News Updates
June 2006 update
Here is Lakshmi, shelter worker (left) with Judy, vet student volunteer (right).
Vet student volunteer treating a cow.
Helping feed the cows at the sanctuary: We continue to enlist the help of local Hindu groups who are interested in feeding our cows. The Mawaris were a great help to us in this respect. But mostly what is provided now is from the farmers and their residue grass left over from their harvests. But it is good grass even though we have to pay the fuel to transport it.
Vet student volunteer visits: May brought the arrival of four young women from Canada who are beginning vet students. They spent 2 weeks working hard at the shelter.
Monkey house: This overdue construction is finally being completed. We hope to transfer the monkeys within the month. The delays have been mainly due to the premonsoon rains that came early for the first time in ten years. We will all heave a sigh of relief for the monkeys. We hope to have one more facility for the primates with more help needed to accommodate at least another ten routine transferable monkeys while this present facility will cater to our resident monkeys and if we receive any badly injured ones.
Fire on 15 May: electricity caused early morning fire at the shelter. Due to the alertness of the night watch it was quickly put out but the damage to the entire ABC dispensary room was severe.
Early heavy rains and sudden downpours: Rains have added to the problems offluctuating electricity in these rural areas. With our trees and plants standing out as the only ones for a 4 km. area we are absorbing the electricity surges. Other electricity problems involved a calf who thinking a wire was a bit of green grass into it after it tore away due to a strong gust of wind. She got a very severe electric jolt and died later upsetting many at the shelter.
A new transformer is a must and will prevent electric surges that endanger our shelter and animals.
Shelter workers bringing hay for the cattle.
Dog Feeding time for the shelter resident dogs.
Sarada with new crow friends (notice the one on her head too!).
Another new resident of the shelter, they come here on their own, like the snakes coming down from the hills attracted by our cool and green habitat. We are also attracting butterflies with special plants and new sparrow species are nesting.
Office dogs --Tich sitting on the table (same dog who also uses the laptop in our link on this web site under "contact us"). Below Blacky, Brownie and Laila. All rescued as pups and now part of our family.
Feeding time.
Various kittens have been picked up and brought in, in distress, from all sorts of situations. The poor one above severely dehydrated and neglected until finally brought in for care. Many of them we are able to save and they can live out their lives in peace around our shelter if they do not get adopted.
Pradeep writes: A small brown kitten was found by me when I was moving to the shelter in the evening. He was all lost, skinny and on the centre of the busy beach road. I had to stop and take him into our care immediately. He is fine now.
Alan: Before as a kitten at VSPCA: with no hope for treatment.
Alan during surgery: The tsunami tragedy brought the visit of expert vet Dr. Bosmat Gal in early 2006 who knew how to remove the bad eye and named him Alan -photoof his surgerythat no vet in the area could perform without her guidance. We now have the 2nd gas anesthesia machine set up and being used for the safe and speedy anesthesia of our ABC animals.
Alan today living at our Cattery.
Cats in our cattery.
ABC dispensary after the fire.
The electrical box was the cause of it all.
Rescued from a new area that we started ABC in with her mom and brother and sister. This sweet pup has since been adopted. The Mom was aggressive protecting these newborns but has since been spayed and released back. The pups could have caught contagious diseases like parvo and distemper but all three of them survived with our proper care and vaccinations. All of these positive results are made possible with the inhouse management systems and strict adherence to the protocols that Dr. Rick Bachman set up when he visited.
One of our 630 cattle.
Operated dogs being released into a new area of Greater Visakha we now have responsibility for.
It seems we had a wonderful beginning for the cat operations in the new surgery room. Both our vets and visiting vet Dr. Debbie Thayer performed surgeries. We will start with cats from an area in nearby Bhimli first. All of these cats are capable of being released after operations as there are food available and people to take care of also!
New sign on cat surgery ward.
Hit while playing in the centre of the road, this dog wasrescued in the middle of the night by Pradeep and the Chief Vet .Most of the street dogs will be out at night playing or boldly sleeping around and they are susceptible to accidents.
Here is our staff and the vet students visiting the COTR Theological Seminary to teach over 600 students about animal welfare. Mallika and Sarada and the vet students spoke to all about the animals and now the children understand that the dogs and cats should not be killed but sterilized and will call us now when they find the stray animals.
Dr. Thayer is very excited about our programs and was a great deal of help during her short stay here. She feels that by involving this school in awareness the animals in the entire area of Bhimliwill begin to be helped. We have been trying this for over three years now and now we got a big boost with Dr. Thayer's help.
Migratory birds: This year season from October 2005 to April 2006 for the migratory birds of Telenelipuram (120 kms North of Visakhapatnam) have seen more unfortunate deaths especially of the hatchlings - from sudden thunderstorms and a mysterious wild cat. However the total numbers have marginally increased to 1100 of both species - painted stork and cormorants, but this has not been encouraging at all. On a positive note the Committee that was formed to protect these birds has been serious and active but not making much progress. We continue to monitor along with the Forest Department but due to our limited resources have not been able to get to this far away place to check up as much as we would have liked. We hope in the next season to do more education campaigns if we find the birds are being poached. We continue to have the support of the village people around the area for the last five years and they will help protect the birds at their nesting places.
We have good news to report as to the various projects that were funded and will be completed soon. However, our working capital remains an overwhelming struggle and we have little operating funds to keep going. Any contribution makes a big difference to us and you will be joining our worldwide network of kindness. Please consider making any small donation or a regular monthly contribution something we can count on - presently we have no one who commits to that.
From all of us - humans and over 800 animals - at VSPCA; India
Infinite thanks to our patrons Phil and Trix Wollen and Ms. Margaret Gebhard. The cat shelter was built with Ms. Olive Walker's kind support and she contributed further cat operating expenses. Mrs. Maneka Gandhi continues to work behind the scenes to promote our cause to the government officials and to see that we might be able to get the extra land remaining of 3 acres next to the shelter. Without her help our cause would be much more difficult.
Veterinary goods were donated by The Marchig Trust and Dr. Bosmat Gal. Generous contributions were also received from Sharon St. Joan and Calvin Towle and since our last email report in April we also received contributions from children at Tara Redwood School, Eleanor Dvorchak, Claudine Erlandson, Sylvia Caris, Judy Hungerford, Krishna Dunthoori, Rashmi Mantha, Eileen Fletcher, Karen Taylor, Patrice Travis. Thanks again to Animal Rescue League of Boston for our fabulous new gas anesthesia machine finally carried to us from the USA very kindly by Radha and Vijay Kaipa. Our gratitude as always to Animal People News and Assoc. of Vets for Animal Rights for their help.
Submitted and photos by Pradeep Nath, President of VSPCA, India
Written by Eileen Weintraub, USA