Echoes in the Mist

Animals and the earth, Asia, Tales of India

Floods in Uttarakhand: Help on the way for injured working animals

June 22, 2013by sharonstjoan1 Comment

Monsoon rains in Uttarakhand have been heavier than at any time in the past 60 years, and floods have killed over 500 people. 5,000 are still missing, and the death toll is expected to rise. Buildings have been toppled and swept away, as well as entire villages and settlements.

The flooding has also devastated parts of Nepal and the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, as wells as Delhi. These areas are in the far north of India, near the foothills of the Himalayas—a spectacularly beautiful area of forests and snow-covered mountains, where there are major Hindu sacred sites and temples. Many thousands of visiting pilgrims have been caught in the floods, which have swept away bridges and roads.

Sadly, a great many animals have also died or been hurt in the rushing water. 5,000 mules, horses, and donkeys who transport pilgrims up and down the steep, rocky slopes, are now stranded on the far side of the Alaknanda River, one of the headstreams of the Ganges. Most are mules, and, as well as needing feed and clean drinking water, some are injured, and in urgent need of veterinary treatment.

Another 100-200 mules on this side of the river will soon be taken to the small town Josimath.

Help Animals India is working with their two partner organizations to bring help to both people and animals stranded by the floods.

Help Animals India’s partners, PFA Dehra Doon and AAGAAS Federation, have reported that a temporary bridge has been constructed and that authorities are now evacuating all the stranded pilgrims across the river. As soon as this has been completed, if all goes well, PFA Dehra Doon and AAGAAS Foundation will be able to start transporting the injured mules to safety, and giving them urgently-needed veterinary care, medicine, feed and water.

Help Animals India, for the past several years, has worked with many Indian animal welfare groups, benefiting thousands of animals.

Eileen Weintraub, Founder and Director of Help Animals India writes, “We are doing our best to help the “Himalayan Tsunami” with many hundreds of people dead and thousands still stranded. We are buying medical supplies as well as ropes, tents, sleeping bags, rucksacks and tarpaulin to go in and access the situation to rescue and treat as many as possible of the hundreds of abandoned equines – horses/donkeys/mules. We will have to get through this next round of rain and the full moon, and this coming week will start the relief efforts for the survivors …On the ground are our trusted partners PFA Dehra Doon and AAGAAS Federation and volunteers coming up from Mumbai… Every penny will go towards the relief effort. Thank you for your compassion during these difficult times.”

Donations to Help Animals India are U.S. tax-deductible.

To donate through the website of Help Animals India, click here.

To visit Help Animals India’s Facebook page, click here.

To visit the website of PFA Dehra Doon, click here.

To visit the website of AAGAAS Federation, click here.

Photo: Courtesy of AAGAAS Federation / This was taken before the current floods.

Other poems and quotes, Tales of India

Three poems by Kabir, poet of India (1440 – 1518)

June 15, 2013June 16, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

Between the Poles of the Conscious

BETWEEN the poles of the conscious and the unconscious, there has the mind made a swing:

Thereon hang all beings and all worlds, and that swing never ceases its sway.

Millions of beings are there: the sun and the moon in their courses are there:

Millions of ages pass, and the swing goes on.

All swing! the sky and the earth and the air and the water; and the Lord

Himself taking form:

And the sight of this has made Kabîr a servant.

***

Hiding In This Cage

Hiding in this cage

of visible matter

is the invisible

lifebird

pay attention

to her

she is singing

your song

***

I Have Attained The Eternal Bliss

I have attained the Eternal Bliss.

There is no time for sorrow or pain,

for now I enjoy singing His glory.

The tree of His pleasure has neither root, nor seed,

as revealed by the grace of the true Guru.

Now there is effulgence of a million suns,

my swan has dipped in the lake of His knowledge.

Says Kabir, listen, O wise brother,

Now comings and goings have come to an end.

***

Photo: Marek Szczepanek / Wikipedia Commons / “Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.”

