One small white bundle with two brown ears was picked up by the Friendicoes night ambulance, one late night from near the Gurgaon highway. She was another victim of hit and run, and the last of her litter to come under a car. Her brothers and sisters were all long gone, succumbing to speeding cars and careless driving. The mother had also disappeared one day abandoning her litter to the cruel fate of a life on the roads.
Tilly as she is now known was no different from the hundreds of other puppies that find their way to the Friendicoes shelter every day. Malnourished, scrawny and with a killer wound she did not have much going for her. At first glance she looked liked another euthanasia case. Her fore limb was broken and she was in immense pain. Her shrunken body looked like it was pulling forth its last reserves of energy to continue breathing. The night team immediately put her on sedatives and painkillers to make her more comfortable. The next morning the vet had a look at her and referred her for an x-ray. Although it was pretty much obvious that she had a badly smashed fore leg an x-ray was necessary to gauge the extent of damage. The X-ray made it clear that she either went under the surgeon’s knife or was put out of her misery with an overdose of anesthesia. Both options were no win situations. In such cases usually euthanasia is opted for as the better of the two evils as the animal’s chances of recuperating from a major surgery at a shelter among 200 other sick animals is next to nothing. The risk of post operative complications, shelter infections and not to forget psychological repercussions is too great to be overlooked.
But for whatever reasons the vet decided Tilly was one of those who deserved a chance and had a thin possibility of making it. Maybe it was her soulful eyes or her remarkable tolerance of pain that did the trick but the vet decided he would do his best to save her. So she underwent a major operation which left her with only three limbs instead of four. The post operative care was the most crucial as it decides whether the animal will make it or break it. With every day that passed Tilly seemed to gain something back. She endured the endless injections and the dressings without much fuss. Maybe life on the roads had made her a real tough cookie.
It has been 2 months now.and it is a completely different Tilly who greets you at the Friendicoes sanctuary in Gurgaon. She is like a child with the world at her feet. Funny, feisty and spirited she is all that a puppy should be. Seeing her makes it all worthwhile for the Friendicoes team – the pain of loss, the long hours of work, the low pays, the hard working conditions and the sometimes undeserved accusations. Its stories like her that keeps us grounded and determined to struggle forward come what may.
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A million blessings. has no one adopted Tilly? That stretch of road-is there nothing that can be done to help the inhured animals-or bury the ones who have not made it? Any reliable number that can be called?