On Saturday, a puppy brought to the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary (BMAD) at the Theosophical Society was diagonised as having Parvovirus that affects dogs. People who brought it to the dispensary had dumped it outside in a cardboard box and it was found by volunteers of the animal shelter soon after.
The walls of the BMAD, where people have been abandoning their pets, were painted a week ago with murals of animals with quotes such as ‘You won’t change the world by saving an animal but you will change that animal’s world’ as well as messages in Tamil asking people if it was fair to abandon their pets. The painting was done by volunteers from Bhumi, as well as the general public. who came together.
Older dogs with minor health issues are left by owners. The pets are either tied to the gate or thrown inside the compound through gaps in the walls. Recently, a pup was found abandoned outside the shelter but was adopted by a family even though it was nearly deaf.
“Very often, it is animals with health problems, both young and old, which are simply abandoned,” said Shravan Krishnan, an animal rights activist, who has been working with the Theosophical Society in making the BMAD a fully-functional facility.
“We want people to think about what they’re doing before they abandon their pets. Some time ago, a few people dumped their dead Labrador outside the walls of the shelter and we gave it a proper burial. People need to realise that what they are doing is absolutely wrong,” he said, adding that they were planning to install CCTV cameras near the entrance of the dispensary.
Improving the shelter
With the aim of making the existing facility a fully functional one, Tim Boyd, the president of the Theosophical Society, has been working with animal lovers and activists from the city for the past few months towards repairing the facilities and constructing additional facilities at the dispensary and shelter, which houses around 60 animals.
Geetha Jaikumar, a committee member of the BMAD, said that they were shocked to see the number of animals abandoned outside the shelter.
“It is, however, heartening to see volunteers in large numbers who have come forward to spend their time at the facility and help out. For animal lovers who are unable to adopt from the shelter, we encourage them to come and spend time with the animals,” she said.