***

This is the translation of Kabir’s poems, as it appears on the site, PoemHunter.com

Poems, Tales of India, Visions

Narayana

June 12, 2013June 12, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

Narayana,

The boy who

Rides

On the sea swell

Like a rainbow fish on the wave,

Your face,

Straight-nosed,

Radiant as the ancient moon, unseen

Beyond the present cosmos,

Deep blue, the petaled lotus,

Swift, your hurled discus;

Salt tides murmur in the humming strain

Of the conch shell.

You float by on the branch of a green

Tree,

Your smile an enigma,

Sad, yet ever glad

Anon,

You drift off to sleep.

Who are you,

Lord of the shadowy sea

And the moon-risen grace?

Who are you

Walking out from the edge of the brave

Woods, dense and deep,

At the dawn

Of all the time-tilled rings?

You sail on the wings

Of the great dark swan,

Or dream on the white coiled train

Of Adi Sesha,

Who will be

The only one to remain.

You carry the key,

Narayana,

To the tall

Stone gate,

Long

Closed.

You are the singer of the song,

Narayana,

Of all the notes gone

Silent,

And all

That await

The shining rain-lit moment,

An era yet to be.

© Sharon St Joan, June 12, 2013

Photo: Sharon St Joan

Animals and the earth, Health, Tales of India

World Environment Day – Think before you eat

June 8, 2013by sharonstjoan2 Comments

By NANDITHA KRISHNA, Director, CPR Environmental Education Centre

First published by The Hindu, June 5, 2013

This year’s World Environment Day message is targeting food wastage and campaigning for correct food choices. This is a problem of nations in North America and Europe, East Asia, and urban India. For every child who goes to sleep hungry, an urban child probably throws away his plate of vegetables.

It is estimated by the FAO that approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food is being wasted every day throughout the world. This is equivalent to the entire annual agricultural production of sub-Saharan Africa. It is also estimated that one in seven people in the world goes to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger.

India was a food deficient country till the 1960’s when a terrible famine engulfed the whole country. The Green Revolution made the country self-sufficient in food grains. India’s food grain output for the year 2011-12 was 252.56 million tonnes. The stocks of food grain with the government reached 82.4 million tonnes. However, the lack of adequate storage facilities and the absence of a proper distribution system meant that much of the food did not reach those who really needed it. First and foremost, urgent action should be initiated by the Government to prevent wastage. But it is more than food grains. Our consumption of meat is growing. One billion people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water. Yet the chicken industry uses 3,900 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of chicken, while only 900 litres is required for 1 kilogram of grain. India is now one of the world’s largest producers of milk, with an annual production of about 127 million tonnes, much of which is exported. The effect of this cattle population on our land is disastrous. It takes more fossil fuels (diesel/petrol) to produce and transport animals and animal-based food than locally procured grains and vegetables. The ecological consequences of our insatiable appetite for meat, which has grown 500% since 1950, is frightening.

The intensive farming of animals negatively impacts biodiversity through habitat loss, climate change and the introduction of alien species which compete for limited natural resources. For example, although the capacity of the world’s fishing fleets has increased five-fold in the last 40 years, the productivity of the world’s fishing grounds has declined. 15 out of 17 of the world’s major fisheries are either depleted or over-exploited. Prawn fisheries on the Tamilnadu coastline have resulted in saline groundwater. And so on.

Today, rice output is growing. The consumption of cereals and pulses is going up. India has been able to meet the demand for rice, wheat, and sugarcane. Production is now adequate to meet the domestic demand. However, a growing population requires a continuous augmentation of food production. In the case of pulses and vegetable oils there is the gap between supply and demand. Hence, during the year 2010-11 India imported about 8 million tonnes of vegetable oils and 3 million tonnes of pulses.

Simultaneously, our eating habits are becoming unhealthier. Problems like obesity, diabetes, cancer, and other lifestyle diseases are a direct result of poor food choices. A hearty meal of pizza and coke is not conducive to good health. Child obesity and diabetes are becoming more common in the world and among affluent Indians. Good health is directly linked to our food. If we think before eating, we can make a difference and reduce our “food” print.

