Calls pour in at animal rescue centres across Bengaluru

These centres are providing shelter to stray dogs and cattle, which are stuck in water-logged areas

With the heavy rains, city animal rescue shelters have been receiving an increased number of calls about abandoned and marooned animals.

Sudha Narayanan, founder of CARE (Charlie’s Animal Rescue Centre), says, “Our managers have been carefully monitoring the calls that are coming on the Animal Husbandry helpline. There has been at least 10-15% increase in calls and we are picking the difficult rescues, and trying to do as much as we can.”

She points out that most calls are coming from the worst rain-hit areas like Hennur, Bellandur, and Whitefield. “Animals are floating in these areas, some of them arrive at the shelter barely alive,” she adds.

Stray dogs in south Bengaluru are badly affected, says Girish Anjanappa of Animal Rights Fund, an animal rescue shelter in Kengeri. The shelter has reported a 40% increase in calls, coming mostly from areas like Kengeri, JP Nagar and Outer Ring Road, in the past week.

“We’ve added manpower and vehicles, and have been working round the clock to reach the maximum number of cases,” he said.

Wildlife rescue calls have also increased by up to 30%, according to Col Dr Nawaz Shariff, general manager and chief veterinarian, PFA (People for Animals) Wildlife Hospital.

“We have a lot of rescue calls coming in the rains especially about black kites caught in strings and about other birds as well,” he says.

He mentioned that several apartments where stray dogs took shelter were flooded.

“However, many apartment owners have been proactive in looking after the dogs,” Shariff added.

The rescue organisations also pointed out the several challenges that they are going through to save the animals. “In heavy rains, when animals try to find shelter they fall into drains, open sumps and wells, because of poor visibility. When larger animals like cattle are involved, sometimes the fire department is called for assistance since we don’t have the necessary equipment,” says Sandhya Madappa, trustee of CUPA (Compassion unlimited plus action).

Sudha says that traffic problems and bad roads the rains have caused are adding to woes. “Our ambulances get stuck in traffic. There are inaccessible areas and overflowing drains, where animals are stuck, which has become a huge challenge for our rescue team,” she says.

She says that another additional problem is that most animal shelters are running out of space to rehabilitate rescued animals.

The AHVS (Animal Husbandry and veterinary service) helpline set up in 2014 by the government has been of great help, according to Sudha.

“It’s a 24-hour helpline and you can call or send photos and videos of the animal in danger, which goes to all the rescue shelters in the city. Whoever is closest to the location can help rescue the animal,” she adds.