Rescuing animals poses a challenge for volunteers

“We have received over 15 calls since it started raining in the morning. There are many cases of strays and cattle run over by moving vehicles as it’s hard to see what’s on the road,” says Dinesh Baba, who said that he was stuck in Porur for more than half hour. “We had to halt because we could see nothing of what’s ahead. Many people living in the low-lying areas, who were also affected by the floods last year, have left their houses to find a safer place. They have asked us to rescue their dogs. We have managed to rescue some but transportation has been a major concern,” says Dinesh, who also run the Cloud No 9 Kennel & Nursing Care. “We have doctors throughout the day and people looking for the safety of the pets can leave them there.”

The rescues have not been easy as the strong winds obstruct the work. “There are fallen trees everywhere. We have received 82 calls so far. There was a case where a cow was trappeds beneath a fallen tree. There was another case of a cattle being injured by a moving train near the Basin Bridge. We have an ambulance and we are trying to reach as many places as possible,” says Dr Sockalingam of Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals (SPCA). 

Understanding the impact of the cyclone, some of them are planning to organise health camps during the coming months. “Our volunteers have been on the road since morning. We are assuming that there will be a lot of cases in the coastal areas. We plan to organise medical camps for animals on Wednesday, says Arun Prasanna from People for Cattle in India.