Elderly couple gives strays a new lease of life

We are on the dusty streets of Santhoshapuram in Tambaram on a hot April morning, trying to locate the Animal Welfare and Protection Trust (AWPT). We know we are on the right track as there is an Omni van parked in the front yard, and imprinted on its rear windshield are the lines, ‘Save a life, have compassion, brake for animals, live and let live’. Three stray dogs follow us into Narasimhamoorthy’s house – like regular visitors who know the drill. Inside, there are more animals than human beings — cats, pups and kittens, whom the couple have rescued, and who now huddle on the sofa or perch atop cupboards. They have, in the past, also rescued jackals, rabbits, monkeys, birds and squirrels, but at the moment, their trust has taken under its wing 85 stray dogs, 42 puppies, 35 cats and 11newborn kittens. 

“Did you know what Socrates said?” says Narasimhamoorthy, who is a sprightly 80-year-old. “Compassion for animals is the noblest of all virtues,” an adage that has made AWPT one of Chennai’s most reputed animal welfare organisations. 

It was in 1998 that the couple moved to Santhoshapuram after Narasimhamoorthy’s retirement from the Reserve Bank of India. “Dogs were being electrocuted or were being beaten to death because the residents didn’t want to deal with their increasing population. We had always been working for animal welfare in our own little way. Now, we decided to set up a trust to put an end to these gruesome practices,” says Padmavathy, 72, Narasimhamoorthy’s gracious wife, who quit her government job and dedicated herself to the cause of stray dogs. “One of the primary reasons to form the trust was also the need to find a humane and effective way to control the population of street animals, rather than just killing them,” says Narasimhamoorthy. 

They decided to do it with the help of Animal Birth Control (ABC), which they achieved through a small hospital that they started with the help of three doctors on the team, who treat sick and injured animals and also perform ABC surgeries. 

AWPT has been involved in numerous animal welfare activities ever since. While they started with ABC surgeries in villages that fell under five panchayats in the region, they have now extended their reach to 25 panchayats. The trust also conducts free anti rabies and anti distemper vaccination camps for both owned and homeless animals and takes action against those who abuse animals. 

As testimony to their service, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2006 sanctioned a yearly aid of Rs 3 lakh to the trust from the government and the van. Governor Surjit Singh Barnala too awarded them a sum of Rs 20,000 as aid the same year. 

AWPT is partially funded by the Animal Welfare Board of India and relies heavily on donations from citizens to manage its skyrocketing operational costs. Having spent almost all their savings on looking after pets, the Narasimhamoorthys wonder how they will manage in days to come. Though some hotels and restaurants give them unsold or unused bread, buying milk and other rations is becoming increasingly difficult. 

What remains their biggest worry though is the attitude of local bodies and people towards animals, going by the increasing instances of animal cruelty in recent times, especially against dogs. 

in recent times, especially against dogs. “Many residents’ associations pay narikoravas to kill stray dogs and cats. There have been instances of kittens’ legs being broken and the mothers maimed and bundled up in sacks. Even pet owners -- they adore their pets as long as they are in good health, but abandon them when they turn old or fall sick. Our hearts burn at the sight of the poor dogs that wait outside bakeries and meat stalls for a morsel of food; or when they’re beaten mercilessly on the streets and in dog pounds. Even if they can’t take care of animals, the least people can do is not hurt them,” says Padmavathy, who is keeping uneven health currently. 

They had lodged the animals in a well-ventilated shelter home that they had rented until a year ago. But it had to be closed to make way for some road widening and highway construction. The small animals now live with them, while the big ones, including 85 big dogs, are being sheltered by Blue Cross and a few others in the house of one of the doctors who has volunteered to keep them.

For the nonce though, he says, “We appeal to animal lovers to help us. All donations to the trust are exempt from Income Tax under Section 80G. If each of us or every family can feed a stray animal every day, there will not be any famished animal on the roads,” says Mr Narasimhamoorthy, before setting out in his van on his feeding schedule, which he carrkies out twice a day. 

The trust enables people to adopt the animals, sponsor their treatment of animals or volunteer. It needs financial aid. To donate or help, you can email the Narasimhamoorthys at awptrust@ yahoo.com.