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

Dear People... Dear Animal Lovers... Dear Supporters...

From my Heart to your Heart..  Difficult, difficult times for our Beloved Planet  No matter what's being debated on the outside, even if it is unsettling, it's important to go inside and connect with Light.  It's all there. In memories. In feelings. In hopes.  We must go inside and uplift our own Inner State. And if we put that Higher energy out, it will help uplift others. It can be very powerful. And thru interconnectedness, it can spread and spread.  Om Namah Shivaya.

This Report, like many of the others, gives an overview of the energy our Work has generated to lift suffering from the Animal Realm.
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OUR STATISTICS SINCE OPENING JAN.2007 THRU MAR31 2022.

• Clinic Visits..........................  78,559
• In-Patient Treatments..........214,595
• Anti-Rabies Injections...........20,309
• Emergency Rescues...............8.094
• Dogs Sterilized ........................8,687
• Animal Adoptions....................1,447
• Non-dogs Treated....................9,058                                                                     

(Included in "Non Dogs Treated" are 2,839 cows & calves, 2,438 goats & sheep, 1,769 cats, 236 monkeys, 1,230  birds, 319 rabbits///and 126 squirrels/donkeys/pigs/peacocks/parrots/eagles/horses/deer/bullocks/ snakes/turkeys/owls/ducks/mongooses/turtles/chameleons/buffalo.) 

MONTHLY, we are:

• Treating 800 to 1,500 out-patients in the Clinic, most of whom are “owner dogs”.
  
• Giving 1,800 to 3,000 treatments to in-patients, almost all of whom are “homeless dogs”.
  
• Going out on 40 to 70 emergency rescues.
• Doing 20 to 40 sterilizations.
  
• Giving 80 to 200 anti-rabies injections.
  
• Placing 8 to 20 puppies in good homes.
• Treating 100 to 200 animals other than dogs.

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The Shelter is going beautifully.  It feels s-o-o-o good inside. I wish all of you could experience it. The animals truly feel safe, cared for, and loved.  They are not kept in cages, but are free to move amongst our devoted Staff.  They are not simply in captivity; they have choices. They can play, rest, wrestle, go off alone, wander around...whatever.  They have a life.  And they're happy. You've heard me talk about the importance of this.  Many years ago,  my Teacher told me that the physician heals with the Heart. And so thru all our activities, there's demonstrative love. Touching. Stroking.  Holding. Reassuring. Kissing. Om Namah Shivaya.

I came across notes on a rescue from 2017 which really underscored the importance we give to each indivdual creature:       

• A village person 10 kms out called the Shelter.  A homeless dog had a wire around his leg, which was badly infected. It may have been caught it in a trap.
• Pandi and Vishwa went out at 4pm, but couldn't find the dog.  Pandi and Prem went out 6pm the second day, but only saw him from a distance.  The third day, Pandi, Prem, and Vishwa all went out at 9pm.  The dog was resting, and they were able to quietly move up and catch him.
• The poor babe was only two years old, brown and mid-size. The infection was ugly, and he was in pain.  Dr. Raja removed the wire and treated him.   He convalesced for ten days.  He was very loving, and bonded with Sekar and Raja.  But he was very, very happy when we released him!
  

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There are two significant issues we are presently addressing. One involves emergency rescues.  The other involves sterilization of homeless dogs to control the population. I'm going to discuss the rescues now, and the sterilizations in the next Report.

We are one of the very few shelters in the country who offer 24 hour rescue.  And we will go out up to 50 or 60 kms. We have anywhere from 40 to 70 rescues a month. The ones during the day are not a problem as our Staff can go out on those.  And we have three Staff at night. and they can handle the early evening rescues in town. But the late evening or middle of the night ones are a problem. They can sometimes take three or four hours if they're 30 to 50 kms out, and Vishwa has been doing all of them. (Dr. Raja, dear Dr. Raja, comes to the Shelter if any animals need emergency care.)

So to handle the middle of the night rescues, we are training one of our college student volunteers that go out up to 100 kms looking for adoption homes for our puppies.  Amazingly enough, the "adoption guys" won't accept any compensation.  But we insist on paying for their petrol and food. (There are some difficult rescues that only Vishwa can handle...like the bull that fell into the deep well in the middle of the night that I wrote about in the August Report.) 

The dedication...the deep compassion...of Vishwa and Dr. Raja is humbling. They have never, and I mean never, declined to move strongly for any suffering creature, no matter what was involved.  As you might guess, I really, really worry about them and plead with them to take some rest. But they won't, even though I feel they get near the point of collapse. But no matter how hard I might push or worry, they simply won't hold back.  Bless them!  Bless them!   Bless them!  My beloved Vishwa and Dr. Raja.

Here are some more stories of past rescues.  Many of you tell us this is your favorite part.

• Got a 2pm call at the Shelter...  5 puppies had been dumped in a plastic bag about half way around Pradakshina Road. They were only a week old, Their eyes weren't even open yet.  And they were very hungry.  Vishwa took them to his house where Sundari, his wife, cared for them. She fed them every 3 hours, around the clock. They were moved to the Shelter after three weeks. The pups were happy, lovable, and playful, and PureHeart Sekar continued the love, until Vishwa found good homes for them. Om Namah Shivaya.
• Counselor Prakash called Vishwa...  A mother dog that had given birth to three puppies died of parvo.  The sweeties were only 1 1/2 months old.  Vishwa brought them to the Shelter and put them in isolation for ten days to make sure they were okay,  PureHeart Sekar and Supervisor Raja watched over them, giving them love and affection.  Sleeping together.  Playing together.  They all bonded with Sekar and Anu.  Vishwa found loving homes with children for all of them.  Om Namah Shivaya
  
• Got a 9:30am call at the Shelter from someone near Kanmani Medical Shop...  A dog had been hit by a two-wheeler.  Ravi and Dharma went.  The caller stayed with the injured sweetie until they got there.  The dog was a 2 1/2 year old guy, with two pretty bad injuries on his right side - front and body.  They were fresh wounds and not infected.  Dr. Raja gave him an i.v. - painkiller and anti-biotics - then cleaned and dressed the wounds.  No bandage was needed.  He was put on the veranda and bonded with the other dogs straight away.  He's now been on the veranda three weeks, and will be released in another 4 or 5 days.  Om Namah Shivaya.
  

