*** NEWS ***
*** Journey October 2006 Elke Winkler ***
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Reunion in Agra octobre 2005 by Elke Winkler
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The Journey in 2003:
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Journey to India
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| My luggage was packed and included as usual food for dogs and cats, but this time also a lot of medicine for the animals. After about 4 years I was going to meet those people again who helped me so much to take over my dog Indy from India to Germany. The name of those animal conservationistes is "People for Animals" in Agra. In the meantime I always stayed |
in contact with the president Mrs. Surat Prasad. Now they had build a shelter and I was really eager to see it. I also got the offer that I could stay at the shelter and I accepted with pleasure.
At night I arrived in Delhi and the next morning I rented a car with driver and left for Agra.
On our way I saw emaciated cows and bulls on the streets, always searching for food. As I learned, the cows belong often to local milkmen who don't want to spent money on food, therefore they leave the animals to themselves. Because there are no grazing grounds in the cities, they search in the rubbish for something edible.
But I also noted two nice scenes: a dog which waited patiently till a cow came close to him and then he rubbed his head against her head and they walked together slowly away. Another scene was a young dog playing together with a calf.
Finally we arrived at Agra and Surat and her family welcomed me warmly. We had so much to talk and it was already late when we left for the shelter.
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At the gate of the shelter we were greated by some dogs, which were very curious. Mr. Singh the assistant opened the gate and we hat to slip through quickly. The dogs were very excited and it was not easy to move because they were all the time around us.
On the right hand of the entry were a long building with |
several rooms, one of them was a room specially thought for veterinarians, who want to help for a short time at the shelter. Now it was for five days my room.
On the next morning I was really eager to meet the animals and to see the shelter.
The shelter has a surface of 8000sqmts. and has been donated after long negotiations from the officials of Agra to PFA Agra for a use of 30 years. It is situated on the outskirts of Agra directly by the river.
When I stepped out the door, I found already four dogs lying on the floor in front of my room. Immediately they got up and came to me as soon as they saw me. It was a group of three light brown dogs and a black older one. The three dogs were brought to the shelter by Mrs. Carolien Roovers who picked them up on the road, when they were needing help. When she had to leave India she asked Mrs. Prasad to keep those three until she has the possibility to take them over to Holland. She founded a new organisation for prevention of cruelty to animals called "Foundation for World Animals". As the three dogs were healthy and in a good condition, they represented a special pack. All the time of my stay at the shelter they were my company. Sometimes a bit annoying because they got very jealous as soon as I wanted to caress another dog. But anyway they are nice and charming dogs who just need human attention.
The old dog also was waiting for me to caress him. His name is Calu. The husband of the president of PFA -Mr. Guru Prasad- spotted him one day on the road limping and brought him to the shelter. When he recovered, he was brought back to his area, which is some kms away. Some days later he was back and stood outside the door of the shelter. Now he is one of the permanent inhabitants.
Mr. Singh came and introduced me to his wife. He and three other men of the shelter staff live with their family on the ground of the shelter. He showed me around and explained the different cases to me. I was really pleased and found it very positive that the dogs were allowed to run free, only the very ill, as well some problematical cases and two quarantine cases had to stay in kennels.
There were some dogs which were paralised at the hind part of their body caused by accidents. One of them was a mother of three puppies, all of a different colour. The puppies were staying at a kennel, but during the day they were also allowed to come out. Next to them were another two puppies which were a bit older. Their mother died by an accident and they were taken to the shelter.
One of the paralised dogs was a black strong male one. He really loved to be caressed and came often as quick as he could to me so that I would not forget him.
While making our round we came to the cowshed. On the left and right side of it are fenced in runs. Most of the cows and bulls come to the shelter because of accidents.
| But there are also some due to weakness, because of starvation and polyethylene bags stuck in the stomach. When they have recoverd from their injuries, they are taken over by another society for prevention of cruelty to animals, which is specialized in those animals. They have a big ground where the recovered cows and bulls can live in peace and security. |
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Donkeys live at the shelter together with the cows and bulls. They are also mostly accident cases because they are made to work around construction sites. Others are somtimes bitten by dogs.
