BENGALURU: The ongoing crisis of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) owing to the US-Israel-Iran war has had its effects spelled beyond merely human inconvenience and panic. Animal shelters across Bengaluru, responsible for the daily sustenance of its rescued animals, are facing the LPG crunch, as many of them are dependent on LPG cylinders to cook food for the animals they house.
We Save Animals (WSA) Welfare Trust, located on Kanakapura Main Road, was one of the worst hit. The non-profit takes care of abandoned and rescued animals, including dogs, cats, goats, cattle and more. “Due to a severe shortage of LPG and firewood, we are facing extreme difficulty in preparing food for these helpless beings,” said Apoorva KN, a founding trustee at WSA.
The trust currently houses 170 dogs, 35 cats, nine cows, two goats, and a horse, all of whom rely on cooked food. “One cylinder lasts us two days. The dogs require cooked food, and cannot be fed raw meat or rice,” said Apoorva. The trust is trying to source firewood, and is urging for public donations of LPG cylinders to meet the demand. Eager volunteers or donors can reach out to her at 8861261346.
A similar fate has befallen the Friends For Animal Trust. “We are currently facing a serious LPG shortage at our shelter. Cooking food for more than 300 animals, all under treatment, has become extremely difficult. Food is not just a routine for them but it is a critical part of their recovery. Right now, our staff is cooking using firewood, but the process is slow, exhausting, and taking away time from other life-saving work. We are struggling,” expressed founder Vikash A Bafna.
According to Nevina Kamath, a member of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Bengaluru District, the vendor that provides her food to be fed to street dogs daily in her area, has been expressing constraints since about a fortnight ago.
The only shelters that have managed to circumvent this shortage are shelters that are not reliant on LPG, or are only partially reliant if at all. Sudha Narayanan, founder at Charlie's Animal Rescue Centre (CARE), said, “We cook hundreds of kilograms of food per day, to feed over 300 dogs at CARE and street dogs in many neighbourhoods. Fortunately, about one-and-a-half years ago, we completely switched to a firewood-powered system. The switch took us about 10 days. I shudder to think of the condition we would be in right now if we had not made that switch.”