CHENNAI: Sunita Christy, who runs an animal shelter in Virudhunagar, describes a breakdown she had years ago. “I had about 40 dogs under my care and I could not afford care or medication for them,” she says. “Then I thought there is no God and withdrew from people.”
A man, who had heard of her work with animals, brought his sick German Shepherd to her. Sunita managed to get him walking again. “He said he’ll give me Rs 3,000 every month and asked me to take care of his dog… I took care of around 30 for a year with that,” she says.
Sunita’s biggest challenge so far has been rescuing cattle from butchers. “They are supposed to kill only old and infirm ones and humanely, but I’ve seen them butcher calves by the roadside,” she says. She took them on and says had the police turn against her. “I wake up with them at the door and have visited every station in this district.”
On her 29-cent parcel of land, Sunita cares for 15 cows, 25 bulls, 12 calves, 1 horse, 20 dogs, 7 goats, 1 pig, 3 cats, 15 chicken and 1 owl. It speaks of an fearsome commitment and Sunita has been doing this for 15 years.
All through her father supported her and now, after he passed away, her mother does. They run it on her father’s pension that comes to Rs 15,000. Sunita’s shelter has benefactors — Sanjeev Deshpande, a techie based in the US, who sends in Rs 10,000 every month and Veni Kumar, a local beautician, who gives her Rs 1,500. “I also get fodder for the cattle on credit,” says Sunita.
Jaiya Venkat had been helping Sunita with her pet rescue operations for a year now. But Jaiya realised the shelter needed to expand its facilities to keep the 40 cattle that were rescued in March. Four of the cows were pregnant.
Sunita’s neighbour Kapila Ramakrishna thought of an online crowdfunding campaign and Jaiya followed through with it. On June 14, they set out to raise Rs 3 lakh on Ketto. The results were not too encouraging. “We managed to collect only Rs 1.71 lakh from our friends through online campaign. Some others who did not want to contribute through campaign have sent money to my bank account,” says Jaiya.
On the crowdfunding page, a goat looks back at you with great curiosity. This is Ajith Kumar, rescued from a butcher. Ajith Kumar, the campaign letter reads, like a good South Indian meal with rasam and rice. He also likes to curl up on a chair next to Sunitha’s bed. Her other rescues too sleep around her and it is not always hygienic. “She suffers from skin disorders,” says Jaiya. “Sunita sleeps on a wooden plank without mattress.”