The world is home to more that seven billion people. Feeding such a huge number of people is a gargantuan task. Sub-Saharan Africa is still subject to periodic famines. In this scenario, it becomes imperative on our part to eat correctly, avoid wastage, and ensure that every hungry person on this planet has food to eat. If precious natural resources are protected, and correct food choices are made, there will be enough food for everybody.

To visit The Hindu online, click here.

Photo: © Chelovek / Dreamstime.com

Animals and the earth, Tales of India

India: Sivaranthagam Sacred Grove – Maheshwari and her tree

June 3, 2013by sharonstjoan1 Comment

By Bushavali Natarajan

(reposted from the blog My Travelogue)

I’m pretty sure, you’ve heard of the movie ‘Life of Pi’. It won Oscars in 2013. A major portion of this movie was shot here in India, especially in and around Pondicherry aka Puducherry. One of the shooting locations was a sacred grove in the quaint little village called Sivaranthagam, which has a huuuuuge banyan tree!

Recently I came to know of the location of this tree through The Hindu newspaper and set out to this place. Its located en route to Villupuram from Pondicherry. So my first destination was Pondy and from there I took a local bus to a little town called Villianur. Enquiring here revealed to me that there’s a once a day town bus to Keezhur that went via Sivaranthagam which I felt was pointless to wait for. Autos are aplenty here. I took one and thank God, the driver knew of this sacred grove pretty well.

By the way, what does Sacred Grove mean? Sacred Groves are little groves or woods or mini forests that belong to a temple or have a religious significance. So what’s the religious significance here? Yup, there a mini temple below the huge banyan tree. The temple is called Ponni Amman Temple. The original temple has been here since the past few decades. However the present structure was built in 1994.

Puravi - terracotta Votive figures of Horses — Puravi – terracotta Votive figures of Horses

More than the temple, the tree is what totally took me by awe. More than the tree, it was the tree’s caretaker who took me by awe all the more. She is Maheshwari! Fondly called Amma!!! She is simple, clad in a saffron shirt and skirt and her matted locks wrapped as a bun atop her crown!

Maheshwari with her daughter-in-law and grandson

She came here when her son was a toddler and this tree and temple have been her home ever since. The donations by the devotees are the only source of livelihood for her. When she arrived here decades ago, the tree was little too, like her son. She nurtured the tree. Nurtured is a simple word to say. What she did was PHENOMENAL.

It’s a banyan tree and the essential characteristic of the tree is the aerial prop roots. The roots emanate from the branches and grow towards the ground. What she did was to wrap each aerial root with soil and manure, in a bag, in rainy days and help them grow soon. Once it hits the ground, she dug pits and planted them, again with soil and manure and placed a few heavy stones upon them, so they don’t spring back.

Once the roots hold on to the soil and ground, she removes the rocks! She ties up the roots that are closer to the stem, along with the main stem. She applies wet mud between them, so they hold on well!!! She has been doing this for decades and has planted several hundreds and maybe thousands of roots!

When she came here the tree was hardly 3 metres circumference at the stem. Today its 36 metres!!! The area the entire banyan tree covers – I have no idea!!! Its huge, covering several grounds of land! The number of birds, insects, snakes surviving because of this tree – may be millions!!!

There are quite a lot of ant hills within and around the tree. Many times abandoned ant hills become homes of snakes. She says there are 3 big snakes inside the main stem of the banyan tree which come out at night! There are several smaller ones too!!!

Today her son is a strong young man and does manual labour in the nearby town and is married. They have a little 10 year old boy. Her son’s family lives in the nearby town to facilitate his work and the kid’s schooling. But she has made the tree her home… She has built a little house beside the temple and that’s her home. When I went there, the daughter in law and grandson were there, thanks to the summer school holidays!

I really didn’t feel like leaving the place. I could stay there all day long – the chirps of the birds, hustle of the leaves, 2 awesome stray dogs that she takes care of, a few cocks & hens, cooling breeze, significantly lower temperature than the outside world!!! She was such a loving lady who almost hugged me when I was leaving! I never wanted to leave!!!!!

Do visit the temple. No matter what’s your religion, the tree and the lady are worth the visit! And as I always say, give to her generously. If you do not want to give in cash, give to her in kind like grains, spices etc. It’s not just for the temple. It’s for her. It’s for the tree. It’s for Mother Earth. It’s for the Rain. It’s for the several millions of living things that depend on that tree!!!

