Every day, for the past eight years, G. Ramakrishnan has a routine that he follows assiduously. From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., he hops on to his two-wheeler, stocked up with 55 packets of glucose biscuits, and goes looking for stray dogs to feed. “The animals come only when I honk the horn, because they’ve become used to me,” he says. He feeds around 70-100 dogs in the stretch between his home in Keelakalkandarkottai to Khaja Pettai. At night, he’s out again, this time with milk and rice to feed the 15 strays near his home.
Ramakrishnan doesn’t restrict himself to feeding stray dogs. He and his team of friends are also engaged in rescuing animals and rehoming abandoned pets. While his work often brings him into confrontation with the general public – “they think I’m encouraging the stray animals by feeding them” – he is among the few individuals in the city who are proud to be associated with animal welfare activities.
“We don’t maintain any case files. I registered this trust to get government support for my work,” says Ramakrishnan. “When you are an individual activist, questions will keep getting raised about your purpose and funding.”
The work of his Faith Trust includes an annual anti-rabies vaccination programme for 70 strays, sterilising of female dogs, and adopting blind and handicapped canines. Ramakrishnan, who is a engineering contractor, maintains at least 20 dogs at his residence, with the help of his mother and wife, and says he has never calculated the cost of these initiatives.
“People are not aware of animal rights in Tiruchi,” says Ramakrishnan. “They buy dogs as pets, but leave them behind when they shift houses. These dogs start breeding, and so the number of strays goes up.”
And it’s not just dogs – Ramakrishnan narrates stories of many other animals such as racehorses being turned out by their owners when they develop health problems.
Activists like him liaise with veterinary doctors in the city when they have an injured animal on their hands.
Voluntary effort
At the former premises of the now-defunct International Animal Rescue (IAR) clinic and shelter at K. Sathanur, a young eagle that got entangled in ‘maanjha’ (the abrasive string used in kite-flying), and lost its wings is among the star guests awaiting departure to Chennai’s Vandalur Zoo.
“We had two eagles before that were released into the wild after they recovered; this one can only flutter around on ground level, so we are sending him to the Vandalur Zoo’s eagle enclosure,” says Ramakrishnan as he scoops up the bird in a lungi and appears to cuddle it. “He’s quite friendly, and I think he can understand what I’m saying,” chuckles Ramakrishnan as the bird gives him an ‘eagle-eyed’ stare.
Founded in 2005 by Dr. Deike Schacht, a German veterinarian, the Tiruchi branch of the IAR was functioning until December 2014 under Dr. R. Jothiraj, who had taken over the reins when Dr. Deike left in 2007.
“In 2008, a Government Order was passed to ban catching and killing of dogs, and to promote animal birth control, the proven method of reducing the dog population,” says Dr. Jothiraj, who has decades of service in the Animal Husbandry Department and Danida (Danish International Development Agency) behind him. “Everyone was given a budget for this project, and we were engaged in canine birth control from 2009-14, in all the 17 town panchayats,” he recalls.
IAR Tiruchi, which employed 10 persons as dog catchers, vets, operation theatre attendants, and so on, conducted a staggering 15,000 operations, free of cost.
It was able to do so, because of funds from the UK-based parent body. “We had been receiving grants from the IAR (that has an office in Goa) starting from Rs. 15,000 going up to Rs. 50,000, which used to help us to run the centre,” says Dr. Jothiraj. “We were spending around Rs. 1.3 lakhs every month on running expenses. We were able to generate earnings by charging for some operations, as the number of dogs increased.”
In 2010-11, the recession started affecting funding from UK; in May 2014, it stopped completely, says Dr. Jothiraj, and the reserve cash that the clinic had earned got used up by December. “While pet owners can always get care for their animals privately, hereafter, animal welfare will suffer. Maybe the number of stray dogs will also go up,” rues Dr. Jothiraj, who now works as a veterinary medical officer at a private college’s research laboratory.
Whose animal?
Both Ramakrishnan and Jothiraj speak of the apathy that drives animal ownership in the city. “Nowadays people are finding it very difficult to raise animals,” says Dr. Jothiraj. “Transporting the animal for treatment, the fodder and staff to milk cows, are all costlier than the animal itself.”
This is why livestock is let loose on the roads, says Ramakrishnan. “Nobody really feeds the goats and cows, they sustain themselves on the food waste and paper posters out on the roads. Their owners take them home only for milking.”
The high amount of plastic in the animal’s digestive tract affects the quality of its milk as well, says Dr. Varuna, who collaborates with Ramakrishnan. “People want a high yield of milk or meat from their livestock, but don’t want to feed the animals properly, and allow them to scavenge in the rubbish heaps.”
Most of the stray dogs develop skin problems after eating poultry shop waste, says Ramakrishnan. “Canine distemper is more common among the street dogs, but it is often mistaken for rabies,” he says.
What happens to animals when they die? The carcasses are often thrown in Corporation dust-bins, says Dr. Varuna. “Burial is the best method. If the dog is affected by rabies, it is best to cremate the carcass. If you don’t, the virus will enter the food chain through soil,” she adds.
Inhuman treatment
Animals used for breeding or hunting do get to live the royal life, but for the less fortunate, a mass death is almost certain. Bulls and roosters are among the unwitting participants of competitive sports that often result in a violent end (for the animals). “There’s a lot of debate over the banning of jallikattu (bull-taming) in Tamil Nadu,” says Dr. Jothiraj, who has served on the panel examining the issue, “but nobody understands that ultimately, it is the bull that is going to get harmed. The rival groups that take part in jallikattu have just one aim – to tame the bull and stop it from returning next year.
“There are no rules, so participants can injure the animal covertly or break its horns – where’s the honour and tradition in this?”
Ramakrishnan also sees competitive cockfighting flourishing in places like Karur and Vedasandur. “People turn up with 2000 birds, and maybe only 500 would survive the contests,” he says. “The sport also involves high-stakes gambling, so there’s no emotional attachment to the roosters.”
“Most veterinarians are duty-bound professionals. To be an animal lover and a vet is a rare combination. That is another reason why vets don’t go too deep into the issue of animal welfare,” says Dr. Jothiraj.
