‘Awareness on animal rights has grown over years’

The Kindness Trust of Australia, founded by philanthropist Philip Wollen, recently conferred its Winsome Constance Kindness Award for 2020 on the co-founder of city-based Blue Cross of India (BCI) Dr S Chinny Krishna. The award was previously given to renowned personalities like Jane Goodall (English primatologist known for her study of chimpanzees) and natural historian Sir David Attenborough. Krishna is quick to say that the award doesn’t belong to him alone, but to hundreds of volunteers who have worked with BCI since it was founded in 1964.

“Over the past 55 years, we have had hundreds of volunteers and donors supporting our activities, in touching animals’ lives. Volunteering is a very difficult activity. I hope that this award inspires others to take up work in animal welfare. Many people who begin burn out eventually due to the challenges involved. But, to be placed in the same league as Jane Goodall and Sir Attenborough does boost the spirits,” he admits. Krishna would be donating the 20,000 Australian Dollars’ worth cash prize as part of the award to BCI.

Cruelty against animals on streets has come down significantly, Krishna notes. “Street cruelty was such a common sight earlier. I think general awareness on animal rights, and social media, have been helping a great deal in that respect. Any person indulging in torturing animals is facing backlash” asserts Krishna, who has pioneered the animal birth control programme (as an alternative to killing of street dogs), which has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation, and it became a part of India’s policy later. Of the Rs 5-crore funds that the BCI works with each year through donations from individuals, corporates and the state government, a majority goes towards animal feed, animal birth control and medicines, he informs.

The BCI started with a handful of volunteers, with a few off-duty (now defunct) Indian Airlines pilots running the ambulances, Krishna recalls. His father, Captain Sundaram, the founder of BCI, was an Indian Airlines pilot as well. “We now have over 1,000 volunteers working with us. Each day, we receive at least 600 calls a day, of which at least 100 seek help in rescuing animals from different parts of the city,”he adds. The NGO’s premises in Guindy, which was designed in 1994 for 280 animals, currently is home to about 2,000, Krishna points out. “We soon want to implement on-site treatment for animals, through which a doctor travelling by a car or on a motorbike can treat the animal on the spot. Often animals don’t need to be brought in to our space,” he says. The ultimate success of the organisation is when an anti-cruelty division doesn’t need to exist, Krishna asserts. “We have to put in a lot of collective efforts before cruelty towards animals can completely cease to exist,”he remarks.