One monkey is also living at the shelter. He was found injured and very weak.
The only cat of the shelter is living at the feeding-kitchen, because the cat pen was not ready at that time. She is blind and was found walking in the middle of the road. PFA was informed about it by one of their members and took it to the shelter.
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Later of the day Surat came and showed me the different rooms of the building where I was staying. There are the room of the veterinary surgeon for medical treatment, the operation room, X-ray room, office, a washroom for the dogs and a guestroom for a volunteer veterinary surgeon. The operation room and X-ray room are both empty, because lack of money. They hope they can find donators for it. The X-ray equipment is absolutely necessary because of the numerous accident cases. The operation room as well is one of the urgencies, which should be completed as soon as possible, but it is very hard to get donations in India. |
She introduced me to the veterinary surgeon who comes every day to the shelter and controls the condition of the ill animals. They also have a consultation time for externe patients.
On the next morning another dog was brought to the shelter and it was screaming of pain. He had an accident and an open fracture of the foreleg. The veterinarian treated him and they put him in a kennel where already another ill dog was lying. The other dog was also an accident case and her conditon was very serious.
One day I saw the children of the staff playing with Bruno, a sad dobermann male. He has been left by his family at the shelter, because they didn't want him anymore at the house. He is suffering a lot and emaciated. As I could notice, he loved to play. So I went back to my room and gave him one of the balls I brought to the shelter. He was very clever and catched it by jumping in the air. He took care of it and walked around with the ball in his mouth. He seemed very happy and I asked the children to play with him as often as they could.
During my stay, I was able to meet some members of PFA and I was very pleased to hear that there are also active members who try to get donations. Surat told me, that it is sometimes very frustrating, there is always the problem to have the animals profondly examined as there is no X-ray and no possibilities for bloodtests. It is already hard to pay the monthly costs of the shelter, how ever could they get the necessary equipment for treating the animals properly?
My 5-days stay was too soon over. I loved it very much to stay with the animals, they are so trustful and give so much. When I left, I promised to come back as soon as I can.
Back in Delhi I had a meeting with Mrs. Maneka Gandhi, which Surat arranged for me. I was very eager to meet Mrs. Gandhi. She is one of the founders of People for Animals in India. She was minister of environment and forests and is still a member of parliament.
She talked to me about the objectives and actions of People for Animals. PFA has animal hospitals and ambulances all over India and refuges for unwanted animals. Amongst other cases, they went to court against municipal killing of streetdogs and have been successful. They created a sterilization programme ABC (Animal Birth Control) all across India. PFA are also treating other kind of animals as bears, eagles, camels, horses, elephants, peacocks and rabbits. They are running a 24-hours wildlife rescue service (SOWL) Save Our Wildlife. They are fighting against animal sacrifices in India. It is illegal under both state and central law, but it is still prevalent in many parts of the country. As well they are patroling highways to check against illegal overloading and smuggling of animals for slaughter. There are trucks who transport the cows in two or three layers. The animals in the lowest layer are mostly dead, crushed by the weight above.
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Just before leaving she showed me in her office a list hanging on the wall and said: "On this list are written all things which I want to do before I die". I had a look at this list – it is very long ...
Elke Winkler March 2003
People for Animals in Agra need help in any way as much as possible.
For information, please contact: www.geocities.com/pfa_agra
e-mail: suratprasad@gmail.com
e-mail: werelddieren@hotmail.com
e-mail: Elke Winkler
PS: In the meantime I had some good and some sad news from the shelter in Agra:
Molly found a wonderful new home / The monkey had recovered completely and was left in his area / The cat found a new home / The black dog with the open fracture can now move around the shelter.
In Memory:
- One of the partly paralised dogs, which I named Cara, slipped out of the shelter and was found dead ...
- Another partly paralised dog, the mother of the three babies, she also went outside the shelter. They searched for her, but could not find her again ...
- Two of the babies died due to the heat ...
- Teeku, a male dog, which recoverd so wonderfully from a very bad accident, died as well ...
- Pittli, a white tall dog, which had also some difficulties with her hind part of her body, died after she had been operated ...
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