News Updates

VSPCA November 2006 update

Some news about VSPCA since we last wrote to you in September!

Sarada nursing baby bunny

Another kitten saved from a throw away culture (this one from a dustbin) being nursed by Mallika

We have been petitioning the government for the additional three acres they promised  us. The land adjoins the shelter and is sorely needed to help house our over 800 animals. We feel we are getting closer and hope to have good news soon! 

The end of October brought the Nagavala Chauthi festival where we vigilantly monitored to see that the cobra was not abused.  This year was our first completely successful year where we did not find one incident of cobra abuse.  This was written about in The Hindu newspaper.

Many thanks to the Conservator of Forest, Mr. P.V.Padmanabham, and his staff for their ready help in curbing this practice.

Dr. Gal and ABC (animal birth control) and Goshala (cow sanctuary) staff.

Visiting veterinarian:  In October, Dr. Bosmat Gal returned with her helpful husband Amiram Bar-Ilan.  Dr. Gal had first visited after the tsunami and was astounded at the positive changes she witnessed on this, her first return visit . Dr. Gal writes:

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I arrived after 1 year and nine months of absence. After this latest disaster, the Indian government finally agreed to fund the construction of the Goshala, and what I saw was a wonderful surprise. Almost all the 650 bovines now have a concrete shelter, with a large corrugated roof to protect them from the elements which includes a feeding and a water supply area for all that protects from the elements.”

Dr. Gal brought badly needed vet supplies which, along with the cost of her visit, were donated by the Animal Rescue League of Boston. We thankfully received all of her wonderful expertise in training our shelter staff in the best protocols.

School children visiting our Goshala and learning about humane awareness.

School children with our endangered star tortoises.

Left to Right. VSPCA vet Dr. Ranjan, Shelter Managers Rajeshkar and Sarada; visiting vet Dr. Bosmat Gal; VSPCA vets Drs. Subhur Sarkar, Ram and Neeraj.

Above: New monkey enclosure with the best facilities for rescued monkeys that can never be released to the wild.

We previously welcomed Dr. Shekar from Chennai who instructed all of our vets in the cat spay techniques.  Since cats as companion animals are relatively new to India, these methods are not taught in the standard veterinary curriculum.  Dr. Shekar’s visit was very useful, and we are grateful to Dr. Chinny Krishna for taking this step in sending him to us despite his crucial role at his own busy and demanding Blue Cross of India shelter. 

Despite all of our positive news, the situation remains that we will be soon be out of operating funds! The sad truth is that if there is no disaster, very few donations trickle in to help us with our crucial daily programs.  Please remember us, your hard-at-work animal shelter in Andhra Pradesh, and how far your donation can go when a dog spay/neuter/vaccination costs only $10 USD and a cat spay/neuter/vaccination just $8.

Please join us in helping our area's very needy animals and continuing our vital programs. We would be so grateful for your kind support.

Since the last email report in September we have received donations from Syd Baumel (and his editing expertise), Jean Bird, Amy Dharmini Casey, Sara D’Arce,  Franziskha Edwards, Judith Embry, Lek Hanshin, Judy Hungerford (and her beautiful graphic design), Sharon St. Joan (and her encouragement and advice),  Renee Kehr, Bosky Ravindranath, Gina Sopwith, Andrew Wells, and the Mahwari Community who donates feed for our cows.

Ms. Olive Walker has very generously come to our aid by funding the unglamorous but necessary new water tank and electric transformer.  This steady electricity will help us get through the storms with fewer outages.  Additionally, she has funded a cow dispensary/surgery room which is under construction – finally our larger animals can get the help they need away from the unsanitary elements!  We also thank the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights and Animal People News for making this donation possible. 

Derek Hogue of Amphibian Design formatted this newsletter and generously donates his web services to us.

Please sign the WSPA "Animals Matter to Me" petition to the United Nations (which will add your name with VSPCA folks). 

From all of us at:  VSPCA
www.vspca.org or www.vspca.com