Rescue,Love,Save-1000's of Suffering Animals.India

Yes! Dear People,

It was a long, long day. Got up at 4am. Got home at 8:30pm. But it was a sensational day, a deeply moving day, a humbling day. I took a little nap at 10:30pm, got up intending to shortly go back to bed...But then I saw it, "a gentle reminder" email from GlobalGiving that our next Report was due on the 19th...In seven days...How Perfect!

I'm starting the Report now and am first going to tell you about the extraordinary rescue, enabled by me and Dr. Raja...But put together, top to bottom by our beloved Vishwa. I truly don't know how he was able to do it. Truly. That's why I sometimes call him the Martian. Because an earthling couldn't do what he does.

I got a call (yesterday, Wednesday the 12th) involving creatures that needed rescuing 75 kms from here in a small village called Mathura Arasanoor.

A local political figure had five days before been killed by six men from that village. India, especially some of the rural areas, can sometimes be driven by blind passions, almost not understandable. (Let me insert here that I have spent 26 years of my life in this country. And I love it, and love the people. And, in my Heart, it is my country.) Well, anyway, the six were all related and from the same village. The families fled for their lives, abandoning their animals, probably never to return. "Sympathizers" of the murdered political figure burned down the houses of the families.

Further, the "sympathizers" would not let anyone feed or care for the animals. 85 of them. And they were slowly starving...Goats. Cows. Calves. Bulls. Bullocks. Sheep. Pigs.

Word reached us five days after the happening. To confirm, I called a local newsreporter who'd gone in to do the story the day before. It was true. And five animals had already died. With that confirmation, Dr. Raja and I then approached the Collector (like a regional governor), who turned out to have some familiarity with the situation. And by 8pm an order was issued for the police to impound the abandoned animals, who were suffering and in danger of dying. And the order further specified that our Shelter be used to do the rescue and care for the them.

Vishwa did not hear of this until 7pm, just before the order was issued. I told him what was unfolding, and that time was of the essence. He said that he'd be ready to move by 8am in the morning. I was almost unbelieving...I said, "Babe, are you sure?..."No problem, Sir."

And unbelievably, early Thursday morning Vishwa was set to move. Four very large lorries with drivers, and a small sized one with three large cages for the pigs. And Vishwa, of course, to hands on orchestrate the whole thing, plus six carefully selected men to catch and load. (Included were Pandi, Venkatesh, and Prem Kumar from our Staff.)

Our emergency "task force" first went to the principal government office in Chengam, the main town 35 miles from the village. It was a dangerous, potentially explosive situation. So the principal Government official there assembled a contingent of police protection (including a sub-inspector who was head of the Station), and seven influential government officials from various departments. We then headed towards the village. The trip was partly thru hilly country and pothole, torn up roads. It took almost two hours. It was a beautiful village. There's a general drought in most parts of Tamil Nadu and everything is dried up. But there was a large dam and reservoir nearby, and it was surrounded by distant high hills. It was beautifully green, something I'd not seen for several months. (We picked up the vice-president of the village on the way. He was afraid and had not gone there since the murder.)

Before proceeding...Let me tell you that rescued were 56 goats, 2 sheep, 17 cows/calves/bulls, 6 bullocks, and 4 pigs (including a large, and as we learned, belligerent male close to 300 pounds.)

It took four hours of intense effort, and went off unbelievably perfectly. (I want to do an eight foot bronze casting of Vishwa, illuminated at night with lights.) I was humbled by how intensely, and professionally they moved, without a break for four continuous hours. I was so proud of our three Staff that put out such strong energy and were fearless. There were many, many places where they could have been badly hurt, especially in the loading of the cows, bulls, and bullocks.

First the goats were loaded into two large lorries. They were in two contained areas, didn’t weigh much, and were gentle creatures. So it went rather fast. 

Then the cows, calves, bulls, and bullocks were loaded in the two remaining large lorries. First they all had to be gathered, lead ropes put on, and tethered, which took at least an hour. Then the difficult part. Most did not get on the trucks willingly. They had to be pushed and lifted. It was intense. Especially the six large bullocks. The calves were no problem. They simply were lifted and put on. This is a short paragraph, but let me tell you it was fraught with unbelievable effort requiring almost superhuman strength. And it was dangerous. Thank God there were no major injuries.

