By Leslie Robinson | Founder/Manager
Hello Dear People,
It's mid-morning. Tiruvannamalai. I'm sitting in the Geman Bakery. Healthy food. "Killer" baked goods.
Got to sleep late last night. Just as I was starting on my "night feeding run"(I feed 20 to 30 dogs--Pedigree/hard baked biscuits,specially made--anywhere from a snack to a light meal, depending) on my Honda Activa, my rear tire blew. So I got a real late start. It's not a Shelter thing. It's a personal thing. Just feels good. I go part of the way around the mountain.
Haven't written in a while, almost three months. We've been busy. Very busy. Many of you know that the activity these last 2 1/2 years has increased exponentially. The average number of monthly visits to the clinic have increased from 340 to over 700 (ranging now from 500 to 750)...The average number of monthly rescues has increased from 40 to over 100. (These are cases above and beyond the clinic cases. They are almost all serious. And in almost all instances we go out to get them. Most are during the day, but a number are at night)...The number of monthly in-patient treatments has increased from 1100 to 1500.
The amazing thing is that to walk around the streets, ours is probably one of the best scenes in the Country. And it visibly improves each year. However, lying underneath is one of the most severe traffic patterns for animals, not to mention people. And if the Shelter's services should stop at anytime, a floodgate would fill the streets with an unimaginable number of dying and suffering animals, numbering well over a thousand a year--not bringing it back to the awful situation that existed in 2007 when we opened, but to an almost unimaginable scene.
Also, as many of you know, that because of the increased activity, we need a much larger facility. It's amazing to me that the Shelter is crowded and yet is going so well. The energy inside feels so good, and the Voiceless Ones clearly feel safe, protected, and cared for...and are happy. I bow to our devoted Staff.
This is the mating season, so there are a lot of Little Ones. To reduce the Shelter population, we're considering renting a facility for a short while and using it for a foster home for twenty or thirty puppies. At our last Monday morning breakfast Staff meeting, I told Vishwa to increase the adoption activity. He has several college students who are trained to go out up to 100 kms looking for good homes for our Little Ones. He then goes to check them--the circumstances, the people, their motivation for wanting a pup. About fifty percent of them turn out to be good. The students are supposed to get 500 rupees for each puppy that is placed. He miraculously, in the last two days, has found homes for seven pups. (Sometimes, even with full effort, we'll only find four or five in a month!) Somehow we got into an exchange about the money involved. And Vishwa told me they won't take money from him, only expense reimbursement. He said they are doing it as a service and don't want the money. I was deeply moved. I told Vishwa to include them in the annual Diwali bonuses that are being given this week. Om Naman Shivaya.
And miracle of miracles...Historically there have been two major killers of our Precious Ones--parvovirus, and distemper.
Well that’s it for this report Dear People…Leslie, The Ageing Expatriate Warrior, signing off...
With blessings and wishes for everything, good...May we all be showered with compassionate understanding...May we all be gentler and kinder to each other.
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