9 minute read
Showing Compassion for Animals
Wherever you go in Goa, it is very easy to spot stray dogs lying around or roaming the streets. Also, you can easily see buffaloes and bulls moving around with no one to take care of them. Cats are seen wandering around in fish markets and scavenging for food. Hunger, thirst, disease, injuries, and blatant cruelty are the various miseries faced by these animals on a daily basis. These scenes highlight the lack of action on the part of both citizens as well as the government towards the suffering and distress faced by these poor creatures. It gives the impression that most people in the state are least bothered about them.
Thankfully, there are a few good Samaritans who have a heart filled with love and compassion for these helpless creatures. One such group of animalloving individuals are the people at Gomantak Pashu Rakshak Sanstha (known as GoaGPRS), an animal welfare organization based at Adnem-Quepem in South Goa. Founded by Mrs. Grace Kare and a few of her close friends in 2013, the organization works hard on a daily basis to do its part in easing the suffering and distress faced by stray and abandoned animals in the state.
WHEN DID IT ALL START?
Mrs. Kare has been involved in the field of animal welfare for more than 25 years now. She was born in Argentina and was brought up in the United States. Her love and affection for animals started at a very young age as she grew up on a farm near Buffalo, New York. The farm where her parents worked had
Mrs. Kare grew up with different types of animals at her home too, including cats and dogs, turtles, and even ducks. Growing up with animals all around her led to deep love and affection for them.
After completing her MBA, she married Dr. Dilip Kare and moved to Goa along with their daughter Sarika in 1995. When she arrived in Goa, she was shocked to see the pathetic state of homeless animals. She could see dogs with broken legs lying on the side of the street with no one to care for them. People used to just walk past such injured animals since there were no adequate facilities available in South Goa to treat such kind of animals. Cows were lying around in dirty and unhygienic conditions with festering wounds. There were only a handful of animal lovers to help and no shelters in Margao or nearby.
COMMITMENT TO ANIMAL WELFARE
Seeing all this, Mrs. Grace joined Vinod Gosalia and others in 1998 to set up Goa Animal Welfare Trust (GAWT). The AH&VS department leased space at the Sonsodo Veterinary Centre for 7 years to GAWT to be used for their animal welfare activities. The area was in a pathetic condition but with the help and combined efforts of all the members, families, and friends, the group managed to renovate the area and set up a small shelter for the animals. In 2007, the lease was not renewed as the Department of Animal Husbandry took over the area in order to build a large veterinary hospital which is still not completed. GAWT then shifted its operations to Curchorem.
decided to set up her own organisation with a specific mission and outlook. This led her and a few close friends to start GoaGPRS in 2013. Mrs. Kare along with her husband Dilip, Tracie Patterson, Radhika Wakharkar, and Vicky Lalwani run the organization. These five energetic and dynamic individuals have decades of combined experience in working with animals. The organization is set up primarily as a sanctuary for old and special needs dogs.
GoaGPRS provides a spay and neuter program for pet dogs and cats and strays. They have a unique program where transport, surgery, 4-day after-care, and vaccination are all provided at one very affordable price. GoaGPRS also specialises in the treatment of serious medical cases requiring surgery and extensive after-care for rescues and sponsored animals. After recovery, they are sterilized and vaccinated before being returned to their original location.
The GPRS shelter in Adnem covers appropriately 1500 sq. mtrs. The staff lives on the premises to ensure the welfare of the animals 24x7. There are approximately 45 permanent resident animals living in small groups in designated areas within the shelter. The oldest dogs, known as the ‘Golden Oldies’, live in separate indoor/outdoor areas that can accommodate their special needs. Only surgery dogs and cats stay in cages as needed for their recovery before release. Overall, on average, there are about 65 to 70 animals on the premises on any given day.
The setup and philosophy of GoaGPRS are unique. “It’s a different and more individual approach to
animal welfare. Each animal gets the care and time it needs to make a full recovery or reach the best outcome possible.
"By specialising in specific areas of care, we can provide the best possible treatment and outcome for each individual animal”, says Mrs. Grace.
MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC
Mrs. Kare has observed that often when a person can no longer keep a pet, they call a shelter to take the animal. An animal shelter is no place for a pet that has lived in a family unit and does not understand living in a group or pack setting.
Often pet owners simply abandon their pets on the beach or at the fish market, for example. Abandoning a pet on the streets is cruel, unforgivable, morally wrong, and against the law. The pet has no idea how to live on the streets, find food, or how to behave in a pack. Most of the pets abandoned on the roads die miserable deaths from injuries caused by humans or infected wounds or diseases. The humans chase them away by throwing stones or hitting them. Others are run over because they do not understand traffic or slowly starve to death.
Deciding to get a pet, whether it is a turtle, goldfish or dog or cat requires commitment. A dog or cat, for example, will require a daily commitment of at least 10 to 12 years. If a person does not have a permanent home environment, financial stability, and the love to put in the effort that pet ownership requires, it is best not to adopt an animal.
One option is adopting an older pet that will require a shorter commitment. Adopting an older dog, say 6 Website: www.itsgoa.com I Instagram: @_itsgoa I Facebook: Itsgoa
or 7 years old, has big advantages for both the pet owner as well as the dog. Adopting a properly trained older pet means not going through the puppy stage of toilet training or chewing and shredding. If circumstances change and a new owner has to be found for a pet, Mrs. Kare warns that there are no quick fixes. Maybe a relative that already knows the pet could be a possibility for adoption. Friends and contacts on social media may be able to adopt or help by sharing a post about the pet. Posting a photo and text on the pet owner's Whatsapp status, posters at veterinary clinics, pet shops, etc. may help. It will take time to find a good home for the pet. But it is the responsibility of the pet owner to find a new home, not discard the animal or expect shelters to solve the problem.
Also, Mrs. Kare recommends that pet owners start looking for a new home as early as possible. Mrs. Kare says, "I have been involved in cases where a family has decided to immigrate overseas. The legal
process takes at least two years. Yet, pet owners will call and say they are leaving the following week.
“My question is why haven't you been looking to place your pet for the last year?”, says Mrs. Kare. “Unfortunately, too often, the answer is that they love the pet and will miss it if they give it away early." This is one time when the pet's welfare has to be a priority to the owner's feelings. It is about what is best for the pet, not the pet owner.
Mrs. Kare strongly believes that the only way to build empathy in the hearts and minds of people towards homeless animals is through children. Children are sometimes taught in school about cruelty to animals and respect for the environment. Also, young people are much more sensitive towards the cause of stray animals. They are more actively involved in working with animal welfare groups, and they see that all the work they do with such groups brings about positive results. The message about animal welfare is then taken home to the adults so that over time minds can be changed positively .
Mrs. Kare says that over the past three decades, she has seen much progress in the attitude of the general public toward homeless animals. Also, pet owners are more responsible and understand the benefits of spaying/neutering their pets. Thanks to the statewide anti-rabies program done by Mission Rabies and paid for by the Goa government, the general public is less worried about stray dogs and the possibility of contracting rabies. However, a lot more needs to be done by the government to help NGOs to resolve the problem of street dogs. Mrs. Kare jokingly says that if street dogs become a vote bank, the problem of strays will be solved in just one election cycle!.
In conclusion, the problem of stray dogs, abandoned pets, cows on the road, injured wildlife, etc. cannot be solved without everyone's involvement. Each one must take up personal responsibility, act as concerned and responsible citizens of society and do whatever is possible within their reach to ease the pain and suffering endured by homeless animals.
To know more about Goa GPRS and the work that they do, follow them on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/GoaGPRS Instagram: www.instagram.com/goagprs