While loading, one of the cows broke away and ran off. As you’ll see in the photos, there’s a lot of land and considerable forested areas. We had eight people searching for her for 45 minutes. But we had to give up and leave her behind. Vishwa spoke to some nearby local people. He left his phone number and took theirs. When they see the cow, they will call. If they can tether her, that would be best. Vishwa told me he would then go in there with a small truck and pick her up. I told him, “Absolutely not. You have to go in with police protection. This isn’t a kiddie's game we’re in. You could easily be killed.”

Then, with some difficulty, the four pigs were caught, put in cages, and loaded onto the smaller lorry. The two younger ones were fast and ran all over the place. It took half a dozen people at least 30 minutes to catch them. The smaller adult posed no special problems. It was getting the large male into the cage that was very intense. Pigs are intelligent and very affectionate creatures. But they can become seriously aggressive. And a pig bite is very, very heavy. I know Vishwa had read up on how to catch pigs, and tho’ he never says anything negative, I know that he was a little concerned at how it might unfold.

And so we started the journey back. It was after 4pm.

To care for the animals, Vishwa arranged for:

• A very good cowshed in Tiruvannamalai for the cows, calves, bulls, and bullocks. He hired five experienced caretakers (three for the day, two for the night) for around the clock care...and set up a good food supply.
• For the goats and two sheep, he selected a semi-grassy (remember there's a severe drought here), shaded area 25 kms outside of Tiru that also has a good water supply. He hired an additional five caretakers to give them 24 hour care. Most nutrition will come from grazing where they are situated. It will be supplemented by oil cakes and purchased fresh grass.
• What happened with the four pigs and their housing is almost a horror story that I will develop later.

On the trip back, Vishwa called ahead to have ample water available for the cows. It was after 7pm and dark when they got there. It took almost an hour to unload the 23 from both lorries. And even in the dark, the young calves found their moms in a few minutes.You'd better believe they were all thirsty and hungry! Vishwa had four caretakers the first night.The Precious Ones had been thru difficult circumstances. They were given dry grass, water and rice bran before being settled in. The following morning, oil cakes were added, and a second kind of rice bran. On the following day, fresh green grass was added. (Because of the drought, Vishwa couldn’t get fresh grass, locally.) Om Namah Shivaya.

It was around 9pm, and completely dark, when Vishwa headed for the goats to get them “tucked in” for the night.

In the meantime the goats had been unloaded in their place about 25 kms away. There were five caretakers there. The goats had been given water when they arrived, but nothing else. It was too late to arrange anything. The caretakers were encircling them, keeping them together, waiting for Vishwa, who showed up somewhat before 10pm. He set up a temporary net enclosure, and the goats were settled in for the night. In the morning he built a “permanent” net enclosure (see the photos, below), reduced the caretakers to three, and the Sweeties (they really are gentle, vulnerable creatures) were taken for extended foraging, which they loved. The following day, oil cakes and peanut plants, both of which are favorites, were added to their diet.

The four pigs are being housed in the Shelter in a 12 x 20ft pen especially built for them in a spot that also has a roof. It’s at the far end of the Shelter, away from the general congregation of dogs. Our regular Staff will lovingly oversee their care. How that came about, follows.

Everything went well except for the pigs. Their lorry reached the Shelter at about 6:30pm. They were left in the cages to be picked up at 8:30pm by a person who was going to drive the lorry to get them to a good place. He didn’t show. They stayed in the cages overnight.

They’re extremely intelligent, sensitive, and loving, capable of forming close bonds with humans, moreso than the other Voiceless Ones we rescued. Tho’ they’d not been fed for six days, and the people caring for them were gone, they surely didn’t realize they were in deep trouble. Then we showed up, aggressive strangers, and roughly put them in three cages. Having lost everything they’d ever known, for three hours they were driven on a lorry. And the cages were small. 

The Staff tried to mitigate their suffering. They took water and two grains that had been prepared for them, but nothing else. The pigs were aggressive and so traumatized that they wanted no one near them. 

