Priya Ganesh and I stay in Perungudi, but meeting her for a story took me longer than expected. Emergencies always have a way of finding her; and the interview had to wait. When a meeting appeared likely to happen, Priya had a genuine reason to call it off. It was a Friday — when I thought I would finally meet her — and, unexpectedly, she had to make a trip to the Blue Cross at Velachery to look for a stray dog that had gone missing from her street.
And then, finally, in a setting all too familiar to her, I met Priya. I tagged along with her one evening, as she hopped from one street to another in Thirumalai Nagar, Perungudi, to feed the strays.
Priya has been feeding stray dogs and cats on five streets in Thirumalai Nagar, every morning and evening. Her day starts early; between 4 a.m. and 5.15 a.m., she does her first round of feeding, which includes giving the strays biscuits, pedigree and a bowl of water.
Spending her mornings and evenings in this manner cannot be easy as Priya has a 9to5 job — she is personal secretary to Dr. V. Shanta, chairperson of Adyar Cancer Hospital.
At Perungudi that day, wearing a polythene cover as a makeshift hand glove, Priya was collecting boiled meat from a blue tray kept outside Royal Biriyani restaurant.
This is one of two restaurants in the locality that offer her leftover non-vegetarian food, which she serves to dogs in the evening after 6.30 p.m.
“I am a vegetarian. Initially, it was difficult for me to look at the food. Now, I am used to it,” says Priya, while placing a portion of meat for each dog.
Almost every day, Priya surmounts hurdles as she cares for the strays. Many of her neighbours often pick up a fight with her as they think she has been inviting dogs to the locality by offering them food. They fear being bitten by stray dogs. “The dogs have become more disciplined after I adopted them,” she said, pointing to the collars worn by the dogs.
Priya ensures the dogs she is feeding are vaccinated and sterilised, which helps control their population.
Priya has modified her house to accommodate some of the dogs, which include handicapped dogs. “Nobody wanted to adopt some of these cats and dogs, and so they take shelter in my home,” Priya says she has seven cats to feed every day.
The Perungudi resident thanks her daughter Anjana and husband Ganesh for the support they have extended to her service work.
Priya has many well wishers who supply her with the food necessary to feed the strays. From her office, Elangovan has been providing her with boxes of biscuits every month; her colleague’s daughter Vaishnavi gives her Rs. 1,000.
“On an average I spend Rs. 200 a day to feed dogs. Sterilising a dog takes me around Rs. 900 in a private clinic,” she says. Priya will be happy if residents can help her in kind. But, it’s okay with Priya if they can’t. She has only one request —“Please don’t harass someone for feeding the dogs; they also look for compassion.”
Priya can be reached at 9940136344.
