CHENNAI: The scorching sun was unforgiving as honking cars and sweaty travellers hurried through a congested street in Kancheepuram. For a ragged stray dog weakly wedged between two grey pavement slabs, it was awfully ruthless. The canine, in gritty sand colour, shivered as the cacophony on the crowded street drowned out her slow pants. Biscuits lay on a damp newspaper, light years away from her parched tongue. Her hind leg refused to move, and itchy painful sores scattered her body.
Over 80 km away, the rays have softened, as 57-year-old Sarah feeds and pets numerous dogs she now calls her family. She gets a call from a group of Samaritans and within hours, the sandy stray breathes easier as gentle hands carefully comb through her fur. The stray is now at home, at Daaman shelter in Krishnankarani, Mahabalipuram. She is christened with a name — Kanchi the warrior dog. Living up to her title, Kanchi battles through allergies, canine distemper, and the eventual amputation of her hind leg.
Months down the lane, the furball’s life is transformed —from barely stumbling to living life the fullest.
Kanchi is among the 235 troopers of Daaman, run by Sarah and her husband Gerry, a 65-year-old retired media professional. The shelter houses 75 paralysed dogs, the most in any Chennai dog home. “We have seen them walking again with sustained care, nutrition, physiotherapy, and the sand,” says Sarah, a teacher for disabled children. She explains that the shelter, filled with a bed of sand, enables dogs to stand and walk without wounds or bedsores, which they otherwise develop when confined in cages.
Unlike the grim streets or dog shelters, Daaman is a sprawling farm-like space that is in stark contrast with the closed kennel system. All dogs scamper around the compound, sniffing out friends, marking their territories, and regularly pawing their humans for treats. “We spend Rs 4 lakh a month in the shelter, including feed, salary for helpers, and medical care,” the couple explains. Most of their funds come from their hard-earned savings.
The idea for a dog shelter bumped into them one evening in 2019. Sarah’s mother, Veena Vinod, loved dogs and hoped to open a shelter, a dream that was never fulfilled. Years after her mother’s death, the couple found a dog with broken legs outside their home on New Year’s Eve in 2014. “We had just watched the Hindi film ‘PK’. We took the dog home, treated his wounds, and adopted him,” Sarah recalls with a fond smile.The dog named PK after that fateful day, lives with the couple on the first floor of the shelter, a tiny space carved out for the trio.
The same year, Sarah started an NGO named Madras Animal Rescue Mission (MARS) and a dog shelter with 20 dogs in a rented space at Krishnankarani. “Rescue is a small part of animal welfare rehabilitation. We cannot put ailing dogs back on the street. Our shelter started focusing on paraplegic ones. People generally euthanise these dogs, terming them as a burden. But they also deserve a chance,” asserts Sarah.
It is Sarah’s dedication and love that sets the shelter apart, says Pavithraa, a volunteer. “Nowhere else have I seen dogs being treated with so much respect and dignity,” she adds. Stories of the couple’s kindness have travelled far and wide outside Mahabalipuram. Vivek H Viswanath, MARS Secretary and a PhD scholar at IIT-Madras, recalls sending around three dogs with paraplegia from his hometown in Kerala to Daaman.
The Chennai corporation recently awarded Sarah with membership in the Animal Birth Control (ABC) committee. She then initiated a drive to vaccinate hundreds of dogs in her area. “Mahabalipuram is a UNESCO heritage site, and it must be rabies-free. We plan to conduct more drives here,” Sarah says. Every day as dusk falls over Daaman, Sarah dreams of opening a world-class facility for paraplegic dogs. “Many residents of surrounding localities bring their injured or ill dogs here. But as the nearest veterinary clinic is in Neelankaranai, about 30 km away, it’s hard to get these dogs treated,” Sarah explains. The first on her to-do list is setting up an accessible clinic to treat strays just like Kanchi and nurse them back with woofs of love.