Sathya Radhakrishnan remembers the day he stood at a railway station in Mumbai with an orphaned pup he found outside his apartment. “I was trying to find him a home with no success and was looking at him, wondering: What are we going to do with you, Nutsy? Where do we go now?” Good fortune came in the way of an airhostess who passed by and fell in love with the mongrel and adopted him later that day.
Today, Sathya juggles his full-time job as founder of an event management company and his voluntary role as Honorary Jt. Secretary of Blue Cross where he does hands-on work at the shelter and coordinates adoption advocacy programmes. At the recent Asia for Animals Conference in China, he received the Andrews Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Volunteer.
“There has been such a huge improvement in Chennai's attitude towards adoption”, says Sathya. “Sixty Indian puppies found homes through our last two adoption events”. While he applauds this development, he rues the high rate of abandonment of pets. “The saddest part of my work is whenever I go to the shelter; I see abandoned pets that were rescued from the street after being thrown out by their families. Just imagine the trauma that these dogs go through”. Currently there are over 50 abandoned pets in Blue Cross including Rottweilers, Labradors, Dobermans, German Shepherds and Pomeranians looking for loving homes.
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Sathya and his team educate the public on caring for pets permanently and making responsible choices like adopting from shelters. He believes that the ultimate goal of any animal shelter is to close down. “If we all adopted homeless pets, there will be no need for a place to house a large number of animals”, he says. “India has a history of compassion, right from Emperor Ashoka's time. Since we had a head start, shouldn't we be the most humane society in the world?”
(The next Blue Cross adoption camp with the theme ‘Proud to adopt an Indian pet' is being held on 17th July between 3 and 6 pm at CP Arts Centre, Eldams Road. Vaccinated homeless puppies are available for adoption. Call 9884767326 for details)
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TAKE ME HOME This three- month-old mongrel male pup is healthy , vaccinated and dewormed. For adoption, call 9962959686
HOLD MY PAW Hi, I'm Joy, a homeless male pup whose sibling passed away last week. I have been lonely on my own. A foster caretaker is giving me food and keeping me safe. She has named me Joy and hopes I will find a permanent, loving home with you. Call 9566259443.
HERO OF THE WEEK Kuppuraj S nominates R.Poosanam, an employee of Kapaleeswarar Temple for taking care of five cats and five dogs. She is also arranging for their birth control surgeries shortly.