| About us | Founder | Dr.Dog | Centers | Issues | PCA Act | ABC prog | Help us | Adopt | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activities | Pet Care | Dog Show | Tsunami | Membership | Bulletin | Links | Contact | ||||||||||
On April 30, 2002 Ms. Jill Robinson and Ms. Winnie Luk from Animal's Asia Foundation (AAF), Hong Kong visited Chennai. They presented a slide show at the C. P. Art Centre to explain the concept of Dr. Dog and assessed around 20 dogs, of which 11 were certified as "Dr. Dog." The dogs are assessed for their friendly nature and patient temperament. Each dog is given an ID card and health certificate by the Blue Cross Of India. Having been certified, the dog's owner is given a T-Shirt to be worn during the visits and an ID card. Initially, all visits are only once a month, and then twice a month at the owner's discretion. The Dr. Dog program has been introduced into schools which have children who are suffering from various disabilities. The five initial schools are
Blue Cross plans to have two groups, the first consisting of older dogs for hospitals and old age homes, and the second consisting of younger and friskier ones for children to play with. It is hoped that this part of the Dr. Dog program will be achieved by September 2002. Blue Cross is the first certifying body for Dr. Dog all over India. It is a therapy that has been successful abroad and is bound to succeed in India too. At the moment, except for one mongrel, most of the dogs are Labradors. Blue Cross wants to introduce more mongrels into the program. If you have a friendly dog, please contact Blue Cross of India at 2300666 or the coordinator of the Dr. Dog program, Mrs. Vasanthi Rajiv, at 4995223.
On June 23, 2002 she came on Star News, with the Saraswathi Kendra Learning Centre for Children (SKLC). Mrs. Marlene Kamdar, Principal of the SKLC, explained how children; who never communicate with people, begin communicating with the dog. This leads them to communicate with people. Blue Cross of India - Shelters, ABC Centres & Hospitals Blue Cross of India, Velachery The facilities available at the Blue Cross of India, Velachery, are a hospital, out-patient ward, in-patient ward, a shelter for injured and abandoned animals and an aviary for injured birds. The center does major Animal Birth Control (ABC) programs. With the help of Chennai Corporation, street dogs (also known as community pets) are caught from different locations in Chennai and brought to the center for sterilization. They are kept in the ABC kennels for a period of 7 days (till the operated area gets healed) and taken back to the original locations. Before being released they are administered anti-rabies vaccine and then sent back to their respective territories. ABC Centre, Lloyds Road An exclusive ABC center is in operation at Lloyds Road, for which kennels and operation areas are provided by Chennai Corporation. Even dogs with owners are brought to the center for sterilization and then taken back. Shelter and Hospital at Kunnam The Kunnam Centre, donated by an animal lover from Kunnam village near Sunkuvarchatram on the Bangalore highway, was opened in 1999. The shelter houses cattle, mules and dogs. Special shelters for monkeys rescued by the CPCSEA, which have undergone experimentation by various institutions and labs, provide treatment and nursing at the center. Once they are medically fit, the monkeys are released into the forest whenever possible. Monkeys rescued from roadside performers are also handled here. Shelter for Dogs at Thodukadu This is an exclusive center for dogs, situated near Sriperambadur, on the road leading to Thiruvellore. There are around twenty large kennels in an area of about one acre which accommodates about one hundred and twenty dogs. Ambulance Services There are totally five ambulances that are on call night and day to rescue injured and abandoned animals. Injured animals, after being treated, and those without deformities are sent back to their original homes after spaying and vaccinating. Most cattle at the Blue Cross are picked up from the roads by the Chennai Corporation and then handed over to the Blue Cross. Volunteers Blue Cross is supported by highly dedicated volunteers who visit the shelter everyday and extend their support, both physical and moral. Dogs infected with mange are treated and looked after by two volunteers, Ms. Gayathri and Ms. Shanthi Shankar, who are at present in exclusive charge of them. Ms. Chanda Walke, another volunteer, answers queries and responds to demands for the ambulance service. Education Blue Cross regularly conducts educational programs about animal welfare and cruelty to animals on a regular basis. This is done at the school level in districts within Tamil Nadu and the participants are mostly students and school teachers. From time to time, a few programs are also conducted in city colleges and through Karuna clubs in specified schools. ABC Centre at St. Thomas Mount In July 2002, Blue Cross started animal birth control operations in St. Thomas Mount with assistance from the Cantonment board. The Animal Welfare Board had formally approached the Blue Cross earlier, requesting us to start the ABC operations. A cattle pound in the St. Thomas Mount area has been converted into the ABC theater, along with two rooms, enough to accommodate fifteen dogs at a time. The ABC surgeries, post operative care as well as the catching and discharge is handled by Blue Cross. Blue Cross is focusing on the Cantonment community dogs at the moment and, once the area is successfully covered, plans to spread over to Pallavaram, Nandambakkam and other neighbouring areas in order to make maximum use of the facilities offered by the Cantonment board who have been very cooperative by giving the space and also undertaking the day-to-day care of the animals. As this newsletter goes to pring, 195 dogs have been neutered. There has been very positive feedback from the locals. Cruelty to Animals vs Medical Research This debate was aired on Star News on Sunday, June 23, 2002 on Burkha Dutt's popular program "We The People". Dr. S. Chinny Krishna, Chairman of the Blue Cross of India and Member, Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), participated. The other participants included Dr. C. P. Thakur, Minister for Health of the Government of India, Dr. Mutapurkar and Dr. Ashok Rattan. Some salient points made by Dr. Krishna were:
Dr. Krishna showed photos of sick horses at Haffkine's Institute, Poona, and King Institute, Chennai, where even sick horses were bled - sometimes to death - for the purpose of producing anti-snake venom. Dr. Ashok Ratan of Ranbaxy, who had opposed Dr. S. Chinny Krishna right through, finally agreed that all must work for the well being of all animals and for the achievement of global standards in bringing out medicines. The arguments in support of the CPCSEA were so forceful that the lawyer who summed up the program said that people were callous and inconsiderate where animals were concerned. Ms. Jill Robinson and Ms. Winnie Luk from Animal's Asia Foundation (AAF), Hong Kong, who visited Chennai in connection with the Dr. Dog program, described the cruelty meted out to animals, particularly the China Bear (popularly known as the Moon Bear) which is tortured for the extraction of bile, used in traditional Chinese medicine. The animal is put in a coffin-like box with an iron tube permanently fixed into the body to extract the bile. Ms. Jill Robinson used land laws (equivalent to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960), to rescue the bears, and then took them from the farm to a rehabilitation center. There they were treated and then released into a friendly environment.