Vishwa tried all the next day to get a good place. But couldn’t. I called around, unsuccessfully. We got in touch with a very good woman who had a half acre near Chennai, a four hour ride away, where the pigs would run free. But the males had to be sterilized, which we couldn’t do because the owners have a right to reclaim them for one month. 6pm that second day, I said to Vishwa that if the best we can do is get a pen for them to be cared for, then there is no one I trust more than us. We agreed that the thought of them staying in the cramped cages another night was almost unthinkable. So Vishwa set out to gather the materials needed for a pen. By 8:30pm he was back at the Shelter ready to build. We spoke at 9:30pm. It would be set up within an hour. But another major problem-and a "biggie". They couldn’t get the pigs in thru the front gate. Vishwa had to lift the cages over the six foot wall encircling the Shelter, and the large male weighed 300 pounds. At that point, I felt that we just couldn’t do it and it would have to wait ‘til morning. But he said, “Sir, we can do it.”….6:30am the next morning I went to the Shelter. And there, in the 12 x 20ft pen, were the four pigs. This is now six days since their "horror". Their fear has melted away. They're being fed "piggie" delicacies. And they're starting to feel good.(A note to Vishwa. Don’t know if he’ll ever see it…"For everything you do. For your beautiful Heart. I place me head at your feet.")

ADDENDUM: It’s now the 8^th day since Rescue. It feels so good to see the profound change in the state of all the cowshed creatures—physically and emotionally. 

Their care regimen is:

• 24 hours a day they have dry grass and water.
• Twice a day, 10am and 5pm, they get oil cakes, two kinds of bran, and fresh green grass.
• The shed is cleaned every two hours.
• For two hours every morning they’re taken to a large field and allowed to run free. There are two that try to run away. They are kept on 30 ft. ropes.
• The caretakers are very good. 

They have a lot of room in the shed. The vibration of the place is pure. And it’s clear that the Precious Ones are very content.

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The Shelter is critically overcrowded. Four years ago, 60 in-patients would have been pressing our comfortable capacity inside. Now, because of an exponential increase in the number of animals coming to us, we have between 175 and 225 in-patients.

Amazingly enough, thru the devotion of our remarkable Staff, and the vibration inside the Shelter, the Precious Ones still feel safe, cared for and loved…AND are happy. But they can’t run around as freely as they used to. 

To give all our animals more attention and caring, we hired four village ladies for half days—two morning, two afternoon. Their only activity is to give the Sweeties extra love—caring, massaging, reassuring, holding. And to keep the animals happier in the hot season, we purchased four air-coolers.

Our number one priority is to build a larger facility. We are presently petitioning the present Municipal Commissioner (newly arrived), who strongly supports our Work (Hallelujah), to give us a temporary extension of land that would relieve the pressure for one or two years while we go about raising money to buy land and build a much larger facility. It appears likely that enough of an extension will be granted to do the job.

We have a wonderful, remarkable Staff, led by Dr. Raja, President Trustee, Director of Medical Services…And Vishwa, our Director of Operations. Dr. Raja is one of the most experienced clinicians within 150 kms of here. People regularly travel over 100 kms to have him treat their pets. And he is believed to be the very best surgeon in the region. He undertakes operations sometimes lasting four to six hours that other surgeons wouldn’t think of attempting. The Government Veterinary Hospital has him do all their complicated operations. The Forest Department brings all their difficult cases to him. The Madras Veterinary College sometimes sends students to observe him…Our Staff consists of 21 excellent Beings, most of whom have been with us over six years. The love and caring they give to our Precious Ones is humbling.

We are very, very busy. The activity of the Shelter has tripled in the last five years. But Dr. Raja, Vishwa, and our beloved Staff handle it beautifully.

We are able to handle all of our operational functions.

• We are very, very busy. The activity of the Shelter has tripled in the last five years. But Dr. Raja, Vishwa, and our beloved Staff handle it beautifully.
• The up to  750 clinic visits a month.
• The 80 to 110 emergency rescues over and above the clinic visits. (Mainly creatures that we go out to get, most during the day, some at night…Our vets are on 24 hour call.)
• The 1,200 to 1,500 month treatments required of our in-patients.
• The 25 to 80 sterilizations a month.
• The up to 20 adoptions each month.
• The treating of 30 to 75 anim

Pranams to them, each and every one.

But, repeating, we are critically overcrowded inside our beloved Shelter.

We recently had a visit from two strong supporters and they immediately picked up on how beautifully our Precious Ones got along, despite our present crowded conditions and the fact they were not kept in cages and were running free. They really do feel safe, cared for and loved, and are happy. It's amazing. One would expect to see an ongoing riot with fights, fear, wounds. It has to do with the loving, sattvic shakti of the place. Their relationship with each other. Their relationship with the Staff. Their feeling protected and safe.... AND Grace.

