Animalize

ing food to and taking care of stray animals' medical needs in my locality and office area. We try to help animals across the tricity, in the following way:

•Rescuing Animals

Rescuing involves treating the animal on the spot or taking it to a vet. In critical cases, we even have to take the injured animal to GADVASU Veterinary Hospital in Ludhiana. Sometimes, vets also agree to visit an injured or unwell animal on the spot, but such services charge more than taking the doctor to a vet. Rescuing also includes providing short and long-term medications, along with a good diet.

•Transporting Animals

As the majority of us are working, it often gets challenging to rescue an animal and take him to a vet. Moreover, due to permit issues, it’s difficult for public transport such as SPCA and Municipality to save animals across the Tricity (Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula). Hence, we take the help of paid drivers who are efficient in handling/catching animals and have basic medication knowledge. We are also planning to buy second-hand cars as it would be a one-time investment and would cost less than hiring paid drivers every time.

•Paid-fostering

In some instances, we cannot leave stray animals on the road. I’m referring to instances like an animal undergoing surgery and needing post-care, newborn puppy/puppies being motherless and needing care, and when animals getting abandoned by their owners. In fact, paid fosters also give medications and even take an animal to a vet in case of an emergency.

•Vaccinations

Veterinary hospitals and dispensaries only provide free of cost ARV (anti-rabies) vaccination. However, 6-in-1 vaccines are not available in such places. These vaccines are crucial as they can protect a dog from deadly diseases like Parvo, Distemper, and Kennel Cough. We try to vaccinate as many stray dogs as we can.

•Feeding

Feeding is a must for any living being. Although we try our best to feed dogs around our locality and office, we cannot feed all the animals around us due to financial constraints. We also have to take care of other aspects of volunteering. Specific volunteers are good at feeding but lack funds for feeding so many animals consistently. So we try to provide feed to volunteers so that not even a single animal in sight sleeps hungry. COVID-19 proved to be a real testing time for us, but we tried our best to provide food to as many stray animals as possible.

-We firmly believe that an animal must never suffer due to 3 reasons:

• Lack of Funds
• Untimely Treatment
• Ignorance

As most of the volunteers are working, we cannot provide the best care and treatment to stray animals consistently. We’ve tried to collect funds from various sources but always fall short of our expectations. Hence, we are putting our salaries at stake month after month for years. We’d like to spend some funds on vaccinations, sterilizations, medicines for spot treatments, animal feeding (especially in non-residential and commercial areas), water bowls, winter clothes, reflective collars, etc, however, the lack of funds and the economic impact of COVID-19 is not allowing us to expand our volunteering activities. Please help us, as the only thing that is stopping us from helping animals is the shortage of funds. For more details, you can email me at [email protected]. Looking forward to receiving help for our furry friends from you.