Paws a While - newsletter of AHF, Ahmedabad JAN 05

[Guest guest]

 

• From the editor’s desk:

 

There is no doubt that the destruction caused by the Tsunami killer wave is of a

great magnitude. Being situated in a place that had survived the earthquake four

years ago, it is really not difficult trying to put ourselves in the shoes of

people who have lost almost everything to a natural disaster.

It goes without saying that animals in these areas bear the brunt of such

disasters on a much bigger than imaginable scale.

 

But it is not always natural disasters that cause loss of lives. Festivals

celebrated by people may also do the trick just as well. Uttarayan (Kite

Flying), which falls on the 14th of January each year, sees thousands of birds

fall prey to extremely sharp glass-coated strings. These strings almost always

cut into the bird’s flesh, grounding them for life.

 

It takes just one visit to the shelter to see how many birds have been maimed

and injured for life. But maybe heartening is the fact that many people have

decided to stop flying kites after coming to the shelter and seeing the havoc

caused by kites and glass coated strings.

 

• The month that was … January 2005

 

Help the Birds- 2005

 

If numbers are an indication of one’s success and if ‘more means better’, our

‘Help the Birds – 2005’ definitely is one ‘accomplishment’.

 

If one had to gauge our success by the numbers of birds that have come in during

Uttarayan (Kite Flying), there is no doubt that we has failed miserably. With

over 3000 birds coming in within just 10 days, Help the Birds – 2005 was a

campaign in which we managed to rescue a huge number of birds.

Apart from the 30 satellite centres in and around the city, we managed to

mobilize about 20 young volunteers who were dispatched as soon as we got a call

for a bird. Even after the festival got over, we continued getting complaints

for pigeons that were hanging from electric wires, or up to ten pariah kites

hanging from kite strings from just one tree. Not only did we get hundreds of

pariah kites and pigeons, but also exotic birds like night herons, black and

white ibis, Saras cranes and flamingos.

 

Dr. Dog

 

Dr. Goofy, Dr. Eve, Dr. Angel, Dr. Toffee were the ones spreading happiness to

institutions like the Blind Peoples’ Association, Setu – a school for spastic

children, and Prem Fateh Foundation for alternative therapy to leucoderma

patients.

As part of their cultural festival, the SID (School for Interior Design), also

had a Dr. Dog session, where (under privileged and blind) children, from

Samvedna attended it.

 

 

 

 

 

New Website

 

Our new and updated website with www.ahf.org.in as its domain will be launched

on the 14th of February along with the ABC centre of Gyaspur.

The new website is our sincere effort to present our work to the world community

in a more interactive and realistic way. Since our organisation cannot afford

upmarket professionals, we have ourselves gotten together to write the content

and design the site and any suggestions for improvements will be greatly

appreciated. The new website is entirely in black and white, symbolizing life

and death – representing hope for animals where there was none.

 

 

Survivor of the month – Raju

Raju, a brindle dog, has the distinction of being one amongst our earliest

inmates. He had come in with his pelvis totally fractured, and after a series of

other ailments, is easily the boss of the entire AHF ‘permanent animals’ clan.

 

Visitor of the month – Broody

Broody, a night heron came to the shelter with its right wing almost severed due

to a kite string injury. It underwent treatment and now sits with others viz. a

lapwing, a flamingo, ibises and other migratory birds. It has been grounded for

life and can never go back to the inland waters or estuaries where it is

commonly found.

 

CEPT workshop

The School of Interior Design (SID), which is a part of the Centre for

Environmental Planning and Development (CEPT), had as part of its workshop two

days for AHF. The first day was a Bird Workshop with our bird consultant showing

the basic common species of birds and the injuries that they suffered owing to

increased kite flying during Uttarayan.

 

The second day was a Dr.Dog session with four Dr. Dogs who came with their

owners. Fortunately enough, about 35 children from ‘Samvedna’, an organisation

working for welfare of underprivileged children, were present to witness the

session. A point was made when the Dr. Dog presentation ended with the sentence

-”the reason the dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail and not his

tongue”

 

 

Call for a jackal

Our ambulance was dispatched for getting a jackal that had met with an accident.

But unfortunately, we couldn’t save it and it succumbed to death, due to severe

blood loss and shock.

 

 

• Finally, Paradise found …

Our dream of helping more and more animals is just about to be fulfilled with

work on Paradise under way. The bird rehabilitation centre, with

state-of-the-art flight cages for vultures, and huge enclosures for birds of

prey. Paradise will also have an Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre for 400 dogs,

along with Pet boarding kennels, Retirement homes for old dogs, and an Animal

Crematorium. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and SPANA (Society for

protection of animals abroad) have joined hands with AHF in order to make the

first phase of Paradise, the Animal Birth Control Center a reality and we are

eagerly anticipating more organisations to join hands with us to make the entire

project a success.

 

• Upcoming events

An anti-cruelty Walkathon is being organized during February as a mark of love,

compassion and solidarity towards animals. Valentine’s Day usually is celebrated

for expressing one’s affection towards a loved one. But this year things are

going to be different with about 1000 school children walking for animals, and a

hundred pet owners with their pets, for a common cause.

 

Doctors going to Sri Lanka

In order to help animals severely affected by the tsunami, AHF will be sending

two of its veterinarians to Sri Lanka. Apart from treating the stranded animals

there, they will also be attending a two week workshop for the quick Spay/Neuter

surgery method as prescribed by the Humane Society and of course same day

release of stray dogs.

These sterilization programs will help them operate on huge numbers of dogs more

efficiently and cut down costs, as compared to the ones being neutered at

present.

 

Medicines Messiah

In order to help fulfil the drugs requirements for our shelter, Medicines

Messiah is one initiative that helps pharmaceutical companies fulfil their

responsibilities towards animals. The response that we have received so far from

companies is truly overwhelming, with all of them coming forward to help

creatures that surely deserve a life better than the ones they live.

 

• People who have helped us

 

Karishmeh Felfeli – from Dublin, Ireland who has truly overwhelmed us with her

unconditional support and is even going ahead with a fundraiser at Dublin as she

is a noted professional Pianist.

 

 

• Statistics for January

Admitted animals - 876

Animals that were euthanized - 81

Released animals - 201

Dead animals – 277

 

 

 

Help the Birds- 2005 statistics

 

There are only 99 vultures that remain in Ahmedabad, according to a census done

last year, making White Backed Vultures an endangered species.

 

The kite flying frenzy this year claimed the lives of 8 vultures, and 9 are

still trying to come to terms with a life on the ground.

 

The AHF shelter was visited by vets from Zoological Society of London last

month, and the vultures will be sent to BHNS – Pinjore to their Captive Breeding

Centre.

 

Apart from hordes of pigeons, doves and kites, the shelter also had as its

visitors

A comb duck, a shoveller, two flamingos, a saraus crane, two night herons, a

stone curlew, two shikras and two crow pheasants.

 

 

 

Rahul sehgal

 

" Become a HUMANIMAL "