Before we got crowded I used to love to see them all feed together. Anyone who's tried to feed three or four dogs together knows of the difficulty involved. Here's an excerpt from an article about feeding that I wrote in one of our newsletters.

- But it's in the Feeding that each time I'm present, I see the unfolding of a miracle. These are all pups or homeless dogs who have dealt with who knows what injustices and cruelties in their lives. And certainly, many have dealt with hunger. It amazes me to see all of them fed together, almost all hungry, with such stunningly few conflicts. One would expect a riot..Open warfare...Greed...Territoriality...Fear of being deprived.

- It's the deep trusting...The security of getting theirs...Of their relationship with each other...Of letting others get theirs before them...Of the surety that the Staff, the ones who look after them, who care for them, who express love...will give them theirs.........I don't really know...These are fragments thrown in the direction of the complexity that's manifesting in this miracle...The miracle of them overcoming their primal survival instincts. Of not pushing and fighting to get their food...It's the definitive assertion that they feel...Safe...Cared for...And loved.

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Before closing...Some moving Heart stories from the past.

Ramu2...He was a white Pomeranian. About three years old. Abandoned by his owners. It was evident they were viciously cruel with the little guy. I saw him first in a stall in our intensive care area. He was ferocious. No one could get near him. But we noticed that his head was almost turned towards the wall as he was snarling and snapping. His ferociousness was not directed at attacking us, but seemed rather to somehow be trying to fend off an imminent beating. I think that he had been beaten mercilessly to “subdue” him. I started by just sitting quietly outside the cage. Not too close. And just speaking gently with no attempt to get closer. I felt that he would experience any approach as threatening and frightening. And so it went on like this for a number of days, Not approaching. Talking gently as he snarled and snapped. Then I started throwing him cheese cubes. Still not approaching. Speaking gently. For a week or so. Slowly he started looking at me in the morning when I came to see him. I would immediately start throwing in the cheese cubes and talking to him. Then, after a while, his tail started wagging when I showed up. And then----He started approaching me. During that period he also started relating to other staff members...And then we had him running around free in the "Intensive Care" area. At first, I was a little apprehensive. But he was terrific. Then, with Bach Flower remedies, Ramu2 just became "one of the guys". Om Namah Shivaya.

The Liontail Macque Monkey story...We got him near Shanti Internet. He was pretty big. And very, very strong.He had significant leg injuries and we had to sedate him to get him to the Shelter…Dr.Raja finished working on him in the clinic and told Vishwa to carry him over to a cage. When Vishwa picked him up, it turned out he was not fully sedated and they, the two of them, started crashing around the clinic, wrestling, until Vishwa, after five minutes, finally prevailed and got him into the cage. Two days later he was released back into his territory…Vishwa said he was so strong that his first step out of the cage was thirteen feet!

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Well dear People, we've come to the end of this Report... So... Repeating from prior Reports...We're under BIG pressure to get into a much larger facility, and that means land ($40,000 to $75,000), and building ($250,000). I believe it will take at least a year. If you know Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, call them! If you know Ratan Tata, Rockefeller, or a gadzillionaire who loves animals, call them! If you have contact with my Mother, tell her to send my Piggy Bank. Anything you can do would be great. If it's not money...Prayers...This is real and it's big. ALSO, CONCERNING THE PIGS AND SHEEP...The owners can re-claim them within one month. If so, they would ultimately be headed for slaughter. If that happens, we will try to buy them and send them to a sanctuary to live out a natural life. The cost of the four pigs would be around $600. The cost of the 56 goats and two sheep would be around $3000. If that should come about, and you'd like to help enable us to do it by pledging a donation, should it arise...Write me...And I will let you know if it's going to happen...If the owners don't re-claim, then they're ours, free and clear...Om Namah Shivaya (You can contact me at arunachalashelter@yahoo.com).

Links:

• Our website.
• Our Facebook page
• Excellent 8 minute video of Shelter---professional

Dear, dear People, 

Before beginning…Thank you for the caring. Thank you for the support. Thank you for giving ;us the energy to go on. 

