A half-blind, older horse now off the street!
Visakha SPCA, or VSPCA, on the east coast of India, one of the largest animal sanctuaries in the country, has open doors and caring hearts for any animal in need---from working animals who are about to be sold near the end of their lives to the little puppy, just beginning life, found walking down the middle of a busy street.A half-blind, older horse now off the street!
By Scott FeldsteinGuddi's new friend, Raja, is having a snack.
Guddi Guram, herself, is a half-blind, older horse who was used at weddings and festivals to carry people around in the hot Indian sun. We were constantly warning her owner that Guddi had passed the “retirement” age for horses.
Sometimes we tend to forget that many animals are forced into non-stimulating and often solitary lives, strictly for our entertainment.
Eventually, this strenuous labor was taking its toll, and we seized her before she would have collapsed. She is one of three wonderful horses who have joined our extensive family of dogs, birds, cattle, monkeys, cats and others. If we find animals in trouble, we will do all we can to give them all better lives, regardless of what type of animal they are, or how they were mistreated by people.
No place for a puppyWe consider all of our animals beautiful, but not all our puppies are this cute. Chameli is the sweetest thing, isn’t she?
She was spotted by Pradeep and one of our drivers, walking right down the middle of a main road. Anyone who has been on a busy street in India knows that is no place for a person to be walking, let alone a defenseless puppy. She was being fed a little by the people in the neighborhood, but we needed to take her in, sterilize her, and find her a steady, responsible owner. The earlier we find these homeless dogs, the more problems we can prevent in the dog community in general: disease, aggressiveness, overpopulation, etc. At the end of the day, all the dogs and cats at the shelter are seeking stable, loving homes.
Rescued at the last momentAs Eid (the Muslim festival that marks the end of Ramadan and the month of fasting) approached, a man saw two young men walking down the road with two bulls, suffering from beatings and mistreatment. Apparently, after years of loyal service the bulls had been sold and were on the way to a local illegal slaughterhouse. This man reported these transporters to the police. The police, as is too often the case in these situations, looked the other way. While the people who get paid to deal with these problems (or sometimes paid to NOT deal with them) often have other priorities, we are known in the area for going above and beyond the call of duty for the welfare of animals. The heroic, concerned citizen called us and we took the bulls to our shelter and their new family of over 650 cattle. We have named them Ram (Hindu) and Rahim (Muslim), which translates to Peace and Integrity.
Six more new arrivals in the middle of the nightAnimals needing rescue do not stop arriving. Another six cows were rescued early yesterday, in the middle of the night. This is the note sent to Pradeep Nath, President of Visakha SPCA, by Forest Department Officers, asking him to take five more cows and one calf, saved from illegal slaughter--Editor"When we ( V.Kinnera and P.V.R. Sridhar) were on our way to Visakhapatnam from Vijayanagaram. we found an auto cab with a driver and the assistant of the cow owner with five cows and one calf. As the man started striking the cows, we stopped him and enquired about them. We noticed that these men were taking them to the slaughterhouse. We stopped them and got the cows and calf on the road. The two men escaped in their auto, and we were not in a position to catch them because we needed to control the animals. As we cannot keep these animals, we request you to keep these animals under care and custody."
From
V.kinnera
P.V.R.Sridhar
Of course, the five cows and the calf were taken in at Visakha SPCA! Some threatening calls were received, presumably from the men who gotten away from the officers, but that was all quite normal--part of life at the Visakha SPCA. The five newly-arrived cows and the little calf will have many happy days ahead!--Editor Posted by Sharon St. JoanPhotos: Visakha SPCAHow you can helpA donation of any amount will be used to provide food and care for the 1,050 animals being given sanctuary at the Visakha SPCA.
http://www.visakhaSPCA.org