I discover a new-found love for reptiles as a young green vine snake slithers along Shravan Krishnan’s wrist and onto a colourful pillow cover-turned pouch. Shravan carefully places the rescued reptile in the seat next to ours, before he leads me into his newly-set-up aviary that houses four big Black kites. I latch the gate behind to face the predators, even as images of young Bruce Wayne and flouncing bats flash before me.
But, these seem sombre; one of them coyly looks up at Shravan as he tries to feed it a piece of boneless chicken. His team found the clawless bird on the streets. The claws might have been cut off for black magic — they usually are, he says.
Meanwhile, a pigeon, blind and a feather short, flaps around my head.
Shravan, who runs Hotel for Dogs, became a social media sensation when he and his team, along with animal rights activists Antony Rubin, and Jennifer Jacob, helped rescue Bhadra, a dog that was flung off the roof by a medical student while his friend filmed it, earlier this year. The team shamed the culprits on social media; eventually, each of them was ordered to pay Rs. 2 lakh to the Animal Welfare Board of India, besides the fine of Rs. 50 that is usually charged for such a crime according to The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.
Shravan and his team have been championing the cause of animal rights for over five years now, raising their voices against many recent atrocities, including the killing of a monkey at CMC Vellore. The team’s most recent rescues include birds that were disoriented and injured during cyclone Vardah.
In the quiet of his terrace, which looks like a customised barnyard, we sit on a bed of hay alongside the birds, who are only temporary guests. These are Schedule Species, and treating or even holding them requires permission from the Forest Department, he says. Most will be released to where they were rescued from, or handed over to the department concerned, after the team is convinced that they are ready for the world.
“But some, like the clawless Black kite, cannot survive on their own, as they can’t catch prey any more. Another Indian Black kite will have to stay until it gets a new prosthetic leg,” says Shravan. His team will work closely with the Forest Department to chart a plan for them, as is the process for every rescue.
If the Department gets 50 to 60 calls a day, Shravan’s team — consisting of Nishanth Nichu, a chemical engineer-turned reptile expert; Ashwath, an engineering student and domestic animals expert; Dinesh Baba, who runs a veterinary clinic in Porur; Ravi Kumar, an honorary animal welfare officer; Vishwajith Chandrasekar, a wildlife photographer; and Jason Jerard and Maheshwaran Govender, zoology students who are now into reptile rescue — gets five to six. A few of these are from the Department itself. Most of the calls are for rescues of snakes, followed by dogs, cats and cattle. However, the numbers increase dramatically after rain, or calamities like last year’s floods, or the recent cyclone.
The team jumps to attend to calls for help, sometimes even risking their lives. Many a time, they have been bitten: fortunately so far by non-venomous snakes.
Jason recalls how he was bitten by a Checkered keelback while trying to rescue it from inside a shoe rack. Venomous ones have fortunately not struck anyone in the team, though those like Nishanth have single-handedly rescued a six-and-a-half-foot-long Russell’s viper from the Red Hills. “We don’t engage in stunts; we believe in minimum handling, and wear our shoes and carry our equipment. And, when it comes to dogs, we take pre-exposure rabies shots, and, when bitten, follow the usual protocol,” says Shravan.
Then there are the chilling incidents, such as during the floods last year. Nishanth recounts, “We had to rescue a dog from the second floor of a house. Once we got the dog out, we realised that the water level had increased, and it was necessary to rescue the people as well. So, we pulled out the doors of houses, tied a bed of thermocol and water cans to them, and saved 100 people in batches of four using 15 makeshift boats.”
Most of the narrations, accompanied by pictures and thousands of likes and shares can be seen on Shravan’s Facebook page, which has a following of over 26,000. “Social media attention comes in handy while dealing with cases and raising funds. For example, if someone from our team rescues an animal hit by a car, spends around Rs. 20,000 for its treatment, almost 90 per cent of the money is recovered with people pitching in,” says Shravan.
Sometimes, the funds come in excess, which is saved up and used for other projects. The long-term plan is to build a Rescue Rehabilitation Centre in the city in collaboration with the Forest Department, he says. And his short-term goal? To find a suitably lush green spot for that green vine snake.