A lot of our Work has to do with lifting the karma of the animals. They are faced with such a heavy load. Indifference—Political. Bureaucratic. General…Outright cruelty...And on and on. A lot of the battles that we fight have to do with lifting that karma. Of changing things for them. You can see it happening as things get lighter and lighter for them. In those passages that are so heavy, and things get really tough, I try to remember that it's not situational, and it's not meaningless. It's really burning thru the obstacles for the Precious Ones. You can see it working as a lot of the heaviness lifts and things get better and better for them in Tiruvannamalai. Om Namah Shivaya.

It is such a blessing to be able to do this Work. There are so few times in life when one has the chance to participate in something  that lifts so much suffering.

And the energy that comes back from these beautiful, innocent creatures…The love…Surrounds one with a gentle, protective, good-feeling bubble.

It’s such a blessing to feel these things. When I’m feeling “down”, traversing a difficult inner passage, feeling love/caring for these creatures as I’m walking along the street, is an affirmation of my humanity.

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We’re going thru difficult times right now…a passage that had a beginning and has an end.

We’re overcrowded.

Getting to that state is very auspicious. It's a clear reflection of peoples' Hearts opening more and more to the Voiceless Ones.

The number of monthly emergency rescues have increased exponentially in the last two years…From 40 to between 80 and 110. Almost all are homeless dogs and puppies. It’s a strong sign that people have become much more aware and caring for these Precious Creatures. Can you imagine the significance of someone calling in and saying this homeless dog hasn’t been eating the last two days? I mean it's coming from a space ten years ago of almost complete indifference…Om Namah Shivaya.

And similarly, the number of monthly visits for treatment to our clinic has increased from an average of 300 two years ago, to between 550 and 750 now. These are mostly “owner dogs”. The owners' Hearts are opening more and more, too. Om Namah Shivaya.

So with this great blessing, the Transformation of a Community, comes an increase in the number of Precious Ones in-house--from between 75 and 100 two years ago to between 200 and 225, now. 

The Voiceless Ones still feel safe, cared for, and loved…but they can’t run around like they used to….AND the skin conditions have gotten to an alarming level. (More later).

Our Number One priority is to get into a much bigger facility. That means purchasing land and building.

Amazingly enough, the Municipality Bureaucracy or the local Politicos couldn’t care less. For them there is "no problem" because the streets are so remarkably good. There’s probably no municipality in the Nation that has anything like this.

The reason things are so good is because we have a staff of 21, two full-time veterinary doctors…are doing 100 emergency rescues a month, seeing up to 750 cases for treatment each month in our clinic, going out up to 100 kms to find homes for our puppies, doing emergency rescue 24/7, treating and caring for over 200 creatures in-house, doing 60 to 100 sterilizations each month, and perhaps performing 5 to 10 complicated operations.

It’s an amazing arrogance.

When we opened ten years ago, the scene was the worst I’ve seen. 5000 (more, likely 7000) homeless dogs, and the population out of control. 350 suffering and dying creatures on the streets. Rabies. Starvation. No facility for treatment and care within 70 kms. A terrible relationship between the people and the animals. Widespread abuse. Many dog bites.

That is now all in the past. There are no more suffering and dying animals on the streets. The homeless dog population is decreasing for the first time in forty years, AND it is rabies-free. Widespread abuse is gone…and the relationship between the animals and the people amongst whom they live day in, day out is totally transformed. And there are 10,000 fewer puppies born each year, almost all of whom would have just suffered and died.

Each year it gets better and better. You can experience it just walking on the streets...frequent scenes of people stroking homeless dogs, speaking sweetly to them, giving them food are common. Almost unheard of ten years ago. Om Namah Shivaya.

And if the Shelter went down, it wouldn’t revert back to the awful scene that existed in 2007, but to a scene almost unimaginably worse. Just from the 100 emergency rescues not being done, the afflicted creatures, alone, would flood the streets. At the end of a year there would be 1200 to 1500 suffering and dying creatures, not the awful 350 from 2007.

It’s difficult to comprehend the monumental ignorance of the Municipal bureaucracy.

It's true of many local bureaucracies and politicos in India…It’s slowly improving, but has a long, long way to go. 

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In the meantime, we have taken exceptional steps to protect, support, and care for our Precious Ones as we traverse this difficult terrain.