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WHEN WE FIRST OPENED IN JANUARY 2007, there were over 7,000 homeless dogs in Tiru and the stray population was out of control. With no small animal vet within 75 kms, no treatment facility, rabies and widespread abuse, there was unbounded misery. There were around 350 suffering and dying animals on the streets—mostly dogs and puppies, but others too (monkeys, cows, squirrels, peacocks, etc.).   IT WAS AWFUL!

But using LOVE, LOVE, and more LOVE, everything has been transformed.

WE HAVE 7 MAJOR PROGRAMS:

• Sterilization/anti-rabies program.
• A busy Clinic.
• A busy Hospital.
• Sanctuary, if a creature cannot make it on its own.
• Adoption program. We go out up to 100 kms looking for homes for our Precious Ones. Over 1,400 puppies have been placed in good homes.
• 24/7 emergency rescue. No matter what time, we’ll be there in 20 to 30 minutes. Our doctors are on 24 hour call.
• Hospice. We are a no-kill shelter.

TODAY, TIRU IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT.  The homeless dog population is decreasing for the first time in forty years, AND it is rabies-free. There are no more suffering and dying animals on the streets. There are 10,000 fewer puppies born each year, almost all of whom would have suffered and died. There is no longer widespread abuse, and thus very few aggressive dogs, and only a small fraction of dog bites.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT HAS HAPPENED IS THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HOMELESS DOGS AND THE PEOPLE AMONGST WHOM THEY LIVE DAY IN, DAY OUT, HAS BEEN TOTALLY TRANSFORMED.

One can experience the change by walking on the streets. Each year street conditions get better and better, and Tiru is amongst the very few municipalities of size where this has happened. In the poignant words of a longtime Tiru resident made at the fourth anniversary puja.  ”Public memory is short. Few can recall the rampant stray dogs everywhere, young and aged, starving and diseased, scavenging in the garbage heaps, fighting amongst themselves, ignored and abused by the human population, while remaining a menace to all including themselves. In four short years, the roads are more peaceful, with few strays to be seen, and the naturally loving relationship between humans and animals restored to its true state.”

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Sometimes it's stunning for me to see the stats. But the most important thing is HEART...HEART...HEART. It is really uplifting to experience it inside the Shelter and it feels so good to see, on the streets, how the Precious Ones' lives have changed.

We are grateful the way it has unfolded. We pray--and it is so important to millions of animals across the country--that the knowledge that has been given to us SPREADS, and that the relationships of the animals and the people they live with every day may be transformed.

When peoples' Hearts have truly opened to the animals, it is so auspicious. For when there's an opening like that in the Heart, it doesn't only open in one direction; people are nicer to each other, too. It's profoundly there. You can't see it, but it's there. It's simply the nature of the Heart. And the societal implications are immense.

We humans are so complicated. It's so difficult to work with us directly to get us to be nicer to each other. It's so much easier, and more effective, to work on opening our Hearts to the animals, thereby deepening the caring we have for each other. It's a real, effective way of uplifting human communities...Om Namah Shivaya.

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Comments recognizing our Good Work.

****Following is an excerpt from a 2009 public letter of endorsement from the Animal Welfare Board of India who were actively overseeing all the animal shelters in the Country..."In the short span of time that they have been in existence, they have established themselves as one of the very best animal sanctuaries, veterinary clinics, rescue shelters and hospices in the Nation."

We have a 2010 full letter of appreciation and support from the President of Ramana Maharshi Ashram.

Also, the highly reputable GLOBAL GIVING IS OUR CROWDFUNDER:   

• They are the largest, most selective, worldwide crowdfunder.
• They are so selective of which NGO's they accept for listing, that the Income Tax Departments of both the US and the UK accept their standards. (Donations from US citizens are tax deductible in calculating their US income tax. Donations from UK donors qualify for Gift Aid, thru which the UK government adds 25 percent to their donations.).
• They have over 4000 NGO's listed with them.  And they are connected with over 500 corporations as partners, many of whom are Fortune 500 Companies.

                              AND WE HAVE BEEN HONORED BY THEM.

                                     Out of the over 4,000 NGO"s

                   IN 2018, THEY NAMED US ONE OF THEIR TOP TEN.

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This brings us to the end of the Report.

Hoping that each of you is doing excellently...that you're unfolding beautifully and strongly inside.

As in previous reports, I've included a collection of photos. Hoping you enjoy them. Remember...the theme is simply LOVE.

                    PLEASE...REMEMBER...DONATIONS.

  THE PRECIOUS ONES NEED US...AND WE NEED YOU!

RECURRING DONATIONS, EVEN QUITE MODEST ONES, ARE BEST FOR US. 

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Sending Love, Blessings, and all things good...May we All, each of us, be blessed with more compassionate energy.

Arunachala Animal Sanctuary & Rescue Shelter has earned the following badges on GlobalGiving:


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Links:

• Really, really good video-Hridayam-8 1/2 minutes.
• Interview of Leslie-3 1/2 minutes.
• Henri Jolicoeur-Interview of Leslie-15 minutes.