Activities

Activities

Activities of Archana and Katrina Gorakshan trust and Animal Rehabilitation Home

Our trust was established with the slogan of ‘Service to Animals is Service to God,’ since we believe that all animals big and small are children of God. But animals are speechless and when we serve animals in any form be it by giving food and water or medicines and medical treatment or shelter to sick animals or even by becoming a vegetarian we believe we render service to God. In line with our trust’s slogan, food, fodder and water are given on regular basis to cows, bullocks/ buffaloes, pigs, birds, squirrels and off course dogs and cats are given milk.

Our trust has been providing medicines for scabies (a form of skin infection) affected dogs since past many years and in fact even before the conceptualisation of such a trust, then as animal friends, lovers and carers. Every year around 450 to 550 dogs are successfully treated for scabies with good quality medicines and supportive therapy. And this has been done in other cities like Chennai, Chidambaram (Tamilnadu) Seloo (Wardha dist, Maharashtra) as well whenever the office bearers are visiting those places.

Apart from the above maladies treatment for conditions like tumours is done in a planned manner by catching/lifting the dog to a veterinary clinic and subsequent surgical operation by veterinary surgeon/s and post operative care and further looking after by the trust. On 12th November 2020 a female dog of about ten years called ‘Guchimai’ who lives near Gittikhadan square, Nagpur was successfully operated for the removal of a stomach tumour at a nearby animals clinic and she has since recovered well and being looked after regularly.

A similar successful surgical intervention for a benign tumour of stomach was carried out by the surgeons of Nagpur Veterinary College, Nagpur in the year December 2011 when a white coloured female dog of about four years belonging to a poor auto driver was taken for treatment by our trust.

The activities of the trust continued unabated during the long lockdowns in the year 2020 as well as the year 2021 since they were already exempt from lockdown rules and we had always in mind our objective to serve the cause of animas and not to let any animal die of hunger. But whenever there is need for such a situation (lockdown) food and watering arrangements for stray animals must be put in place which are entirely dependent on human beings for their survival. In such cases citizens also have to take the initiative and try to keep bread/biscuits/chapatis and water right in front of their residences and need not go anywhere else.

On many occasions our trust has rescued and rehabilitated cows, bullocks, buffaloes and goats being taken for slaughter and this consisted purchasing the animals to save their lives because it is really a pathetic sight to see goats and other animals standing under the hot sun on a weekly/daily animal market waiting to be bought by persons who may also be butchers. (The fact that all such market places must have sufficient number of trees planted to provide cool shade year round to all is more often than not lost from the expected responsible functioning/management of such places usually controlled by Agriculture Marketing Produce Committees or local bodies) And we can broadly stop this suffering by taking a vegetarian path of life popularising which is one of the objectives of the trust.

In December 2013 a goat named Viru was similarly rescued from a butcher for rehabilitation. Our trust is also of the opinion that pig population in India definitely needs to get the attention of the Central and State governments, the Courts of law, the Parliament, AWBI and Animal Welfare Organisations (AWOs) to prepare a roadmap for their welfare and sterilisation programme. Since in any case pigs do not deserve the kind of brutal, cruel and completely inhuman treatment they get at the hand of persons involved in pig slaughter, rarely with any intervention from the authorities.

The sight of entire pig families running helter and skelter with their young ones with morbid fear for life reflected in their eyes and actions is palpable once the cruel catchers descend unlawfully on any area where pigs are living and throw stones at their resting places to force them out and in this stampede many times pigs injure themselves seriously or even die. And when they are captured in most cruel and inhuman way by making use of crude bamboo sticks nets etc and tie very tightly their snouts, fore and hind legs to stop any attempts to escape (sometimes releasing back after cutting some body parts like scrotum or part of ears while still being conscious) painful cries of pigs for help longing for freedom reverberate in the atmosphere and minds of those caring for animal suffering.

With this heart wrenching cruelty in mind we hope that the said authorities work harder sooner than later and ensure that pig population gets a life of peace and tranquillity. Equally condemnable is poachers’ unlawful act of placing hand grenade like explosives in jungles to kill wild pigs (boars) which are laced with some eatables and unsuspecting boars and some other animals and including dogs also eat this dangerous objects only to die an excruciatingly painful death and our trust has had in the past written to DSP Nagpur (rural) to take immediate action against the culprits in two separate incidents.

It is a matter of great distress that the above types of inhuman cruelties perpetrated on animals continue to take place even after seventy three years of country’s independence and we only hope that a heavy hand of law puts an end to these miseries.

Our trust is of the opinion that effective control and eradication of rabies disease in canines on mass scale especially in rural areas is possible by means of Oral Anti rabies Vaccine which comes in the form of a oral bait to be eaten by the animal and thus does not require their capture or restrain. In the past our trust had pursued the matter with the Central government and also informed that this oral vaccine is available with some foreign vaccine manufacturers including the one in France.Ingestion of plastic carry bags has been a cause of bane to the health of especially cows which graze openly in city areas due to the lack of reserved pastures and ingest the dangerous plastic carry bags thrown irresponsibly anywhere by people. We must therefore ensure that
1. plastic carry bags are never used for shopping/other purposes.Instead cloth bags are advisible.
2. In case they are used, should be properly disposed of without throwing them on streets and in open spaces.

Our trust also abhors all kind of religious slaughter of animals in all forms and feel the real sacrifice needed is the sacrifice of one’s own ego and selfishness and then please remember the eternally true words of Lord Gautam Buddha which go like ‘Life is Dear to All’.