TO GET THERE:

From Pondicherry: 18 km via Villianur, Vadamangalam, Ariyur towards Keezhur.

From Villupuram: 25 km via Kolianur, Valavanur, Ariyur towards Keezhur.

From Villianur: 9 km via Ariyur towards Keezhur.

You’re in the right track if you spot Sri Venkateshwara Medical College & Hospital when you come from Pondy and you’ve overshot when you come from Villupuram.

Several town buses are available from Pondy to Villianur.

A few buses are available from Villianur that goes to Keezhur via Sivaranthakam, but its pointless to wait for it unless you know its timings. Even if you know, returning from there would get difficult. Best way is to hire an auto for a round trip. Ask the auto driver for Ponni Amman Koil at Sivaranthagam. They will all know it!

Dedicated to my mom!

To read this in the original with all the other photos, click here.

To read other posts on Bhushavali’s blog, My Travelogue, click here.

Photos: Courtesy of Bhushavali Natarajan

Animals and the earth, Tales of India

In a landmark ruling, India bans dolphinariums, Part Two

May 23, 2013by sharonstjoan2 Comments

To read Part One first, click here.

The threat to the dolphins in India goes back much further though. In a very tragic turn of events, in 1998, a dolphinarium, Dolphin City, actually was set up in Chennai. CPREEC, Dr. Nanditha Krishna’s organization, and Blue Cross of India, of which Dr. Chinny Krishna was the Co-Founder and, at that time also the Vice Chairman, worked tirelessly to oppose it.

Very sadly, the three dolphins who had been imported from Bulgaria and brought to the Chennai dolphinarium, died within a few short months. The dolphinarium denied that they had died, and the show went on with only sea lions.

In reply to all questions, their story was that the dolphins were okay, and would soon be performing “when they were alright.” Dr. Chinny Krishna, of Blue Cross, persisted in telling the truth about the fate of the dolphins and in calling for an autopsy. Finally, a reporter from the Hindu confronted the dolphinarium’s management stating that if he was not allowed to see the dolphins, he would be forced to agree with Blue Cross’s statement that they had died. The truth of the dolphins’ deaths did come out. But, in the meantime, the dolphinarium had not only denied the dolphins’ deaths, but had ordered three more replacement dolphins from Bulgaria and arranged for their transport on a Russian plane, to be parachuted down from the plane on to the coast of Tamil Nadu, near Chennai. After the story broke in The Hindu, massive negative publicity erupted all over Chennai, forcing the dolphinarium to shut down — fortunately, this happened before they could import the three new dolphins. Sadly though, the sea lions, by this time, had also died.

In the midst of this overwhelmingly tragic story for the animals, Dr. Nanditha Krishna recalls a somewhat lighter moment — someone arrived carrying a “whole box full of rupees.” They thought they could bribe the Krishnas to keep quiet and forget all about the dead dolphins. Of course, the people were sent away in short order, taking their overstuffed box of rupees with them.

The Chennai dolphinarium was closed, thanks to the determined efforts of Blue Cross and CPREEC. Another attempt, just last year, to set up another one, in Mumbai, was also thwarted. With the ban just announced, India will be permanently free of the cruelty inherent in keeping dolphins in captivity.

Dr. Nanditha Krishna explains, “Dolphins belong to the ocean, just as other wild animals belong to the forest. Every species belongs in their own natural habitat. They have lovely smiles. They are so innocent. How can it be right to confine a dolphin and make them do performances?”

The system of animal protection laws in India is perhaps the most enlightened anywhere in the world; it has been put together over decades by many far-sighted leaders across India in the animal welfare movement. Even more significantly, it flows from the deep reverence for animals which, over the millennia, has been and still is part of the fabric of Indian life and culture.

The permanent ban issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Dr. Chinny Krishna believes, will put a definitive end, in India, to attempts to remove dolphins and other cetaceans from the sea and use them for human entertainment. “In the wild, dolphins live 40 or 50 years. In captivity, they may die in two or three years. If this isn’t cruelty, I don’t know what is. In India, this unkind captivity won’t be happening. Dolphins need to enjoy their freedom and their beautiful wild lives in the sea.”