Because they run free, the skin diseases are passed back and forth. The overall situation facing us was that the skin conditions, primarily Mange, because of the overcrowding, has all of a sudden, in a matter of weeks jumped and gotten alarmingly out of hand. We saw that the incidence was so high that cases could not be handled individually because of the cross transfer of the disease. That all the Precious Ones, without exception, had to be treated at the same time (even if they did not have Mange) in a way that would eliminate cross transfer…in other words, that they all, without exception, had to be healed together.

So we embarked on the below protocol that has now been going for over three weeks.

For Mange…

We gave all 200 dogs/puppies medicated shampoos, and the next day all were coated with neem/sulfur oil. That is being done weekly for four weeks.                                                                                   

Adult dogs(with minor exceptions, e.g. old, etc. who will get tablets, weekly) will get Ivermectine pills for the first 15 days. Puppies will be treated differently.                                                            

Any adult dogs with active Mange after four weeks will be treated with Advocate (the main treatment in the West) which is very effective and very costly. (It requires a weekly application for four weeks. Whereas the Ivermectine costs 10 rupees a pill, or 150 rupees a dog, Advocate costs 800 rupees an application, or 3,200 rupees a dog.)

For Fungal...                                                                              

We have 20 to 25 cases of Fungal. I am not going into the treatment of the Fungal because it's more complicated. There are commonly five types, each requiring a different medication. If we treat them in a “traditional manner”, then scrapings and cultures must be done to classify. Elaine, our veterinary nurse, would do the work. However, it’s possible that they might be treated in a different way. (See discussion of Colloidal Silver, below).

For treatment of our most difficult cases we are calling in one of the foremost veterinary dermatologists in the Nation who is at the Madras Veterinary College and has a longterm relationship with Dr. Raja.

They’ve all had three baths at the writing of this Report…And, blessing of blessings, the itching has stopped, they’re all comfortable, their coats are looking much, much better, and it seems almost all are cured.

Colloidal Silver...

I’m including this blurb about Colloidal Silver, because I know a lot of you have interest in it thru the stories you've heard of a “miracle solution”. 

A longtime, strong supporter (a head nurse at a large hospital in the States) told me a story of her cat that had a nagging respiratory infection…and she had her inhale some colloidal silver mist just two hree times…and, bam, it went away. 

She gave us a tube of high-quality colloidal silver gel. Dr. Raja applied it to a two month old puppy with mange that had very little hair. Almost miraculously, with just the one application, after three weeks, his coat had regenerated and the skin mange was cured. (I mentioned “skin mange” because there are two levels of the disease—skin and systemic).

There are a lot of anecdotal stories (none of them scientific) about colloidal silver curing a number of different ailments. However, on the basis of our one experience, we decided to order a hi-quality generator from one of the best companies that will produce ionic and colloidal silver at incredibly low cost. We hope to receive it soon. 

My hopes for it are high. And it is simply not toxic. (The only negative side effect is in cases where people have totally overdosed…their skin turned blue. And this only happens in very few cases.) Humans ingest it one or two times a day, apply it to their skin, daily, inhale it for respiratory problems…and on and on.

If it fulfills its promise: (1) We’ll put it in the drinking water regularly to deal with systemic mange...(2) We’ll spray it on the dogs periodically to cover skin mange. (If a gel is required, it would be too expensive to buy hi-quality tubes. Fortunately, we could make our own gel with aloa vera.)...(3) We might also include it periodically in decontaminating the Shelter.

It’s also been indicated that the Colloidal (or ionic) Silver will kill the microbes involved in Fugal. We have to test it. If it works, then we probably don’t have to classify the type of fungal, but can treat it generally. If not, then we have to treat it traditionally, and do scrapings, cultures, and classification.

Decontamination of the Shelter...

 It has been done beyond anything required. It took three days. Solutions to decontaminate: floor, beddings, mattresses, etc…Also for three days (in the evenings from 7pm to 2:30am..ending this last Sunday 2:30am, the 12th) the entire Shelter, cages, grounds were gone over thoroughly by a professional with a strong flame gun. Vishwa oversaw the entire process. This process also handled the tic problem that was significant and is difficult to deal with. 

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Also, we feel that during this period the Voiceless Ones need more attention and caring. So Vishwa is going to hire 8 ladies, each to work half-days whose only job will be to give them that additional love and caring--massages, strokes, loving words…At this writing he’s found five and Elaine tells me they’re working out beautifully.

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It is so Heartening that the Precious Ones still feel safe, cared for, and loved AND are happy…I place my head at the feet of our beloved Staff. I am so, so grateful. 

