THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘People for Animals’ Thiruvananthapuram chapter has been taking care of nearly 500 dogs which include 60 puppies, 50 rescued and abandoned dogs as well as 50 cats at the cattery. It has been functioning at a 1.5-acre area on the outskirts of the city at Valiyarathala in Malayinkeezhu panchayat since 2007. The PFA was founded in 1994 to make animal welfare an effective movement across the country. Within two years, a group of animal lovers led by Leela Latheef formed the PFA, Thiruvananthapuram chapter on July 10, 1996 and registered it as a charitable trust organisation in 1999. Over the years, it has evolved into an efficient organization with rescue facilities, animal shelter, hospital and a network of 10 – 15 active volunteers.
A bull, Manikantan, and a calf, Nandu, two brown kites, which have been rescued after they lost their wings, and a pigeon are also there. More than a dozen Labradors and half-a-dozen Rottweilers, majority of them abandoned by their masters with some of them having skin ailments, are now living in the shelter. Sulochana, 45, who cooks food for the animals, had joined the PFA with its trustee Latha Indira with just two stray dogs years ago. “I have lost track of the years since I have been working here. I love caring for the dogs and like us they also require love and care,” she said.
PFA’s activities are divided into three sections – the main office section and a cattery, veterinary hospital and 15 spacious kennels with another 16 kennels under construction. The eight staff include a driver-cum-dog catcher, three women helpers who clean and cook for the inmates, a veterinarian, Dr. Sangeetha Mohan, nurse G. S. Manjula and two managers, Anish M. Kalarikkat and his wife Beena Anish, who stay round the clock there. Dr. Sangeetha told DC that her daily rounds start at 9 a.m. with 99 percent of the dogs and cats requiring medical care including injection and surgery.
“We are doing all types of surgeries except bone pinning. I don’t think there is a better place than this for a veterinarian to care for stray dogs and cats. It’s a challenge to care for these stray animals as they can be aggressive at times”, said Dr. Sangeetha, a Parassala native. The premises of the animal shelter are well maintained without any stinking smell as they have a biogas plant which takes care of the animal excreta.
Beena Anish, one of the managers
People hostile to caring for dogs
The first thing that you notice at the entrance of the PFA’s Thiruvana-nthapuram chapter’s animal shelter is the huge flex board kept there. The flex asks, “Does the lives of human beings have any value”? It reveals the hostility by the locals against the PFA team and its animal shelter. Just 50 metres away from the animal shelter is a double storeyed home of 60 year old G. Pankajakshan, Malayinkeezhu Congress mandalam committee president.
A peeved Pankajakshan who is spearheading the protest against the PFA’s activities told DC that it has to be shifted elsewhere, at least 500 metre away from human habitat. He warns that more protest will be initiated against PFA as toddlers in the vicinity are experiencing skin rashes. “During the rainy season the whole area stinks which is causing severe discomfort to the locals. The local panchayat has not given the licence to PFA to function here. It was a lady, the Late Meenakshi Sundaram who duped the local people here where she had claimed that it’s a veterinary hospital being setup which later turned out to be a shelter home for stray animals,” said Pankajakshan.
While talking to Pankajakshan, a motley crowd of locals vied with each other to share their concerns about noise and environment pollution being posed by the shelter home. Another neighbour, 67 year old G. Sukumaran who runs a corner shop attached to his two storeyed home told DC that there are at times when the stray dogs jump the high wall of the shelter home. “None of us here are able to rear poultry since the last several years. The dogs jump the wall of the shelter home and kill our poultry,” he said.
However, T. Kuttappan, a daily wager in his 60’s was compassionate to the PFA’s activities. He told DC that few local women have got job at the animal shelter and it is not fair to criticise them. “Some days the dogs jump the compound wall which creates unrest among our pet dogs tied to their kennel at our homes. They will start barking in the night and this creates little tension. Who else will take care of the stray dogs?” asked Kuttappan. Beena Anish, one of the managers told DC that the locals are showing nothing, but intolerance towards their activities when normal lives of the locals are never affected in any way.
Core team takes care of dogs at centre
There are seven core members of PFA which also includes 10–15 active volunteers comprising techies working at Technopark. Other core members include Sobhitha Padmakumar who runs the dog annexe of PFA at Sasthamangalam – Paippinmoodu road, animal activists Swaroopa Karta and Sumitha Susheelan.
Sreedevi S. Kartha, a full time PFA member and also a writer, poet, translator and a journalist. Just after DC had left the animal shelter on Thursday, the locals prevented one of our active members, T.K. Jayasheelan from entering the PFA office. This 26 year old lad had come all the way from Kanyakumari as there were no proper veterinary hospitals with a stray dog that had a leg fracture and a blind puppy which required urgent medical care. Their demand was that Jayasheelan should carry both the dogs back with him. The police had to be called and they also sided with the locals. Day by day it is causing more hardships to us.
Latha Indira, trustee of PFA as well as the lifeline of the animal shelter is also a senior official in a Central government department: We are functioning purely on public funds. The locals are not realising the worth of our work. We could pay the salary of our employees for the last month only on Nov. 15. Following the locals protest, the health inspector from the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has asked us to install iron fencing on the six feet wall which would cost approximately Rs 1.5 lakh – Rs 2 lakh.
