British veterinary nurse’s ‘pet project’ in Mahabalipuram

For over a hundred stray dogs in Mahabalipuram, you and I are outsiders. But not Elaine Philpott from Coventry in England. Philpott has been feeding and giving them care for over a decade now.

A retired veterinary nurse, Philpott moved to Mahabalipuram 14 years ago where she met a fellow animal lover in Cristina Wong from Switzerland. The duo, along with another person called Murali Hassan from Mahabalipuram, decided to take care of the stray dogs since the animals were being ignored.

Her day starts with feeding dogs when she goes for a morning walk along the tourist attractions. Later, she checks if any of them need medical attention and also vaccinates them. “We have done surgical birth control for about 700 dogs over the period,” said Elaine.

Her love for dogs helped officials in Mahabalipuram big time during Indo-China summit in October this year. “Since the dogs recognise me, it was easy to move them to a shelter where they were kept for three days with proper care. As many as 92 dogs were kept in a hall, but one of them managed to escape and enter the area where the leaders were passing-by,” said Philpott.

She has named her work the Care project and has a dedicated Facebook page called CARE Project for Street Dogs, India. She said Mahabalipuram residents’ attitude towards strays have changed over the years as they have started alerting them if any animal needs medical attention.

Elaine first came to Mahabalipuram 30 years ago, when she was in her 30s. Though she does not expect any help from others as she loves what she does, to stay in Mahabalipuram and to take care of the dogs, she sold her house in Scotland and cashed her pension with which she has been supporting herself and the animals.

Philpott said that she is going back to England for six weeks to celebrate Christmas with her family and renew her visa, while adding that she would miss her dogs dearly.