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Before closing…Some moving Heart stories.

Jansy was six months old when she was hit by a two wheeler. Poor baby really took a hit. In the head. She was unconscious when they brought her in. Dr. Raja didn’t think she was going to make it. She was in a coma for ten days. Clinging to life. Concussion. Potential nerve damage. Eyeball hanging out. Skull fracture…In intensive care we stroked her. Whispered to her, ”Come sweet Jansy. Hang on. You’re with very good people. Waiting for you to come back." Played chants. Gave i.v.’s for nutrition. Spinal injections for controlling brain inflammation. Neurobion-vitamins to boost nervous system. Pain killers. Reiki. 

First signs that she might make it. Started moving her head a little. And then moving the body. Slowly. Slowly. She started coming back to us. Several more days and she turned on her stomach. A few more and she sat up. Then she started eating a little. She was comfortable with us and clearly felt safe. After 3 ½ weeks she started trying to stand. Then started taking her first steps after several more days. She was indrawn, but content. We let her walk around in isolation a week. Encouraging her. Stroking and kissing. Then she was ready for the veranda. Resting on one of the straw mattresses. A lot of puppies out there. A lot of snuggling. Warming up. She started responding. Forming some relationships. Walking around. Resting. Playing gently. Going off alone occasionally to just rest in repose…And then, she was bounding around with the rest. Welcome back dear Jansy. 

Two months of slow, steady recovery…and sweet Jansy went home. Sweet, sweet Jansy. Be a good girl, Jansy. And be happy.

Dadda was eleven or twelve when he came to us. Someone saw him lying in a ditch by the roadside and called. Vishwa brought him in. His back was broken and he was barely alive. After several days in intensive care-i.v.’s, painkillers, nutrition…the works, we brought him into a “trafficked” area, where for one or two months he laid motionless on his side. For some strange reason the puppies used to come and pee right next to him.                

Frequently we’d kneel down, and whisper in his ear, “I love you. You’re such a fine boy. You’re in a safe place now. We’re good people, and we’ll protect you the rest of your life”. After a long time, it could have been as much as two months, but no shorter than one, he could be turned over on his stomach and rest that way. And, perhaps it was a sign, the puppies stopped peeing next to him! In the meantime Dr. Raja was treating him allopathically and ayurvedically. And he was getting spinal injections, and normal massages.

I remember his first real sign of recovery was that for a short while he became a bit of a tyrant. He got so much love. And he had the oddest walk. Every once in a while his back legs would just fall over sideways. But it’s his Heart and his personality that were so endearing. He was a strange mixture of sweetness incarnate, and a real grouch…but mostly sweetness. He truly was colorful…and so, so loveable.

Thank you dear Dadda for gracing us with your presence. 

We named her Bella. She came to us last week. A driver from Rangammal Hospital told us that there was a serious problem with a monkey and her newborn baby. Ramesh (one of our best) and Velu went out. A young female had given birth in a bamboo tree. On the way down she was grievously pierced in the stomach, and died. Bella was taking milk from her on the ground. People were standing around crying.

She was only two hours old when we got her back to the Shelter. Sweet, loving Sugana will be her surrogate mom. She’ll carry her around much of the time. She’ll sleep with her. And the babe has to be fed every half-hour around the clock. (Sugana is looking tired, but never, never, never complains. Bless you Sugana.) Sugana is our surrogate mom for infants, mostly puppies and monkeys. I first heard the story from her. She had the innocent sweetie with her. She was tiny, tiny, tiny. I snuggled and gave her “machine gun kisses…and gently said protective mantras.

She’ll be with Sugana for three or four months.

We had a discussion about Bella at the Monday morning staff meeting, today. There was concern because she has had virtually no experience with monkeys, only humans. So we’re going to start introducing her to monkeys within two or three weeks.

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Well dear People, we've come to the end... So... We're under big pressure to get into a much larger facility, and that means land ($75,000), and building ($250,000). I'm thinking that the fastest we could do it is in four to six months. If you know Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, call them...If you know Ratan Tata, Rockefeller, or a gadzillionaire that loves animals, call them...If you know Donald Trump, don't call him. If you have contact with my Mother, tell her to send my Piggy Bank. Anything you can do would be great...If it's not money...Prayers...But this is real and it's big.