September 2001

• An Honour for the Blue Cross
• Dr. Dog Programme - It's Time To Say 'Heal'
• Kunnam Centre
• Toducadu Centre
• Hands Across The Seas
• Neural Anti Rabies Vaccine Production Stopped

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing away at Chennai on June 19, 2001 of our Chairman, Mr. C. R. Pattabhi Raman, who led the Blue Cross since 1987 in a period of major changes in the animal welfare scene.

Mr. Pattabhi Raman was the eldest son of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar-formar Dewan of Travancore, who was the first to ban hunting in India and one of the founders of the Indian Vegetarian Congress and its President for several years. Mr. Pattabhi Raman completed his law studies from Madras University and was a member of the Middle Temple in London. As a Barrister-at Law, he was a distinguished Senior Advocate of the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

As the Member of Parliament from Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, he served as a Minister in the Union Cabinet under four Prime Ministers-Jawarharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Sastri, Gulzarilal Nanda and Indira Gandhi.

He was a founder of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Madras Cricket Association (now the TNCA) and captained Madras for several seasons.

He was the Vice President of the Indian Vegetarian Congress for many years and even housed it in his residence, which, in 1967, he gifted to the C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, where the Blue Cross also has its Registered Office.

May his soul rest in peace.

An Honour  for the Blue Cross

The Government of India has nominated Dr. S. Chinny Krishna as the Vice Chairman of the newly reconstituted Animal Welfare Board of India for a period of three years from May 2001. Chinny Krishna was a member of the AWBI and its Executive Committee from 1992 to 1995 and is presently a Member of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals of the Government of India.

He was awarded the Jeevdaya Puraskar by the Government of India for his work for animals in July this year. The award was conferred by His Excellency, Dr. P.C. Alexander, Governor of Maharashtra.

Chinny Krishna obtained his Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Madras, his MS in Business Administration from Bucknell University and his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Northern Washington. He is the Managing Director of Aspick Engineering P. Ltd., an ISO 9001 Company, a manufacturer of chemical process equipment and special purpose machines.

Mr.S. Chinny Krishna was elected as the new Chairman of the Blue Cross of India at the Annual General Meeting held on July 8, 2001.

Go Top

DR. DOG PROGRAMME - IT'S TIME TO SAY ‘HEAL’

Professional studies show that being in close contact with animals can have remarkable benefits on the physical and psychological well being of people. Scientists believe that a closeness with animals can have a natural healing effect on many medical conditions, and statistics show that the average blood pressure and cholestrol levels of patients owning pets are lower than those who don't. Many professionals believe that the companionship of animals helps to ease stress and tension, thus lowering the risk of becoming sick. UK and Australian surveys show that when patients are able to give their attention an animal, they are able to forget their own suffering for a while. Simply, being in close contact with an animal makes you feel good!

Canine therapy - which in the U.S. began in the 1980’s as Just another recreational activity for patients, like clown visits to children’s hospitals-has evolved into a important component of modern patient care. While patients respond to a wide variety of animals apart from dogs (like cats, horses, dolphins etc) from a practical point of view, domesticated pet dogs are proving to be an invaluable addition to patient recovery.

Positive results have been indicated in emotionally withdrawn children, formerly uncommunicative nursing home residents, in calming residents in Alzheimer’s wards, in motivating children recovering in burn units etc. Richmond Barker's study of 230 hospitalized patient's treated with-and without-a dog in the room was published in the journal Psychiatric services. The canine assisted sessions considerably reduced anxiety in depressive and demented patients and cut the anxiety level of psychotic patients in half. On their part, the dogs instinctively seem to know that they have a job to do and display a touching sensitivity towards their patients. Without exception, all Dr. Dogs are loving and tolerant.

The first Dr. Dog in Chennai was Dr. Cleopatra, a companion of Dr. Nanditha Krishna who spent many wonderful hours with the special children of the Saraswathi Kendra Learning center of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar foundation in 1995-96. The children delighted in the touch, sight and sound of their adopted friend and their attentions were always freely and lovingly returned.

Now, for the first time in India, Blue Cross along with the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) is setting up the Dr. Dog program. Organizations taking care of mentally challenged persons, cancer patients, terminally ill patients, autistic or dyslexic children have been approached and all of them are open to the idea of animal-assisted therapy. Caring dog owners with a social bent of mind have also been shortlisted and will be interviewed sometime in early December by an AAF representative. The volunteer dogs will have to naturally be healthy, happy and with a placid nature. Following the interview, the successful volunteers receive a Dr. Dog T shirt and each Dr. Dog is issued with an authorized ID card, both of which must be worn on every visit. Dr. Dog requests that volunteers accompany their own dogs at all times and take part in the various activities offered by the hospitals and centers.

Each volunteer is assigned to one hospital, so that a rapport can be developed between the patient, dog and nursing staff. Visits are usually, on a monthly basis, normally lasting for one hour depending on the number, age and conditions of the patients. While only pedigree dogs are being used in this therapy program the world over, Blue Cross is focusing on the All Indian Dog in India since they're equally qualified and adaptable to the job as any other pedigree.

Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Chennai will be simultaneously starting the program the coming year during, the Animal Welfare Fortnight. Dr. Dog is not just an animal therapy program but a significant step in educating the public to enjoy the presence of animals and to have respect for their lives.

