Treating wounded strays, animal activist looks for helping hands

Chennai: “Before COVID struck, we used to get more donors for the medical treatments and even the number of animals injured was less. But during the pandemic, many dogs and cattle were abandoned and some lost their owners. However, post the pandemic lockdown, we witnessed many animals being hit by vehicles and getting injured,” said Sai Vignesh, who owns Almighty Animal Sanctuary at Tiruvallur.

“We bring them to the shelter for further treatment. But recently, with more cattle being injured we are unable to manage the medical expenses. Treatment expenses vary day to day based on the number of animals treated. At least Rs one lakh is spent every month, especially on cattle,” he claimed.

The animal shelter has so far raised Rs 20,000 in the past week, which helped cover some of the medical expenses. The shelter takes care of the food expenses on its own. Animal lovers can donate the money in person or transfer it to the founder’s account.

The activist could not take the animals to the government hospitals, as they should be loaded and unloaded in a huge vehicle which might impact their health if done on a daily bases and creates unnecessary stress for the animals. At times, the injured animals need nursing round the clock and are unable to be treated at government hospitals.

“We cannot take all the wounded animals to the government hospitals. Also, the transportation of big-size animals is an issue. In addition, the government hospitals mostly close at noon, and if in case X-rays and scans needed to be done, we have to depend on Madras Veterinary College, despite the distance involved,” said Vignesh.