THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 14-member team from the People for Animals (PFA) Thiruvananthapuram chapter has returned from Wayanad after rehabilitating injured pet animals from the twin landslides there. Since there is a dearth of animal shelters, the animal welfare activists have moved the injured pets to a makeshift shelter at Sultan Bathery until they are either returned to their owners or given for adoption. The most affected lot is chickens as they are targeted by dogs.
Initially, the animal husbandry department had not given due consideration to rescue the animals as reaching the landslide areas was cumbersome. NGOs working for the welfare of animals were allowed entry only after four days of the landslide at Mundakkai and Chooralmala. Sinu P Sabu who runs Animal Rescue Rehabilitation and Overall Wellness (ARROW), Pathanamthitta, and led the team of rescuers to Wayanad, told TNIE that the most vulnerable were chickens and rabbits. “They are very fragile and due to fatigue, hunger and cold climate, their woes aggravate. The chickens were unable to run due to fatigue and lack of food. The authorities don’t have any statistics on the number of animals that have been washed away in the landslides. Our team was divided into several groups where we initially tracked the animals and shifted the sick ones. Those animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits and cows, which had owners were handed over to them,” said Sinu.
The biggest bane faced by the animal rescue teams was the lack of shelters in Wayanad. Sinu and his team didn’t find a single goat in the landslide-affected areas which he says was very disturbing. He feels that the animal husbandry department should have taken steps to shift the injured and sick animals to the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Pookode, Wayanad, as they have all the facilities to take care of them.
Sreedevi S Kartha, trustee, PFA, was highly critical of the animal husbandry department as she recalled that they insisted that it was their responsibility to feed the injured and sick animals. She said that it was PETA India that sponsored the rescuers’ conveyance.
“Our team could go to Wayanad only after the intervention of Maneka Gandhi. Five buffaloes brought for slaughtering were found wandering. Let us take a cue from this and prevent them from being slaughtered. Dhyan Foundation in Kochi, a vegan sanctuary, was willing to take them. But they were not given to them. Our rescuers saw cows feeding on plastic when fodder had been available with the authorities,” Sreedevi said.