After the initial shock that hits you over the animal welfare in India, I settled down to a routine in the shelter. I would wander around all area of the shelter but I mainly concentrated my time in B run. This is where the dogs with skin complaints are housed, mainly mange. There were all sorts of dogs here from young and old, to mums with there puppies all with mange.
Feeding time was always the hardest as at the end of the day these are street dogs and where the strongest survive. Some of the dogs were having special food which the other dogs wanted so it was a constant battle to make sure the weaker dogs all got fed.
Dogs with mange have to have regular baths to help heal the skin which was great fun when it was the puppies turn, as everyone loves a puppy, but also very sad that these pups should have such a bad start in life.
Some days the shelter got no visitors so we would go and help feed the calves and donkeys which I loved and was great fun. This is where I would go if I needed to smile as some days were hard and very upsetting. A donkey came in that I sat with all afternoon with his head on my lap and when I left him that afternoon I was hopeful that he would make it through the night but unfortunately he didn't.
A three day old goat came into the shelter after falling from a roof and we nursed it for 2 days then the vet decided the damage was too much and put the baby to sleep. These two incidents will always stick in my mind as I cared for these animals as if they were my own pets.
Our last day was very emotional as we were very sad to leave the new friends we had made and having to leave our special animals to other volunteers to care for them.
Feeding time was always the hardest as at the end of the day these are street dogs and where the strongest survive. Some of the dogs were having special food which the other dogs wanted so it was a constant battle to make sure the weaker dogs all got fed.
Dogs with mange have to have regular baths to help heal the skin which was great fun when it was the puppies turn, as everyone loves a puppy, but also very sad that these pups should have such a bad start in life.
Some days the shelter got no visitors so we would go and help feed the calves and donkeys which I loved and was great fun. This is where I would go if I needed to smile as some days were hard and very upsetting. A donkey came in that I sat with all afternoon with his head on my lap and when I left him that afternoon I was hopeful that he would make it through the night but unfortunately he didn't.
A three day old goat came into the shelter after falling from a roof and we nursed it for 2 days then the vet decided the damage was too much and put the baby to sleep. These two incidents will always stick in my mind as I cared for these animals as if they were my own pets.
Our last day was very emotional as we were very sad to leave the new friends we had made and having to leave our special animals to other volunteers to care for them.
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| Our last day at Animal Aid |
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