went missing. Sudha vaccinated them and arranged for their birth control surgery and cares for them till date.
TAKE ME HOME Seven-week-old PhiPhi is an Indian male pup and has been vaccinated and dewormed. He gets along fabulously with other dogs. To adopt this handsome pup, call 9025389033
TAKE ME HOME These gorgeous Indian pups have been dewormed and vaccinated and are healthy and affectionate. For adoption, call 98414 40645/ 98840 87498
HOLD MY PAW I'm Chinky, a missing female Pomeranian who was last seen near Priya (Olive Public) School, Chitlapakkam. If you find me, please help me reach my owners. Call 9841696251 or 8428097475
HOLD MY PAW Hi I'm Choco, a nine-month-old female pup who's very friendly and has a shiny fur coat. To adopt me, call 9841418738