In banning dolphinariums, India has, once again, led the way towards compassionate protection for animals.

If you’d like to write to thank Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan for this landmark ruling banning dolphinariums in India, you can write to her at

Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan

Minister of Environment and Forests

Government of India

Email: mosefgoi@nic.in

Top photo: “This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee’s official duties.” / Wikipedia Commons / Common Dolphin

Second photo: © Lemonpink / Dreamstime.com / Two dolphins in the sea

Third photo: © Cancer741 / Dreamstime.com / Dolphins in nature

Animals and the earth, Tales of India

In a landmark ruling, India bans dolphinariums, Part One

May 23, 2013May 23, 2013by sharonstjoan4 Comments

“The sun was shining. The dolphins were like silver and gold streaks, jumping up out of the ocean, near the boat. They have synchronized movements, and they jumped together, making great arcs in the shape of a bow. Their sheer beauty was amazing. It was beautiful. They’re so innocent. How could anyone mistreat them?”

Dr. Nanditha Krishna recalled seeing dolphins in the wild, in the Andaman Sea, when she was traveling by ship from Singapore back to Chennai, India. She was captivated by them, and it is a memory that has stayed with her. Dr. Nanditha Krishna is the Honorary Director of the CPR Environmental and Education Centre (CPREEC). Dr. Chinny Krishna, who has devoted his life to the wellbeing of animals, serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India.

Just this month, in an outstanding victory for dolphins, India has banned dolphinariums from being set up anywhere in India. On May 17, 2013, Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan, the Minister of Environment and Forests (MoEF), issued this decisive ban. This means that these beautiful, gentle creatures will not be exploited in India. Dolphins that are held captive in dolphinariums are wild animals who have been taken from their lives of freedom in the oceans to be used for human entertainment. Other countries are likely to follow this forward-looking, compassionate stand.

Mr. B.S. Bonal, Member Secretary of the Central Zoo Authority, in an accompanying statement, expressed the view that dolphins are to be regarded as “non-human persons.”

In accordance with the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, all zoos in India, a category which would include dolphinariums, must obtain advance permission from the Central Zoo Authority before they can be established. Mr. Bonal goes on to state that dolphins are highly intelligent, and that it is morally unacceptable to use them for entertainment; also that they do not survive well in captivity and that they undergo extreme distress when captive. Therefore on all these grounds, the Ministry of Environment and Forests will not allow any dolphinariums in India.

Dr. Nanditha Krishna points out that this document is remarkable in the annals of animal welfare law, in that it makes the case for the ban on dolphinariums based on the vantage point of the animal, and not from a human point of view, and states explicitly that dolphins are “persons.”

Dr. Nanditha Krishna served two three-year terms on the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and has over the years been in on-going communication with Mr. Bonal and the earlier Member Secretaries of the CZA. When the alarming possibility first surfaced around a year ago of a dolphinarium in Kerala, she wrote to Dr. Tishya Chatterji, the then Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and Mr. Bonal. Both replied that the Ministry and the Central Zoo Authority would not give permission for these dolphinariums to be set up. She wrote back that she was very glad to hear that. Mr. Bonal also sent a statement to that effect to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in Kerala, telling him to ensure that no dolphinarium came up in Kerala. Finally, in view of the growing demand to ban all dolphinariums, the Central Zoo Authority issued the ban order. This is a bold step forward for freedom for dolphins and other cetaceans.

Earlier, in January, 2013, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) had issued an advisory, signed by Dr. Kharb, Chairman of the AWBI, much to the same point, strongly opposing the setting up of dolphinariums in India. All performing animals must be registered in advance with the AWBI, and the advisory stated that it will not give any permission for dolphinariums, on the grounds that they violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Furthermore, the AWBI advisory goes on, there is no educational benefit to seeing cetaceans in captivity. This can only “mis-educate” the public into not understanding that dolphins are wild animals that belong in the wild.

