A nursing place for animals

At the Koovapadam Animal Shelter, in Mattancherry, Gujarati couple Dinesh and Ushma Shah provide timely treatment for injured animals and birds

Pics: Dinesh and Ushma Shah; Ushma Shah. Photos by Albin Mathew 

By Shevlin Sebastian 

At 4 a.m., Ushma Shah seemed to hear barking at the edge of her consciousness. She was in a deep sleep at her home in Mattancherry, Kochi. She turned to one side, hoping the sound would go away. Her husband Dinesh let out a soft snore. But the barking persisted. Soon, Ushma shook her head, got up and realised it was coming from outside. So, she stepped out, walked down a long passage, and opened the gate. A brown dog was standing there, with a wound on its back. It had large sorrowful eyes. 

Ushma took the dog in, gave it medication and provided milk and dry dog food. She recognised the dog. It had been brought in a few days earlier, after being hit by a car. But after treatment, Ushma had sent it back to its original area of Panayapally, because there was no space in the shelter. But now the dog had found its way back. 

So Ushma tended to it till the wound healed and again sent it back. 

At the shelter, there are 35 big and small dogs, seven cows and calves, one pigeon, and three cats. Sadly, one cat became paralysed when it was hit by a vehicle. 

In fact, more than 90 per cent of the injuries is due to the animals being hit by vehicles. “For street dogs as well as abandoned pets, for some reason, both are unable to judge the proper distance at which a bike or car is moving,” says Dinesh. “That’s why they get hit so often.” 

One dog was hit so hard that his eyeballs popped out. By the time, he was taken to the doctor, it was too late. “He is blind now,” says Dinesh, with a sad shake of his head. Apart from accidents, dogs also suffer from skin diseases, cancers, paralysis, tumours, nerve and kidney problems. 

“Their constitution is no different from ours,” says Ushma. “They feel pain in the same way as humans. They get emotionally upset. But we have not been taught to observe this. We eat animals, so how can we have any feelings for them?” 

On the other hand, animals have feelings for their caregiver. “They show more love than human beings,” says Ushma. “Their love is unconditional.”   

In 2018, the shelter, which is part of the Delhi-based Dhyan Foundation, received a grant from the Jeanne Marchig Animal Welfare Award in Scotland to improve their infrastructure. The award was given through the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations at their ‘India For Animals’ event at Hyderabad. 

As for the Foundation, among the various works it is doing, animal welfare is at the core of their activities. “We have centres all over India as well as 30 cow shelters or gaushalas, where cattle are taken care of,” says cardiologist Dr Prasan Prabhakar, the head of the Kochi chapter. The spiritual guru is Yogi Ashwini, who is a well-known proponent of the Sanatan Kriya. 

Meanwhile, at Kochi, in the front courtyard, there are three cows and assorted calves. When a cow gets injured or sick, there is no place in Kochi, apart from this shelter, where it can receive prolonged treatment. “Cows suffer from skin problems, rashes and infections in the hooves,” says Dinesh. “Maggots will eat the flesh around the hooves. Soon, it can go deeper and deeper. They can even enter the bloodstream. Once they do that, the cow will die. So we provide timely treatment.”  

Apart from animals, Dinesh and Ushma look after birds like owls, pigeons, kites and crows. Surprisingly, most crows get injured when they graze against the strings of kites that have been cut during friendly fights in the sky. Sometimes, these strings, which are usually coated with powdered glass or plastic, stretch across two branches of a tree. “They are not able to see it, and fly through, hit the string, and damage their necks or wings,” says Dinesh. “Even pigeons and kites get injured.” 

The normal treatment for a bird is to give it medication and rub pain-relieving cream on the injured part. “Most of the time the birds don’t survive because the stress they go through while struggling to free themselves from the string becomes too much for them to handle,” says Ushma. “Out of 10 injured birds, only two survive.”  

Different birds have different characters. A crow is emotionally sturdier than a pigeon. “If we put a crow in a cage it does not like it at all,” says Dinesh. “It conveys the message by flapping its wings. The pigeon, on the other hand, is soft-hearted and sensitive and remains silent when going through the treatment.”  

The couple is consumed by their passion for the work. So, it is no surprise that Dinesh, a businessman and Ushma, a chartered accountant have given up their careers. “This is our life mission now,” they say, in unison.

(A short version was published in Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and New Delhi)