A Cause for All Paws

As beautiful as our planet Earth is, it can be harsh and cruel for both humans and animals. Luckily for us humans, we have the means to survive and make our lives easier and better. Unfortunately, the animals who live in the wild or around us, don’t have the same opportunity. The lockdown created more problems for the strays. As restaurants closed down, their food source of daily leftovers, scraps or feeding from tourists suddenly vanished. They were starving overnight and seeing their plight quite a few people braving the lockdown sought special permission & would step out to feed them.

On any given day, if you flip through your newspaper or scroll through your social media, you are bound to find an article about an injured or dead animal. It’s honestly heartbreaking to see. Most of us brush past it or chalk it down to the fact that there’s nothing we can do, but honestly, we as individuals can do so much. The problem is we are just too busy dealing with our own things to care for more than a few minutes.

Thankfully, there are always a few good Samaritans in a world full of people with an “I have no time” kind of attitude. Over the past few years, my faith in humanity has been restored watching a handful of kind individuals around Goa who work tirelessly towards helping animals. Be it feeding starving stray dogs and cats, neutering them, rescuing injured ones, fostering little puppies and kittens, and helping with adoption— there are people out there who devote their free time and hard-earned money to help the helpless and voiceless animals around them.

I have witnessed such kindness when an amazing woman stepped in and helped us with our dog Naala, who at that time had wandered into our home on a rainy day. She was infested with more than 100 crawling ticks and was bony, malnourished and badly abused. Simply put, it was a horrible sight. We felt so helpless as we had never encountered such a situation. Fortunately, we were directed to this large-hearted woman who my mother calls the Mother Theresa of strays. She helped us with sterilising Naala, took her to another kind man in Anjuna who cared for her for a few days, helped get rid of all her ticks, cured her wounds and then we took her in. We really wouldn’t know what to do if it was not for these helpful souls. Initially, we wanted to put Naala up for adoption as we already have a dog but no one wants a sad broken looking dog, they all want the cute, perfect-looking Instagram ones. So, we adopted her and it was the best decision ever. And as the kind-hearted lady says, “There’s always room for one more”.

Another good Samaritan is Mansi Rauthan who feeds stray dogs and helps rescue them. Mansi started out as a feeder six years ago when she noticed a pack of 10 skinny dogs outside her building complex. While many people saw these strays as a menace, she knew that they were dependant on the people around them to survive. So, Mansi started feeding them regularly and soon became their unofficial caretaker, providing them with medical assistance whenever needed. She believes that it is our responsibility to help these helpless creatures in whatever manner we can. Mansi now feeds several other stray dogs and volunteers at adoption camps. She now plays a very active role in rescuing dogs who are being abused by owners and strays who are suffering from mange and injuries.

Nyra Nicole Azavedo—  Goa’s champion for lost pets and adoption had her journey as a foster and rescuer begin in a rather tragic manner. Three years ago, when Nyra’s pet cat went missing in September, she was distraught and tried to do everything possible to find him. From making physical posters and putting them up in her neighbourhood and around 3 neighbouring markets, to scouring the streets for him with family late at night and in the mornings and posting on social media platforms, she did it all. She would also visit PAWS— an animal shelter to see if he turned up there. Though she sadly never found her cat, she was introduced to a community she never knew about. She started to volunteer at the shelter and saw the amount of misery the strays face, “Every other week a new litter of abandoned animals came in along with a lot of accident cases,” she says.

Bruno Wagner- one of the animal welfare’s newer patrons- came to India for the first time in 2010, right before he started his nursing course in the UK. All through the 3-year course, his mind would wander back to the idea of visiting or staying in India again. Though the Brazilian native wanted to come to India immediately after his course was over, he had to stay in the UK for a few more years due to citizenship reasons. Finally, in 2015, Bruno got his opportunity to come back to India and has been doing so every year, only heading back to the UK to do a refresher course and work for a few months.

Last year during the monsoon, while Bruno was staying in Goa, he heard about a poor dog who was caught with a wire wrapped around her waist. He went along with other rescuers to help. He would visit the dog at WVS—  an animal shelter, and he noticed how many other dogs were there, ready to be released but with no home to go to. He decided that he would do something to help these stray dogs when he next returned to India.

He adopted his first Luna, who he says is the matriarch of the pack, from WVS in 2020 and started on a veterinary course. He currently has 28 dogs in his care and plans on creating a Facebook page called Half Away Home, in hope that people will adopt some of the dogs that he is fostering and looking after. As much as it would break Bruno’s heart to let any dog go, he says that it would be best in the long term so that he can help more dogs in Goa.

Sadly, Cyclone Tauktae ravished his home, flooding it and causing part of the roof to collapse. Bruno is grateful that no dogs were injured. It was through this tough time that Bruno received a lot of help from friends and other dog lovers. The damage wrought by the cyclone hasn’t broken his spirit and he continues with his selfless work.

When Jenny Poser sees a dog or puppy in need, she can’t turn a blind eye and look away. She takes them to a vet who gets their injuries checked and fosters them until they find a new home. Jenny says she’s lucky to find people who are willing to adopt the dogs she fosters, the longest she has ever fostered a dog was for 3 months. The only reason it took longer than others was because she insisted on mentioning the fact that the dog was traumatized and found it difficult to trust people. Jenny doesn’t believe in lying to potential owners as she wants to find the best match for the dogs she fosters. The maximum that Jenny can foster is 4 dogs at the moment as she already has 4 of her own dogs. She hopes to foster more dogs as well as homesick and old ones once she has a bigger space in the future.

Katarina Banaulikar has been feeding stray since she first came to Goa 25 years ago. She hated seeing any creature being harmed in any way. After decades of feeding, she realised that the large number of strays in her area was a problem that needed to be tackled. At first, she would call different animal rescue and welfare organizations, but they would struggle to catch the dogs as they would run away. So, for the past three years, she has been catching and sterilizing whichever strays she could. As a restaurant owner, Katarina didn’t have much time to go out very often, but once the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed her restaurant had to be closed. With the new extra time on her hands, Katarina started putting in more effort to feed and sterilize strays, not only in her area but in surrounding villages too. She also helps wounded strays, catching them and sending them for treatments to shelters. Though it is not an easy task, knowing that she has made such a huge difference in the animal’s life greatly motivates her. In nearly a year, Katarina and a group of other women, have managed to catch and sterilize around 150 dogs from Candolim and Sinquerim. “The problem doesn’t stop here,” she says, “we have to help outside as well.”

So, you see, there are quite a few warm-hearted generous Souls, who in their own way are trying to make the lives of our strays a better place. Of course, there are so many more who couldn’t be named who do so much. From feeding programs, to finding forever homes some are lucky to get adopted overseas too, to donating water bowls to the thirsty strays, carrying food pouches and boxes of pedigree along with medicines in their car— these people randomly help the stray dogs and cats whenever they see a starving or injured one. Apart from the laypeople helping out, the vets of Goa, NGOs and shelters like WVS, Stray Assist, WAG, Goa GPRS Paws to name a few, work tirelessly to help our strays.

Written By Jessica Albuquerque,

A master of being a Jack of all Trades, A method in madness some may say. I’m just a girl on a never-ending journey, Standing on the precipice of my next big story.

Week 26, June 2021