In accordance with India’s long history of appreciation and respect for animals, a great many Indian groups and individuals worked very hard to keep dolphinariums out of India.

FIAPO, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations, along with its partners, Born Free Foundation, Global Green Grants Fund, Earth Island Institute’s Dolphin Project, and Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, have also been campaigning against allowing dolphinariums into India. They have brought public attention to this issue, holding press conferences in Delhi and in Kerala and were very pleased at the announcement of the ban. Humane Society International has also been actively engaged, non-stop, in fighting against dolphinariums.

It was in the spring of 2012 that the Mayor of Kochi, in Kerala, made the announcement, startling to many, that the city of Kochi was planning to open a dolphinarium. This sparked animal welfare groups throughout India to work diligently on behalf of the dolphins since that moment. This success is the result of the work of everyone who took part.

Continued in Part Two

If you’d like to write to thank Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan for this landmark ruling banning dolphinariums in India, you can write to her at

Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan

Minister of Environment and Forests

Government of India

Email: mosefgoi@nic.in

Top photo: “This file is in the public domain because it was solely created by NASA.” / Wikimedia Commons / “Bottlenose Dolphin – Tursiops truncatus A dolphin surfs the wake of a research boat on the Banana River – near the Kennedy Space Center.”

Second photo: Serguei S. Dukachev / Wikimedia Commons / “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.” / “Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops aduncus. Red Sea.”

Third photo: © Caan2gobelow / Dreamstime.com / Spinner Dolphins

Poems, Tales of India

Stars and Rivers

May 18, 2013May 18, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

You are,

And you become still,

The white star

Cast in the slivers

Of the ashwood tree

And the Black Madonna

Who swings on the gold swing

Of your rose-ringed car,

Carried through cities old

As the emerald wings of time,

Unbent.

Where are you in the wandering

Whisper of the canted

Tide

Along the rock-cut

Ghost-shelled

Shore,

When only

Gulls can hear the ringing

Echo

Of the soft-belled

Singing

And the murmur

Of the many-lilied morning,

Of the waves that tiptoe

Back into the sea?

Forest voices, green-mossed, among the damp sod,

There you unfold

The unsuspected peace

Of the day

Of clouds,

Of gray

And wind-boned shrouds,

Of rain, from where bands

Of brave geese,

Hurtling,

Climb

Above the northmost hill

The blue Himalaya.

In the winds, you stir

Beside

The ever-present,

Southern rocks of Arunachala,

The mountain that is God.

The quick-footed magic,

The dragon-bright beauty

Of the cosmic

Dance of Nataraja,

And the truth of all that ever is or could be,

All are held

Then and now, and evermore

In the starsent,

Moon-enchanted

Rivers

Of your hands.

Animals and the earth, Tales of India

India: In memory of Smiley

May 15, 2013by sharonstjoanLeave a Comment

She isn't smiling yet, but she's about to. — She isn’t smiling yet, but she’s about to.

Smiley was a special dog. All dogs are special, of course, including all the many dogs who have found their way from the streets of Chennai to Dr. Chinny Krishna’s factory, and then from there many have found their way into the home of Dr. Nanditha and Dr. Chinny Krishna.

But Smiley had unique talents. As well as being charming and endearing, she had a delightful smile – actually a broad grin – which showed all her teeth. When Smiley was smiling, it was impossible not to smile too. Dr. Chinny Krishna writes, “She was really the ‘smilingest’ dog I have ever known.”

She was about 7 or 8 when he took her home from his factory in 2006, and she lived to be around fifteen, always active, happy, and in good health. Even on the morning of May 13, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

She passed away that afternoon and has gone on to her next adventure, carrying her smile with her to light the lives of friends she meets along the way.

May Smiley rest in peace as she brings peace to others.

Animals and the earth, Tales of India

India, Chennai: Bailing out Moksha, Mukti, and all their friends, Part Two

May 5, 2013May 5, 2013by sharonstjoan3 Comments

Mukti looking for a treat, the lab number can be seen in her ear

This is Part Two, to read Part One first, click here.

