One year of lockdown: These Good Samaritans looked after vulnerable animals during the pandemic

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ‘Janta Curfew’ on 22 March, 2020 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, people went into panic mode scrambling to get supplies to keep their families safe and fed during the lockdown. Some went beyond looking after their own interests and helped the homeless and people who were unable to make ends meet. Other Good Samaritans decided to take care of all the animals who are abandoned on the streets. We salute some of these selfless heroes:

Mital Khetani – Shree Karuna Foundation

The Shree Karuna Foundation Trust in Rajkot, Gujarat, has spent more than Rs 1.5 crore to help animals. The NGO has been active for more than 17 years under the guidance of Mital Khetani who derives a sense of happiness through helping others.

The Foundation runs free animal ambulance, hospital, and veterinarian services in Rajkot and the surrounding areas. Starting with about 1,400 animals in 2005, the organisation has saved more than five lakh strays animals and birds and provides free 24x7 veterinary services.

Sagun Bhatjiwale: The Nature’s Ally Foundation

This veterinary student from Mumbai is feeding these animals along with the help of other good samaritans. A member of The Nature’s Ally Foundation: an NGO dedicated to the welfare of birds, animals and trees, his good deeds were first highlighted on Instagram account ‘nobordersshop’. The account shared his story, where he talks about how disheartening it is for him to see animals in such anguish

“My heart reaches out to the stray animals of the city, who face the scarcity of food and lack of water on a daily basis, struggling with extreme starvation and dehydration, as human activity has decreased to an unprecedented level.” He organised for the food supplies from his own savings, but the bigger obstacle was to find transport to carry the food, however with the help of a local animal lover, Rakesh Gupta, Shagun managed to help feed over 100 dogs every day.

Pawzz Team

Pawzz is an NGO run by a family in Gurugram that rescues and rehabilitates strays and provides medical assistance. When the lockdown was announced, they started a new mission—the Hunger Project. Volunteers with the group came forward to lend a helping hand.

Pawzz has also been spreading awareness to dispel myths that COVID-19 can be spread by pets. This was especially because many dogs have been abandoned, beaten and even been poisoned during the pandemic owing to public paranoia.

Haris Ali - Sarvoham Welfare Trust

As a 12-year-old, Haris Ali loved taking care of a little family of dogs near his home – a mother with a litter of three puppies. He would spend his pocket money of Rs 2, Haris would buy a small pack of biscuits to feed them. Tragedy struck when he saw one of the puppies was beaten to death by a neighbour. In 2017, he started a shelter in a small room. He started the Sarvoham Welfare Trust to rescue, shelter, protect, and re-home. 

At present, the shelter houses about 170 dogs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the office shut down temporarily and funds also stopped coming in. During the lockdown, most of the funds came through crowdfunding campaigns on Milaap. Sarvoham was able to raise about Rs 10 lakh from these campaigns.

Alpana Bhartia - Trustees of People for Animals 

Alpana has been working in the field of animal welfare and conservation for the past 25 years. She is a constituted member of the Institutional Ethics Committee of the National Centre for Biological Studies (NCBS), and has been nominated by the Government of India to the committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals. Being empathetic towards animals is something Alpana had learnt right from her childhood. Born in Kolkata to a traditional Rajasthani family, she had grown to become very fond of pets and animals as her father always kept dogs. During the lockdown, the NGO was largely involved in conducting feeding programmes with food ambulances to feral dogs, cats, cows, and horses.

Pradeep Nair - Animal Warriors Conservation Society 

Pradeep Nair’s love for animals began when he was just 11-years-old. After keeping a parrot in an enclosure for days, he discovered the joy of releasing it, and from then on, there was no looking back. From volunteering with the Blue Cross, a UK-based animal welfare organisation, laying the foundation for an NGO on his own, to rescuing and treating more than 70,000 animals, Pradeep has done it all. To raise funds for medical care, transport, and other rescue equipment, the NGO has kicked off a crowdfunding campaign.