Those who have healthy; companion dogs who are genuinely friendly to all and who are willing to give of their time to help other people who can benefit from this wonderful pet therapy may please contact the co-ordinator of this programme in India: Mrs. Vasanthi Rajiv, Blue Cross of India, 1 Eldams Road, Chennai 600 018. Fax 044-234 9801 or e-mail at vasanthirajiv@tataaova.com. Please remember that the assessment must be first done to ascertain the suitability of the dog. Not only must the patient benefit but the dog must enjoy it, too!

Dr. Dog is the first such programme in Asia and was founded in 1991 by Animals Asia founder, Jill Robinson, with the support of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Jill Robinson has generously offered to come down to Chennai in early December to train assessors and assess the first batch of dogs for their suitability.

Go Top

KUNNAM CENTRE

With the appointment of a resident veterinarian, 24 hour care for the animals of this area is now possible. Over 300 cases per month, mostly cattle, are treated at present. All the cattle of the village have been Vaccinated free of charge against foot and mouth disease.

Over 50 dogs, and 70 cattle axe now housed at this center in addition to the monkeys and horses rescued from laboratories.

The primate rehabilitation center is under construction with the help of grant from the Central Government. Our sincere thanks to Mrs. Maneka Gandhi for this. We have also received a donation of 1,500 Pounds from he Intentional Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals (IAAPEA) for this project. Presently, the primates are housed in a block of nine rooms originally intended as multi-dog kennels for the street dog ABC programme for Kanchipuram District. This project which is now on hold for want of kennels will be taken up by the end of October when the monkey block will be ready and the monkeys can be transferred to their new premises.

Go Top

TODUCADU CENTRE

The Ambattur Municipality in Tiruvallur district had promised to provide land for an ABC center in March this year. The land was identified and the Municipal Commissioner had assured us that it would be levelled, cleaned and suitable water and sewage connections given. However, after waiting for several months for the necessary paper work to be done and with no progress noticeable, it was decided to purchase a property in Toducadu village, about 10 kilometers from Tiruvallur.

This property was built up by Woodstock as a dogs hostel. However, due to its location-40 kms from chennai - it was found to be a non-viable proposition. For the Blue Cross, it was a virtually ready-to-use ABC center and the only addition was a surgery. This is now under construction and will be ready by the end of October 2001.

In the meantime, we can start ABC operations using our mobile surgery.

For those of our members who would like to visit the center, it is located on the Sriperumbudur-Tiruvallur Road, 3.5 kms Sriperumbudur bus stop and about 3 kms from Wheels India Ltd.

Go Top

HANDS ACROSS THE SEAS

When Animal People editor Merritt Clifton and publisher Kim Bartlett visited India in 1997 and again in 2000, they were surprised at the vibrancy of the animal welfare movement and the execution and success of the ABC programme, especially in Chennai.

Writing in the January 2001 issue of Animal People, they called the Blue Cross of India "India's most successful animal organization" and the "flagship" of the country in this field. What struck them most was the depth and variety of the activities and the sheer numbers of animals involved. They also felt that the kind of volunteers and equipment and skills available should be made available to other groups in the country.

In March 2001, they sent an amount of $2,500 to the Blue Cross to train other groups in proper animal care and handling. It is thanks to this grant that the Blue Cross has been able to develop the special sheathed steel cable for the animal graspers that have been given free to over 25 animal welfare groups including several PfAs, SPCAs, The Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Sonadi, Blue Cross Society of Pune, PAWS, Sai Raghav Shelter, Animal Welfare & Protection Trust and others. And it is this that has made it possible for the Blue Cross to accept the training of over 30 people in the last six months in ABC surgery, early age neutering, dog catching and specialized training in specific aspects of animal treatment and care.

Our heartfelt thanks to Kim and Merritt.

Go Top

NEURAL ANTI RABIES VACCINE PRODUCTION STOPPED

Within two weeks of calling a press conference organized by the CPCSEA at which several specialists and three victims of the ill-effects of neural tissue vaccine (NTV) spoke, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced the permanent stopping of production of NTV by the King Institute of Preventive Medicine.

At the start of the press meet, Dr. S. Chinny Krishna mentioned that the WHO had called for a ban on NTV as far back as 1980 in view of the availability of tissue culture vaccine(TCV) and in view of the extremely dangerous side effects of NTV. Only India and Bangladesh continued production of this outdated vaccine.

The announcement of the stoppage was made at a meeting between members of the CPCSEA and Health Ministry officials. Announcing the stoppage, Mr. Syed Munir Hoda, Health Secretary of Tamil Nadu, said that since there was unanimity among all participants at the meeting of the ill effects of NTV and since this impacted only on the poor who used the Government Hospitals, the Government decided on the ban. TCV would be available at all Tamil Nadu hospitals from October 2, 2001.

The CPCSEA and its Chairperson, Mrs. Maneka Gandhi are delighted at the news. The CPCSEA will continue its campaign to get NTV banned in the whole of India. Presently, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have announced the change-over. Karnataka uses TCV in all district and taluka hospitals but continues with NTV in its cities.

Published and edited by Usha Sundaram for Blue Cross of India