While the marathon of talks was ongoing, Blue Cross was taking steps to get ready to receive the puppies. Laboratory-bred puppies would have no immunity to real-world conditions, so great care must be taken not to expose them to any germs commonly carried by dogs. For this reason, they couldn’t be kept on the grounds of a shelter, neither at Blue Cross nor at PFA Chennai. Even transportation for them would have to be in sanitized vehicles.

Blue Cross runs a 24 hour a day regular ambulance service for injured street dogs, with nearly a dozen ambulances on hand. They took the two largest ambulances out of service for two weeks to fumigate them, disinfect them, and scrub them from top to toe. Then they repainted the insides of the ambulances. No germ was left alive.

At 4pm on Friday, Dawn Williams, representative of Blue Cross, went to the Quarantine Station, with papers in hand – the letter from ADVINUS, plus the notification from the Ministry of Environment and Forests authorizing the puppies to be handed over to the AWBI.

This was still not enough, however. He was informed that since Customs had sent the puppies to the Quarantine Station, only Customs could get them released.

Dr. Krishna called the Chief Customs Officer for the whole of India, who was in a meeting in Delhi. By 7pm, he had given his okay, and by 8pm, Dawn Williams was back at the Quarantine Station with the additional papers. Everything seemed fine then, except that it was after dark, and it would be best to come back in the morning.

The indefatigable Dawn Williams returned at 8 am the next morning, which was Saturday, with the two ambulances to get the puppies. At 9:45 am, someone showed up, but nothing further happened, and at noon, he was still waiting.

At one pm, the Quarantine Officer appeared, and announced that he would need permission from the Minister of Agriculture to release the puppies.

Dr. Krishna made another round of 100 phone calls, trying to reach someone — anyone who could do something. At last, in desperation, he called Mr. Doulat Jain, a former Vice Chairman of the AWBI. An industrialist who is still a member of the AWBI, he was kind enough to contact the Agriculture Minister of India, who then instructed that the puppies be released. By then, it was 5 pm on Saturday afternoon.

At 7pm, the puppies were at long last turned over to Dawn Williams. 25 of the puppies were immediately given to Dr. Shiranee Periera of People for Animals, Chennai, who adopted all of them out, on the spot, to pre-screened families. This took place just outside the doors of the Quarantine Office.

The other 45, under the auspices of Blue Cross, were loaded into the immaculate ambulances and made their way to the home of Dr. Nanditha and Dr. Chinny Krishna.

At 7:30 pm, the puppies arrived on a comfortably cool South India January evening, where they were kept in an enclosed garden that had been carefully cleaned and disinfected, outside one of the compound buildings.

Soon 100 people, buzzing with excitement converged on the scene, all anxious to get a glimpse of the puppies. There were forty-five pre-screened, qualified families. All had to have a family vet, and had to commit to getting their adopted puppies vaccinated and spayed or neutered.

Between 7:30 and 10pm that evening 28 puppies were adopted. No adoption fees were charged, but about half the families gave donations to Blue Cross.

The following night, Sunday, the 17 remaining puppies found homes. It was a happy occasion for both people and puppies.

Despite the joy of this truly happy event, Dr. Nanditha and Dr. Chinny Krishna noted that some of the 45 puppies could not bark. They seemed to have been debarked. Also, they were not normal size and seemed to have been bred intentionally to be dwarf beagles.

Moksha, Mukti, and all the others, have large numbers tattooed in their ears. The numbers are an 8, followed by 6 digits. Even if one assumes that the 8 is a batch number, that still means that the number of beagle puppies bred in the lab they came from is in the six figures.

The beagle pups were six months old by this time. They all, of course, needed housetraining. Despite having been kept caged the entire time, Dr. Chinny Krishna says that every dog was “so friendly.” These 70 innocent beagle puppies will now be blessed with a chance to have long, happy lives, and Moksha and Mukti can play with Ruffles.

Following the great love and care she was given, Mukti’s spinal problem vanished, as if it had never been.

This was a bright spot in a lengthy battle. The struggle continues in the long fight to arrive at a moment when all animals everywhere in the world are free from the threat of being used in laboratories.

To visit the website of Blue Cross of India, click here.

Photo: Sharon St Joan

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