On August 18,2002 the yearly "well dog show" was conducted at the Blue Cross, Velachery. This well dog show is unique because only mongrels and crossbreeds can participate. Unlike other dog shows where dogs are expected to perform tricks and obey their owner's commands, the dogs here are merely walked to the judges' room by the owners. Totally forty two dogs participated. The dogs were classified into four categories: Sterilized Male, Sterilized Female, Non-sterilized Male and Non-sterilized Female. The prize winners were as follows: Among the sterilized males, the first prize went to Rocky brought by Mr. Rudra Krishna, the second prize went to Mr. Bhuvaneshwar and the third prize went to Swazy, brought by Ms. Anuradha. As for the sterilized females, the first prize went to Cleopatra III brought by Mr. Prashanth Krishna, the second prize went to Dr. Jumble brought by Mr. Muniyan (Jumble is a certified Dr. Dog by Animals Asia Foundation/ Blue Cross) and the third prize went to Chandim brought by Mr. Nagaraj. Among the non-sterilized male dogs, the first prize went to Jack brought by Mr. Kalpana, the second prize went to Sunny brought by Ms. Rashmi and the third prize to Kannan brought by Ms. Shantha Sivaram. As for the non-sterilized female dogs, the first prize went to Ms. Ranganaiyaki's Kittu, second prize to Scobby of Ms. Vidya and the third prize to Tommy brought by Ms. Anuradha. Among the pups, the prizes went to Ms. Nalini's Bonny, Mr. Ramesh's Jimmy and Mr. Arun's Rafy. Blacky, a street dog being looked after by Ms. Chanda Walke won the prize for being the most disobedient dog! Timmy, carried by Mrs. Yashodhara, got a special prize as the oldest dog, being 20 years old. Mrs. Yashodhara brought garlands for all the dogs. The Blue Cross thanks all the volunteers and participants who have contributed to make this show a grand and memorable success. Obituary Lion S.T. Vanchinathan - 1928 - 2002 It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Lion S.T. Vanchinathan, member of the Blue Cross for several decades, in Madras on September 7 th 2002. In his acceptance speech as Governor of Lions District 324 A in June 1985, Lion Vanchinathan said "For seventy years, the Lions have been known as people working for people. In my term as Governor, I would like it to be known that we would also be people working for animals." He appointed Lion S. Chinny Krishna in his District Cabinet, the first District Chairman for Animal Welfare in the history of Lionism. It was also during Lion Vanchinathan's term as Governor in 1986-87 that the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) funded the first project for animal welfare in the Lions' seventy year-old history-an Ambulance for Animals donated to the Blue Cross of India. LCIF paid 50 % of the cost of the Ambulance, while eighty Lions, Lioness and Leo Clubs in the District donated the other 50%. A Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary and Financial Consultant by profession, Vanchi was a recipient of the 100% Governor's award from Lions International. Amiable, friendly and an entertaining speaker with a fine sense of humour, Vanchi's slogan durinn his term, very aptly, was "Meet the Challenge of Change". Our sincere condolences to his wife, Mrs. Savithri and the other members of bis family.
|
||||||||||
| About us | Founder | Dr.Dog | Centers | Issues | PCA Act | ABC prog | Help us | | ||||||||||
| Activities | Achievements | People | Month that was | Sponsors | Annual Report | ||||||||||
| Adopt | Pet Care | Dog Show | Tsunami | Membership | Bulletin | Links | Contact | ||||||||||
The children have responded very well. The same dog visits the same school for one year to develop a rapport. A second dog is introduced after 6 months to add to the excitement. It is expected that the children will start communicating with the dog and then with others. The children generally enjoy playing with the dog, but children who are scared of the dogs are not forced. It is hoped that at a later date, on seeing how friendly the dogs are, the children will come out of their fear. The progress of the children is monitored both by the Blue Cross and the concerned school. As more dogs participate, they will be taken to hospitals and old age homes.
Jumble is an 8-year old mongrel belonging to Rudra Krishna. When Ms. Jill Robinson conducted the tests for Dr. Dog, Jumble was certified as India's Dr. Dog superstar!Copyright - Blue Cross of India 2007
